The Son of God

When I was looking into the like, some of the I am statements, one of the things I thought was interesting was, referring back to the Old Testament in Isaiah when God says, I am the first and I am the last. Besides me, there is no God. And then if you look in Revelation, there's multiple areas in Revelation where Jesus refers to himself as, the first and the last. Welcome to the Restless Theologian podcast, where we focus on having insightful conversations in biblical history and theology. I'm your host, Zachariah Eshack.

For the second episode of season 2, we will be discussing the deity of Christ. We will be going through the titles of Christ, as it relates to his divinity. We will also be going through Old and New Testament passages. And we will lastly look at the Christological heresies early on in the church, and how the church responded to them. And to help me unpack this today, I have my guest, my girlfriend, Kathryn, with me.

How are you doing, Kathryn? Good. How are you? Good. You're not used to me calling you Kathryn, are you?

No. We're good. I mean, you do you do Yeah. Often, but not all the time. Yeah.

Just when I'm mad at you. Yeah. So I wanted to start off with with the title of the episode, the son of God. Now this is one of the, main aspects I wanted to look at to start because in Matthew 1616, it's Peter's profession of faith Mhmm. As we're all familiar with.

And Peter's profession of faith is you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And I wanna bring up a couple of early church fathers and a couple other quotes to kind of, show the importance of how that is the foundation of the church. Because I feel that what separated Christianity early on is the idea that God became man. Yes. And so Peter's profession of faith and Augustine, when he discusses it, he says, Christ, you see, built his church not on a man, but on Peter's confession.

What is Peter's confession? You are the Christ, the son of the living God. There is the rock for you. There is the foundation. There is where the church has been built, which the gates of the underworld or the gates of hell cannot conquer.

Chrysostom also says something similar where he mentions that where you have Peter's confession, there you have Peter. For though we do not retain the body of Peter, we do retain the faith of Peter. And in retaining the faith of Peter, we have Peter. Yeah. Those are great quotes.

I definitely think that is the key to being a Christian Yeah. Is to knowing the truth of Jesus being God. Yeah. That's that's the key that God is in the flesh. Yeah.

I think that in the previous episode with Zach and looking at the heresies, obviously, we know the big one, Arianism, because that's Nicene Christianity. The Nicene Creed is such a early statement or formal statement and creed about what we believe about the nature of Jesus. Yeah. And how his humanity and his deity, you know, how those two relate to each other. And, but it was surprising to me how many heresies there are as it relates to Christology about And how quickly it came up Yeah.

In the early church. Yep. So I wanna go through, the the other titles as well for Christ just to provide a little bit more of evidence, regarding his deity. So we will start with John 1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

I love that verse. Yeah. One of my favorites. Same here. Yeah.

And it's it's the one I felt like I it's probably next to John 316. I think that was probably one of the first verses or the second verse rather that my dad really tried to embed, into my brain. Mhmm. So further down so we here we have in John 1, the word was with God and the word was God. So we already established that whatever the word is, he is God.

And then further down in verse 14, it says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth. And so what else is that, but the word becoming flesh being Jesus Christ? Yep. And so that to me proves in and of itself that Jesus is the word, and the word is God, and the word became flesh.

So God himself became man. Yeah. And for all eternity, Jesus Christ existed and is God. Yeah. We were actually kinda unpacked that a little bit later on when we discussed Arianism because that was a one of the main beliefs in Arianism is that Jesus was created and he wasn't eternal.

Mhmm. Okay. So next, we will talk about Emmanuel, another title for Christ. Isaiah 714, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name, Immanuel.

This is repeated or recollected, if you will, in Matthew 1 22 through 23 when it quotes the prophet and says, behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. And to me, that's another blatantly apparent explanation that Jesus is God. Yes. There's not a whole lot of getting around it in my opinion. No.

And the last title I wanna focus on is on the I am statements. In Exodus 314, God said to Moses, this is while he was at the, like, the burning bush, and Moses was hesitant to go to the Hebrews. God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent me to you.

