Notes by David Monyak. Last update September 17, 2000

A copy of these notes in the form of the handout passed out at the meeting can be downloaded from the Download Page.

I believe in Jesus Christ,

God's only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit

and born of the Virgin Mary.

The Apostles' Creed

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,

begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:  

by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

and was made man. 

The Nicene Creed

Topics

(Questions and topics from chapter 2 in Credo. The Apostles' Creed Explained for Today. Hans Küng. Doubleday. New York. 1992 and chapter 4 in Loving the Questions. An Exploration of the Nicene Creed. Marianne H. Micks. Cowley. Boston. 1993

1. Must we believe in a virgin birth? 

2. What is the meaning and purpose of the nativity stories?

3. What does "Son of God" mean in the Old and New Testaments? 

4. Early views of "Who Is Jesus?" The development of Classical Christology

What do you think of the Christ?

Matthew 22:42

Who do you say that I am?

Matthew 6:14

In theology, the study of "who is Jesus" is called Christology. We plan to do a future series on Christology. Christology is also discussed in the Survey of Theology 3: The Doctrine of the Person of Christ.

virgin birth -- more precisely, we mean virginal conception

in the Catholic Church "virgin birth" can refer to belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary

1.2. History

(from Owen Thomas, Introduction to Theology)

• found only in the birth stories of Matthew and Luke

• not in other parts of the New Testament, even when reference is made to Jesus' birth or incarnation

  • Galatians 4:4 "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law. . ." (NRSV)

  • Romans 1:3 ". . .the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh . . ." (NRSV)

  • Romans 8:3 "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin,  he condemned sin in the flesh. . ." (NRSV)

  • 2 Corinthians 8:9 "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich." (NRSV)

  • John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." (NRSV)

• Immanuel prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 speaks of a young woman (Hebrew alma) who will bear a son Immanuel = "Son with us". In the Greek translation this was mistranslated as parthenos = virgin

• formed no part of earliest Christian preaching

• not mentioned by any of the apostolic fathers except Ignatius

• after 150 A.D., affirmed by most Christians authors

• questioned in the 19th century with the new historical - critical approach to the Bible

(from Owen Thomas, Introduction to Theology; and Hans Kung, Credo)

Problems in believing the virginal conception literally:

• Virgin births are not exclusively Christian

  • in Greek-Hellenistic mythology, many stories of "sacred marriages" of the gods with the daughters of men

    • sons of God: Perseus, Heracles, Homer, Plato, Alexander, Augustus

  • significant differences from ancient narratives: no intercourse between god and human beings

• The medical problem: genetics: parthenogenesis (procreation by a duplication of the female genes) can produce only a female child

• only brief mention in the scripture (see above)

Kung:

• virginal birth not a biologic fact, but an "interpretation of reality by means of a primal symbol"

• tells us God acted uniquely in history in the conception of the man Jesus

• One can confess Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God without believing in a literal virgin birth.

• contradicts the doctrine of the incarnation. Rather than the eternal pre-existent Son of God assuming human nature, it paints a picture of the "conception" of the Son of God, the point at which the Son of God came into being.

• threatens the full humanity of Jesus (only one human X chromosome, one divine Y)

• hostile to the body, sex, and marriage

Barth: 

• miracle of the virginal conception is part of the mystery of the Incarnation (the union of full humanity and full divinity)

• "human nature is involved not as willing, achieving, creative, and sovereign only receptive"

(largely taken from Loving the Questions. An Exploration of the Nicene Creed. Marianne H. Micks)

The birth narratives are present only in Matthew and Luke and differ widely

Luke:

• annunciation by angel Gabriel

• shepherds watching over flock

• does not include:

  • the visit of the Magi

  • the massacre of the Innocents

  • the flight to Egypt

Matthew:

• annunciation to Joseph in a dream

• wise men (number not mentioned) follow the star from the East

The general consensus among scholars is that the birth narratives are more legend than fact.

