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Lesson OneNativity and Early Years (Matthew 1–2, Luke 1–2)18 Activities
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Lesson TwoBaptism and the Desert (Matthew 3–4, Mark 1:1–13, Luke 3–4:13)18 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeThe Ministry of Jesus (Mark 1:21–2:12, Luke 4:14–6:49)17 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourThe Miracles of Jesus (Mark 5–6, John 2, 20)14 Activities3 Assessments
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Lesson FiveThe Identity of Jesus18 Activities
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 20
In Front | Early Mistakes About the Identity of Jesus
Because God becoming human in Jesus was such a difficult thing for people to grasp, there were many attempts in the Early Church to explain the mystery of Jesus’ identity. In the Council of Chalcedon leading Christian thinkers and bishops framed the consensus succinctly: “Jesus Christ is at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting of a reasonable soul and body.”
As we’ve seen in earlier lessons, the idea of being fully God and fully human was at odds with the Jewish tradition that Christianity emerged from. Many thinkers struggled with the Church’s official position and tried to find ways to avoid it. A number of key mistakes about Jesus’ identity arose in the Early Church, each of which was condemned by the Church as an error that compromised the power of the Gospel. A few of these views are listed in the chart below.
| The View | Name for this View |
| This view held that Jesus was born a human like the rest of us who had received special favor and status when he was baptized. In this view Jesus was not fully divine but was “adopted” by the Father during his lifetime. | Adoptionism |
| This view is most identified with an Alexandrian priest named Arius (256-336) who claimed that, “there was a time when the Son was not.” This was Arius’ way of saying that Jesus was created by the Father rather than “begotten.” In this view Jesus was really human but not really divine. | Arianism |
| This view suggests that Jesus had a human body but not a human mind or human will. In other words, God simply wore a human body but was not really human. | Apollinarianism |