Christian views of Jesus consist of the teachings
and beliefs held by Christian groups about Jesus, including his
divinity, humanity, and earthly life. As indicated by the name
"Christianity," the focus of a Christian's life is a firm belief in
Jesus as the
Son of
God and the
Messiah or
Christ. Jesus refers to himself as
both the Son of Man and Son of God in the New Testament. The title
"Messiah" comes from the
Hebrew word
מָשִׁיחַ (
māšiáħ) meaning
anointed one (see The
Gospel according to the
Hebrews). The Greek translation (
Christos) is the
source of the English word
Christ.
The core Christian belief is that through
the death and resurrection of Jesus,
sinful humans can be reconciled to God
and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of
eternal life. Theologian and bishop
Lesslie Newbigin says "the whole of
Christian teaching would fall to the ground if it were the case
that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus were not events in
real history but stories told to illustrate truths which are valid
apart from these happenings." Most Christians do believe that Jesus
was fully Jewish man and fully God, God in human form—having all of
our frailties and desires but never acting on them, only seeking to
do the will of His father in heaven, never once seeking to make
Himself happy in any way but willfully submitting to God as a man,
never doing what He wanted to do but what He saw His Father in
heaven doing. They hold that
Jesus'
first coming was the fulfillment of most
messianic prophecies of the
Old Testament and that the rest will
be fulfilled on his
second
coming.
While there have been theological disputes over the nature of
Jesus,
Trinitarian Christians
generally believe that Jesus is
God incarnate,
God the Son, and "
true God and true man" (or both fully
divine and fully human). Jesus,
having become fully human in all
respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, yet
he did not sin. As fully God, he defeated death and rose to life
again. According to the
Bible, God raised him
from the dead. He
ascended to
heaven, to the "right hand of God," and he will
return again to fulfill the rest of
Messianic prophecy such as the
Resurrection of the dead, the
Last Judgment and establishment of the
physical
Kingdom of God.
According to the
Gospels of Matthew and Luke,
Jesus was conceived by the
Holy Spirit
and
born from
the Virgin Mary. Little of Jesus'
childhood is recorded in the
canonical
Gospels. However,
infancy
Gospels were popular in antiquity. In comparison, his
adulthood, especially the week before his death, is well documented
in the Gospels contained within the New Testament. The Biblical
accounts of Jesus' ministry include:
his baptism,
miracles, preaching,
teaching, and deeds.
Overview
This section presents a brief overview of different views held by
certain Christians concerning Jesus. Each point is detailed in
subsequent sections. Because groups describing themselves as
Christian hold differing views about Jesus, the predominant,
traditional view is presented first, followed by variants.
Predominant view
Christians predominantly profess that
Jesus is
the
Christ ( ; ), the only
Son of the Living God, the
Lord, and the eternal
Word. They
profess Jesus to be the second of three divine persons, or
hypostases, of the
Holy Trinity: Jesus the Son constitutes, together
with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the single
substance of the One God. Furthermore, Jesus is
defined to be one person with a fully human and fully God, a
doctrine known as the
Hypostatic
union.
Christians predominantly profess that Jesus became man in the
incarnation, so that
those who believe in him might have eternal life. They further hold
that he was born of the
Virgin Mary by
the power of the
Holy Spirit in an event
described as the
miraculous virgin birth.
Christians predominantly profess that Jesus is the
Messiah (Greek:
Christos; English: Christ)
prophesied in the Old Testament. In his life Jesus proclaimed the
"good news" (Middle English:
gospel;
Greek:
euangelion, ευαγγελιον) that the coming
Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, and
established the Christian Church, which is the seed of the kingdom,
into which Christ calls the poor in spirit. Jesus' actions at the
Last Supper, where he instituted the
Eucharist, are understood as central to
worship and communion with God. They profess that Jesus suffered
death by crucifixion,
descended into
hell , and rose bodily from the dead in the definitive
miracle that foreshadows the
resurrection of humanity at the end
of time, when
Christ will come again
to
judge the living and the dead,
resulting in election to
Heaven or damnation
to
Hell.