Mythic thinking conveying truth in narrative form

(from Kung, Credo, page 45-47)

". . .the Christmas story, rightly understood, is anything but a harmlessly edifying or psychologically refined story of the dear child Jesus. All these biblical narratives are stories about Christ with a high degree of theological reflection, at the service of a proclamation with a very specific aim, which seeks to make clear in a way which is artistic, vivid and radically critical of society the significance of Jesus as the Messiah for the salvation of all the peoples of the earth"

-- Kung, Credo page 46-47

• There is no silent night, no gentle infant, so tender and bright. The manger, swaddling cloths are signs of lowliness and poverty

• the savior born in a manger is an option for those without name or power (the shepherds)

• Magnificat of Mary speaks of the:

  • humiliation of the mighty

  • the exaltation of the lowly

  • filling of the hungry

  • sending away empty of the rich

• lordship (Son of God, Saviour, Messiah, King) is given to the Child rather than to Emperor Augustus

• contrasts the "peace on earth" with the coming of the Messiah with the deceptive Pax Romana based on tyranny

Infancy stories are thus powerful theological overtures to the gospels of Matthew and Luke

Term often used in a broad sense, as "belonging to God" applied to: 

• people of Israel (Exodus 4:22) "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: Israel is my firstborn son." (NRSV)

• Davidic king (2 Samuel 7:14) "{Thus says the LORD of hosts:} . . .I will be a father to him {Davidic king}, and he shall be a son to me." (NRSV)

Jesus does not use the term to describe himself 

It is used by Paul and John, always in a special way in relationship to Jesus:

Paul uses "Son of God" it in a different way for Jesus versus believers

• for believers:

  • a sonship of adoption 

  • all believers enjoy inheritance rights, male and female 

• for Jesus:

  • God's own Son (Romans 8:3)

John: 

• "son" huios applied to Jesus 

• "children" tekna applied to believers

• From "Below"

  • emphasizes the humanity of Jesus or starts from the humanity of Jesus

  • also called an ascending Christology

  • also called an exultation Christology

  • perils of "from below":

    • in extreme can lead to adoptionism -- that God adopted the man Jesus at some point in this life, perhaps at baptism or at the resurrection.

• From "Above"

  • emphasizes the divinity of Jesus, or starts with the divinity of Jesus

  • also called a descending Christology

  • also called a metaphysical Christology

  • perils of "from above":

    • in extreme can lead to docetism (from Greek dokein to appear or seem) that Jesus only appeared to be human

Earliest Christologies were christologies of "coming from below", exultation christologies, an election and empowerment of Jesus, consistent with the meaning of "Son of God" in the Old Testament.

Romans 1:3-4 one of the oldest confessions of faith:

"the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh, and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. . ." (NRSV)

A Christology "coming from above" came soon afterwards in the gospel of John: the Word of God (the Logos of God) was made flesh

(largely taken from Loving the Questions. An Exploration of the Nicene Creed. Marianne H. Micks)

The tension between the humanity and divinity of Jesus is reflected in the Four Great Heresies over "who is Jesus" in the early centuries of the church: 

• 1. Arius 

• 2. Apollinaris 

• 3. Nestorius 

• 4. Eutyches

Dwelt with in four ecumenical councils: 

• Council of Nicea 325 C.E. 

• Council of Constantinople in 381 C.E. 

• Council of Ephesus in 431 C.E. 

• Council of Chalcedon 451 C.E.

Led to the "Classical Christology" formulation of Jesus as one person who was fully divine and fully human, a union of both divine and human natures. That is: 

• one person 

• two full natures (Dyophysitism, rather than Monophysitism)

  • divine 

  • human

This is the Chalcedonian Definition of the Union of the Divine and Human Natures in the Person of Christ" 451 C.E. (printed in the back of the Book of Common Prayer). Related term: doctrine of the hypostatic union = the union of the divine and human natures in Jesus Christ without confusion

4.4. Some Terminology

** from Owen Thomas. Introduction to Theology

Trinity:

• definition

  • three hypostasis in one ousia (Greek)

  • three persona in one substantia (Latin)

  • three person(a)s in one substance (English) 

• The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are homoousios

Chalcedonian Christology. 