So that I am statement is really important because it comes comes into play a lot later. Not only do we have the 7 I ams in the New Testament, I actually think that they all appear in John, actually. Oh, really? Okay. I think all of them do.

Yeah. I I do think, and Corey brought this up on one of the episodes I was, doing with him is that just about how, metaphorical that, and there's just a lot of symbolism in the gospel of John. Mhmm. It's not quite as, like, literal as the other gospels. Yeah.

When I was looking into the like, some of the I'm statements, one of the things I thought was interesting was, referring back to the Old Testament in Isaiah when God says, I am the first and I am the last. Besides me, there is no God. And then if you look in Revelation, there's multiple areas in Revelation where Jesus refers to himself as, the first and the last. Okay. The alpha and the omega.

Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Mhmm. Actually, yeah, that's a good point.

I think it's Revelation chapter 1 verse 8. I am the alpha and the omega, says the lord God, who is and who who was and who is to come, the almighty. So he's assigning to himself a title that god the father states in the old testament. Mhmm. So that shows that kind of oneness, you know, between them.

Yeah. Lastly, for the I'm so I wanted to touch on John 857 to 59. So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

So the Jews are responding to him and basically saying, you know, you can't you couldn't have seen Abraham. And then Christ is responding with before Abraham was, you know, I existed. Yeah. That's a very big statement Yeah. To make.

That is true. Yep. And I think what it shows in that, like, not only is the I am significant because I think that that is a tie one of his titles one of the titles of God. Because going back to what Moses, what was said to Moses by God through the burning bush, tell them I am has sent you. Mhmm.

And also too that that also shows his preexistence, the fact that he existed before his human form, before being born in the flesh. Before the incarnation. Yeah. Before the incarnation. So so he's obviously identifying with his divine identity.

Yeah. It is kinda interesting to think about that, because, like, for all eternity, Jesus has existed. He is he he was. He is. He always will be.

But for, like, our understanding of time and how we live in this world, the incarnation happened at a specific time. Yeah. And he was on this earth in the flesh for a specific period of time. It's just kinda interesting to to think about all that, and just how truly amazing god is, and how he, I think it's difficult to try to think about the eternality of it all. Yeah.

Because, I mean, we live in space and time Mhmm. In such a way that, like, the idea of eternity is kind of hard to fathom. Yeah. And to think about the existence of something before the beginning is, I think, hard to comprehend as well. Yep.

So so there's gonna be some old testament passages I wanted to briefly touch on to also show, the divinity of Christ because I personally feel like I have been asked this before, actually by an atheist. He had asked me about where Christ was in the Old Testament. Jesus wasn't mentioned by name. He's like, I don't he's like, I don't see the correlation between the 2. And almost like that Christianity is more of, like, an entirely new thing rather than it being the fulfillment of something.

Mhmm. So the first one I wanted to bring up was Isaiah 96, when it says the child given will be called mighty God, everlasting father. In Psalm 1 101, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at the right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Now I've always kind of had difficulty with this passage because I wasn't entirely sure before kind of studying in a little bit more. Like, when the lord said to my lord, who who are these people he's talking about?

Is he said is he talking about god talking to him? Is he talking about god talking to someone else? But he references them both as lord, which I find fascinating. So when he says, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And I think that that's significant because of the correlation, kind of like what you brought up in the book of Revelation.

So Hebrews talks about how, I'll just read the passage here. Hebrews 10 12 through 13, but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. And, you know, the same is said in 1st Corinthians, but I won't go through, you know, all the examples. But basically, you get the idea that there's this concept of so I believe in Psalms, Psalm 1 101, what's being said is god the father is speaking to god the son, And that's why both are referenced as lord. And god the father is going to make the enemies of Christ a footstool for Christ's feet.

Yeah. So I thought that that was great. Do you have any Well, this just it it doesn't really go with the Old Testament. This is actually something from the New Testament, but it reminded me of when you were talking about my lord. But when Thomas didn't believe that the other disciples saw the risen Christ Yeah.