Christians predominantly profess that through his life, death, and
resurrection, Jesus restored man's communion with God in the blood
of the
New Covenant. His death on a
cross is understood as the redemptive sacrifice: the source of
humanity's
salvation and the
atonement for sin, which had entered human history
through
the sin of Adam.
Other views
Other groups hold different views concerning Jesus' divinity and
humanity.
Nestorianism teaches that
Jesus was two persons, rather than one, rejecting the unity of
Jesus' natures, whereas
Monophysitism
teaches that Jesus had one nature, rather than two. Neither of
these views differ concerning the other points.
Docetism, conversely, teaches that Jesus' humanity
was merely an illusion, and instead he is understood as purely
divine. This view does not teach the incarnation or the mortal
death of Jesus by crucifixion, and understands the resurrection in
significantly different terms.
Non-trinitarianism does not define
God in terms of three divine persons. Some of these groups teach
that Jesus is not, or at least was not always, God. Others see
Jesus as God, but not distinct from the Father or Spirit, often
describing those as merely changes in appearance, or modes of
existence.
Mormons
consider Jesus to be a separate being, united as one with the
Father and Spirit only in purpose.
Some
Liberal Christians
generally consider Jesus to have been an ordinary man only. They
generally believe that miraculous and prophetic events in Jesus'
life were not historical. They sometimes find a metaphorical
meaning in what they consider fictitious accounts of his life.
Jesus' relationship with God is described in widely diverse views
within this group.
Sources used
Illuminated manuscript of the Gospels
c.
Christian views of Jesus are derived from various sources, but
especially from the canonical Gospels. Christians predominantly
hold that these works are historically true.Christians do not limit
themselves to merely historical methods, but because they believe
the Bible is inspired by God, they employ religious methods as
well, such as
typology and other
forms of
exegesis. Similarly, they follow
the theological insights, concerning Jesus, of the New Testament
epistles.
The Roman Catholic view is expressed in the Second Vatican council
document,
Dei Verbum:
Holy Mother Church has firmly and with absolute
constancy held, and continues to hold, that the four Gospels just
named, whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly
asserts, faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among
men, really did and taught….
The sacred authors wrote the four Gospels, selecting
some things from the many which had been handed on by word of mouth
or in writing, reducing some of them to a synthesis, explaining
some things in view of the situation of their churches and
preserving the form of proclamation but always in such fashion that
they told us the honest truth about Jesus.
Furthermore, Catholic and Orthodox Christians develop their views
of Jesus from
Sacred Tradition,
which includes the decrees of
Ecumenical Council, and material from the
writings of the
Church Fathers.
Additionally, a prominent place is given for the teachings of
certain theologians, called "
Doctors of the Church," known for their
orthodoxy, eminent learning, and sanctity. Most Protestant
Christians also consider these sources valuable in developing their
views of Jesus.
Some ancient texts, known as
apocrypha or
"secret writing," filled in the silence of the New Testament
writings and the Apostolic Fathers on certain matters with often
fantastic and picturesque accounts. Other texts had more doctrinal
aims, some of which presented teachings condemned by the early
Church. Concerning Christian use of these texts for developing
views of Jesus, in antiquity
Origen expressed
the position still predominantly held by Christians today:
We are not unaware that many of these secret writings
were produced by wicked men, famous for their
iniquity….
We must therefore use caution in accepting all these
secret writings that circulate under the name of saints...… because
some of them were written to destroy the truth of our Scripture and
to impose a false teaching.
On the other hand, we should not totally reject
writings that might be useful in shedding light on the
Scripture.
It is a sign of a great man to hear and carry out the
advice of Scripture: "Test everything; retain what is
good."
Some of these texts were didactic works expressing the theology of
unorthodox groups, and obviously these groups held a converse view
of their writings than that of Origen and orthodoxy. Thus, in
antiquity, variant groups at times employed these apocryphal works
in developing their view of Jesus, and though they vanished at a
given historical point, modern reconstructionist movements often
reemploy these texts in developing their views of Jesus. Notable
groups include
Gnosticism, and that of
the
Ebionites.
