Christ on the throne
By Michael Bell
The deity of Christ is one of the most important elements of the Christian faith, and one of the foundational points for all of the creeds. Yet ask the average Christian in the pew how they support it from Scripture, or how the theology developed, and most would be hard pressed to give an answer.
This is the topic that I have spent more time on than any other over the last twenty years. I had been challenged on the topic when I was quite young, and as a result it was one of the primary reasons that I went to seminary. I really wanted to understand some of the biblical and language arguments that were being used both for and against the deity of Christ.
What will follow will be several short posts, on what I feel are some of the best arguments for the deity of Christ. As far as comments go, I will allow further support and challenges to what I have written on individual passages. I would ask that while the series is unfolding, that people focus their comments on the scripture texts in question. At the end of the series I will allow for a more general free for all. Also, I will keep most of the posts at an introductory level so that they are understandable for a wide audience. If anyone wishes to put forward Hebrew or Greek arguments, I would be happy to debate them in the comments section of each post.
Update: It is very difficult (if not outright wrong) to put God into a box. It is impossible to describe the infinite in finite terms. Human words simply can not do justice to the task of describing the infinite God. So understand that I am not trying to delineate the edges of the box, rather it is my attempt to say, “Here is what we do know about the deity of Christ. Please understand that our knowledge is imperfect, and our understanding of the topic is imperfect, but we present it as best we can so as to improve your knowledge and understanding.”
This page will serve as the index page for the series. When a post is complete, it’s link will be below. The posts will follow in the following order:
- Only One God
- Jesus is not the Father
- The Image of God
- The Glory of God
- The Word of God
- The Word was God
- Confessed as God
- Worthy of worship
- God the Creator
- The Name of God
- Jesus the Saviour
- The forgiveness of sins
- The preexistence of Jesus
- Our reason for being
- The First and the Last
- Prophecies concerning his birth
- Testimony of the Church Fathers.
- Concluding discussion.
Some of the arguments you will find compelling, others less so. But I believe that taken as a whole they will provide compelling evidence that the Bible teaches, and the early church believed that Jesus Christ was God. You may also find some arguments missing that you had previously heard. That is probably because I did not find them that compelling. I would be interested in what you have to say about them when we reach the end of the series.
One final note. I recognize that I am only telling half the story here. That Christ is recognized the the Church as fully God and fully man. I am not so nearly well equipped to tell the second half of the story, the humanity of Christ. It will have be told at another place or time.
I will be posting usually every two days, so the whole series will take about a month to unfold. I hope you find it of value.
Michael Bell
Joshua Hearne
Tim Melton
Joel Black
Sounds good, Mike. You might consider posting these on Theologica as well, as there are always a few non-Trinitarians who see that Jesus became divine and became the Son of God, but was not always such. Just a thought.
[...] About Eclectic Christian ← Reflections on the Deity of Christ - Introduction [...]
[...] This is Part 2, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
I have been challenged on the Deity of Christ a few times through out the years. Thank you for posting these articles.
[...] This is Part 3, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
[...] This is Part 4, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
[...] This is Part 5, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
[...] This is Part 6, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
[...] This is Part 7, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
[...] This is Part 8, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
[...] This is Part 11, of a multi-part series looking at the deity of Christ. Here are the links to the Introduction and Table of Contents. [...]
[...] Eclectic Christian by Mike Bell. Mike lives in southern Ontario and also contributes over at Internet Monk. Check out his multi-part reflection on the Deity of Christ. [...]