And then Christ appeared to him and had him put his hand you know, have him touch his nail marks in his hands and then also the, piercing on his side to put his hand in his side. Yeah. And then, like, Thomas responded to him, my lord and my god. Yep. That's a good point.

What that reminded me of. Yeah. I've actually brought that up, and I know I've mentioned this on the podcast a couple of times. But, when I would have interactions with Jehovah's Witnesses, a lot of times when I would when they would try to disprove the idea that Jesus is Jesus is god, you know, I would bring in passages that not only his titles, but I would also bring up the the point that he's worshiped and what to make of that. Because I believe that it would be idolatry to worship something that's not truly God.

And so we have, you know, the wise men. It says I I I mean, I believe that they prostrated themselves, and they worship Jesus. You know, like you said, the disciples worship Jesus, you know, Thomas in particular in that passage. And then you have Hebrews 1 when you bring that in, and it talks about how the angels in heaven worship Jesus. So the fact that he is worshiped, I think, also adds to the validity that Christ is God.

Don't Jehovah's Witnesses with the verse of, John 1. John 1 Yeah. Don't they think don't they read it as he is a god and not god? Yeah. Yep.

So And then we've made the point how, well, then you believe in multiple gods? Like Yeah. That doesn't really add up. That was a point that I had brought up as well was that so I'm trying to think of the term for it. I don't know if it's definite.

Maybe it'll come to me. But basically, in their their translation, which mind you, you look at literally dozens and dozens of translations, and they're all saying the word was God. Mhmm. So what would be different is the Jehovah's Witnesses translation. So I think that that, you know, like, I'm not one that always thinks that, like, oh, just because of belief is in the minority, therefore, it must be wrong.

But I also think too that, like, when it comes to accurately translating scripture, when you have all of these different translations brought up by, you know, Catholics and Protestants, and then they're all saying the same thing, that to me probably you you know what I mean? Like, that that provides support to me that, okay, that this is the right translation. Yeah. And I think too, it even if we didn't have that, there's enough other scripture passages that we can refer to. Mhmm.

So, like, if you know, because I had brought up to the Jehovah's Witness I was speaking with basically that, like, okay. So you believe that John one says, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was a God, which he's talking about Christ. And I said, so you have the one true God, which you say is God the father, but then you have this lesser God that is Christ. And I said, but if you you you can't hold that there is one only one true God and also hold that there is another God out there because by your very logic that would make him a false god. Yeah.

So, that kind of leads us right into, you know, I and I understand that Arianism isn't synonymous, isn't the exact same thing as Jehovah's Witness. Yeah. Like, I understand that Jehovah's Witnesses, they have their own specific set of beliefs that are unique to them. But I but I can't help but notice the the similarities at least as it relates to Christ. Yeah.

Because I think that, you know, if I if I don't misspeak here, I do believe that the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Christ was created, that, you know, that he's not obviously truly one with the father. He isn't truly God. But Arianism in the 4th century, it basically denied the divinity of Christ and Arius was where we get Arianism. Mhmm. So with Arianism, so Arias was an Alexandrian, presbyter in the 4th century.

And he did not believe that Christ was co eternal with the father. Because he couldn't have been co eternal with the father because he is a created being. So he's of a similar substance as how he worded it rather than of the same substance. Yeah. So we get the term homooussius, which means of the same substance, which came out of the Nicene Creed Yeah.

Which is, you know, what we believe. You know, what we know about the trinity today started off obviously, You know, I I and I do think that there were Christians before the Nicene Creed that believed in the trinity. I think it's just the way of expressing it was more clearly defined. And I think that they had to because of their rising prevalence of of Arianism and how do we address these issues. I know I was reading, Saint Athanasius because I know he was a big church father that fought against Arianism.

Yeah. But, his document, it's called the incarnation of the word, was is really good, and I read a lot of good quotes by him to support the, divinity of Christ. Yeah. Yeah. Athanasius is definitely one of the early church fathers.