Christology
Christology is the part of theology that deals with the person and
natures of Jesus Christ. This includes doctrinal articulation of
his divine and human natures, especially insofar as it relates to
God's communion with humanity.
The Gospel of John calls Jesus the
Logos. How does that
relate to the person and natures of Jesus Christ? New Testament
Scholar
Frank Stagg sorts
it out this way:
Hypostatic Union
Hypostatic union is a theological term that expresses that Christ
is one person (
prosopon) who subsists in two natures (
physeis) human and divine. This is therefore related to
the doctrine of the Incarnation. The term "hypostasis" ( ) means
literally "that which lies beneath," and is also referred to as the
mystical union. More simply, the doctrine states that
Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. Included in this is the
doctrine of Dythelitism, i.e., that Christ has two wills, which
always act in union. These doctrines were pronounced by the
Ecumenical Councils of Ephesus, Chalcedon, and
Constantinople.
The term "hypostasis" was used by some Greek philosophers to
distinguish reality from appearances, and, before its theological
employment by the Council of Nicaea, it was synonymous with
"substance" or "being" (
ousia). The subtle theological
distinction was fully expressed by the Council of Chalcedon, which
declared that the one substance and one person of Christ was in two
natures, each perfectly united yet with each retaining its own
properties (
eis en prosopon kai mian hpostasin).
Groups that reject either the divinity or humanity of Jesus
obviously do not hold the doctrine of hypostatic union. However,
some groups that believe Jesus is both man and God employ different
teachings to explain this relationship. Nestorianism holds that
Christ not only has two natures, but that he is two physical
persons united morally, but not physically, by means of grace.
Monophysitism holds that Jesus has only one nature: either his
human nature is wholly absorbed by the divine, or the converse, or
that the two are mixed such that a third nature results, which
supersedes its constituent human and divine components.
Monothelitism holds that though Christ has two natures, he only has
one will. Many of these views found renewed forms in Western
Christianity at the time of the Reformation, especially among
Adoptionists, Socinians, and Ubiquitarians.
Trinity
The Trinity is the doctrine that in the unity of the One God, there
are three divine persons: the Father, Son, and Spirit, distinct
from one another yet of one substance. The three persons are
co-eternal and uncreated: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and
the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one
God." Jesus is understood by Trinitarian Christians to be the
person of the Son, eternally begotten by the Father, who came upon
earth to deliver to the world.
Such language appears in , "Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit." This was incorporated into baptismal
formulae, which also invoked a renunciation of Satan, contrasting
the initiate's belief in the One God with the idolatry of
polytheistic paganism. This language also appears in early
doxologies ( ; ; ). The doctrine found full articulation with the
Council of Nicaea.
The only Son of God
According to the predominant Christian interpretation, the title
"Son of God" is understood as an expression of Jesus' divinity,
specifically his unique divine sonship as the Second Person of the
Trinity.
The title is applied often in the Gospels, notably at the Baptism
and the Transfiguration ( , ). Also significant is the confession
of Peter: "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God" ( ).
Jesus applies the title "the only Son of God" to himself in and .
John's gospel uses the title as a
short formula for expressing his divinity: "We have beheld his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and
truth" ( ).
This view is held by virtually all Christians, even most
non-Trinitarians, though obviously not by those groups which do not
believe that Jesus was divine. These groups, especially Liberal
Christians, generally do not accept the theology of the canonical
epistles, and reject the historicity of the specific events in the
Gospels. Thus, because in the Old Testament the title "a son of
God" was given to various creatures (e.g., angels, the children of
Israel, Jewish kings, and specifically the promised Messiah), they
understand it as nothing more than belief in Jesus' Messiahship, if
that.
Christianity was developed in the....
Non-Trinitarians
In antiquity, sporadically in the Middle Ages, and again following
the Reformation until today, differing views existed concerning the
Godhead from those of Trinitarians and the related traditional
Christology. Though diverse, these views
may be generally classified into those which hold Christ to be only
divine and not differing from the Father
hypostatically, and those which
hold Christ to be less fully God than the Father, in the most
extreme form being a mere human prophet. Ancient examples include
the
Gnostics (syncretistic religious
movement), most of whom were for the divine and not human redeemer,
generally disbelieving the reality of Christ's human flesh. An
example of the opposite view, the
Arians
considered Jesus a creature and thus substantially different from
the Father.
