Comparing The Jewish Confessions Of Jesus Of Nazareth

The Jewish confessions of Jesus as ‘Son of God’ and ‘Jesus is Lord’ are evidence that the early church believed that Jesus was in some way uniquely related to God. Yet it was difficult for them to comprehend how the human Jesus of Nazareth could be divinely related; how could both be possible in one person?

Ebionitism

Early Christology developed around the need to have a more concrete understanding of the person of Jesus. One Jewish sect believed Jesus to have been an ordinary human being, born the natural son of Mary and Joseph, who became the long-awaited Messiah at his baptism. This was considered a form of adoptionism; Jesus adopted by the Father. Possessing an ‘unusual but not superhuman or supernatural gift of righteousness and wisdom.’

Implying that Jesus was completely divine in nature and only appears under a cloak of humanity. Thus, his suffering and death were not real but only apparent and misleading. This underplaying of the humanity of Jesus has severe implications in terms of humanities salvation, for if Jesus was unable to fully experience the extremes of the human condition of sin, temptation and physical suffering then how was his death at Calvary able to atone on their behalf. Migliore writes in support of this; ‘If God in Christ is not present to us in the depths of our human finitude, misery and god forsakenness, then all that this person said and did cannot be a saving event for us.’ This explains why this teaching was considered heretical at

Arguing that if God is unchangeable, unique and unknowable, how could any no part of God’s substance can be joined to humanity. Therefore concluding that Jesus cannot be divine.

Arius (256–336 CE) was a priest in Alexandria, and taught this non-Trinitarian belief that Jesus was special, but not as divine as God. He taught that only God (the Father) was uncreated; as there was never a time when the Father did not exist, it was God who called everything in to being, including Jesus. The Arian concept was based on his interpretation of the teaching of Jesus from the Gospel of John 14:28, where Jesus said, ‘The Father is greater than I…’

This made Jesus a created being rather than one who was ‘unbegotten’ – only the Father was that. However, Arius emphasizes the Son is not like every other creature in that there is a distinction between the Son and other humans; he ‘outranks other creatures’

Arianism argues that God the Father exists outside of time and space, he has no beginning, so how can he be fully known and understood by those creatures who have a beginning – even Jesus, the Son. Jesus, because he existed as a creature among creatures, has no way of fully knowing the