Is Jesus a Contradiction?

God-Man?

Photo by Edal Anton Lefterov

Aside from "How can anyone still believe there's a God in our modern, push-button world?" and "Isn't God a sadist for throwing people into hell on the slightest whim?" one of the most frequent Quora questions is some variation of this one. 


Q: Is there a contradiction in the Trinity since Jesus was a human being and a god being at the same time?


A: The Christian teachings on the Trinity and the nature of Jesus are probably its 2 most misunderstood concepts. Just to clarify, the Trinity is defined in Christian theology as one being (“ousia” in Greek, the language it was first defined in) eternally existing as three distinct and infinite underlying personal realities (“Hypostasis” in Greek) — commonly called “Persons” to emphasize God’s personal (i.e., He’s not a force) nature. These three are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God (specifically the 2nd ‘person’ of the Trinity) took on and fully united with human nature in the single person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was not God only or a man only, but truly God and truly man, “unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably.” In Christian theology this is called the Chalcedonian Definition and is based on the concept of the incarnation in the Christian Scriptures.

Hence, there is no contradiction because Jesus was first, foremost, and eternally the infinite God, but God plus something — God plus human-ness.

Theologian Thursday: Wesley on The Secret of Perfection

John Wesley

Jesus of Nazareth was perfect -- sin-free -- and we are supposed to be like him (1st Letter of John 2.6, Gospel of Matthew 11.29, and 1st Letter of Peter 2.21 - 24). But how can we possibly become perfect like that? How can we fallible and, frankly, very weak humans become holy, just as Jesus was? There must be a way because Jesus himself ordered his students to be perfect (Matthew 5.48) and the Apostle Peter wrote that we must be holy (1st Peter 1.14 - 16).

Yes, God very kindly forgives our sins, but that's not what we're talking about here. How can our deeds, our words, and our very motivations become perfect and holy -- or as close to it as possible in this life, before the resurrection happens?

Many Jesus-followers down through the ages have thought that the secret lies in a strict, rigorous, austere life of self-denial and discipline. John Wesley, our guest theologian for today, believed that himself in his younger days. And throughout his life he was one of the most disciplined, self-controlled men you could ever meet, if you ever read about his life. But Wesley came to realize that strict austere rigor or adherence to a list of rules does not, and cannot, make you holy.

So how do you live a life that is "perfect as your father in Heaven is perfect?" How do we become like a holy God... a God who defines himself as love (1st John 4.8, 16)?

Here according to Wesley is the secret.

What is then the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body? It is the complying with that kind command, "My son, give me thy heart." It is the "loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind." This is the sum of Christian perfection: It is all comprised in that one word, Love. 

 The first branch of it is the love of God: And as he that loves God loves his brother also, it is inseparably connected with the second: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:" Thou shalt love every man as thy own soul, as Christ loved us. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets:" These contain the whole of Christian perfection.

John Wesley
On Perfection

Introducing Theologian Thursday

Today I'm starting a new feature here at Authentic Light called Theologian Thursday! Don't all cheer at once.

Every Thursday I will haul in a famous theologian and have her or him discuss a topic that is -- or should be -- important to people interested in following Jesus of Nazareth. I know this sounds thrilling and I'll have a ready-made audience (Note: sarcasm) but I probably ought to explain it a little anyway.

As we've discussed elsewhere, Jesus entrusted his movement with a series of revelations -- God communicating with humans throughout history -- of which he himself is the ultimate one. His revelation -- his life, death, resurrection, and teaching -- is the key to understanding all the other revelations that came before. The things God revealed over time to Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah and all the rest are only fully grasped by looking at them through the lens of the appearance of the Messiah -- through the lens of Jesus and what he himself revealed about God. He explained this plainly to his apostles before he left (Gospel of Luke 24.26-27 and 44-48), and he gave examples throughout his career (see basically the entire Gospel of Matthew for that).

But what he didn't do is write a detailed, systematic, exhaustive explanation of his doctrines or a complete commentary on the Old Testament. Instead he left us with the revelation embodied basically in the Bible. He left us the Holy Spirit "who will lead you into all truth" (Gospel of John 16.13). And he left us... theologians.

Why Theologians?

Theologians are a little like scientists: the data a scientist studies is the universe and they just have to take it the way it is, rough edges, mysteries and all, and do the hard work needed to understand it.

A theologian's data is God's revelation encapsulated in the Bible. It's presented to us in a wondrous hodge-podge of history dealing with family squabbles, history dealing with geopolitical squabbles, laws, poems, philosophical discussions, prophetic announcements, erotic songs, letters, laments over fallen cities and fallen people. And above it all, Jesus Christ. Theologians are the people who dedicate their lives to understanding and explaining it all.

On Theologian Thursdays I'll be bringing in the cream of the crop (living and dead), the acknowledged experts in their fields and let them take the floor. I'm using a very wide definition of  a "theologian" that includes not just scholars but regular preachers, authors, hymn writers, mystics, and just regular people who studied, thought, prayed, and contributed something about God and what he has revealed to humanity. Also, there's no time limit: these theological musings may be one brief paragraph or stretch into the blog equivalent of pages and pages (not usually though).

What We're Looking For

Some theologians, like some car repairmen, are better than others. Some are only good on one subject and not terribly impressive or downright misleading in other areas. And of course some are just awful, no matter what their advertising may say.

As you've probably guessed if you've read this blog for a while, my criteria for picking theologians is ordinary, everyday, garden variety Christianity. Or to put it another way, the stuff that was taught by Christ to his Apostles, passed on by them to the Christian Movement, and it's ramifications largely unfurled and explained by around AD 400. That doesn't mean we'll only invite theologians from that era, just that we want people who teach the consensus reached by the Christian Movement doing the hard work of theology during that time. To put it a third way, simple, historical, authentic Christianity. Fortunately (providentially?), there are and have been many around who teach that.

First Up

Our first Thursday theologian, who will be posted about 2 hours from now, is Dr. Georgia Harkness on providence and a God who is personal.