- Present day views that Jesus is a created being include those
of Jehovah's Witnesses.
- Unitarians, descendants of
Reformation era Socinians, view Jesus as
never more than human.
- Some Quakers deny
the divinity of Jesus. According to author John Punshon, Quakers
have never formally adopted the "Trinity."
- Latter-day
Saints accept the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
as separate and distinct divine personages and believe that they
have the common purpose of salvation and eternal life for
mankind.
- Modalists, such as Oneness Pentecostal, regard God as a
single person, with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit considered
modes or roles by which the unipersonal God expresses himself.
Humanity
Christians predominantly profess that Jesus assumed his humanity
with the Incarnation. Thus, being fully human, he possessed a human
soul, with its operations of intellect and will, and a human body.
In his human nature, Jesus had limited human knowledge, exercised
in the historical conditions of his existence, and increased
through from experience. Yet this human wisdom is understood as
perfectly united with his divine omnipotence, thus Jesus enjoyed in
his human knowledge the fullness of understanding of the eternal
plans he had come to reveal. The Council of Constantinople
professed that Jesus possesses two wills and two natural
operations, divine and human, and his human will submits to his
divine will.
Life
The ministry and message of Jesus
Jesus taught love for God as the foremost responsibility of man and
that this love would be demonstrated by obedience to the words of
Jesus . Some Christians believe his message to have been that
universal love is a direct fulfilling
of God's will, rather than observing the laws which were contained
in the
Hebrew Bible, see also
Law and Gospel. Others believe that the
Gospel message was not revealed to the disciples until after Jesus'
resurrection from the dead and that people may obtain salvation
through the
substitutionary
atonement of
Jesus Christ; these
Christians believe that this salvation can be obtained through
faith in the atoning sacrifice of
resurrection of Jesus from the
dead.
Very often, Jesus hid the specificity of his messages through the
use of
parables. When asked privately by his
disciples why he spoke in parables, Jesus told them in that it was
so those who were not his disciples would not understand. Some
Christians believe that this was an act of mercy, because they
believe sin and judgment increase with knowledge; by hiding this
knowledge in parables, the ignorant remain less sinful.
The early fathers of the church further expanded on his message,
and much of the rest of the New Testament is concerned with the
meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection with the associated
responsibilities of Christian life, along with prophetic
revelations that show future circumstances and the final outcome of
the current age (i.e., and The Revelation of John). One idea that
has remained constant throughout Christian theology is the idea
that humanity was redeemed, saved, or given an opportunity to come
to salvation through faith in Jesus' divinity "Jesus died for our
sins" is a common Christian
aphorism.
While faith in Jesus' divinity and resurrection is sufficient for
salvation within most Christian doctrine (
John
3:16), good works are certainly expected as evidence of the
convert's salvation ( ). says Christians are expected to show their
faith by their works. asks the reader to "strengthen the things
which remain, that are ready to die," implying that failure to
produce good works might lead to a loss of rewards at the
believers' judgment. claims that Jesus' life is an example or role
model for followers. In Jesus states that followers who believe in
him can do the works that he does and even "greater works." This
last scripture has provoked much debate on the role of miracles and
healing in current times. See also
Antinomianism.
However, the idea of "salvation" has been interpreted in many ways,
and a wide spectrum of Christian viewpoints exist and have existed
throughout history up to the present day.
Some especially notable events in the ministry of Jesus, recounted
in the Gospels, include:
- When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment in
the Mosaic Law, Jesus answered:
"The most important one... is this:... 'Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and
with all your strength.'" , echoing , the Shema), and then he said, "The second is this: 'Love
your neighbor as yourself'" ( , the Great Commandment).
- Jesus asked his disciples: "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son
of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father
in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven" ( ).