It's pretty across the board respected, from Christians of, you know, the majority of Christian denominations because of his defense of the trinity. Yeah. So another belief that Aries held to was subordinationism. So basically, what it what it teaches is that, Christ was subordinate to the father, not merely in role, but also in his very essence. So it's not that it's not just that God the son submits to God the father.

It's almost like his he is not of as great of an essence or maybe fuller fully divine like God the father. Because God the father is eternal. It's a denial of the coeternality of God in the co equal aspect as well. You know what I mean? Yeah.

That makes sense that he didn't really yeah. I wonder it is interesting to think about, because with the trinity yeah. That's Yeah. So he was almost like a lesser being. Obviously, not as not as powerful maybe.

So and that's something that the Nicene Creed, like, firmly establishes about the co eternality of all three persons Yeah. In the Godhead. And next, I wanted to touch on Nestorianism. Now Nestorius was a patriarch at Constantinople and obviously is credited with surprise surprise, Nestorianism. And they focus on the, dual nature of Christ.

And at face value, that doesn't sound bad because as Christians, you know, we hold to, that Christ was truly God and truly man, that he he both had he had 2 natures, a human nature and a divine nature. But I think where they start to deviate and start to go off the rails is that they believe that Christ had 2 natures, but he also existed as 2 separate persons. Instead of it being Instead of 2 natures, one person Yeah. They believed it to be 2 natures, but also 2 different persons. Yeah.

And I don't know what, you know, where they I'd be curious to look at where that stemmed from, like, where they started to believe that. Like, maybe there were scripture passages that they tried to use to justify that he had that he was 2 persons. I'm not even sure how that would work. But I do think that, you know, they might maybe try to use a passage like, the coming of the son of man that, like, when Christ says that no man knows the day of the day the day or the hour, you know, not the angels in heaven, not even the son of man, but, you know, basically the father only. So and I believe I wanted I wanted to say I watched something that basically had stated that, Saint Thomas Aquinas actually I think it was maybe Sproul.

He had brought up about Saint Thomas Aquinas, reviewing that passage. And one of the things he said was almost like that Saint Thomas Aquinas maybe believed that, for the sake of not revealing it, that, like, Christ basically almost told, like, a little bit of a white lie. Because if Christ is truly divine and, you know, he is he is one with the father, how could he have not known? Mhmm. You know?

And so I think that that is going back to kinda what me and Zach talked about in the first episode is about the communication of attributes. Yeah. Because you know? And I don't know enough about this to to speak knowledgeably on it when it comes to, is it possible that God and his divinity chose to not reveal something to his human side, to his human nature? This is where it gets really tricky.

Yeah. Because it's in because in the passage really quick, it said son of man. Correct? Or was it son of god? That the son of man doesn't know the day of the hour?

Yeah. I think he said son of man, which son of man. So he referred himself. His humanity too. Yeah.

If you think about it. Instead of using the term so that's a good point. Or the deity. Yeah. Since he didn't use the term son of god, but son of man Just a thought.

I don't I'm not too knowledgeable on this either. Yeah. And and you see how quickly you can make mistakes when it comes to Christology Mhmm. Because you don't wanna divide Christ. But at the same time, you want to acknowledge that he was both fully divine, fully human.

And there's definitely some complications that come along with that. Mhmm. So essentially, in the sorius, you know, there's some controversy as to how much of historian teachings were actually believed by Nestorius. Because, you know and I think I've heard it heard it said before, but that the victors throughout history are usually the ones that get to write history. Mhmm.

So, obviously, Nicene Christianity that triumphs in which I, you know, agree with. Yeah. Those at that time get to write it. And it's like, I think people's biases come through, and sometimes we can misrepresent what the other side is saying either through misunderstanding them or maybe sometimes, you know, people can willfully choose to misrepresent them to, you know, to to argue against them easier. Mhmm.

