Christological Heresies
Chris Hefner
Docetism: Jesus only appeared to be a man
Ebionism: denied the Incarnation: only a man in whom God worked mightily
Arianism: God is unique; Jesus cannot be God; this heresy brought about the council of Nicea in 325
Appollinarianism: the Word became united with only a human body; restricted view of human nature
Nestorianism: Jesus Christ is made up of two distinct persons
Eutychianism: Jesus possessed only one nature; the human and divine existed before Incarnation but not after
Answer: Chalcedonian Creed Christ is “two natures, one person”
Schleiermacher: Jesus is a human with “god-consciousness”
Martin Kähler: dichotomy between the historical Jesus of Nazareth and the Christ of Scripture
Albert Schweitzer: Jesus was fueled by eschatalogical expectations and died unsuccessfully
Rudolph Bultmann: dichotomy between the historical Jesus of Nazareth and the “kerygmatic” Christ of faith
Walter Rauschenbusch: Jesus was a revolutionary leader of a social movement
John Hick: “that the historical Jesus of Nazareth was also God is as devoid of meaning as to say that this circle drawn with a pencil on paper is also a square.”
Jesus Seminar: “Eighty-two percent of the words ascribed to Jesus in the gospels were not actually spoken by him, according to the Jesus Seminar.”
Takeaways:
Christology is the preeminent doctrine because Christ is the preeminent figure of the Bible.
Christology is vital because knowing Christ truthfully (doctrinally) makes it possible to know Christ personally (relationally).
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