- Seeing
merchants doing
money-changing at the Temple in Jerusalem
, he used a whip to drive out all the animals being
bought and sold by the merchants, released the doves, and
overturned the tables to scatter the money-changers' coins, saying
to those who sold the doves, "Get these out of here! How
dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" ( ).
- On the day before Passover started, now
referred to as Good Friday, Jesus shared
a Passover meal with his disciples —
the Last Supper. During the meal, he
gave bread to his disciples, saying, "Take it and eat. This is my
body," and then gave them a cup of wine, saying, "Drink from this,
all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured
out for many for the forgiveness of sins" ( ). Many Christian
denominations take this as the institution of the sacrament of
Communion or the Eucharist.
Crucifixion interpretations
While hanging on the cross, the
Gospel of
Mark has Jesus asking, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" Many readers find this theologically perplexing, believing
that God left him to die on the cross. According to a common
interpretation of the scriptures,
God the
Father was turning away from Jesus at this time because he was
suffering in the place of sinners. Others recognise this as an
exact quotation of the first verse of , a common way at the time to
refer to an entire Psalm. That Psalm begins with cries of despair,
but ends on a note of hope and trust in God's triumph and
deliverance. It also contains several details that have been taken
to apply to Jesus' crucifixion, such as the soldiers
casting lots for Jesus' garments and leaving
his bones unbroken. Still, others of a long-held tradition see
Jesus' words as the ultimate climax of Jesus' entering into the
human condition; his exclamation here evinces his full experience
and solidarity with humanity, even the experience of alienation
from God. Yet, others consider "why hast thou forsaken me" to be a
mistranslation of the original
Aramaic: they argue that a better
translation is "for this I was kept" or "why hast thou let me to
live?." Jesus' final words as recorded in were "Father, into your
hands I commit my spirit."
describes Jesus' final words as "It is finished" upon his death. Also, the account in John does not mention Jesus asking for the "bitter cup" to be taken away from him while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before (eventually ending his prayer with the words, "nevertheless not my will, but thine be done"), but rather skips this and proceeds directly to Jesus' acceptance of God's will, expounding upon his attitude of surrender ( ). Although, it does include his praying to God to watch over his followers.
Resurrection, Ascension, and Second Coming
According to the
New Testament, he
was raised from the dead by
God on the third day following his crucifixion and appeared to
his disciples; the
Acts of the
Apostles reports that forty days later he ascended bodily into
Heaven and retains since then both of his
natures,
divine and human.
Paul's letters to the
Romans,
Ephesians and
Colossians, as well as the letter
to the
Hebrews (traditionally
attributed to Paul) claim that Jesus presently exercises all
authority in heaven and on earth for the sake of the Church, until
all of the earth is made subject to his rule through the preaching
of the Gospel, see also the
Great
Commission. Based on the
New
Testament, Most Christians believe that
Jesus will return from heaven at the end of
the age, to
judge the living and the
dead, and fulfill the rest of
Messianic prophecy.
Miracles performed
Miracles performed by Jesus, according to the Gospels, include:
- Appearing to Peter, James, and John in a transfigured state, with unearthly,
brilliant white clothes, and with Elijah and
Moses.
- Curing a lame man, a man with a virulent skin disease, a
paralyzed man.
- Curing a sick child who was near death.
- Feeding a crowd of five thousand using only fives loaves of
bread and two fish.
- Giving sight to a man born blind.
- Resurrected three days after he died.
- Resurrecting a man (Lazarus) who had
been dead for four days.
- Turning water into wine for a wedding feast.
- Walking on water to reach his disciples who were in a boat (and
enabling Peter to walk on water, also).
Quotations
Well-known quotations attributed to Jesus in the Gospels include:
- "I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the
Father except through me." or "I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life; no one comes to the Father except through me." ( ) This is
the most frequently referenced verse attributed to Jesus.
- The Beatitudes ( )
- The Lord's Prayer ( )
- "No one can be the slave of two masters... You cannot be the
slave of both God and mammon [i.e., material
possessions, wealth, money]." ( ) (Discourse on ostentation)
- "Do not judge, and you
will not be judged." ( )
- "Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in
front of pigs..." ( )
- "Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find."
