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41-628: Adoptionism is one of two main forms of monarchianism (the other being modalism , which considers God to be one while working through the different "modes" or "manifestations" of God the Father , God the Son , and God the Holy Spirit , without limiting his modes or manifestations). Adoptionism denies the eternal pre-existence of Christ , and although it explicitly affirms his deity subsequent to events in his life, many classical trinitarians claim that

82-520: A novel "mutation" in ancient Jewish monotheistic practice. In his later publications, he also urged greater awareness of the historical value of earliest Christian manuscripts as key physical artefacts of early Christianity, drawing attention to such phenomena as the nomina sacra (distinctive abbreviated forms of certain Greek words, e.g., Theos, Iesous, Kyrios, Christos ), the Christian preference for

123-586: A whole) doctrines on the subject. Jesus Christ, said Strang, was the natural-born son of Mary and Joseph , who was chosen from before all time to be the Savior of mankind, but who had to be born as an ordinary mortal of two human parents (rather than being begotten by the Father or the Holy Spirit ) to be able to truly fulfill his Messianic role. Strang claimed that the earthly Christ was in essence "adopted" as God's son at birth, and fully revealed as such during

164-639: Is discussed as a central element of his thought in Johannes Hemleben, Rudolf Steiner: A Documentary Biography, trans. Leo Twyman (East Grinstead, Sussex: Henry Goulden, 1975), pp. 96-100. From the perspective of orthodox Christianity, it may be said that Steiner combined a docetic understanding of Christ's nature with the Adoptionist heresy." Monarchianism Monarchianism is a doctrine that emphasizes God as one indivisible being, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism , which defines

205-415: Is the belief "that God exalted Jesus to be his Son by raising him from the dead", thereby raising him to "divine status". The other early Christology is "high Christology," which is "the view that Jesus was a pre-existent divine being who became a human, did the Father's will on earth, and then was taken back up into heaven whence he had originally come," and from where he appeared on earth . The chronology of

246-642: The First Council of Nicaea , which defined the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity and identified the man Jesus with the eternally begotten Son or Word of God in the Nicene Creed . The belief was also declared heretical by Pope Victor I . Adoptionism was also adhered to by the Jewish Christians known as Ebionites , who, according to Epiphanius in the 4th century, believed that Jesus

287-561: The Godhead as three co-eternal, consubstantial , co-immanent , and equally divine hypostases . During the patristic period , Christian theologians attempted to clarify the relationship between the Father , Son and Holy Spirit . Monarchianism developed in the 2nd century and persisted further into the 3rd century. Monarchianism (from the Greek monarkhia , meaning "ruling of one," and -ismos , meaning "practice or teaching") stresses

328-646: The Gospel of Mark ), the Apostle Paul , early Christology , the Jewish background of the New Testament , and textual criticism of the New Testament. He was perhaps most well known for his studies on the early emergence of a devotion to Jesus expressed in beliefs about Jesus sharing God's glory, and in a "devotional pattern" in which Jesus features prominently. Hurtado argued that this Jesus-devotion comprises

369-584: The Transfiguration . After proving himself to God by living a perfectly sinless life, he was enabled to provide an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of men, prior to his resurrection and ascension . The Christian Community , an esoteric Christian denomination informed by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner , assumes an adoptionist Christology that treats Jesus and the Christ as separate beings until they are joined at baptism . "Steiner's Christology

410-787: The codex book form, and a number of other features. He was elected a member of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in 1984, and received the Rh Institute Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research in the Humanities in 1986. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2008, and President of the British New Testament Society from 2009 to 2012. He won research grants from

451-628: The law " and "as to his human nature was a descendant of David" in the Epistle to the Galatians and the Epistle to the Romans . Christian interpreters, however, take his statements in Philippians 2 to imply that Paul believed Jesus to have existed as equal to God before his incarnation . The 2nd-century work Shepherd of Hermas may also have taught that Jesus was a virtuous man filled with

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492-463: The 2nd century as a result of later theological debates and other socio-religious influences on the reading of certain biblical texts. Adoptionist theology may also be reflected in canonical epistles , the earliest of which pre-date the writing of the gospels. The letters of Paul the Apostle , for example, do not mention a virgin birth of Christ . Paul describes Jesus as "born of a woman, born under

533-604: The Godhead is understood to dwell in the person of Jesus from the incarnation . The terms "Father" and "Son" are then used to describe the distinction between the transcendence of God and the incarnation. Lastly, since God is understood as a Spirit in the context of the Gospel of John, it is held that the Holy Spirit should not be understood as a separate entity but rather as a mere descriptor of God's action. Notable adherents included Noetus , Praxeas , and Sabellius , hence why

574-467: The Holy Spirit and adopted as the Son. While the Shepherd of Hermas was popular and sometimes bound with the canonical scriptures, it did not retain canonical status, if it ever had it. Theodotus of Byzantium ( fl. late 2nd century), a Valentinian Gnostic , was the most prominent exponent of adoptionism. According to Hippolytus of Rome ( Philosophumena , VII, xxiii) Theodotus taught that Jesus

