Was Jesus Incarnated as a God-man with a Dual Nature?
Was Jesus really a God-man with a Dual Nature?
“Thy calf . . . the invention of Israel: a workman made it, and it is no god”—Hosea 8:5,6 Douay-Rheims
The Trinity doctrine of ‘the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit each being God, yet there is only one God,’ was finally formulated in 381 CE at the Council of Constantinople, almost 300 years after the Bible was complete. But this doctrine created some problems with things the Bible said. Almighty God is “eternal”, “who alone has immortality” (1 Timothy 1:17 NIV; 6:16 NAB). Since Jesus Christ is said to be God, how could someone who is eternal and immortal die? Seventy years later, in 451 CE, over 350 years after the Bible was complete, at the Council of Chalcedon, the Trinitarian church leaders came up with a way to solve the problem of Jesus being God, yet he died. They came up with a seemingly ingenious, yet mysterious, idea that Jesus became a “God-man” who had an “Incarnation” with a “Dual Nature”, something they called a “Hypostatic Union”, thus claiming that the man Jesus died, but the God Jesus continued to live on. These ideas became a central component of the Trinity doctrine, as we can see from the following quotes:
DEFINITIONS
Since these sophisticated Trinitarian terms are a little off the beaten path for most people, let’s get some definitions:
“Hypostatic union (from the Greek: ὑπόστασις hypóstasis, ‘person, subsistence’) is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ’s humanity and divinity in one hypostasis, or individual personhood. In the most basic terms, the concept of hypostatic union states that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. He is simultaneously perfectly divine and perfectly human, having two complete and distinct natures at once.”— Wikipedia
“God-man (Koinē Greek: θεάνθρωπος, romanized: theánthropos; Latin: deus homo is a term which refers to the incarnation and the hypostatic union of Christ, which are two of mainstream Christianity‘s most widely accepted and revered christologicaldoctrines. The first usage of the term “God-man” as a theological concept appears in the writing of the 3rd-century Church Father Origen:]’This substance of a soul, then, being intermediate between God and the flesh – it being impossible for the nature of God to intermingle with a body without an intermediate instrument – the God-man is born.'”— Wikipedia
“In Christian theology, the incarnation is the belief that the pre-existent divine person of Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, and the Logos (Koine Greek for ‘word’), was “made flesh”[1] by being conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary,[2] who is also known as the Theotokos (Greek for “God-bearer” or “Mother of God”). The doctrine of the incarnation then entails that Jesus was at the same time both fully God and fully human”—Wikipedia
QUESTIONS
Does this make any sense? One of modern day Trinitarianism’s main scholarly proponents admits, “The Incarnation defies our attempts to wrap our limited minds around all it means” (The Forgotten Trinity, by James R White).
Was Jesus really “Incarnated” as a “God-man” with a “Dual Nature”, as Trinitarians claim? Is there anything in the scriptures even that resembles the claim that “Jesus is/was 100% human and 100% God at the same time”? What do the scriptures really say?
JESUS WAS FULLY HUMAN, WHICH PROVES HE COULDN’T BE GOD
1 John 4:2 – “This is the proof of the spirit of God: any spirit which acknowledges Jesus Christ, come in human nature, is from God” (NJB). “Jesus Christ has come as a human being” (1 John 4:2 GNB). “God is not human” (Numbers 23:19), therefore Jesus can’t be God.
Hebrews 2:17 – “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (NIV). – Who made him like them? – Obviously, God! Notice that Jesus was “fully human in every way“. He “became flesh” (John 1:14). However, “God is spirit” (John 4:24). “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19). The Trinitarian “God-man” is here proven to be unscriptural.
Hebrews 4:15 – “We . . . have a high priest . . . who has been tempted in every way, just as we are” – Jesus was “tempted” because he was “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV). But “God is not human” (Numbers 23:19). Also, since James 1:13 says, “God cannot be tempted”, there is no way that Jesus can be God.
