The Christology has been debated by theologians since the resurrection of Christ. Christology is a doctrine that concerns the nature and significance of Jesus Christ, the study of His nature and work. It has been questioned whether the Son is the Savior and whether the Son in God. For centuries there were councils that attempted to answer those questions and came up with their own explanations. Around 300 CE, Arius, a priest from Libya decided to share his view of the nature of Christ with other contemporaries. He announced, "If the Father begat the Son, then he who was begotten had a beginning in existence, and from this it follows there was a time when the Son was not" (Payne 73). He formulated doctrines which stated that: the Son and the Father were not of the same essence; the Son was not truly divine but a created being, and that though the Son was the creator of the universe, and must therefore have existed before them and before all time, "there was when he was not" (MacCulloch 213). So according to Arius, Christ was more than human but inferior to the Father, not divine. He wanted to paint an image of a Savior who was like humans and participated in human suffering. Athanasius, a bishop and arch-enemy of Arius opposed his views. According to him, people are saved because God became a human and experienced a human death. God became human or mortal to make humans immortal. Salvation wouldn't be possible if Christ was not divine. Both views were brought into question at the Council of Nicea 325 CE, the relationship of the Father to the Son. Athanisius' theology was recognized as true and placed into the creed. The decided statement was that the Son was of the same substance with the Father, homoousia. Although homoousia ... ... middle of paper ... ...sion, and no change. What was agreed upon at the Council of Chalcedon can supported in the Synoptic Gospels. It was reported that He was born of a woman, grew from infant to man, wept, experienced hunger, was tempted, and also experienced death, reavealing His human nature. "Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him", Matthew 8:26-27 (Bible np). Jesus also has power over nature, diseases, demons, sins, and death, revealing His divinity. "I and my Father are one", John 10:30 (Bible np). With each agreed statement, there are always some who think differently. The Chalcedon definition of Jesus had staying power, but there were still two sides and more questions. But it stays to say that the Jesus Christ is truly divine and truly man.
Saint Thomas of Aquainas may have been one of the greatest thinkers who attempted to bridge the proverbial gap between faith and reason. His Sacred Doctrine which was the initial part of his Summa Theologica was the basis for his conclusion about the existence of God. Aquinas tended to align his beliefs close with Aristotle's supposition that there must be an eternal and imputrescible creator. In comparison, Anselm's impressions were influenced largely by Plato. In his text Proslogion he outlined his Ontological argument that regarding the existence of God. It was simply that God was the ultimate and most perfect being conceivable, and that his state of existing is greater than not existing therefore god, being perfect in every way, must exist. This is where their paths divide, and although they essentially reach the same determination they paint the picture quite differently.
One of the main principles of Christianity is the belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, that these two natures are combined harmoniously in one being. In general, all modern Christians believe that Jesus was human, he was considered to be “The Word was made flesh” (John, I: 14). However, Jesus was more than just a human, despite being subjected to pain, suffering and death like all other human beings, he was sinless and also possessed the power to heal and to defy death in order to ascend, both body and spirit, into heaven. He was all man and all God, a combination of these two elements, remaining distinct but united in one being. The deity of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief in Christianity, which is referred to in many parts of scripture, “God was revealed in the flesh” (I Timothy, 3:16). The Christian faith does not perceive Jesus as God but rather a reincarnation of God, a mysterious deity who is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Throughout history, controversy has surrounded the issue of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, leading to the formation of Docetism, the belief that Jesus was fully divine but not fully human, Arianism, that Jesus was superior to all of creation, but less divine than God, and Nestorius, that there were two separate persons within Jesus. This the proportion of the divine and human within Je...
Jesus was different than other human being because he was the Son of God and p the second person in the Trinity. The Trinity consist of the Father (God), The Son (Jesus) and the Holly Sprit. The bible has many verses on the Trinity and is largely in the in the New Testament there are places in the Old Testament a few of texts are Genesis 1:26-27,Isaiah 43:10-11 and Psalm 2 (The Trinity in the Bible Thomas K. Johnson).
, He had no qualms about telling His opponents that He was the son of God (John 10:36 TLB [The Living Bible]), the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), and that anyone who had seen Him, had seen the father (John 14:9). Due to the nature of these statements, it is understandable that some assumed that He was a raving lunatic and a liar; however, none of these assumptions could be supported by His day-to-day activities. Additionally, in spite of all threats of intimidation, and even though He was given every chance, He never denied His claim to be God. Therefore, Christians believe that Jesus was God in human form. Next, His life matters because of how He lived. His manner of living provided for us, a model by which we can compare our own
true in many divisions of the Christian religion. There is almost no dispute in the fact that Jesus
...tween God and Jesus. Arius was a leader of a congregation that believed, “Christians worshiped Jesus, but at the same time came from monotheistic Jewish tradition, in which God alone is worshiped (Fisher, 2008, p. 320). In other words, Arius believed Jesus did not have the same status as God because he was a human. Others believed that “Jesus is properly worshiped as the incarnation of God” (Fisher, 2008, p. 320). In order to resolve this issue, Constantine formed a general council, called the Nicene Council. They debated the issue for decades and they finally dismissed Arius’s beliefs and created the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed states that the Father came down from heaven as the Holy Spirit and he was made man through the Virgin Mary. This creed is a “profession of faith for many Christians dominations” (Fisher, 2008, p. 320) and has helped unify all Christians.