To basically discredit them is my point. Yeah. And, you know, I could see that possibly happening. But essentially, what it boils down to that it was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in, 431 AD. So reading up more on Nestorianism, I was looking in to Saint Cyril of Alexandria because he has a letter.

It's his 3rd letter to Nestorius, and this is a quote from this letter. He says, and since the holy virgin hath born after the flesh, god united personally to the flesh. Therefore, we do say that she is also mother of god, not as though the nature of the word had the beginning of its existence from flesh, For it was in the beginning, and the word was god, and the word was with god, from John chapter 1 verse 1, and is himself the maker of the ages, co eternal with the father, and the creator of all things. So I did think that was interesting. He kinda played a role in, understanding that title for Mary, mother of God, God bearer Yeah.

In order to defend the 2 natures, but one person of Jesus Christ. I sort of have trouble trying to understand their viewpoint how they could believe that it's 2 persons as in, like, you know, schizophrenic thing is going on where, like, you have, you know, 2 Christs. Like, we don't have 2 Christs. You know, Christ is one person Mhmm. With 2 natures.

Yes. And the mystery of it is that those two natures are united in one person. Mhmm. Yeah. What you were saying about the Theotokos thing, me and Zach actually brought up in the previous episode because, you know, I had brought it up about how that was something that Arius actually you know, he preferred Christ the Tokos, I believe, the mother of Christ rather than the mother of God.

And I told, Zach that, you know, I personally don't have any issue with, Theotokos because I do believe that in a very real sense, obviously, Mary is the mother of God because Jesus Christ is both equally God and equally man. I said, but we also have to make a distinction here that that she is the mother of God the son in his flesh as to basically make sure to differentiate between that and his divinity and to basically not try to ascribe or basically trying to veer away from not trying to insinuate that Mary had anything to do with the divinity of Christ. And I think that that is, like, a good distinction, and I you know, like I said, that's why I have no issue with the Atokos as long as it's properly understood. Mhmm. Because I I do think that understanding a definition properly, being able to understand who Christ is.

Yeah. Because we can't say that, oh, you know, I guess from maybe from an historian view, I guess they would probably say that Mary is the mother of god, the son, that person, but not god, or I'm sorry, god, the son in his flesh in that personhood, but not god the son in his divinity. But the difficulty is is since those 2 are united, in the person of Christ Mhmm. I think that that that is where I guess the difficulty lies. Yeah.

Yep. So I wanted to next touch on monophysitism. And this I found to be probably one of the most interesting just because it's the belief that Christ had, you know, 2 natures, 1 human and 1 divine. It's almost like they believe and this came from Eutyches who was a presbyter of at Constantinople. One of the things I wanted to, note about it is that the humanity of Christ, once Christ is born and I'm and then it's not clear to me at what point in time this happens.

And I'm guessing maybe at his birth, but, so Christ became man, but his human nature is absorbed by his divine nature. So we lose his Christ's humanity in all of this. So it's basically gone. It's absorbed into the divinity of Christ. Now I think that this poses quite a few problems.

One is that when, I think it's maybe in the Heidelberg Catechism, it talks about how the necessity of why Christ had to be human in order to pay for the satisfaction of sins. Yeah. Exactly. God God is not gonna punish a different creature. He has to punish humanity.

A human being. Or punish himself. Well, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, he had to become human.

Yeah. He had to take on humanity. Humanity is bears the sin, you know, bears the weight of all that sin in Christ. Because obviously, Christ and his human nature bore the sins Yeah. Of his people.

But so you have an issue, like, right away that presents a problem. And then also too and this was previously discussed with me and Zach. In the book of Hebrews, it talks about how Christ is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, because he was tempted like us in every way except without sin. Mhmm. So how can we have a mediator that sympathizes with us if he doesn't also have our nature?

Mhmm. He has to have our nature because he underwent suffering. He underwent pain. He underwent temptation. Yeah.