Also, a being who is both God and man could hardly be truly human, ‘tempted in all points even as we are’ (Hebrews 4:15). The doctrine that “Jesus was God” is incompatible with the scriptural teaching that he was really human. The “God-man”, “incarnated”, “Dual natured” Jesus concept of Trinitarianism is, in reality, “a different Jesus” (2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT), and “a different kind of good news” (Galatians 1:6 NLT).
“NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN GOD”, BUT THEY SAW JESUS
1 John 1:2 – “This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us” (NLT). It is very obvious that this verse is describing Jesus Christ, and that he was with the Father. Being “with” someone makes it clear that two separate and distinct individuals are being discussed. “We have seen him” is clear and unequivocal proof that Jesus cannot be God, because “no one has ever seen God” (1 John 4:12 NIV).
1 John 4:12 – “No one has ever seen God” (NIV). Contrast this with John’s testimony that he and others saw Jesus, meaning he cannot be Almighty God, as we can see from the following scriptures: ·
1 John 1:1 – “Whom we have heard and seen” (NLT) ·
1 John 1:2 – “We have seen him” (NLT) ·
1 John 1:3 – “What we have actually seen and heard” (NLT)
Corinthians 15:45 – “It is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being,’ the last Adam a life-giving spirit” (NAB). Trinitarians like to claim that Jesus was resurrected with a physical body to support their “God-man” assertion about Jesus, but this verse plainly shows that Jesus was resurrected as a “spirit”, not as a God-man.
WHY JESUS WAS NOT “GOD INCARNATE”
Luke 3:21,22 – “After all the people were baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily from like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son; with you I am well pleased'” (NAB). God speaks from heaven as Jesus comes up from the water in the Jordan River, and the holy Spirit is visible as a dove in the air coming upon Jesus. The three are shown as entirely separate, and being in the form of a dove is an indication the holy Spirit is not person. If Jesus was “God incarnate”, as Trinitarians claim, he would already be fully God from his birth, and he would already have full use of the holy Spirit, so it would not need to come upon down upon him.
Luke 4:16-21 – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach . . . the scripture you’ve heard has been fulfilled today.” Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1, which reads, “The spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me for Yahweh has anointed me” (NJB). Rather than being referred to as a person, the holy Spirit is referred to as “the spirit of the Lord Yahweh.” If Jesus was “God incarnate”, as Trinitarians claim, he would not need to be anointed by God with the holy Spirit, because he would already be fully God, with full use of the holy Spirit.
Acts 10:38 – “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit and with power” (NAB). – God anointed and empowered Jesus. The holy Spirit is God’s way of empowering someone to do his will. If Jesus was “God incarnate”, as Trinitarians claim, he would not have to be empowered by the holy Spirit. As “the Lord God”, he would already be “Almighty” (Revelation 21:22).
CHRIST, NOT GOD, DIED FOR OUR SINS
It is asserted by many that Jesus Christ was God a “God-man” in the flesh while on earth, and that he “died in his body, or flesh, but not in his deity or divinity.” Did Jesus die in his deity or divinity?
“Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son” (2 John 3 NIV), was completely and totally qualified to die for our sins, and did not have to be Almighty God himself, as Trinitarians claim. The scriptures say nothing about any supposed “dual nature”, or “hypostatic union”, of Trinitarian invention. In fact, if any part of Jesus had remained alive, he could not have died for our sins.
“Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 NIV). Notice that “Christ was put to death in the flesh”. Christ suffered on earth, but God didn’t because “God is a spirit” (John 4:24 GWT), and has never been a man (Numbers 23:19; Hosea 11:9). “Christ died” (1 Corinthians 15:3), which is something that God cannot do (Habakkuk 1:12 NIV). ‘God resurrected Jesus’ (Acts 2:32 HCSB), tells us Jesus can’t be God, since Jesus could not bring himself back to life.
Notice that “Christ was put to death in the flesh”. Jesus was not put to death as a “God-man”, which is something that even Trinitarians admit is not so. Instead, they claim that only the “human part” of Jesus died, but not his “God part”. But the scripture says “Christ was put to death in the flesh”, without any such qualification.
