Early Christian Beliefs About Adoptionism and Christ’s Divinity

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...em to consider His divinity, so that they might believe Him to be God, desiring to overcome their unbelief concerning His divinity by omitting for the time being any mention of His human condition, and by setting before them His divinity alone. If Christ is man only, how does He say, "I proceeded forth and came from God," when it is clear that man was made by God, and did not proceed forth from Him? But in the way that, as man, He did not proceed from God, so the Word of God proceeded, of whom it is said, "My heart has uttered forth a good Word." And because it is from God, it is rightly also with God. And since it was not uttered without effect, it rightly makes all things: "All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made." But this Word, by whom all things were made, is God. And, as he says, "the Word was God." Therefore God proceeded from God, because the Word that proceeded is God, who proceeded forth from God. If Christ is only man, how does He say, "If any man keeps my word, he shall not see death forever"? Not to see death forever! What is this but immortality? But immortality is the companion of divinity, because divinity is immortal, and immortality is the

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...y will be said to have been predestined before this predestination of Christ to glory. And on those terms Christ is found to be lower than other men, although He is actually found to be better and greater, and more ancient than the angels themselves. Either then let all these things be set aside, so that Christ’s divinity may be destroyed; or if these things cannot be set aside, let the heretics attribute Christ’s proper divinity to Him.

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

... is no distinction between the Son of God and the Son of man. For if a distinction were made, Jesus Christ would easily be proved to be both man and God. For they insist that the very same one who is man, the Son of man, also appears as the Son of God. So they say that man and flesh, and that same frail substance, may also be called the Son of God Himself. Therefore, since no distinction is seen between the Son of man and the Son of God, but the Son of man himself is claimed to be the Son of God, the same Christ and the Son of God is claimed to be man only. By this they try to exclude, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” and, “You shall call His name Emmanuel,” which is interpreted, “God with us.” For they bring forward what is told in the Gospel of Luke. From it they try to maintain, not what is true, but only what they want it to be: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore also the Holy Thing which is born of you shall be called the Son of God.” If, then, they say, the angel of God says to Mary, “that Holy Thing which is born of you,” then the substance of flesh and body is from Mary. But he has set forth th

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Direct teaching

...spels. He is Lord of the patriarchs and apostles, and of all the saints. And we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. He was not begotten from things that are not, but from Him who is the Father. He was not begotten in a bodily manner, by excision or division, as Sabellius and Valentinus thought, but in a certain inexplicable and unspeakable manner, according to the words of the prophet quoted above: "Who shall declare His generation?" Isaiah 53:8. Since no nature that is begotten can investigate His subsistence, just as no one can investigate the Father, because the nature of rational beings cannot receive the knowledge of His divine generation by the Father. But men who are moved by the Spirit of truth have no need to learn these things from me. For the words spoken before by Christ on this very matter are sounding in our ears: "No man knows the Father, save the Son; and no man knows who the Son is, save the Father." Matthew 11:27. We have learned that He is, equally with the Father, unchangeable and immutable, lacking nothing, the perfect Son, and like the Father. In this alone He is inferior to the Father: that He is not unbegotten. For He is the ex

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching

...egotten, although every day you see the cause according to man. Neither can you tell accurately the divine arrangement in His case. For it is not in your power to acquaint yourself with the Maker's practiced and indescribable art, or method, but only to see, and understand, and believe that man is God's work. Moreover, you are asking for an account of the generation of the Word, whom God the Father in His good pleasure begot as He willed. Is it not enough for you to learn that God made the world? Do you also dare to ask from where He made it? Is it not enough for you to learn that the Son of God has been manifested to you for salvation, if you believe? Do you also inquire curiously how He was begotten after the Spirit? Truly, no more than two have been entrusted to give the account of His generation after the flesh. And are you then so bold as to seek the account of His generation after the Spirit, which the Father keeps with Himself, intending to reveal it then to the holy ones and those worthy of seeing His face? Rest satisfied with the word spoken by Christ, namely, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit," just as, speaking by the prophet of the generation of the Word, H

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

And so John also, while describing the birth of Christ, says, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” For His name is also called “the Word of God,” in Revelation 19:13, and not without reason. “My heart has uttered a good word.” He then afterward calls this word by the name of the King indirectly: “I will tell my works to the King.” For by Him all works were made, and without Him nothing was made, as John 1:3 says. “Whether,” says the apostle, “they are thrones or dominions, or powers, or mights, visible things and invisible, all things subsist by Him,” as Colossians 1:16 says. Moreover, this is that Word which came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. For the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him, as John 1:10-11 says. Moreover, this Word was in the beginning with God, and God was the Word, as John 1:1 says. Who then can doubt, when in the last clause it is said, “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” that Christ, whose birth is being described, is man because He was made flesh? And because He is the Word of God, who can shrink from declaring with

