Lecture 19: Theological Crisis and Council—Christology
o At the same time, the divinity of Christ is also vigorously
attested. The Gospel of John declares that the Word [of God]
became flesh (John 1:14) and that Jesus both came from
God and was returning to God (John 13:3). The Letter to the
Hebrews (as also Paul and John) asserts the preexistence of
Christ and his role in creation of the world (Heb. 1:2) and states
that he “comes into the world” (Heb. 1:6, 10:5).o These affirmations point to the paradoxical character of the
first Christian experience: that somehow “God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). The pendulum
swings of emphasis point to the impossibility of rendering the
experience adequately in linguistic formulae.The Polarization of Patriarchal Centers
• The passions unleashed by the Arian controversy and the
polarization of patriarchal centers served as another source of
Christological controversy.• Apollonarius (or Apollonaris) of Laodicea (c. 310–c. 390) pushed
a conviction concerning the divinity of Christ to an extreme: Only
the divine Word could be perfect and save humanity, and this Word
was, in effect, the replacement for a human soul or mind in Christ.
o This version of logos-sarx (“Word/flesh”) Christology was
associated above all with Alexandria. It effectively eliminated
Christ’s humanity.o The position of Apollonarius was explicitly condemned
by the Synod of Confessors in 362 and by the Council of
Constantinople in 381.o The synod enunciated the basic principle that guided the
orthodox position: “only that which is assumed can be saved”;
thus, the Word had to assume a full humanity for humanity to
be saved.