Deity of Jesus Christ

This was written for a seminary Class.

Steve Johnson
Systematic Theology 1
Mapes
DQ 2

Proof of Jesus' Divinity & Deity (Formerly Titled The Arian Heresy – The History, Development, and Modern Day Application)

Today I will give a summary of the events and people that were involved in the
Arian Heresy, define those false beliefs, define the Biblical Truth (that Christ is in fact God almighty – Yahweh – The God of The Old Testament) , and discuss it’s relevance for the 21st century. Included in this discussion is the correct view of the two natures of Christ and how they work in a single Person. What I hope to show is that we can have confidence in the Orthodox understanding of Christ’s Deity and also show that this doctrine is no minor point but is the foundation of all Christianity.
Arius was born A.D. 256 in what is now modern day Libya. He was a pupil of a man named Lucian who was a teacher in Antioch and who also became a martyr. According to Walker Arius became a presbyter of “the suburban ‘parish’ of Baucalis and was a prominent and popular figure in the Alexandrian church” [Walker, Norris, Lotz, and Handy, A History Of The Christian Church (Published Simultaneously in United States and Canada: McMillan Books 1918, 1985), p. 131]. He was very intellectual (that is in the flesh) and a great debater. According to the great church historian Schaff he was a man of “considerable learning” and “a smooth, winning address” but he also had a “quarrelsome disposition” [Phillip Schaff, A Religious Encyclopedia (New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1888) p. 139].
In A.D. 318 he began teaching heresies and false doctrine concerning Jesus Christ. Arius taught that Christ was created by God and was not eternal. It happened when a Bishop named Alexander, who was bishop of Alexandria, was giving a lecture on The Holy Trinity to the presbyters under his jurisdiction. Arius was one of the men in that gathering. Church Historian Socrates (not to be confused with the famous philosopher of that same name) tells us that he began to have a dispute with Alexander when he said, “If The Father begat The Son, He that was begotten has a beginning of existence.” [Stephenson, A New Eusebius, p. 340] He went on to deduce that there must have been a time when Jesus, therefore, did not exist. Socrates also tells us that Arius loved controversy. [Ibid]
Alexander ordered that Arius desist in teaching such heresy. Arius rebelled and continued to teach his false doctrines and, by his charismatic personality, began gain a following. This controversy continued to spread and divide the Christians. In 320 Alexander had Arius banished with the help of about 100 bishops from Egypt. He went to Nicomedia in Palestine and wrote a work entitled Thalia. He somehow persuaded the bishop of that area named Eusebius to believe his doctrines as well as many believers in that area. Arius convinced Eusebius to write a petition and put pressure on Alexander to restore him. Alexander rose to the occasion and stated emphatically that Christ has existed from all eternity and was eternally generated from God outside of time.
Emperor Constantine got the bishops to form a council in order to clarify true doctrine and also to heal this division (which by this time was very great). The council met at Nicea in A.D. 325 and came up with a creed which we call the Nicene Creed. In it
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they declared that The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus in God Almighty (Yahweh, Jehovah) just as God the Father is God. They also agreed that Arius’ teaching was heresy and false doctrine and therefore condemned it. Bishop Eusebius apparently signed this treaty (perhaps was forced to). In Henry Betteson’s book on church documents we can find this Nicene Creed. Some of the key statements on Christ’s Deity read as follows:
“We believe in God The Father All Sovereign….And in Jesus Christ, The Son of God, Begotten of The Father, only Begotten, that is, of the substance of The Father, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made.” [Henry Bettenson, Documents of The Christian Church (London, Oxford Press, 1967) p. 25. Also in this creed is the clarifying of the Holy Trinity – that is how can Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all be God? Read what it says about The Holy Spirit “I believe in the Holy Ghost, Lord and Giver of life, Who proceedeth from The Father and The Son, Who with The Father and The Son is worshipped and glorified.” [Ibid]
After this long and intense battle several more issues came up regarding the human and divine natures of Christ. There was one camp that emphasized the Deity of Christ to the neglect of acknowledging His truly human nature (The Docetists and the Apollinarians). The other emphasized His human nature to the neglect of acknowledging His truly Divine Nature. Some would acknowledge the two natures but would say that both natures were reduced to accommodate each other (Eutychians).Or they would say that these two natures were mixed in one Person(Nestorians). Without going thru all of the history and quoting all of the creeds that followed I will discuss their findings.
The revision of The Nicene Creed was the Constantinopolitan Creed in 381. What was emphasized in this creed was that Jesus and The Father were of one substance. This theological term is homoousios which means literally one substance or one essence. This doctrine preserves the Oneness of God while still acknowledging The Triune Nature of God (God in Three Persons). In the Council of Chalcedon in 451 they came to understand that Christ is One Person with two natures, a fully human nature and also a fully Divine nature. These natures no not mix, they do not change, and they do not separate. The theological term for this is the Hypo-Static Union. Finally the Athanasian Creed clearly states that God is One, that is not three separate gods. Yet He is also Trinity, A Trinity “in Unity” [Athanasian Creed]. These three Persons are not mixed or confounded, nor is there a division. All Three are worshipped as God, uncreated, and eternal. This is what the New Testament teaches and what is Orthodox Christianity.