615-627: The Humanities and served as initial Director from 1990 to 1992. Shortly after his appointment at the University of Edinburgh , he established the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins, which focuses on Christianity in the first three centuries . He made significant advances in understanding Jewish monotheism and early Christian devotion to Jesus . He was an authority on the Gospels (especially

656-616: The Spanish Christology in its own Spanish/North African context in his study, The Last Christology of the West: Adoptionism in Spain and Gaul, 785–820 . A third wave was the revived form ("Neo-adoptionism") of Peter Abelard in the 12th century. Later, various modified and qualified Adoptionist tenets emerged from some theologians in the 14th century. Duns Scotus (1300) and Durandus of Saint-Pourçain (1320) admit

697-556: The Trinity the Father is the source without origin, while the Son eternally receives the divinity from the Father.) Adoptionism is sometimes but not always related to a denial of the virgin birth of Jesus . Bart Ehrman claims that the New Testament writings contain two different Christologies, namely a "low" or adoptionist Christology, and a "high" or "incarnation Christology". The "low Christology" or "adoptionist Christology"

738-442: The absolute, uncompromising unity of God in contrast to the doctrine of the Trinity, which is often lambasted as veiled tritheism by nontrinitarian Christians and other monotheists. Monarchians were opposed by Logos theologians ( Tertullian , Hippolytus , Clement of Alexandria , and Origen of Alexandria ). The Trinitarian view gained prominence and was adopted at the First Council of Constantinople in 381. Monarchianism

779-543: The development of these early Christologies is a matter of debate within contemporary scholarship. According to the "evolutionary model" or evolutionary theories proposed by Bousset, followed by Brown, the Christological understanding of Christ developed over time, from a low Christology to a high Christology, as witnessed in the Gospels. According to the evolutionary model, the earliest Christians believed that Jesus

820-401: The doctrine implicitly denies it by denying the constant hypostatic union of the eternal Logos to the human nature of Jesus. Under adoptionism, Jesus is divine and has been since his adoption although he is not equal to the Father per "my Father is greater than I" and as such is a kind of subordinationism . (However, the quoted scripture can be orthodoxically interpreted as the fact that in

861-522: The exaltation to his baptism, birth, and subsequently to the idea of his eternal existence, as witnessed in the Gospel of John. Mark shifted the moment of when Jesus became the son to the baptism of Jesus , and later still Matthew and Luke shifted it to the moment of the divine conception , and finally John declared that Jesus had been with God from the beginning: "In the beginning was the Word". One notable passage that may have been cited by early adoptionists

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902-465: The first few decades of the church, as witnessed in the writings of Paul. Some 'Early High Christology' proponents scholars argue that this "high Christology" may go back to Jesus himself. According to Ehrman, these two Christologies existed alongside each other, calling the "low Christology" an "adoptionist Christology, and "the "high Christology" an "incarnation Christology". Conversely, Michael Bird has argued that adoptionism did not first emerge until

943-559: The line, for example, but clarifies God meant an eternal "today". Ehrman speculates that Orthodox scribes of the fourth and fifth century changed the passage in Luke to align with the version in Mark as a defense against adoptionists citing the passage in their favor. Since the 1970s, these late datings for the development of a "high Christology" have been contested, and a majority of scholars argue that this "high Christology" existed already before

984-749: The necessity of following Jewish law and rites . They used the Gospel of the Ebionites , one of the Jewish–Christian gospels ; the Hebrew Book of Matthew starting at chapter 3; revered James the brother of Jesus (James the Just); and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law . Their name ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἐβιωναῖοι , translit.   Ebionaioi , derived from Biblical Hebrew : אביונים , romanized:  ebyonim , meaning '

1025-443: The poor ' or ' poor ones ' ) suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty . Distinctive features of the Gospel of the Ebionites include the absence of the virgin birth and of the genealogy of Jesus ; an Adoptionist Christology , in which Jesus is chosen to be God's Son at the time of his Baptism ; the abolition of the Jewish sacrifices by Jesus; and an advocacy of vegetarianism . Iberian Adoptionism

1066-507: The term adoptivus of Christ only in respect to his humanity; once the divine Son "emptied himself" of divinity and "took the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7), Christ's human nature was "adopted" as divine. Historically, many scholars have followed the Adoptionists' Carolingian opponents in labeling Spanish Adoptionism as a minor revival of " Nestorian " Christology. John C. Cavadini has challenged this notion by attempting to take

1107-643: The term filius adoptivus in a qualified sense. In more recent times the Jesuit Gabriel Vásquez , and the Lutheran divines Georgius Calixtus and Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch , have defended adoptionism as essentially orthodox. A form of adoptionism surfaced in Unitarianism during the 18th century as denial of the virgin birth became increasingly common, led by the views of Joseph Priestley and others. A similar form of adoptionism