“Surely you, Yahweh, are from ancient times, my holy God, who never dies”—Habakkuk 1:12 NJB
“My God, my Holy One, you will never die”—Habakkuk 1:12 NIV
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God”—1 Timothy 1:17 NIV
“CHRIST DIED for our sins”—1 Corinthians 15:3
“GOD RAISED THE LORD FROM THE DEAD”—1 Corinthians 6:14 NIV
“IN HIM DWELLS the whole fullness of DEITY bodily”, “GOD WHO RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD”—Colossians 2:9,12 NAB
“IN HIM, in bodily form, LIVES DIVINITY in all its fullness”, “God who raised him from the dead”—Colossians 2:9,12 NJB
From the above scriptures, it is plain to see that “Christ”, “the Lord”, has “the whole fullness of Deity” (“Divinity”) in him, but is not Almighty God, and he, as Christ, “died for our sins.” Christians “may come to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4 NAB) also, but that doesn’t make them God. “Deity” or “Divinity” in the case of Christ simply means that he is divine, or godlike, but not Almighty God.
Thus, the scriptures themselves solve the problem — It was Jesus Christ, not God, who died for our sins!
CONCLUSION
The Trinity doctrine is the “golden calf” “invention” of Christianity.
The Bible is a collection of 66 books which are “inspired by God” and “complete” (2 Timothy 3:16,17 CSB), and constitute “the faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones” (Jude 3 NAB). This means there is no need for any further supplementation, updates, or additions to Biblical beliefs. The Trinity doctrine and such related “doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1 NASB) as “Incarnation”, “God-man”, and “Dual Nature”, were not even formulated until 300 years after the Bible was completed.
The “Incarnated” “God-man” with a “Dual Nature”, like Israel’s “golden calf”, is an “invention” of humans, and “it is no god” (Hosea 8:5,6 Douay-Rheims), because the scriptures contradict such erroneous ideas. Jesus is “the Son of God”, but not an “Incarnated” “God-man” with a “Dual Nature”.
4 thoughts on “Was Jesus Incarnated as a God-man with a Dual Nature?”
This one is easy. Jesus was a real man who was a traveling apocalyptic Jewish preacher of the first century CE. Of course he was not a god-man. He had no supernatural powers. If God did exist, he would not use messengers or intermediaries, as Jesus is claimed to be. God would do his own work, including communication, teaching, doing miracles, rewarding and punishing. In his regular meetings with all persons at the same time, God would say “Accept as my message only what I convey to you in these lectures and never what others claim that I say as if they are intermediaries for me. I neither need, nor want, nor use any intermediaries. Nobody speaks words in my behalf.”
Hi,
I just bumped into your site – love it!
The hypostatic union never made any sense to me. I do not understand how one can have two natures at one time. For example, how could Christ be omniscient and not know the time of the second coming?
However, consider Revelation 5:1-5. How is it that Christ could unseal this scroll and no other being could? (I think it would be well to be aware of what it means to unseal the scroll.)
Anyway, for many years, I believe that the occurrence and substance of Christ’s faith has to have some organic connection to His pre-incarnate identity and perhaps experience as the only begotten divine Son of God.
And that faith is what enabled Him to prevail.
Recently, I have come to believe that this one slice of Christ’s being, His faith, is divine, realizing it is a faith that will be produced in the remnant (Revelation 14:12).
I am unsure but that is my present conviction.
Blessings,
Tony
T—I just bumped into your site – love it!
BA—Glad you found it and benefited from it. Feel free to tell others about it. Thanks so much for expressing your thoughts here.
T—The hypostatic union never made any sense to me. I do not understand how one can have two natures at one time. For example, how could Christ be omniscient and not know the time of the second coming?
BA—You’re right, he couldn’t, of course.
T—However, consider Revelation 5:1-5. How is it that Christ could unseal this scroll and no other being could? (I think it would be well to be aware of what it means to unseal the scroll.)