It is so relevant that we be grounded in The Truth that is The Bible. The various cults and heretical movements are not just history from the past. They are rearing their ugly heads in the 21t century and some of them have been around since the early 20th century. Jehovah’s Witness is a cult that is basically the Arian Heresy all over again but with a different name. They claim that Jesus is not God but that he is a glorified angel and is in fact Michael (the Arch Angel). The Davinci Code asserts that Jesus is not God but only human. Many liberal movements such as the Jesus Seminar teach the same thing in addition to asserting that Jesus was not resurrected. All of these (except for the Davinci Code) claim that they are Christians!
Furthermore I see a movement that is prevalent in New Age, world religions, and even in modern day Gnostic Movements (there are in fact “churches” that are called Gnostic Christian or Gnostic. One is right down the road from me). They claim that all matter is evil but only the “spiritual” is holy. . Christians are at times harsh on themselves fearing that emotions are evil (feeling grief when a loved one dies, etc.) These errors would be solved if we would only look at the fact that Jesus took on a fully human body. Some legalistic Christian churches almost take the same stance and in fact in the past some teachers considered sex dirty (even though it is considered holy by God Who created it). The Shakers (a christian cult) forbid marriage. What are we to say about all of this? The ramifications of Jesus becoming flesh have great impact on our thinking.
First of all I want to look at scriptures which point to Christ’s Eternal Deity. Then we will consider His humanity. In Isaiah 9:6 a prophecy is given about The Christ who would come. Look at what is ascribes to Jesus, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.[1]” [NASB, La Habra California, Lockman Foundation, 1995 Update] This verse clearly calls Jesus “Mighty God.” This Hebrew world is “El” which is usually translated as “God” in reference to Yahweh the one true God, and the God of Israel in the O.T. The exact same phrase is what Isaiah uses in reference to Yahweh his covenant God in 10:21 “The Mighty God”[ibid].
Another phrase Isaiah used to describe the Messiah was “everlasting Father.” Now most commentaries and Hebrew scholars that I have studied have said that this should be translated “Father of the everlasting” or “Father of Eternity.” That would make more sense because, although Jesus and The Father are One, they are still distinct. Micah 5:2 contains a prophecy that describes the coming Messiah is a similar way, “From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” [ibid].It says He is eternal and that His goings forth are from “the days of Eternity.”
Probably the best verse to show that Jesus is God, He is eternal and not created, and also to show that He is distinct from The Father is John 1:1. It says, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.” [ibid] Notice He was with God in the very beginning and He did not come after God. Yet He was with God (i.e. The Father) and is distinct from Him and there is proof of God’s Triuneness (or at least two persons) . Furthermore He is definitely God (“the Word was God.”) Just a few verses later (18) it says, “18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” [ibid]. John the Baptist even though older than Jesus said that Jesus existed before Him (twice in chapter 15 and 30).
One reason that these liberal “scholars” and heretics who deny the Deity of Jesus is that they are totally ignorant of The Bible. I mean there are many claims to Jesus Divinity that seem subtle to us (or liberals) but that is because we are illiterate in regards to the O.T. They say that Jesus never taught that He was God, or that the Bible doesn’t explicitly say this. Look at John 12:41. It says that Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory. Most people read this but then they don’t bother to look up the quote, the O.T. reference. In 12:41 of John he says, “41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.” [ibid] But the reference is to Isaiah 6:3 which is talking about Yahweh. This is a clear, vivid statement of Jesus’ Divinity calling Him Yahweh. It is equating Him to The God of the O.T.
Yet in the same passage we looked at earlier (chapter 1)it clearly teaches that Jesus, although He was God from all eternity past, became a human in His incarnation, “14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Dr. Edwin A. Blum, formerly of Dallas Theological Seminary gives us insight into this verse,
“The Word (Logos; cf. v. 1) became flesh. Christ, the eternal Logos, who is God, came to earth as man. Yet in doing so, He did not merely “appear” like a man; He became one (cf. Phil. 2:5-9). Humanity, in other words, was added to Christ’s deity. And yet Christ, in becoming “flesh,” did not change; so perhaps the word “became” (egeneto) should be understood as “took to Himself” or “arrived on the scene as.”
“Flesh” in this verse means a human nature, not sinfulness or weakness. In the Greek the words lived for a while among us recall God’s dwelling with Israel in the Old Testament. The word “lived” is eskēnōsen, from skēnē (“tabernacle”). Much as God’s presence was in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34), so Jesus dwelt among people.” [ Zuck Roy, Walvoord John – Editors, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Dallas Theological Seminary and Victor Books, 1983) p.273]
Notice the reference to the tabernacle of the O.T. That is where Yahweh God would manifest His presence in Clouds of Smoke and Shekinah glory to the Hebrews
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when they were traveling in the desert. This same word is used of Jesus when He became a human or a Human (with a capital “H”). So here The Same God Who dwelt in the O.T. tabernacle with Moses and Joshua has taken on Human flesh.
In conclusion I must say that although many Christians try to sound “spiritual” by saying “I don’t need theology”, it is clear that God takes great care in giving us theology by referring back to O.T. verses like in John 12:14 where He quotes Isaiah 6:3. He has taken great “pains” (anthropomorphically speaking) to show us the importance of good Christology. I believe that not only history , but the present, has shown us the errors that will destroy people who don’t have good grounding in theology. Whether it be the followers of Arius or the modern day (self proclaimed cult known as) “Jehovah’s Witnesses” people who don’t take Bible reading seriously will fall into error.
Below are the Councils which declare these truths and have done so thru the centuries: The Council of Nicea (325 AD)