• Jesus has:

  • one hypostasis, two physis (Greek)

  • one person(a), two natures (English)

• the two physis or natures (human and divine) are in a perfect union in which neither is confused with the other = hypostatic union

The second person of the trinity, the Logos or Word of God was not coeternal with the Father, but a lesser being created by God.

Jesus is thus greater than humanity, but less than God, an intermediary being, semi-divine and semi-human.

Chief opponent: Athanasius.

If Christ is fully God, can he also be fully human? 

Apollinaris said no, Jesus cannot be fully human.

Human beings have:

• physical body

• human animal soul

• human rational soul (nous = soul, mind, reason)

Jesus had a:

• human physical body

• human animal soul,

• not a human rational soul. Jesus' rational soul was the the mind of God

(Jesus was not fully human but only "two-thirds" human)

Apollinaris' proposal was deemed heretical at the council of Constantinople in 381 C.E.

Nestorius 

• objected to calling Mary theotokos "God bearer"

• preferred to call her "Christ-bearer"

As a result, he was accused of saying Jesus was two persons rather than one person, each person with its own nature:

• "Son of God" (Mary not involved) 

• "Son of Man" (the Son Mary gave birth to)

The two persons, the "Son of Man" and the "Son of God" or the Word were "linked" together in a perfect moral union

Dwelt with in the Council of Ephesus in 431 C.E.

Rather than: 

• one person 

• two natures 

  • human 

  • divine

Euryches said: Christ 

• one person, 

• one nature, a special human-divine nature 

Monophysitism = one nature rather than Dyophysitism, two natures

Dwelt with in the Council of Chalcedon 451 C.E. 

Christ one person, two natures joined in the one person without mixture or confusion (= the doctrine of the hypostatic union)

(Coptic and Armenian churches still teach one person, one nature)

quote from Owen Thomas, Introduction to Theology, p148:

"orthodox Christology does not attempt to explain the substance of Christology, that is, how the two natures are united in one person. It attempts to indicate where the mystery lies, so to speak, and to defend the mystery against the attempts to dissolved it into a neat formula which would distort it.

Orthodox Christology gives the only possible answers to the questions posed by the various heresies.

• Is Christ just an inspired man like the prophets. . . No Christ is of one substance with the Father. 

• Is Christ God masquerading as a human being? . . . No Christ is fully human, true humanity

• Is Christ linked to the Word of God in a perfect moral union. . . No, Christ is one person.

• Is Christ an intermediary being, semi-divine and semi-human?. . . No Christ is truly God and truly human."

• Relies on Terminology of Middle Platonist Philosophy

  • meaning of a "nature", in particular "human nature", "divine nature"; and ancient ideas of "body", "soul", are difficult to relate to modern ideas about the nature of personhood 

  • some of the ideas of Middle Platonist philosophy are clearly non-biblical

    • example: Greek ideas of deity static versus the Hebrew God of the Old Testament, who is:

      • passionate God 

      • capable of anger 

      • compassionate tenderness 

• Classical Christology does not reality explain, but defines the boundaries of the mystery

The mystery of Jesus as fully human and fully divine remains. The following sampling is perhaps best considered as attempts to explore, clarify, or better define facets of this mystery

(largely from John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology, p. 38-39)

In the Orthodox church, the reality of union of the divine and human "substances" in Jesus is critically important because of its emphasis on "deification". It was necessary for God to become fully human so we can someday become fully divine

Maximus the Confessor (580-662 A.D.), father of Byzantine theology:

• each human being carries a logos. Each human being is the image of the divine Logos

• the purpose of human nature is to acquire similitude with God. That is, the "natural" God-established "movement", "energy" or will of man is directed toward communion with God or "deification"

• through Christ's humanity, deified according to the hypostatic union with the Logos, all human beings have access to "deification"

"The central theme, or intuition, of Byzantine theology is that man's nature is not a static, "closed" autonomous entity, but a dynamic reality, determined in its very existence by its relationship to God. The relationship is seen as a process of ascent and as communion -- man, created in the image of God, is called to achieve freely a "divine similitude"; his relationship of God is both a givenness and a task, an immediate experience and an expectation of even greater vision to be accomplished in a free effort of love. The dynamism of Byzantine anthropology can easily be contrasted with the static categories of "nature" and "grace" which dominated the thought of post-Augustinian Western Christianity. . ."

