Two Natures of Christ
Early Christian writers taught that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. Ignatius, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and others speak this way, and the Bible passages in this set include John 1:14 and Colossians 2:9. A few writers use careful wording about one person or one nature, so the language is not always identical. But the main teaching is clear: Christ’s full divinity and full humanity belong together.
149 early-church witnesses · 255 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about the two natures of Christ?
Early Christian writers taught that Christ is truly one person with both divine and human realities, not two separate Christs. Justin, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Origen, Novatian, Victorinus, Cyprian, and Gregory Thaumaturgus all speak in ways that affirm his full deity and real humanity.
The broad pattern is strong, though a few writers phrase the point with different guardrails, such as warning against speaking of two persons or using language that can sound like one nature in a different sense. The clearest Bible passages in this set are John 1:14, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6-8, 1 Timothy 2:5, 1 Timothy 3:16, and Hebrews 2:14. A few unrelated or weak cards were left out because they do not directly teach the topic.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians commonly said Christ is both fully divine and fully human.
- John 1:14 and Colossians 2:9 are the clearest Bible passages in this set.
- Ignatius, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, Victorinus, Cyprian, and Gregory Thaumaturgus all support the same basic teaching.
- Some writers warned against dividing Christ into two persons.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Which Bible verses show Christ as both God and man?
These passages are the clearest scriptural witnesses in the supplied set. They present Christ as the Word made flesh, the one mediator between God and men, and one in whom the fullness of deity dwells bodily.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
In the meantime, we learn from the predictions of the prophets that He was both God and man— composed of both natures.
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Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Direct teaching
and we saw Christ our Saviour, who was made known as both God and man.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
We profess that Christ is not a mere man, but God the Word, and man the Mediator between God and men, the High Priest of the Father;
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching
Now, in order that He might be shown to have together in Himself at once the nature of God and that of man — as the apostle, too, says: Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
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Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Direct teaching
This property of the two states — the divine and the human— is distinctly asserted with equal truth of both natures alike, with the same belief both in respect of the Spirit and of the flesh.
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Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Direct teaching
1. In the first place, we must note that the nature of that deity which is in Christ in respect of His being the only-begotten Son of God is one thing, and that human nature which He assumed in these last times for the purposes of the dispensation (of grace) is another.
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Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
God is mingled with man. This is our God, this is Christ, who, as the mediator of the two, puts on man that He may lead them to the Father.
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1 Timothy 3:16 Direct teaching
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
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Colossians 2:9 Direct teaching
For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
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1 Timothy 2:5 Supporting witness
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
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Hebrews 2:9 Supporting witness
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
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Galatians 4:4 Supporting witness
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
More related quotations from this section 1 shown
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Philippians 2:8 Supporting witness
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Did early Christians teach that Christ was both God and man?
Multiple early Christian writers explicitly say Christ is both divine and human, or that the Word became flesh. The strongest witnesses here include Tertullian, Novatian, Origen, Hippolytus, Victorinus, Cyprian, Lactantius, Irenaeus, Ignatius, and Methodius.
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Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Direct teaching
nor can it possibly be that anything else than the Word was made flesh.
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Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ Supporting witness
But by saying made, he not only confirmed the statement, The Word was made flesh, John 1:14 but he also asserted the reality of the flesh which was made of a virgin.
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Tertullian, On Modesty Supporting witness
But when the Word of God descended into flesh —(flesh) not unsealed even by marriage, — and the Word was made flesh, — (flesh) never to be unsealed by marriage, — which was to find its way to the tree not of incontinence, but of endurance;
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Ignatius, Epistles of Ignatius Direct teaching
For “the Word became flesh.” For “Wisdom builded for herself a house.” And God the Word was born as man, with a body, of the Virgin, without any intercourse of man.
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Ignatius, Epistle to the Trallians (LongVersion) Supporting witness
He truly assumed a body; for “the Word was made flesh,” and lived upon earth without sin.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
The food — that is, the Lord Jesus — that is, the Word of God, the Spirit made flesh, the heavenly flesh sanctified.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
But the Word of God was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
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Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching
For John says: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us;
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching
For John says: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us;
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Miscellaneous Fragments Direct teaching
The one says: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us;
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and took up his abode among us;
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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
More related quotations from this section 4 shown
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John 1:14 Direct teaching
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.
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Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness
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
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Hebrews 2:14 Supporting witness
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
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Hebrews 2:16 Supporting witness
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Did early Christians speak of Christ having two natures?
Some sources distinguish Christ's divine nature from his human nature, or speak of one person composed of divinity and humanity. Gregory Thaumaturgus is the main cautionary case, because he also argues against speaking of "two natures" in a certain way.
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Dionysius of Alexandria, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching
He says, one thing and another, not as making a partition into two persons, but as showing the distinction between the two natures.1
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness
He says that to maintain two natures in the one Christ makes a Tetrad of the Trinity. For he expressed himself this way: "And it is the true God, the unincarnate, that was manifested in the flesh, perfect with the true and divine perfection, not with two natures. Nor do we speak of worshipping four persons, namely, God, and the Son of God, and man, and the Holy Spirit." First, however, this passage is misunderstood, and its meaning is very doubtful. Nevertheless, it indicates that we should not speak of two persons in Christ. Otherwise, by acknowledging Him as God, and as in the perfect divinity, and yet speaking of two persons, we would make a Tetrad of the divine persons, counting that of God the Father as one, and that of the Son of God as one, and that of the man as one, and that of the Holy Spirit as one. But again, it also speaks against recognizing two divine natures, and instead favors acknowledging Him to be perfect God in one natural divine perfection, and not in two. For his purpose is to show that He became incarnate without change, and that He retains the divinity without duplication. Accordingly he says briefly: "And while the affections of the flesh spring, the energ
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness
But, again, it bears also against recognising two divine natures, and rather for acknowledging Him to be perfect God in one natural divine perfection, and not in two;
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Supporting witness
for he expressed himself thus: And it is the true God, the unincarnate, that was manifested in the flesh, perfect with the true and divine perfection, not with two natures;
Common Questions
Did early Christians believe Jesus had both divine and human natures?
Yes. Writers like Ignatius, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, Novatian, Victorinus, Cyprian, and Gregory Thaumaturgus speak of Christ as truly God and truly man.
Which Bible verses are most direct on this topic?
John 1:14, Colossians 2:9, Philippians 2:6-8, 1 Timothy 2:5, 1 Timothy 3:16, and Hebrews 2:14 are the clearest passages in this set.
Did any early Christian writers warn against dividing Christ?
Yes. Gregory Thaumaturgus says not to speak of two persons in Christ, and Dionysius of Alexandria says the distinction is between two natures, not two persons.
Source Index for the two natures of Christ
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 255 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 149
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 106
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
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