BA—Yes, because “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever” (Revelation 1:5,6 NAB). However, notice that Jesus has “his God”, who is his “Father”.
Additionally, we note that the vision of Revelation 4-5, Jesus the “Lamb” (5:6) didn’t originally possess “the scroll” (5:7). It was “in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne” (5:1), “the Lord God Almighty” (4:8-11). Once the “Lamb”, Jesus, was deemed the only one “worthy” (5:2-5), “He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne” (5:7).
T—Anyway, for many years, I believe that the occurrence and substance of Christ’s faith has to have some organic connection to His pre-incarnate identity and perhaps experience as the only begotten divine Son of God.
B—Yes, since “Yahweh created [Jesus], the first-fruits of his fashioning, before the oldest of his works” (Proverbs 8:22 NJB). Jesus’ “origin is from old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2 NRSV). This means Jesus spent eons of time with his “Father . . . before the world began” (John 17:5 NAB).
T—And that faith is what enabled Him to prevail.
BA—Yes, because, “no one truly knows the Father except the Son” (Matthew 11:27 NLT)
T—Recently, I have come to believe that this one slice of Christ’s being, His faith, is divine, realizing it is a faith that will be produced in the remnant (Revelation 14:12).
B—Yes, the remnant are “those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27 NLT).
T—I am unsure but that is my present conviction.
B—Tony, “now our knowledge is partial and incomplete” (1 Corinthians 13:9 NLT), so we all need to “keep on growing in knowledge and understanding . . . what really matters” (Philippians 1:9,10 NLT).
Keep up your fine effort!
T—However, consider Revelation 5:1-5. How is it that Christ could unseal this scroll and no other being could? (I think it would be well to be aware of what it means to unseal the scroll.)
GW: It’s a metaphor for what?
BA—Yes, because “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever” (Revelation 1:5,6 NAB). However, notice that Jesus has “his God”, who is his “Father”.
GW: Although Jesus of Nazareth did exist, Jesus Christ and God never existed. We now have many proofs that God does not exist. If God did exist, he would never arrange for his own son or even his messenger to be tortured and murdered for some atonement scheme. This is one of the top ludicrous ideas in history!
BA: Additionally, we note that the vision of Revelation 4-5, Jesus the “Lamb” (5:6) didn’t originally possess “the scroll” (5:7). It was “in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne” (5:1), “the Lord God Almighty” (4:8-11). Once the “Lamb”, Jesus, was deemed the only one “worthy” (5:2-5), “He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne” (5:7).
GW: NT scholars have shown that the entire book of Revelation is just a book of political fiction. It is a covert statement of political opposition.
T—Anyway, for many years, I believe that the occurrence and substance of Christ’s faith has to have some organic connection to His pre-incarnate identity and perhaps experience as the only begotten divine Son of God.
GW: If God did exist (he doesn’t, proven), he would not have any sons or messengers. He would do his own work, including communications with humanity.
T—And that faith is what enabled Him to prevail.
GW: Faith is a vice, not a virtue. I recommend that you eliminate faith from your life. If God did exist, he would promote Reason rather than Faith.
T—Recently, I have come to believe that this one slice of Christ’s being, His faith, is divine, realizing it is a faith that will be produced in the remnant (Revelation 14:12).
GW: That is complete nonsense.
B—Yes, the remnant are “those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27 NLT).
T—I am unsure but that is my present conviction.
GW: It is good that you have doubt. If you employ Reason in your search for truth you will finally discover that even God does not exist.
B—Tony, “now our knowledge is partial and incomplete” (1 Corinthians 13:9 NLT), so we all need to “keep on growing in knowledge and understanding . . . what really matters” (Philippians 1:9,10 NLT).
Keep up your fine effort!
GW: If God did exist, our knowledge of him would be universal, and there would be no atheists. He would ensure that. But alas, God does not exist.
GW: If you keep reading this website, you will find that the authors post both true and false statements. Wisdom is knowing the difference.