The Adoptionist belief teaches that Jesus was human and simply adopted by God to be his Son. This belief grew from the influence of the Ebionites and throughout church history under different leaders and teachers. What grew in Europe in the first millennia came to America as the new nation was launching with some prominent forefathers and Americans holding to the teaching. The teaching still exists today and unwittingly, some actually adhere to it, believing they are truly holding to the biblical text.