The council was able to make a good distinction by saying God is one (ousias) that is one being but three persons.

The Council concluded:
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of all things visible and
invisible, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of
the Father, that is, of the substance (ousias) of the Father, God from God, light
from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance
(homoousion or homoousios) with the Father, through whom all things came to be, those things that are in heaven and those things that are on earth, who for us men and for our salvation came down and was made flesh, and was made man, suffered, rose the third day, ascended into the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.2
Chalcedon in 451 AD. Their conclusion, which has stood the test of time, declared:

We all, with one voice, define that there is to be confessed one and the same
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, truly
God and truly man, of rational soul and body, of the same substance
(homoousion) with the Father according to the Godhead, and of the same
substance (homoousion) with us according to the manhood, like to us in all
respects, without sin, begotten of the Father before all time according to the
Godhead, in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin
Mary, the Mother of God (theotokos) according to the manhood, one and the
same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, in two natures, inconfusedly,
immutably, indivisibly, inseparately, the distinction of natures being by no
means taken away by the union, but rather the peculiarity of each nature being
preserved and concurring in one person (prosopon) and one substance
(hypostasis), not parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten, divine word, the Lord Jesus Christ;

At the Council of Constantinople (381 AD),
Gregory of Nanzianzus formulated a statement concerning the Holy Spirit. This
statement was:
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth
from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is
worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets. (This statement, drafted
by the Council of Constantinople plus the Nicean statement became known as
the Nicene Creed)










c Matt 28:18; 1 Cor 15:25
1 Lit be
e Is 28:29
g Is 63:16; 64:8
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Is 9:6). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
b Is 11:1; Luke 2:4; John 7:42
2 Or His appearances are from long ago, from days of old
b John 1:14; Rev 19:13
c John 17:5; 1 John 1:2
b John 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9
c Luke 16:22; John 13:23
d John 3:11
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 1:18). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
a Is 6:1ff
a Rev 19:13
b Rom 1:3; Gal 4:4; Phil 2:7f; 1 Tim 3:16; Heb 2:14; 1 John 1:1f; 4:2; 2 John 7
1 Or tabernacled; i.e. lived temporarily
c Rev 21:3
d Luke 9:32; John 2:11; 17:22, 24; 2 Pet 1:16f; 1 John 1:1
2 Or unique, only one of His kind
e John 1:17; Rom 5:21; 6:14
f John 8:32; 14:6; 18:37
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 1:14). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
cf. confer, compare
v. verse
1 Lit This one