( )
- "Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to
destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it." ( )
- "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth:
it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword... A person's
enemies will be the members of his own household." ( )
- "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." (the Sole Satisfier —
)
- "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven." ( )
- "Render unto Caesar what
belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God." ( )
- "The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak." (
)
- "Love your enemies, do good to those who treat you badly. To
anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as
well." ( )
- "Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and
never notice the great log in your own?" ( )
- "I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be
walking in the dark, but will have the light of life." ( )
- "Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give to you, a peace
the world cannot give, this is my gift to you." ( )
Legacy
According to most Christian interpretations of the
Bible, the theme of Jesus' preaching was that of
repentance,
faith
and
love, as demonstrated in , , and . (See
also
Shema Yisrael).
During his public
ministry, Jesus extensively trained twelve Apostles to continue after his
departure his leadership of the many who had begun to follow him,
mainly in the towns and villages throughout Galilee, Samaria
, Tiberias
and the
Decapolis. Most Christians who hold
that Jesus' miracles were literally true, not allegory, think the
Apostles gained the power to perform miracles and heal both
Jews and
Gentiles alike
after they had been empowered by the
Holy
Spirit of Truth (
to pneuma tēs alētheias, το πνευμα τες
αλεθειας , ; , , ). Some Christians, citing , believe that
these supernatural powers are given to all believers. According to
, these claims were fulfilled at
Pentecost, poignantly the Jewish feast that in
addition to other Scriptural events, commemorates also the giving
of the
Law to
Moses. For
Christians the legacy Jesus left was one of
sacrifice and
redemption; they believe that Jesus
is the Son of God.
See also
References
- Oxford Companion to the Bible p.649
- J. E. L. Newbigin, The Gospel In a Pluralist Society.
(London: SPCK, 1989), p.66.
- , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
- , , , , , , , , , , , ,
- Apostle's Creed; Nicene Creed; Catechism
of the Catholic Church §441–451; Augsburg Confession,
article 3; Luther, Small Catechism commentary on
Apostle's Creed
- Augsburg Confession, article 3;
- Nicene Creed; Thirty Nine Articles of the Church
of England, article 1; Augsburg Confession, article
1; Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 3; Council of
Nicaea I (325) in Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion
Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et
morum (1965) §126; Council of Constantinople II (553) in ibid.
§424 and 424; Council of Ephesus in ibid. §255; ; ;
- Catechism of the Catholic Church §464–469; Thirty
Six Articles of the Church of England, article 2 and 3
Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 9; Council of Ephesus
(431) in Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum,
definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum (1965)
§250; Council of Ephesus in ibid. §251; Council of Chalcedon (451)
in ibid. §301 and 302;
- Apostle's Creed; Nicene Creed; Catechism
of the Catholic Church §461–463;Thirty Nine Articles of
the Church of England, article 2; Luther, Small
Catechism commentary on Apostle's Creed; ;
- Catechism of the Catholic Church §456–460; Gregory of
Nyssa, Orat. catech. 15 in Patrologia Graeca ed.
J. P.
Migne(Paris, 1857–1866) 45, 48B; St. Irenaeus,
Adversus
Haereses 3.19.1 in ibid. 7/1, 939; St. Athanasius, De
inc., 54.3 in ibid. 25, 192B. St. Thomas Aquinas,
Opusc. in ibid. 57: 1–4;
- Apostle's Creed; Nicene Creed; Catechism
of the Catholic Church §484–489, 494–507; Luther, Small
Catechism commentary on Apostle's Creed
- Catechism of the Catholic Church §436–40; Thirty
Nine Articles of the Church of England, article 2; Irenaeus
Adversus Haereses in Patrologia Graeca ed. J. P.
Migne (Paris, 1857–1866) 7/1, 93; ;
- Catechism of the Catholic Church §541–546
- Apostle's Creed; Catechism of the Catholic
Church §551–553; Augsburg Confession, article 8;
Luther, Small Catechism commentary on Apostle's
Creed; Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 9; Leo the
Great, Sermo 4.3 in Patrologia Latina ed. J. P.