And so he is able to sympathize with us in that. And I think that that's why he continually makes intercession for us to the father and is able to mediate between us. Mhmm. So this was I wanted to mention that the council of Chalcedon. So they rejected, the teaching of Eutykes.

And they basically in the Chalcedonian definition, and it's longer, so I won't read the entire thing. But it acknowledged that there is 2 natures that were without confusion, change, division, or separation. So I think you can quickly see how that sort of definition is helpful because it kinda gives us these sort of guidelines to go by. Do you think it's safe to say that out of out of that definition, monophysitism is don't don't you think it brings about confusion? Or at least maybe so it doesn't Definitely.

Because once again, it's saying one is overpowering the other or is greater than the other when it comes to Christ's nature. But fully, what it is is it it's he is fully human and fully god. Yeah. It's not 75% this or, you know, 25% that. What you know, it it's a 100% both natures in one person.

Yeah. And too, they're the definition of, you know, without confusion and without change. So I also think change is a part of it too because you're changing the human nature into something else. Mhmm. So maybe that might be a little bit more accurate to say that what they're doing is they're changing in the human the human nature to become a divine nature.

Yeah. So they're deifying the flesh. Yep. And going back to a quote I had mentioned in the first episode of season 2 was that, you know, BB Warfield said he made a comment that he's not a humanized god or a deified man, but Christ is a true god man. God man.

Yep. And I think that that That's a good quote. Yeah. And I think that that is really helpful because it's we're not trying to change his human nature. We wanna make sure that it's preserved and that its attributes are preserved.

I was, surprised that the Coptic and Ethiopian churches, subscribe to monophysitism. And I didn't know that that was still a thing that existed. Like, Arianism, I think I would say that Arianism, I could see how it's more prevalent, some of the core idea that Jesus isn't fully divine or isn't co eternal with the father. I can see some remnants of that in what the Jehovah's Witnesses believe. Mhmm.

And, obviously, when you bring something like that up to a Jehovah's Witness, I feel like for something that is up such a pivotal part in church history, You think that they would maybe have a little bit more knowledge in that area? But, from my understanding, and obviously, it's not like I've talked to a ton of Jehovah's Witnesses, but the few I have interacted with, it does seem that they're almost discouraged to read from reading the early church fathers. Yeah. And which I think Or church history in general. Or church history because it it is seen through their church's lens.

Mhmm. I personally think that that puts someone at a disadvantage. Yeah. But basically, the overall point I'm getting at, I think being well rounded of Yeah. With church history can, can be helpful.

And I think that, like I said, when discussing that with the Jehovah's Witness, I feel like that puts them at a disadvantage because they're not gonna know about that stuff as much. And I don't think it really prepares them to deal with someone who is, who does study church history. Yeah. And, like, from your point of view, you're seeing similarities between, you know, these old heresies and them that they don't fully understand or know about because they don't read into it. But it's just like learning about, like, just history in general Yeah.

Of our, you know, country and the wars in the past, and, you know, you you wanna know your history. What the truth is and Yeah. You don't wanna make the same mistakes. Yeah. And I I do think that, some of the groups that are, maybe more extreme when it comes to the exclusivism, like, where it's almost like, you know, their followers are discouraged from reading any outside sources.

Just have a well rounded knowledge of your own beliefs. And you can become familiar too with other, like, religions and what they believe. But I even talk to another person who believes in that religion to try to understand what it is that they truly believe. Yeah. Because I think you're I mean, ultimately, I believe it's the holy spirit who draws people to Christ.

But I also think too, as believers, it's our responsibility to to do our part in, understanding and studying the scriptures, understanding and studying history. Because, I mean, we believe that, I mean, history is there from God. Like Mhmm. You know what I mean? Okay.

And lastly, I kinda wanted to bring in, a couple of new testament passages. And I I know that, this episode has been very scripture heavy. I mean, I've been quoting scripture left and right. I just feel like it's so relevant to establishing the evidence from scripture about who Christ is Mhmm. And about his divinity.

