The Nature of Christ- One Example of Why Theology Matters

As the early church brew folks begin to debate how to understand this Jesus who said that he and the Father were One.  They all believed Jesus was central to our faith and was the Son of God.  But they struggled with how he could be a man and be God.

Why does this matter?

As people expressed their views on how to understand this theologically those views hold real consequences. Look at the above chart.  Each view in the purple was an attempt to explain the incarnation but they made Jesus took away the humanity or the divinity of Jesus.  If Jesus were not fully human then it changes how we view Jesus.  How could he really be tempted and understand us?  It lessens the impact of his sacrifice.  If he isn’t really divine then how can he bring salvation?

Today there may be new names and new camps arguing the nature of Jesus.  The ideas behind the fictional “Da Vinci Code” make Jesus very human and rob his divinity.   Jehovah’s Witnesses (in my opinion) lessen the divinity of Jesus.  They deny the Trinity and see Jesus as not equal to God.  JW believe Jesus is God’s firstborn Son.  He has a divine nature but isn’t equal to the Father.  He is also seen as the angel of Jehovah and the archangel Michael.

Regardless what we believe about Jesus matters and this serves as a case study to why the church needs to do theology.

Derik