Is Jesus God?

[Andrewn]

The incommunicable attributes of God are:

Aseity (Independence)

Infinity

Immutability (unchangeability)

Simplicity


Does Jesus Christ possess these attributes? And in what sense is he true God from true God as per the Nicene Creed?

 

[BobRyan]

The uncommunicable attributes of God are:

Aseity (Independence)

Eternity (Infinity)

Immutability

Simplicity


Does Jesus Christ possess these attributes? And in what sense is he true God from true God as per the Nicene Creed?

Jesus is God the Son incarnate in human flesh.
two natures - one Person.
Fully God, fully human

The human nature of Christ had a beginning.
The divine nature did not.

The human nature of Christ could be killed on the cross
The Divine nature could not

 

[HTacianas]

The uncommunicable attributes of God are:

Aseity (Independence)

Eternity (Infinity)

Immutability

Simplicity


Does Jesus Christ possess these attributes? And in what sense is he true God from true God as per the Nicene Creed?

Jesus is the Word of God, meaning the Divine Creative Power of God. See John 1. All things were created by God the Father through His Divine Creative Power. As that Power, he is God. It is through the Word of God that also things exist and consist, see Col 1:16-17.

 

[The Liturgist]

The uncommunicable attributes of God are:

Aseity (Independence)

Eternity (Infinity)

Immutability

Simplicity


Does Jesus Christ possess these attributes? And in what sense is he true God from true God as per the Nicene Creed?

Yes he does, and these attributes are furthermore communicated from His pre-existant divinity to His assumed humanity via the Christological principle of communicatio idiomatum, which directly enables our salvation (vis a vis St. Athanasius “God became man so that man might become god”).

 

[Andrewn]

Jesus is the Word of God, meaning the Divine Creative Power of God. See John 1. All things were created by God the Father through His Divine Creative Power. As that Power, he is God. It is through the Word of God that also things exist and consist, see Col 1:16-17.

Yes he does, and these attributes are furthermore communicated from His pre-existant divinity to His assumed humanity via the Christological principle of communicatio idiomatum, which directly enables our salvation (vis a vis St. Athanasius “God became man so that man might become god”).

The Word of God is begotten of the Father before all ages. This means that the Son does not have aseity (Independence). Also, the Word took flesh, so He does not have immutability. And the flesh is not simple in composition. Sure, He has omnipotence, but He seems to lack omniscience as He does not know the Hour. What am I missing?

I'm having discussions with/ Muslims, and these issues come up.

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

The uncommunicable attributes of God are:

Aseity (Independence)

Eternity (Infinity)

Immutability

Simplicity


Does Jesus Christ possess these attributes? And in what sense is he true God from true God as per the Nicene Creed?

 

[honey badger]

God is not seperate from His language who we are all words of ... Jesus being the pattern son we all follow 2 days/2000 cubits behind ...

 

[RandyPNW]

The uncommunicable attributes of God are:
Aseity (Independence)
Eternity (Infinity)
Immutability
Simplicity
Does Jesus Christ possess these attributes? And in what sense is he true God from true God as per the Nicene Creed?

Quite often the terms we wish to use to compare Jesus, as a human, to God as an infinite Being, fall short. By very definition, a finite man is a distinct thing from an infinite Deity.

However, an infinite Deity, by definition, is capable of revealing Himself in a finite human form. And so, there is an essential link between Deity and Jesus, just as a segment of a line compares to an eternal line. They are both the same line in different revelations, though the revelations both come from the same eternal Source.

 

[Andrewn]

Quite often the terms we wish to use to compare Jesus, as a human, to God as an infinite Being, fall short. By very definition, a finite man is a distinct thing from an infinite Deity.

However, an infinite Deity, by definition, is capable of revealing Himself in a finite human form. And so, there is an essential link between Deity and Jesus, just as a segment of a line compares to an eternal line. They are both the same line in different revelations, though the revelations both come from the same eternal Source.

Would you say that Jesus is a divine person who has some but not all the attributes of God?

 

[Andrewn]

Jesus is God the Son incarnate in human flesh.
two natures - one Person.
Fully God, fully human

The human nature of Christ had a beginning.
The divine nature did not.

The human nature of Christ could be killed on the cross
The Divine nature could not

But what about the incommunicable attributes specific to God? Does Jesus have all of them?

 

[RandyPNW]

Would you say that Jesus is a divine person who has some but not all the attributes of God?

No, that would be misleading. I would say that Jesus is God, but does not share equally the same revelation as that given to the Father. The revelation of the Son is different, but still equally God.

As I said before, the revelation of God expresses His infinite attributes. But His infinite revelation also expresses the capacity for revelations of the same Deity in finite forms, whether expressed in finite expressions of the Spirit's work, theophanies, or Jesus.

Jesus is God, but is expressed as a finite man. Being an infinite Being and being expressed in the form of a finite person is not a contradiction. Again, a segment of a line is still the same identity as the eternal line.

 

[Andrewn]

When you say the name "Jesus Christ", are you refering to the only begotten Son of God, or a famous god called God the Son?

