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Christological
Definitions,
The five primary Christological models. |
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| Evangelion |
| Posted:
Dec 28 2002, 06:23 AM |
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Archived
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Trinitarianism:
God is one being Who consists of three persons (Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit), each of whom must be recognised
individually as "Lord and God."
• Arianism:
God is one being Who consists of one person (the
Father.) Beside him there exists a second being
(Jesus), who was created by God, and through whom
He created the world. Jesus is not God - nor is
he "another God" - but rather, a form of super-angel.
• Modalism:
Ancient Modalism.
God is one being Who consists of one person (the
Father), but reveals Himself to the world as if
He is actually more than one person. During the
Old Testament times, he revealed Himself as the
Father; during His ministry on Earth, He revealed
Himself as the Son; after Christ's ascension,
He revealed Himself as the Holy Spirit, dwelling
in all true believers.
Modern Modalism.
God is one being Who consists of one person (Jesus),
but uses different titles (Father, Son, Holy spirit)
to describe various aspects of His work with His
creation. (The modern form of Modalism is commonly
known as "Oneness Theology.") Both forms of Modalism
are Monarchian, because they defend the concept
of God as a single Divine person.
Adoptionism:
As Defined by Elipandus and Felix (8th Century.)
From the Catholic Encyclopaedia:
This, the original form of Adoptionism, asserts
a double sonship in Christ: one by generation
and nature, and the other by adoption and grace.
Christ as God is indeed the Son of God by generation
and nature, but Christ as man is Son of God only
by adoption and grace. Hence "The Man Christ"
is the adoptive and not the natural Son of God.
Adoptionism is also known (erroneously, according
to the Catholic Encyclopaedia) as Dynamic
Monarchianism. Some Adoptionists believed that the
Son was a mortal man who was later absorbed into
the Godhead and became God himself; others believed
that he was merely exalted to a divine state above
the angels. Both believed that Jesus did not
become the Son until his baptism - a teaching
that Christadelphians categorically reject.
As Defined by Abelard (12th Century.)
From the Catholic Encyclopaedia:
Abelard began to question the truth of such
expressions as "Christ is God"; "Christ is man".
Back of what might seem a mere logomachy there
is really, in Abelard's mind, a fundamental
error. He understood the hypostatical union as
a fusion of two natures, the divine and the human.
And lest that fusion become a confusion, he made
the sacred Humanity the external habit and adventitious
instrument of the Word only, and thus denied the
substantial reality of "The Man Christ" -- "Christus
ut homo non est aliquid sed dici potest alicuius
modi." It is self-evident that in such a theory
the Man Christ could not be called the true Son
of God.
As Defined by Later Theologians.
From the Catholic Encyclopaedia:
The formulas "natural Son of God", "adopted
Son of God" were again subjected to a close analysis
by such theologians as Duns Scotus (1300); Durandus
a S. Portiano (1320); Vasquez (1604); Suarez (1617).
They all admitted the doctrine of Frankfort, and
confessed that Jesus as man was the natural and
not merely the adoptive Son of God.
But besides that natural sonship resting upon
the hypostatical union, they thought there was
room for a second filiation, resting on grace,
the grace of union (gratia unionis). They did
not agree, however, in qualifying that second
filiation. Some called it adoptive, because of
its analogy with our supernatural adoption. Others,
fearing lest the implication of the word adoption
might make Jesus a stranger to, and alien from
God, preferred to call it natural.
Unitarianism:
Biblical Unitarianism - as Defined by Judaism.
God is one being Who consists of one person -
the Father. The Messiah is the Son of God, but
not God Himself, nor even a pre-existent being.
Biblical Unitarianism - as Defined by the
1st Century Christians.
God is one being Who consists of one person -
the Father. Jesus Christ is the Son of God; a
mortal man (who did not exist before his conception
and subsequent birth), conceived by the Holy Spirit,
who later received immortality and divine nature.
Even now he is still not God, but rather, an exalted
man.
Thus, in the words of the apostle Peter,
God hath made
the same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord
and Christ.
Also,
...Jesus of Nazareth, a
man approved of God
among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as
ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up.
And again, in the words of the apostle Paul,
For there is one God, and one mediator between
God and men, the
man Christ Jesus...
Biblical Unitarians are distinguished from Rationalist
Unitarians by their strict adherence to Sola
Scriptura and their belief that Scripture
is both inspired and inerrant. Christadelphians
are Biblical Unitarians.
Rationalist Unitarianism.
God is one being Who consists of one person -
the Father. Jesus is not the Son of God, but merely
a "good and wise man" who taught others how to
lead a better life. Rationalist Unitarianism emerged
from the German Rationalism of the 19th Century.
Its proponents took a highly intellectual approach
to religion, rejecting most of the miraculous
events in the Bible (including the virgin birth.)
They embraced evolutionary concepts, asserted
the "inherent goodness of man", and abandoned
many principles of Christianity. James Martineau
(1805-85) was one of their most prominent members.
Universalist Unitarianism.
There is no formal creed or set of beliefs for
the UU Church, but it does possess three fundamental
doctrines which cannot be revoked: that God is
one being Who consists of one person (the Father),
that Jesus Christ is His Son, and that all humanity
will be reconciled to God, regardless of their
current beliefs.
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