Adoptionism

Definition and Meaning

Adoptionism is the view that Jesus was not the Son of God from the beginning. Instead, he was a man of exceptional piety who, at a certain point, was received by God as an adopted son. The moment most often cited is the baptism of Jesus, though some point to the resurrection instead. On this view, the divinity of Jesus (his nature as God) did not belong to him originally but was a status conferred on him later.

In Korean, the term for adoptionism (yangjaron) sounds the same as the term for quantum theory in physics, but the two are unrelated in meaning. Adoptionism is also distinct from the doctrine of adoption, the teaching that believers are received as children of God in Christ. That doctrine is treated in the Westminster Confession of Faith and elsewhere.

Biblical and Historical Background

Proponents of adoptionism appealed to the voice heard at Jesus' baptism: "Thou art my beloved Son" (Mark 1:11). They linked these words with "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee" (Psalm 2:7) and held that they could be read as a declaration of adoption. They also cited "declared to be the Son of God with power... by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4) and Acts 2:36.

In the early church, Theodotus of Byzantium is reported to have advanced such a view in the late second century and to have been excommunicated by Victor I, bishop of Rome. In the third century, Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, taught a similar position and was condemned by a synod at Antioch around 268. In late eighth-century Spain, the claim arose that Christ was an adopted son with respect to his human nature. This claim was rejected by the Council of Frankfurt in 794.

On the basis of passages such as John 1:1, 14 and Colossians 1:15–17, the orthodox church has confessed that the Son was with God from eternity and became man through the Incarnation. The phrase "begotten, not made" in the Nicene Creed and the two-natures doctrine of the Council of Chalcedon (true God and true man in one person) are regarded as the church's response to adoptionism.

Adoptionism in Korean Churches

The major Korean denominations, including the Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, Full Gospel, and Anglican churches, all confess the Trinity and the eternal divinity of Jesus. Accordingly, none of them accepts adoptionism. The term is chiefly introduced in Christology courses at theological seminaries, where it is presented alongside Arianism, modalism, and Docetism as one of the representative Christological heresies of the early church.

In Sunday sermons and church education, adoptionism is sometimes mentioned in the exposition of the account of Jesus' baptism, along with the explanation that the passage should not be read as describing an adoption. Conservative theologians sometimes use the term "adoptionist" when criticizing certain modern and contemporary Christologies of liberal theology that begin from the humanity of Jesus. The theologians so criticized counter that their positions are not the same as ancient adoptionism.