Humanity’s fall is not just a theological statement; human history and experience show us that the image has been defaced in us all. As Paul puts it, ‘We have all fallen short of God’s standard’. But does this mean that God’s image has never been seen in its fullness since the beginning? No, because Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God. That is the New Testament’s bold declaration. The task of his mission was to lead us back to God and to restore the image in us.
This is where the New Testament connects the study of Christ with the study of humankind. Because Jesus is both true likeness of God and perfect man, he is the promise of a renewed humanity. To be ‘in Christ‘ is to belong to a ‘new humanity‘, just as to be ‘in Adam’ is to belong to the old, sinful humanity. The apostle Paul wrote of the ‘new nature which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator’. As the ‘image of the invisible God‘, Jesus is the model of what men and women were created to be. Read more
Although the main evidence for the doctrine of the trinity is to be found in the New Testament, we need to start with the Old. We must never forget that the New Testament is based on the Old. No statement of belief is complete, unless it is seen within the context of the whole Bible, including the Old Testament.
When we study the Old Testament, one thing immediately stands out: the main emphasis is on the unity of God. The word used for ‘one’ is the ordinary Hebrew numeral. God is all on his own. He has no ‘relations’. As far as his Godhead is concerned he is alone, unique. This confession was utterly central for the Jew. It is said of Rabbi Akiba that in the hour of his execution he continued to repeat: ‘One, one, one . . . ‘ 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