- John Meyendorff, Byzantine Theology p.2

(from Alister McGrath Christian Theology. An Introduction)

Early 17th century debate:

Why did Jesus not make use of all his divine attributes while on earth? 

• used them in secret (krypsis) 

• abstained from using them at all (kenosis)

A more radical form of kenosis emerged in the 19th century:

• incarnation involves kenosis: the deliberate setting aside of all divine attributes, all privileges of divinity

• Jesus emptied himself, abandoned all divinity from birth to resurrection

• the second person of the Trinity reduced himself totally to a human level

(from Alister McGrath Christian Theology. An Introduction and Owen Thomas. Introduction to Theology)

The humanity in Jesus is perfect or essential humanity. Jesus is our only example of "perfect" humanity"

Paul Tillich:

• God's presence in Jesus symbolic, not substantial

• the perfect humanity in Jesus is in fact identical to the divinity in Jesus. 

  • to achieve perfect humanity is to achieve divinity, "eternal God-manhood"

• Jesus was the first example of a "New Being", the achievement of perfect humanity = divinity = "eternal God-manhood"

• becoming a "New Being", achieving "eternal God-manhood" is a possibility for all human beings

Serious problem with this Christology:

• the created cannot become identical with their Creator

  • therefore essential or perfect humanity can never be identical with the divinity of God

• Jesus the first New Being, the first eternal God-manhood is not God

  • (which Tillich would have admitted, for he felt God cannot appear under the conditions of existence, for God is the ground of being)

(from Owen Thomas. Introduction to Theology and Hans Kung, Credo)

Middle Platonist defined identity of Jesus with God in static categories of "substance" and "nature"

Some more modern Christologies have attempted to define the identity of Jesus with God in dynamical, functional terms

Kung:

In Jesus:

• God's word 

• God's will 

• God's love 

took on human form

So in everything Jesus did and said, he "manifested and revealed the word and will of the one God" (Kung)

the unity of Jesus with God: a unity of "throne" of knowledge, of will, of action. A unity of the revealing of God with and through Jesus

He who sees me sees the Father

John 14:9

"Jesus Christ is the goal of everything, and the centre to which everything tends. He who knows him knows the reason of all things."

- Blaise Pascal

". . . from the beginning Christ the incarnate Word was there in the counsels of God, and even his humanity, like the humanity of us all, was taking shape in the long ages of cosmic evolution. There is nothing in all this that offends reason, though it certainly goes beyond what reason can reach; and there is nothing in it either that would deny that the divine Word has manifested itself beyond the human life of Jesus, in nature, in history, in the non-Christian religions. But for the Christian he remains, as Pascal claimed, the centre of everything. This is the absolute paradox -- that this humble crucified man is also the eternal Word of God."

- John Macquarrie. Christology Revisited. Trinity Press International. Harrisburg, 1998. p. 114

References and Sources

Byzantine Theology. John Meyendorff. Fordham University Press. New York. 1979

Christian Theology. An Introduction. Second Edition. Alister E. McGrath. Blackwell Publishers. 1997.

Credo. The Apostles' Creed Explained for Today. Hans Küng. Doubleday. New York. 1992

Introduction to Theology. Revised Edition. Owen C. Thomas. Morehouse Publishing. Harrisburg. 1983

Loving the Questions. An Exploration of the Nicene Creed. Marianne H. Micks. Cowley. Boston. 1993

 

The Creed   1. God the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth 2. Jesus Christ, the Son of God 3. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus 4. The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus 5. The Holy Spirit, the Church, the Communion of Saints 6. The Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Life 7. Epilogue on the Creed: Father Joe's Perspectives and Answers to Questions