One of the most bloodstained debates in Christian history was over the relationship of Jesus Christ to God the Father. Was he fully equal? Subordinate? Made by God or co-eternal with God? The Nicene creed (AD 325) declared the full equality, the “consubstantiality,” of Father and Son—but the questions continued to be violently contested for many decades to come, especially in the Eastern empire. Much more was at stake in the debates than the abstract question of divine equality. Perhaps most critical for believers was (and is) the question, was the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—a being who suffered and wept, who both craved and knew love and friendship—a temporary setting aside of divinity, or the fullest possible revelation of that divinity?
The Fullness of God
The Fullness of God
The Fullness of God
One of the most bloodstained debates in Christian history was over the relationship of Jesus Christ to God the Father. Was he fully equal? Subordinate? Made by God or co-eternal with God? The Nicene creed (AD 325) declared the full equality, the “consubstantiality,” of Father and Son—but the questions continued to be violently contested for many decades to come, especially in the Eastern empire. Much more was at stake in the debates than the abstract question of divine equality. Perhaps most critical for believers was (and is) the question, was the Incarnation of Jesus Christ—a being who suffered and wept, who both craved and knew love and friendship—a temporary setting aside of divinity, or the fullest possible revelation of that divinity?