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

And this Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us: therefore Christ is God;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

holy also Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom You have made all things;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Supporting witness

sitting with You on the throne of Your kingdom, and with Your only-begotten Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

and afterwards sent forth Your only-begotten Son Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, into the world, that He by His coming might renew and restore Your image;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

You have given unto us, O Lord, sanctification in the communion of the all-holy body and precious blood of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ;

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

...t is acknowledged as the substance of the power brought forth by God. The mysteries of His holy and divine birth have been learned by no apostle, discovered by no prophet, known by no angel, and grasped by no creature. They are known to the Son alone, who has known the secrets of the Father. Then, since He was begotten of the Father, He is always in the Father. I say "always" in this way to show that He is not unborn, but born. But He who is before all time must be said to have always been in the Father, because no time can be assigned to Him who is before all time. And He is always in the Father, unless the Father has not always been Father, except that the Father also goes before Him in a certain sense, since it is necessary in some degree that He should exist before He is Father. Because it is necessary that He who knows no beginning should go before Him who has a beginning. In the same way, He is less, since He knows that He is in Him, having an origin because He is born, and being of like nature with the Father in some measure by His birth, although He has a beginning in that He is born, since He is born of that Father who alone has no beginning. He, then, when the Father w

Origen, Commentary on John Direct teaching

...atively spoken of as sheep. And perhaps the first meaning is to be seen in the words, "The Word was made flesh," but the second in, "The Word was God." So we must look at what is seen in human affairs between the saying, "The Word was made flesh," and, "The Word was God." When the Word was made flesh, can we say that it was in some measure broken up and thinned out, and then from that point recovered until it again became what it was at first, God the Word, the Word with the Father, the Word whose glory John saw, the truly only begotten, as from the Father? But the Son may also be the Word, because He reports the secret things of His Father, who is intellect, in the way proper to the Son who is called the Word. For just as with us a word is a messenger of the things the mind perceives, so the Word of God, knowing the Father, reveals the Father whom He knows, since no created being can come near Him without a guide. For "no one knows the Father except the Son," Matthew 11:27, "and he to whomsoever the Son reveals Him." And since He is the Word, He is the Messenger of Great Counsel, Isaiah 9:5-6, who has the government upon His shoulders, for He entered His kingdom by enduring the

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Supporting witness

...e same was in the beginning with God”—this clause reveals the order of production. “All things were made by Him, and without Him, nothing was made;” for the Word was the author of form and beginning to all the Æons that came into existence after Him. But “what was made in Him,” says John, “is life.” Here, again, he indicated union; for all things, he said, were made by Him, but in Him was life. This, then, which is in Him, is more closely connected with Him than those things which were simply made by Him, for it exists along with Him and is developed by Him. When, again, he adds, “And the life was the light of men,” by mentioning Anthropos, he also indicated Ecclesia with that one expression, in order that, by using only one name, he could reveal their fellowship with each other, due to their union. For Anthropos and Ecclesia originate from Logos and Zoe. Moreover, he called life (Zoe) the light of men because they are enlightened by her, that is, formed and made manifest. This also Paul declares with these words: “For whatsoever makes manifest is light.” Since, therefore, Zoe manifested and gave birth to both Anthropos and Ecclesia, she is called their light. Thus, then, did Jo

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

while the Gospel affirms plainly, that by the Word, which was in the beginning with God, all things were made, which Word, he says, “was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

John 1:14 Background

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:1 Background

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

...y will be said to have been predestined before this predestination of Christ to glory. And on these terms Christ is found to be inferior to other men, although He is truly found to be better and greater, and more ancient than the angels themselves. Either, then, let all these things be set aside, so that Christ’s divinity may be destroyed; or if these things cannot be set aside, let the heretics attribute His proper divinity to Christ.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

