Fully human — Fully divine
Who is Jesus? I believe this is the most important question everyone must answer. When I came to faith in the 70s, I heard there were three choices: Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. This framing of the identity of Jesus was attributed to C.S. Lewis, but it actually originated much earlier.
In the mid-1800s a Scottish Christian preacher “Rabbi” John Duncan (1796-1870) devised a “trilemma.” In Colloquia Peripatetica (p. 109) Duncan’s argument from 1859-1860 is laid out:
“Christ either [1] deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or [2] He was Himself deluded and self-deceived, or [3] He was Divine. There is no getting out of this trilemma. It is inexorable.”
As a spiritual seeker, I asked a lot of questions, read the bible, attended a few church services, and tried to figure out the real identity of Jesus. What he a “good man”? Was he a prophet? Was he sent from God? Did he have delusions of grandeur? Was he God’s son – and if so, what did that mean?
I’m not the only one who struggled with Jesus’ identity. In the centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection, the early church, in many manifestations, formulated various theories about the identity of Jesus. One theory, Angel Adoptionism, states that Jesus was justified by God through his perfect life, and was in-dwelled by an angelic spirit called Christ. In this theory, neither Jesus nor Christ is divine. In a related Christology, Spirit Adoptionism, Jesus is still a human, but the Holy Spirit dwells in him after his baptism. Docetics believed Jesus was not a person, but rather a phantom! Gnostics believed that matter was evil and knowledge good, and thus divinity could not be housed in a human body, so Christ was divine, but not really human. In this view, Christ was like a phantom, and was not born, did not suffer, and did not die.
Why is this important? Understanding some of the early “heresies” in the church will help us to understand the New Testament better. Many passages refute these false teachings, especially the book of Hebrews and 1 John:
Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? he is anti-christ who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 1 John 2:22-23
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. 1 John 4:1-3a
Paul clearly states the fully human/fully divine nature of Jesus in Philippians 2:5-8:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Jesus was fully man and fully God. The bible clearly teaches Jesus’ divinity and his humanity. As we read, study, and understand the bible, we are better equipped to fend off any false teachings.
Have you answered the question, “who is Jesus?”
A fundamental truth for our lives, Katie. It is so important to know whom we worship and why. Even when we have believed for years, we must go back to this certainty to ground us.
Great words, Katie. Yes, we do need to understand who Jesus is. We only can find the truth in the Word of God, and guiding of His Spirit.
I enjoyed your post today Katie and I think that knowing Who Jesus is is relevant to today as it was for the early church. He is the same yesterday, today and forever!
Thanks Luwana, Iris, and Laurie. I do believe correct theology leads to authentic worship. We need to know the One whom we worship!