Jesus, a name known by billions throughout the world. To each, this name means something different; savior, friend, philosopher, prophet, teacher, fraud, fake, liar. Some even believe that He is just an imaginary character from the minds of those who wrote about Him. The Westminster Dictionary of Theology describes apologetics as, "Defense, by argument, of Christian belief against external criticism or against other worldly views" (Apologetics 31-32). Though there are still many mysteries that surround the ongoing debate about Christianity, evidence can now prove some of what Christians took by faith before. Now, more than ever, there is information to prove the existence of this man that walked the earth more than two thousand years ago. Little remains of His life and works except for that which is contained within the pages of the Holy Bible. Throughout the past century alone, there have been numerous discoveries, both scientific and archeological; to further prove the existence of a man called Jesus and reinforce the Bible as a legitimate historical document. The validity of Christianity and Jesus Christ himself has been the center of religious controversy for centuries. Though His identity has not and probably never will be proven, He did exist. This paper will use apologetics to prove this so. Sufficient evidence proves the existence of Jesus and forms a firm basis for Christianity.
According to a Christian, there is one true God, and he revealed Himself through the Holy trinity, which is made up of three people; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They also believe that God alone created the world and everything that encompasses it from nothing in six days. They believe that the world was good until Adam sinned against God, and now all people are born into sin. They believe that God sent his only son Jesus to save the world from sin and that Jesus died for all their sins and rose from the dead. They believe that the Holy bible is the sacred word before and after Jesus’s time and that they should live by it to please God and thank him for his son. They believe that people are saved by faith through the grace of Jesus Christ.
Athanasius was Greek; He was born in Alexandria to Christian parents. His theology is linked to Irenaeus and Bartholomew; we can see this in his use of Logos as Christ. Athanasius was the Athanasius dealt with the Arian Controversy, where he was able to develop his theology of the Trinity. His theology was developed with Athanasius' fourty-five years as bishop of Alexandria from 328 to 373. Unfortunately, some modern scholars have criticized Athanasius for his lack of discussion on Christ’s human soul, whether he had one and if he did, what that meant in regards to Soteriology. The divinity of Christ was more important to Athanasius than the humanity. As well, how Arius viewed the Bible as privatized teaching as opposed to public teaching that was to be used with all teaching. “Athanasius regarded as divinely inspired. Most importantly, the Bible contained the words of Christ. Accordingly, the Bible is sufficient for the exposition of the truth, about both the things of philosophy and the things of God and so it demands our obedience.” In Athanasius' writings there is the influence of Platonism in his thought, though Athanasius himself does not hold to be a Platonist. We can see his Platonist influenced education w...
The Nicene and Arian approaches to the Trinity are rooted in the same base concept, but differ when it comes down to how they fleshed out some of the doctrines established by the Nicene council. Athanasius argued that Christ was born, not created. He is not manufactured in the same class as all other beings in the universe. The basic premise of Arius’s teachings, however, was the uniqueness of God, who is the only self-existent (independent of his existence in nothing else) and immutable; A child who does not exist alone can not be the natural and immutable God. They both share a Trinitarian concept of 3 parts of the Godhead, but Arius’s views lean more toward a uniqueness standpoint where the Nicean concept leans more toward a oneness view point.
Jesus had a human mother, Mary (see Luke 1:30-31 for example), but his father was God (see John 3:18 for example). Jesus was human, not God. Consider 1 Timothy 2:5:"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" There could not be a clearer statement that Christ was a man.
Four movements, now heresies, of the past each adopted one of these four views mentioned previously. They are: Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Apollinarianism, and Arianism. Nestorianism and Eutychianism fall under the controversy of the relationship between the two natures. The controversy of Nestorianism arose over the propriety of the term theotokos (“God-bearing”) as a description of Mary. At the Council of Chalcedon in 428 Nestorius gave his view of theotokos to which he held and overly dividing view of the two natures of Christ. Nestorius felt that the term was of doubtful propriety unless the term anthropotokos (“human-bearing”) was also used. Nestorius was later condemned when Cyril of Alexandria; who held the belief in Christ having one nature got involved. Nestorius’ pronouncement towards the birth of Christ caused Cyril to oppose him. Nestorius said that God cannot have a mother; no woman can give birth to God. Cyril of Alexandria suggested that Nestorius was proposing that Jesus has two natures joined in a purely moral union. After Nestorianism came Eutychianism. Eutyches who was repeatedly summoned to the standing Synod of Constantinople in 448, finally appeared and stated his position whereas Christ has two natures before the incarnation, that was but one afterwards. The result of the Synod was the Eutyches was deposed and excommunicated and the one- nature doctrine rejected.
Morality and the Bible & nbsp; Both the legal and salvation philosophies of the Old and New Testaments reflect those of the cultures around them, due to much copying and borrowing of laws and ideas. Furthermore, all societies around the world have similar moral and legal codes -- which is certainly not an accident. & nbsp; Interestingly enough, the moral codes of the world's religions bear a striking resemblance to each other, with only minor variations. Religions as different as Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism all have proscriptions against killing, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. This is not an accident, for reasons we shall explore below. & nbsp; Christians may then object that there is something unique about the Bible that makes it a superior moral code.
Jesus Christ was the light that came to earth to brighten the lives of the people. He taught phenomenal and meaningful lessons that changed many hearts and caused people to accept Jesus as their Lord. Jesus Christ is the life of Christianity; the Word of God in flesh. His life, his ministry, and his crucifixion where prophesied long before he was born and Christians believe that they were all fulfilled. He had so much love for human kind that he came to earth to die for the sins of the people, so that their souls would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Bible testifies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who taught memorable life lessons and performed astonishing miracles during his ministry.
assemblies chanted a hymn to Christ as God. But the question how the Son was