Migne (Paris, 1841–1855);
- Catechism of the Catholic Church §1322–1419; Luther,
Augsburg Confession, article 10; Small Catechism: the
Sacrament of the Altar
- Apostle's Creed; Nicene Creed; Luther,
Small Catechism commentary on Apostle's Creed;
Second Helvetic Confession, chapter 9
- Apostle's Creed; Catechism of the Catholic
Church §632–635; Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of
England, article 3; Augsburg Confession, article 3;
Council of Rome (745) in Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion
Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et
morum (1965) §587; Benedict XII, Cum dudum (1341) in
ibid. §1011; Clement VI, Super quibusdam (1351) in ibid.
§1077; Council of Toledo IV (625) in ibid. §485;
- Catechism of the Catholic Church §638–655; Byzantine
Liturgy, Troparion of Easter; Thirty Nine Articles of
the Church of England, article 4 and 17; Augsburg
Confession, article 3; Second Helvetic Confession,
chapter 9; See also, apologetics.com and worldinvisible.com.
- Apostle's Creed; Nicene Creed Catechism of the
Catholic Church §668–675, 678–679; Luther, Small
Catechism commentary on Apostle's Creed;
- Catechism of the Catholic Church §606–618; Council of
Trent (1547) in Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum,
definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum (1965)
§1529;
- Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England, article
9; Augsburg Confession, article 2; Second Helvetic
Confession, chapter 8; ; .
- Nestorius and Nestorianism
- from The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition,
2007
- What Liberal Protestants Believe
- Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum (V.19); Thomas Aquinas,
[http://www.newadvent.org/summa/100110.htm Whether in Holy
Scripture a word may have several senses?; c.f. Catechism
of the Catholic Church, §116; R.C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture pp.
45–61; Greg Bahnsen, A
Reformed Confession Regarding Hermeneutics (art. 6); Scott
Foutz, Martin Luther and Scripture
- Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum (V.19)
- Origen, In Matthew 28; Patrologiae cursus completus, Series
Graeca (Paris: Migne, 1857–1866) 13, 1637; scriptural quote is
.
- Aristotle, "Mund.," IV, 21
- Denzinger, ed. Bannwart, 148
- Athanasian Creed
- cf. Tertullian, De spect. iv; Justin Martyr,
Apologia I, iv; Hippolytus, Serm. in Theoph n.
10
- cf 1 Clement 58, 59; Justin Martyr, Apologia I,
lxvii
- cf. Deut 14:1; (LXX) 32:8; Job 1:6; Ex 4:22; Hos 2:1; 11:1; Jer
3:19; Sir 36:11; Wis 18:13; 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 82:6.
- Chadwick, East and West p. 5;
earlychristianwritings.com, Gnostics, Gnostic Gospels, & Gnosticism;
J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines pp. 22–28.
- J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines pp. 226–231;
other similar ancient views include Adoptionists, ibid. pp. 115–119
- Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, accessdate What Does the Bible Say About God and
Jesus?
- On Unitarians, see: UUA.org, Unitarian Views of Jesus; on
connection with Socinianism, see: sullivan-county.com, Socinianism: Unitarianism in 16th-17th century
Poland and Its Influence (Note that the icon at the top of
the page expresses Trinitarian theology with a symbolic hand
gesture); on this matter they parallel the ancient Ebionites, see: J.N.D. Kelly,
Early Christian Doctrines pp. 139
- Edward B. Bronner (1967), Quakerism and Christianity,
Pendle Hill Pamphlet #152, pp. 10-12. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill
Publications
- Punshon, John. "Portrait in Grey: A Short History of the
Quakers." Quaker Books, 1984. ISBN 0852451806
- William Arnold, Is Jesus God the Father?; in this way they
parallel ancient Sabellians, see: J.N.D. Kelly, Early
Christian Doctrines pp. 119–123; Robert Letham, The Holy
Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship pp.
97–98
- CCC 474 cf. Mk 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34; 14:18–20, 26–30
- Council of Constantinople III (681): DS 556–559
- Top Verses Bible jesus
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