I do feel like that there's other theological doctrines with that are a little bit more and I'm not saying it's easy to understand necessarily when it comes to the humanity and divinity of Christ and how they relate to each other. And I think that that's why you see so many heresies early on is because it is very complex topic. Mhmm. But I do think when it comes to Jesus being truly God and truly man is, to me, is just unquestionable. Like, I I think it's one of those things that both the old and new testament, there's just a surprising amount of evidence for it.

Yeah. Just really quick. It does make you kinda understand why the Nicene Creed was such a important document to be made as a statement of faith Yeah. When it comes to just with these heresies coming up, just to have that, document that states, like, what the faith is and what it means to be a Christian. It's very important to know.

Yeah. It it's something that we can refer back to that allows us to use as a as a rule and that we can apply it, you know, when we see any deviation from it. You know what I mean? So it's like we have that to refer back to. We have the Chalcedonian or Chalcedonian definition.

Mhmm. But I think that that is reading through it. It is super helpful when it comes to understanding Christology. Yeah. And when you're presented with something that you're a little bit unsure of, you can refer back to it and be like, does it break the Chalcedonian definition?

And if it does, then you're like, okay, then maybe I need to rethink what I believe about this. Yeah. And so here are some scripture proofs from the New Testament, you know, regarding Christ deity. So this is in Hebrews 13. He, meaning Jesus, is the radiance of the glory of God in the exact the exact imprint of his nature.

Titus 2 13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great god and savior, Jesus Christ. And then Colossians 29, for in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. So just to recap, from church history, from scriptural proofs, I mean, we have the titles that point to the son of God, and we have all of his other titles to refer back to when understanding that Christ is truly divine. We also have old and new testament old and new testament passages that we can, review that solidifies it. So we don't have any sort of like, I I feel like Christians shouldn't have any doubt about, you know what I mean, whether or not Jesus was truly divine.

I mean, there are other religions that see that Christ was maybe a good teacher or maybe in Islam, you know, that Jesus was just a prophet. Mhmm. But it's like, well, that is not, I mean, that is not the Christian belief. The Christian belief is that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God, which is Peter's profession of faith. And I think that that's why it's it's so important, you know, for it to be reinforced.

Yeah. I know something you kinda didn't you decided not to talk about, but, just the miracles that Jesus performed? Because I understand you're saying, you know, other his apostles Yeah. Were able to perform miracles. Yeah.

And the prophets performed miracles. Yeah. Yeah. I will say, though, like, it made me think of, like, I think it's in Acts chapter 3 when Peter heals a crippled man. He does it in the name of Jesus Christ, though.

Yeah. And I thought that's a very big indicator in regards to, you know, the reason why they are able to do these miracles is their belief in Jesus Christ and him being the son of God. Yeah. That's how that's where the the power flows from. Yes.

Yeah. I mean, I think that that's a that's a great point. I think that, I think it can be said too that the prophets, even though the name of Jesus might not have been used, like, for example, like, John Owen, he talks about, like, you know, I feel like from from his perspective, it's seen through such a, Christ centered lens that, like, even the old testament prophets when they raised, people from the dead and they did. And I think maybe I think Elijah might have been one of them that raised someone from the dead. But when they would, it was done because of the power of Christ.

And I think that a lot of the, miracles that were done or, I think everything does point towards Christ. Yeah. And I think that that is truly how people are saved. Like, I think that like, Moses, for example, I think that he looked to the one who was to come Mhmm. And in Christ was he saved.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So, like, salvation is in, you know, in and through Christ alone. Yeah. But yeah.

So I wanna, thank you for taking the time to go over this with me, go through everything. And, you know, it was really interesting to learn about Yeah. You know. I enjoyed it. Yeah.

Yeah. Me too. And I also wanna thank our listeners for taking the time, you know, if you made it this far, kudos to you. And I also want to just, briefly mention that, in our 3rd episode of season 2, my good friend, Cory Reckner, is gonna be back, and we're gonna be discussing, the suffering servant. And we're gonna be going over the atonement of Christ.