In each case, the person shows an independent being and real subsistence. But divinity is the property of the Father. And whenever the divinity of these three is spoken of as one, this bears witness that the property of the Father also belongs to the Son and the Spirit. Therefore, if the divinity may be spoken of as one in three persons, the Trinity is established and the unity is not divided. And the oneness that naturally belongs to the Father is also acknowledged to belong to the Son and the Spirit. However, if someone speaks of one person in the same way he may speak of one divinity, then it cannot be that the two in the one are one in that sense. For Paul addresses the Father as one with respect to divinity, and he speaks of the Son as one with respect to lordship: "There is one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him." 1 Corinthians 8:6. Therefore, if there is one God and one Lord, and at the same time one person just as there is one divinity in one lordship, how can this distinction in the words "of whom" and "by whom" be believed, as was said before? Accordingly, we do not speak as though we we

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...ecause he did not want it. I say it so that it may be clear that we, who did not immediately join a belief in his divinity to wonderful deeds, are wiser than you, who believed he was a god because of small wonders." It is no wonder if you, who are far removed from the wisdom of God, understand nothing at all of the things you have read, since the Jews, who had often read the prophets from the beginning, and to whom the mystery of God had been entrusted, were still ignorant of what they read. Therefore, if you have any sense, learn that we did not believe Christ to be God for this reason, because He did wonderful things. Rather, we believed because we saw that in His case everything happened that had been announced to us by the prophets' predictions. He did wonderful deeds. We might have thought He was a magician, as you now think He is, and as the Jews then thought He was, if all the prophets had not with one voice proclaimed that Christ would do those very things. Therefore, we believe Him to be God, not more because of His wonderful deeds and works than because of that very cross which you lick like dogs, since that also was predicted at the same time. Therefore, it was not on

Caius, Fragments Supporting witness

All the psalms, too, and hymns of brethren, which have been written from the beginning by the faithful, celebrate Christ the Word of God, ascribing divinity to Him.

Dionysius of Rome, Against the Sabellians Direct teaching

...ation, and who decided that the Lord was made just like one of the things that truly were made. The divine statements testify that He was begotten, as is fitting and proper, but not that He was created or made. So it is not a small error, but a very great impiety, to say that the Lord was in any way made by hands. For if the Son was made, there was a time when He was not. But He always was, if, as He Himself declares, He is indeed in the Father. And if Christ is the Word, the Wisdom, and the Power, for the divine writings say that Christ is these, as you yourselves know, then surely these are powers of God. Therefore, if the Son was made, there was a time when these did not exist. And so there was a time when God was without these things, which is utterly absurd. But why should I speak to you at greater length about these matters, since you are men filled with the Spirit, and especially since you understand what absurd results follow from the opinion that says the Son was made? The leaders of this view seem to me to have paid very little attention to these things, and for that reason they have wandered completely off course by explaining the passage in a way other than what the

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

...e persons—namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—are declared to possess the one Godhead. For the one divinity, showing itself according to nature in the Trinity, establishes the oneness of the nature. And so there is a divinity that is the property of the Father, according to the word, "There is one God the Father," 1 Corinthians 8:6. And there is a divinity hereditary in the Son, as it is written, "The Word was God," John 1:1. And there is a divinity present according to nature in the Spirit, namely, what subsists as the Spirit of God, according to Paul's statement, "You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you," 1 Corinthians 3:6.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

...e same substance as the Father, and that the substance of the Trinity is one. That is, there is one divinity by nature. The Father remains unbegotten. The Son is begotten of the Father in a true generation, and not formed by an act of will. The Spirit is sent forth eternally from the substance of the Father through the Son, with power to sanctify the whole creation. We also acknowledge that the Word was made flesh and was revealed in the movement of flesh received from a virgin, and did not merely work in a man. And those who have fellowship with people who reject consubstantiality as a teaching foreign to the Scriptures, and who speak of any of the persons in the Trinity as created, and separate that person from the one natural divinity, we regard as aliens, and we have fellowship with no such people. There is one God, the Father, and there is only one divinity. But the Son also is God, as the true image of the one and only divinity, according to His generation and the nature He has from the Father. There is one Lord, the Son. But in the same way there is also the Spirit, who carries the Son's lordship over to the creature that is sanctified. The Son lived in the world, having

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

And so John also, describing the birth of Christ, says, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Moreover, His name is called the Word of God in Revelation 19:13, and not without reason. "My heart has emitted a good word." Afterward he then calls that word by the name of the King by implication: "I will tell my works to the King." For by Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made, as John 1:3 says. Whether they are thrones or dominions, or powers, or mights, visible things or invisible, all things subsist by Him, as the apostle says in Colossians 1:16. Moreover, this is that Word which came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. For the world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him, as John 1:10-11 says. Moreover, this Word was in the beginning with God, and God was the Word, as John 1:1 says. Who then can doubt, when it is said in the last clause, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," that Christ, whose birth is being described, is man because He was made flesh? And because He is the Word of God, who can shrink from declaring without hesitati

