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christ church quotes

Early Church On Jesus’ Deity

Right up front, some of these guys are making a good point. To read the text through the lens of later theological developments winds up ignoring what the text is actually saying. So in some sense, they are (at least on the surface level) trying to be faithful to the reading of the text as it stands.

But some of them go further:  the text, they conclude, doesn’t contain any of those things that later theologians noticed. Some are quick to add some note about the importance of tradition but they do so to point out what they see as a deficiency in relying on Scripture as ones ultimate guide.

In so doing they suggest, without being explicit, that these doctrines originated in a vacuum filled only by necessity. A teaching arose, a response had to be formulated, a doctrine was created. But, it wasn’t Christ’s Deity ex nihilo and I think history proves that. The teaching arose and was recognized as aberrant exactly because there was something substantial already in place.

If you recall, the council of Nicaea was in 325 AD. But jumping solely to Nicaea leaves one ignoring years choc-full of declaring Christ as the Divine God.

So here’s a sampling of early church writings I’ve found that underscored the understanding that Christ is God.

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christ quotes

Jesus, God and the Gospel of Men

The idea reads something like this: obviously, the Church at Nicaea believed Jesus was the Son of God in terms of deity, but the authors of the Bible didn’t think in that category. They believed Jesus to be Son of God in terms of Israel’s King. Theology progressed—that is unsurprising; but first and foremost the Gospel is a presentation of Jesus as Israel’s King.

Here’s a few quotes that bear markings of the proposition above. Some outright deny the claim that Jesus is God and should not be taken as representative of Christianity.

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rey's a point

Tweet Blog 1: Man Shouting

Reality resounds and remains by God’s say so; yet, like drunks dancing on thin ice, Men are the only creatures who presume to drown out His Divine utterances with their incoherent babble.

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godhead spirit

The Holy Spirit

Every Christian knows about the Holy Spirit. He’s the guy who helps you preach, right? Or maybe, he’s the guy that wakes you up at night so you can feel lousy about the Cheesecake you had during your promised fasting period? Or is he the guy who teaches you how to pray? Every Christian really knows who the Holy Spirit is, right?

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godhead

Theolo-Lunch: Trinitarianism and the Imago Dei

In the past I’ve had wrestling matches with illustrations or analogies that would help understand the Tri-unity. All of the illustrations seemed to have a major flaw and it’s understandable that a finite metaphor breaks down when it comes to God. I’ll need your help in finding out at what point this illustration comes apart from reality.