The divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ
Christological controversies
During the fourth and fifth centuries controversy raged over the issue of the humanity
and the divinity of Jesus Christ and the subsequently to the relationship of Jesus to
God and Mary. These debates are known as the Christological controversies. The
issue at the heart of the debate is essentially how Jesus can be fully human as well as
fully God? The Christological controversies demonstrate that over emphasising either
his divinity or his humanity leads to a distorted picture of Jesus Christ.
Docetism
One of the earliest views given on the issue of the divinity and the humanity of Jesus
Christ is what is known as the Docetist position. Docetism is the view that Jesus was
fully divine however he was not truly human. Docetism claimed that Jesus was God
but merely had the appearance of being human. This doctrine clearly undermined
the integrity of the humanity of Jesus and accordingly was rejected by orthodox
Christians
Arianism
Another prevalent view on the issue of the divinity and humanity of Jesus is a position
known as Arianism. Arianism is the belief that Jesus is superior to the rest of creation
but is less divine than God and hence Jesus was not actually God. Arianism is so
called because of Arius who most influentially espoused this view. Arius reasoned
that because Jesus was created he could not be eternal unlike God who is eternal and
hence Jesus cannot be equal to God. Arius taught that only the Father was God even
though his Son could reveal God to humanity. Arianism led to a divisive dispute in
the early Christian Church. It was formally resolved by the Council of Nicaea in 325
CE which concluded that Jesus was of one substance with the Father the implication
being that Jesus was fully divine as well as being fully human. The Council of
Constantinople reaffirmed the decision reached by the Council of Nicaea.
Nestorius
In the fifth century Nestorius claimed that there were two separate persons within
Jesus, a divine person and a human person. Mary was the mother of the human Jesus
but not the divine Jesus. The inference of Nestorius' claims about Mary was to
undermine the integrity of the person of Jesus. The Council of Ephesus in 431 CE
reinforced the view that Christ is fully human as well as being fully divine. It follows
therefore that Mary is the Mother of God (theotokos) as well being the mother of the
human Jesus.