So I hope that you'll be able to, tune in.

Primary Scriptural References:

• Exodus 4:22–23 – Israel as God's "firstborn son."

• Hosea 11:1 – "Out of Egypt I called my son."

• 2 Samuel 7:12–14 – God's covenant with David regarding his son and heir.

• Psalm 2:7 – "You are my Son; today I have begotten you."

• Matthew 3:17 – The Father's affirmation at Jesus' baptism.

• Matthew 17:5 – The Father's voice at the Transfiguration.

• John 1:14 – "The Word became flesh... we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father."

• John 5:18 – Jesus claims equality with God by calling God His Father.

• Romans 1:4 – Jesus declared the Son of God in power by the resurrection.

• Galatians 4:4–7 – Believers’ adoption as sons through Christ.

Theological Topics:

• Christology – The study of the person and nature of Christ.

• The Trinity – The eternal relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• Adoption – Believers' relationship to God grounded in Christ’s Sonship.

• Heresies concerning the Son – Especially Arianism and Adoptionism.

Historical Confessions Referenced or Implied:

• The Nicene Creed (325 AD) – "Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father."

• The Athanasian Creed – Affirming the full divinity of the Son.

1. What does the title “Son of God” mean in relation to Jesus?

   In the episode, Zechariah and Kathryn unpack the deep theological meaning behind the title Son of God. This phrase does more than indicate Jesus' closeness to the Father. It affirms His full divinity and eternal role within the Trinity. Zechariah explains that recognizing Jesus as the Son is central to understanding both His divine nature and His unique role as Mediator between God and humanity.

2. How is Jesus’ Sonship revealed in the New Testament?

   The conversation highlights several moments where the New Testament makes Jesus’ Sonship unmistakably clear. Zechariah points to Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:17, the transfiguration in Matthew 17:5, and the resurrection in Romans 1:4 as key events where the Father publicly declares Jesus to be His beloved Son. These moments confirm Jesus’ identity and mission in redemptive history.

3. What Old Testament background supports the Sonship of Christ?

   Zechariah and Kathryn trace the biblical roots of this title to the Old Testament. Israel is sometimes referred to as God’s son in passages like Exodus 4:22–23 and Hosea 11:1, but the term takes on a deeper meaning in the covenant made with David. In 2 Samuel 7:12–14, God promises that a royal descendant will be His son. The New Testament reveals that Jesus fulfills this promise not merely by royal appointment, but by His divine nature.

4. How did early church heresies challenge the doctrine of Christ’s divinity?

   The episode touches on early theological challenges, including Arianism, which denied that the Son was truly divine. Zechariah explains how these controversies pushed the early church to define orthodoxy more precisely. The Nicene Creed, crafted in response to such heresies, affirms that Jesus is not a created being but is begotten of the Father and shares the same divine essence.

5. Why is Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:16 so important?

   Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” marks a pivotal moment in the Gospel narrative. Zechariah emphasizes its lasting importance by citing Augustine, who argued that the church was built not on Peter as a man, but on the truth of his confession. This declaration gets to the heart of who Jesus is and sets the foundation for Christian faith and identity.

6. How does Jesus’ Sonship shape the believer’s relationship with God?

   The episode explores how the unique Sonship of Jesus opens the way for believers to be adopted into God's family. Because Christ is the eternal Son, those who are united to Him by faith become sons and daughters of God. Zechariah reflects on Galatians 4:4–7, which shows that through Christ, believers are no longer slaves but heirs who can call God “Abba, Father.”

• "The Person of Christ" by Donald Macleod — A rich exploration of Christ’s divine and human natures, including His eternal Sonship.

• "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer — Especially the chapters on adoption and the Sonship of Christ.

• "On the Incarnation" by Athanasius — A classic early Christian defense of the eternal Son becoming man for our salvation.

• "Systematic Theology" by Louis Berkhof — See the sections on Christ’s divine Sonship and the doctrine of adoption.