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness

But if they say, "How can there be three persons, and yet only one Divinity?" we will give this reply: There are indeed three persons, since there is one person of God the Father, one of the Lord the Son, and one of the Holy Spirit. And yet there is only one Divinity, since the Son is the Image of God the Father, who is One. That is, He is God of God. In the same way, the Spirit is called the Spirit of God, and that by nature according to the very substance, not by a simple participation in God. And there is one substance in the Trinity. This is not also the case with things that are made. For there is not one substance in God and in the things that are made, because none of these is God in substance. Nor indeed is the Lord one of these in substance. But there is one Lord, the Son, and one Holy Spirit. And we also speak of one Divinity, one Lordship, and one Sanctity in the Trinity, because the Father is the Cause of the Lord, having begotten Him eternally, and the Lord is the Prototype of the Spirit. For in this way the Father is Lord, and the Son also is God. And of God it is said that God is a Spirit. John 4:24

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

and into the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, the First-born of the whole creation, who before the ages was begotten by the good pleasure of the Father, by whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on earth, visible and invisible;

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...but is acknowledged in the substance of the power put forth by God. The mysteries of His sacred and divine nativity no apostle has learned, no prophet has discovered, no angel has known, and no creature has grasped. They are known to the Son alone, who has known the secrets of the Father. Then, since He was begotten of the Father, He is always in the Father. And I say always in this way, so that I may show that He is not unborn, but born. But He who is before all time must be said to have always been in the Father, for no time can be assigned to Him who is before all time. And He is always in the Father, unless the Father has not always been Father. Only, in a certain sense, the Father also goes before Him, since it is necessary, in some degree, that He should be before He is Father. Because it is essential that He who knows no beginning should go before him who has a beginning. In this way, He is less, since He knows that He is in Him, having an origin because He is born, and being of like nature with the Father in some measure by His nativity. Although He has a beginning in that He is born, since He is born of that Father who alone has no beginning. He, then, when the Father w

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, explains: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, chosen for the Gospel of God, which He promised through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born from the lineage of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power through the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ." And again, writing to the Romans about Israel, he states: "Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever." In his letter to the Galatians, he says: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption;" clearly indicating one God, who through the prophets promised the Son, and one Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the lineage of David according to His birth from Mary; and that Jesus Christ was appointed the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, as the firstborn of all creation; the Son of God becoming the Son of man, so that through Him we may receive adoption—

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

...r, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know Me, and My people do not understand." Jesus the Christ, because the Jews did not know what the Father was, or what the Son was, similarly accused them; and He said, "No one knows the Father except the Son; nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son reveals Him." The Word of God is His Son, as we mentioned earlier. He is called Angel and Apostle because He declares what we ought to know and is sent to reveal whatever is declared, as our Lord Himself says, "He who hears Me, hears Him who sent Me." This is also evident from the writings of Moses, for it is written in them, "And the Angel of God spoke to Moses from a flame of fire in the bush, saying, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers; go down into Egypt and bring forth My people." If you wish to learn what follows, you can refer to the same writings, as it is impossible to relate everything here. But this much is written to prove that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, previously the Word, and appearing sometimes as fire, sometimes like angels. Now, by God’s will, He has become m

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

but then the Holy Ghost, and for man’s sake, as I formerly stated, lighted on Him in the form of a dove, and there came at the same instant from the heavens a voice, which was uttered also by David when he spoke, personating Christ, what the Father would say to Him: ‘Thou art My Son: this day have I begotten Thee;’ [the Father] saying that His generation would take place for men, at the time when they would become acquainted with Him: ‘Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee.’ ”

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Then a voice from heaven was heard: You are my Son, today have I begotten You.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

For at the moment of the Lord's baptism there sounded a voice from heaven, as a testimony to the Beloved, You are My beloved Son, today have I begotten You.

Justin Martyr, Connection to Matthew 3:17 Supporting witness

at the time when the voice spake to Him, `Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten Thee, '

Acts 13:33 Background

God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’

Matthew 3:17 Background

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Psalms 2:7 Background

I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Mark 1:11 Background

And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Luke 3:22 Background

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

2 Peter 1:17 Background

For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.