1148-474: The view is commonly called Sabellianism . Nevertheless, Sabellius's writings did not survive and so the little that is known about his beliefs is from secondary sources. The name "Monarchian" properly does not strictly apply to the Adoptionists, or Dynamists, as they (the latter) "did not start from the monarchy of God, and their doctrine is strictly Christological". Larry Hurtado Larry Weir Hurtado FRSE (December 29, 1943 – November 25, 2019),

1189-541: The writings of Paul. According to the "New Religionsgeschichtliche Schule ", or the Early High Christology Club, which includes Martin Hengel , Larry Hurtado , N. T. Wright , and Richard Bauckham , this "incarnation Christology" or "high Christology" did not evolve over a longer time, but was a "big bang" of ideas which were already present at the start of Christianity, and took further shape in

1230-434: Was "adopted" either at the time of his baptism or his ascension . Notable adherents included Artemon , Beryllus of Bostra , a third-century bishop who debated with Origen , Paul of Samosata , a bishop of Antioch , and Theodotus of Byzantium . Modalistic monarchianism (or Modalism) considers God to be one, who appears and works through the different "modes" of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Following this view, all of

1271-505: Was a human who was exalted, and thus adopted as God's Son, when he was resurrected, signaling the nearness of the Kingdom of God , when all dead would be resurrected and the righteous exalted. Adoptionist concepts can be found in the Gospel of Mark . As Daniel Johansson notes, the majority of scholars hold Mark's Jesus as "an exalted, but merely human figure", especially when read in the apparent context of Jewish beliefs. Later beliefs shifted

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1312-586: Was a man born of a virgin, according to the Council of Jerusalem, that he lived like other men, and was most pious. At his baptism in the Jordan the "Christ" came down upon the man Jesus, in the likeness of a dove ( Philosophumena , VII, xxiii), but Jesus was not himself God until after his resurrection . Adoptionism was declared heresy at the end of the 3rd century and was rejected by the Synods of Antioch and

1353-583: Was a theological position which was articulated in Umayyad and Christian -held regions of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th and 9th centuries. The issue seems to have begun with the claim of archbishop Elipandus of Toledo that – in respect to his human nature – Christ was adoptive Son of God. Another leading advocate of this Christology was Felix of Urgel . In the Iberian peninsula, adoptionism

1394-620: Was an American New Testament scholar , historian of early Christianity , and Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language , Literature, and Theology at the University of Edinburgh (1996–2011). He was the head of the School of Divinity from 2007 to 2010, and was until August 2011 Director of the Centre for the Study of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. Born in Kansas City , Missouri , on December 29, 1943, Hurtado

1435-654: Was at Regent College in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada , where he taught from 1975 to 1978. Prior to moving to Canada in 1975 he pastored a church in Skokie , Illinois . Thereafter he moved to the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg , where he was promoted to full Professor in 1988 and taught until 1996. During his time there, he established the University of Manitoba Institute for

1476-574: Was chosen on account of his sinless devotion to the will of God . The Ebionites were a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era. They show strong similarities with the earliest form of Jewish Christianity, and their specific theology may have been a "reaction to the law-free Gentile mission ". They regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity and his virgin birth , and insisted on

1517-470: Was considered a heresy after the 4th century. Two types of monarchianism were propounded. Adoptionism (or dynamic monarchianism or Dynamism ) holds that God is one being, above all else, wholly indivisible, and of one nature. It holds that the Son was not co-eternal with the Father and that Jesus Christ was essentially granted godhood (adopted) for the plans of God and for his own perfect life and works. Different variations of Dynamism hold that Jesus

1558-468: Was educated at Central Bible College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School . While at TEDS, he majored in New Testament studies and graduated with a Master of Arts in New Testament in 1967. He completed his Ph.D. in 1973 at Case Western Reserve University under the supervision of Eldon Jay Epp with the dissertation Codex Washingtonianus in the Gospel of Mark: Its Textual Relationships and Scribal Characteristics . His first academic appointment

1599-573: Was expressed in the writings of James Strang , a Latter Day Saint leader who founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) after the death of Joseph Smith in 1844. In his Book of the Law of the Lord , a purported work of ancient scripture found and translated by Strang, he offers an essay entitled "Note on the Sacrifice of Christ" in which he explains his unique (for Mormonism as

1640-628: Was opposed by Beatus of Liebana , and in the Carolingian territories, the Adoptionist position was condemned by Pope Hadrian I , Alcuin of York , Agobard , and officially in Carolingian territory by the Council of Frankfurt (794). Despite the shared name of "adoptionism" the Spanish Adoptionist Christology appears to have differed sharply from the adoptionism of early Christianity. Spanish advocates predicated

1681-679: Was what exactly God said at Jesus's baptism; three different versions are recorded. One of them, found in the Codex Bezae version of Luke 3:22, is "You are my son; today I have begotten you." This seems to be quoted in Acts 13:32–33 as well (in all manuscripts, not just Bezae) and in Hebrews 5:5. Quotes from second and third century Christian writers almost always use this variant as well, with many fourth and fifth century writers continuing to use it, if occasionally with embarrassment; Augustine cites

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