Is jesus Christ God? The divinity of Christ is an essential teaching of the Catholic faith. Indeed, any community of faith that would deny Christ’s deity ceases to be Christian at all. Yet, not a few quasi- Christian sects do just that—vehemently reject this central teaching. So how can Catholics present a cogent defense steeped in Scripture and faithful to magisterial teaching? Greater Than and Equal To In John 14:28, Jesus says, The Father is greater than I. For many, this statement seems obvious: Jesus is not God. But is this really what our Lord was saying? In Catholic theology, this text can be understood in two ways. First, being greater than another does not have to mean one is essentially different from the other, as when we say a man is essentially distinct from an animal. Greatness can refer to one person functioning in a greater way quantitatively, qualitatively, or even relationally in comparison to another without there being an essential distinction. For example, Matthew 11:11 tells us there has never risen among [men] a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. John is not something other than human because he is said to be greater than certain other people. All human beings share the same nature; therefore, they are absolutely equal in dignity. Similarly, the Father can be said to be greater than the Son pertaining to their relation within the inner life of God, but not with respect to their shared nature as being fully and equally God. The Father alone is the first principle of life in the Godhead; thus, the Catechism of the Catholic Church can say, in paragraph 246: Everything that belongs to the Father, except being Father, the Son has also eternally from the Father, from whom he is eternally born . . . (emphasis added). In this sense, the Father can be said to be greater than the Son relationally, while they are absolutely equal with regard to their essence as God. Another—and perhaps simpler—way one can legitimately interpret this text is to point out that John 14:28 seems to be emphasizing the humanity of Christ. Thus, because Jesus is fully man, it would be appropriate to say the Father would be greater than the Son. The entire verse reads: You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. Jesus was emphasizing here and in previous verses his impending death, resurrection, and departure from the apostles. This would apply to his humanity most particularly. Thus, the same Jesus who can say, I and the Father are one in John 10:30—as God —can say, The Father is greater than I in John 14:28—as man. Was Jesus Created? Revelation 3:14 declares: And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.’ Using these words, Jehovah’s Witnesses claim Jesus to be the first creation of Almighty God and therefore, not God. The only problem here is the actual text. The word translated beginning (Gk. arche) here actually means source. In other words, it means beginning as in the first cause, not in the sense of being the first effect. Arche is used as such elsewhere in the book of Revelation. In chapter 21, verse 6, Almighty God says: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end . . . Do we want to say God was created because arche is used to describe him? By no means! Understood properly, Revelation 3:14 reveals Jesus to be the source of God’s creation—God himself. This fits perfectly with John’s christological declaration in John 1:1-3: the Word created all things . . . and without him was made nothing that was made. If the Word was created, he would have had to create himself, which is absurd. Colossians 1:15-17 reveals Jesus as the first-born of every creature. For in him were all things created . . . he is before all and by him all things consist. Many make the mistake of concluding Jesus was created because he is called first-born of every creature. One obvious problem here is born and created have very different definitions. Even when considering natural childbirth, we know a child does not come into being when he is born, but nine months earlier. Neither would Christ have come into being when he was begotten of the Father. Indeed, when Jesus is called first-born in Colossians, he is referred to as such before creation and time even existed. He was begotten from all eternity. As such, he would have never come into being. Thus, we say in the Creed, Jesus was begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. A second, related problem arises when one considers the title first-born. Even in its Old Testament.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 12:10:16 +0000