Was a common first name for a Jewish man. Nine others of this name are known at the time. It was the Greek version of three common Hebrew names,
Joshua, Jehoshua and Jeshua. This was the name by which Jesus was known in his lifetime, and it occurs nearly 600 “ales in the Gospels. Its meaning was: ‘The Lord (Yahweh) is my help’ or ‘Yahweh rescues’. Later New Testament writers use the name rarely; only the writer to the Hebrews uses it much. It stresses Jesus‘ humanity, as the carpenter of Nazareth. Read more
Dangerous denials
Early in the fourth century. Arius taught that the Father alone was true God. This denial of Christ’s true deity was countered by councils of church leaders at Nicea (325) and Constantinople (381), and by great theologians such as Athanasius. The Nicene Creed was the product of these synods. At last the Church established that the Son was as fully divine as the Father. Like Irenaeus in the second century, Athanasius showed how the hope of salvation depended on Christ’s being true God as well as true man. The Christian could confidently trust Jesus Christ for salvation, because he was none other than God himself, ‘who became man for us men and for our salvation‘. No one less than God could restore us to fellowship with God. Read more
Jesus Christ is the heart of the Christian faith. What has the Christian church believed about Jesus down the centuries? Who was, who is Jesus Christ? Man, or God, or both? If he is both, how are his manhood and his ‘Godhood’, or divinity, related to each other?
These are questions about the person of Christ – who he is. As a subject of Christian belief it has traditionally been distinguished from the work of Christ-what he did and does for humanity as saviour and Lord. This article traces the development of Christian beliefs about the person of Christ. ‘Christ°logy’ is the name theologians use for this subject. Read more
