Divinity of Christ

Definition and Meaning

The divinity of Christ is the doctrine that Jesus Christ is not a being created by God but is true God, existing from eternity. Divinity means "the nature of being God." This doctrine is closely bound up with the doctrine of the Trinity. Together with the humanity of Christ, it also forms the doctrine of the two natures of Christ, which holds that divinity and humanity are united in one person. The branch of theology that treats this subject is called Christology.

Biblical and Historical Background

The following passages are frequently cited in support of this doctrine:

• John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God."
• John 20:28: Thomas confesses Jesus, saying, "My Lord and my God."
• Philippians 2:6
• Colossians 1:15–17
• Hebrews 1:1–3

In the early fourth century, Arius maintained that the Son was a being created by the Father. This position is known as Arianism. In 325 the Council of Nicaea rejected it and confessed that the Son is "of the same essence" (homoousios) as the Father. This confession was carried forward in the Nicene Creed. In 451 the Council of Chalcedon confessed Christ as "truly God and truly man" and affirmed that his two natures are neither mixed nor separated. Thereafter the Eastern and Western churches, as well as most Protestant churches after the Reformation, accepted this confession.

Practice in the Korean Church

The major Protestant denominations in Korea—Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, Full Gospel, and Anglican alike—share a common confession of the divinity of Christ. The denominations do not differ significantly on the doctrine itself; they differ only in the form of their confessional documents.

• Presbyterians confess the Son, in chapter 8 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, to be the eternal God, of one substance with the Father.
• Methodists confess it in the Articles of Religion and the Doctrinal Statement contained in their denominational constitution.
• Baptists and others who do not place particular emphasis on confessional documents teach the same doctrine on the basis of the biblical text.

In worship, the doctrine finds expression in the confession of the Apostles' Creed, "I believe … in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord"; in prayers and hymns addressed directly to Jesus; and in the benediction, which invokes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together. In Christmas sermons it is often treated together with the theme of the Incarnation, that is, that God became man.

Affirmation of the divinity of Christ is one of the principal criteria Korean churches use in assessing whether a group is heretical. Jehovah's Witnesses regard Jesus as God's first creation. Citing verses such as "my Father is greater than I" (John 14:28), they claim that their view is faithful to Scripture. Korea's major denominations and interdenominational bodies regard this view as a departure from orthodox doctrine. In addition, modalism, which explains the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as different forms in which the one God appears in different periods, is also cited within the Korean church as a view to be guarded against.