Good question. I think the 2nd choice is what Muslims think we believe. One of the Christians in the discussion wrote, "The Lord Jesus Christ is the manifested God in the body and not another God in heaven and on earth except for him." What do you think of this?

 

[Margaret3110]

The incommunicable attributes of God are:

Aseity (Independence)

Infinity

Immutability (unchangeability)

Simplicity


Does Jesus Christ possess these attributes? And in what sense is he true God from true God as per the Nicene Creed?

Where are you getting this list of attributes? Not from the Bible?

 

[BobRyan]

But what about the incommunicable attributes specific to God? Does Jesus have all of them?

Jesus is the name we give to the incarnate form of God the Son - God the Son is YHWH.
The human nature of God the Son does not need to have God attributes in order for the God nature to have them.
Two-natures one Person.

One person can have both a left hand and a right hand. The left hand does not have to have a thumb on its left side when held palm down - the way the right hand does. There is no need for both hands to be exactly identical

 

[RileyG]

Yes. All small o orthodox Christians accept Jesus's divinity.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Good question. I think the 2nd choice is what Muslims think we believe. One of the Christians in the discussion wrote, "The Lord Jesus Christ is the manifested God in the body and not another God in heaven and on earth except for him." What do you think of this?

Jesus Christ is God because He says He is. That's good enough for me.

 

[Daniel9v9]

Yes, Jesus is God. The Bible, in the Great Shema, teaches us that there is only one God and that is YHWH. The Bible also teaches us that the man Jesus is Christ and YHWH, which we receive as a holy mystery by faith. That is, how can God who is infinite dwell in that which is finite? According to reason, it shouldn't be possible, but God is greater than our reason. So Jesus is 100% man and 100% God, He is fully man and fully God, God in flesh.

Any religious body that believes and teaches that Jesus is not God is not Christian. The divinity of Christ is absolutely central to the Christian faith, and this is formally confessed by all Christian church bodies, including the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, and most Charismatic, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches. There are theologically liberal people in many traditions who may deny the divinity of Christ, but they're not in line with their respective confession of faith or the Scriptures.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Yes, Jesus is God. The Bible, in the Great Shema, teaches us that there is only one God and that is YHWH. The Bible also teaches us that the man Jesus is Christ and YHWH, which we receive as a holy mystery by faith. That is, how can God who is infinite dwell in that which is finite? According to reason, it shouldn't be possible, but God is greater than our reason. So Jesus is 100% man and 100% God, He is fully man and fully God, God in flesh.

Any religious body that believes and teaches that Jesus is not God is not Christian. The divinity of Christ is absolutely central to the Christian faith, and this is formally confessed by all Christian church bodies, including the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, Methodist, Baptist, and most Charismatic, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches. There are theologically liberal people in many traditions who may deny the divinity of Christ, but they're not in line with their respective confession of faith or the Scriptures.

The YHWH of the Old Testament is actually the preincarnate Son of God, the 2nd Person in the Trinity. No man has seen the Father at any time, therefore YHWH could not have been the Father, because YHWH often appeared in person throughout the Old Testament. The baptism of Jesus shows the Trinity clearly: There was Jesus being baptised, the voice of the Father from heaven, and the bodily form of the Holy Spirit coming down and resting of Jesus. So, although the Trinity is not actually specified in Scripture, there are definite events which show that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three separate persons (not separate gods) that make up the essence of God.

 

[oikonomia]

If we believe that Jesus is God and man, and I do, then we must eventually realize that He came to make
us as much as it is possible to be, what He is.

If He is God and man then His full salvation goes far beyond only redeeming us and forgiving us.
His full salvation is to mass produce what He is. That is so that as a corporate entity, as a mighty collective
Body, a gigantic segment of all humanity becomes His expansion and encrease.

If that is the case then a huge part of the universal Church is as much going through a "dark ages" now as a thousand years
ago she was beneath Roman Catholicism's erroroneous shortsighted truncation of the Gospel which required the Reformatiom.

God is still moving on to recover the full truth.
We are not yet brought back to the full proclamation of the purpose of God.

One short and clear example:

Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies,
it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24)

Jesus as to what He became, would not "abide alone."
He died to mass produce what He is as "much fruit" of many grains.

He went to the cross not only for eternal redemption but for mass duplication of what He is.

 

[Daniel9v9]

The YHWH of the Old Testament is actually the preincarnate Son of God, the 2nd Person in the Trinity. No man has seen the Father at any time, therefore YHWH could not have been the Father, because YHWH often appeared in person throughout the Old Testament. The baptism of Jesus shows the Trinity clearly: There was Jesus being baptised, the voice of the Father from heaven, and the bodily form of the Holy Spirit coming down and resting of Jesus. So, although the Trinity is not actually specified in Scripture, there are definite events which show that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three separate persons (not separate gods) that make up the essence of God.

If I'm understanding you correctly, we don't want to say that the Son only is YHWH. According to the Bible, YHWH is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God: YHWH. But YHWH is only made manifest through the Son, in the Old Testament Theophanies and finally in the person of Jesus Christ.

And yes, all Christian churches, including the one I belong to, confess the Trinity and both the divinity and the humanity of Jesus.