Jesus in Christianity

==Christ, ''Logos'' and Son of God==
[[File:Sargis Pitsak.jpg|thumb|upright|First page of [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], by [[Sargis Pitsak]] (14th century): "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God".]]
{{blockquote|''But who do you say that I am?'' Only Simon Peter answered him: ''You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'' — [[s:Bible (American Standard)/Matthew#16:15|Matthew 16:15-16]]<ref>''Who do you say that I am? Essays on Christology'' by Jack Dean Kingsbury, Mark Allan Powell, David R. Bauer 1999 {{ISBN|0-664-25752-6}} page xvi and 109</ref>}}
{{Blockquote|Jesus is mediator, but […] the title means ''more'' than someone ''between'' God and man. He is not just a third party between God and humanity. [...] As true God he brings God to mankind. As true man he brings mankind to God.<ref name=Stagg>Stagg, Frank. ''New Testament Theology.'' Broadman Press, 1962. {{ISBN|0-8054-1613-7}}</ref>}}

Most Christians generally consider Jesus to be the Christ, the long-awaited [[Messiah]], as well as the one and only Son of God. The opening words in the [[Gospel of Mark]] ([[s:Bible (American Standard)/Mark#1:1|1:1]]), "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God", provide Jesus with the two distinct attributions as Christ and as the Son of God. His [[divinity]] is again re-affirmed in [[s:Bible (American Standard)/Mark#1:11|Mark 1:11]].<ref>''Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity'' by Larry W. Hurtado 2005 {{ISBN|0-8028-3167-2}} page 288</ref>  [[s:Bible (American Standard)/Matthew#1:1|Matthew 1:1]] which begins by calling Jesus the Christ and [[s:Bible (American Standard)/Matthew#1:16|in verse 16]] explains it again with the affirmation: "Jesus, who is called Christ".

In the Pauline epistles, the word ''[[Christ (title)|Christ]]'' is so closely associated with Jesus that apparently for the [[early Christians]] there was no need to claim that Jesus was Christ, for that was considered widely accepted among them. Hence Paul could use the term ''Christos'' with no confusion about who it referred to, and as in [[s:Bible (American Standard)/1 Corinthians#4:15|1 Corinthians 4:15]] and [[s:Bible (American Standard)/Romans#12:5|Romans 12:5]] he could use expressions such as "in Christ" to refer to the followers of Jesus.<ref>''Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity'' by Larry W. Hurtado 2005 {{ISBN|0-8028-3167-2}} page 99</ref>

In the New Testament, the title "Son of God" is applied to Jesus on many occasions, from the [[Annunciation]] up to the [[Crucifixion]].<ref name=Cathenc >{{Cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14142b.htm |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Son of God |access-date=2011-10-13 |archive-date=2020-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407100303/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14142b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The declaration that Jesus is the Son of God is made by many individuals in the New Testament, and on two occasions by [[God the Father]] as a voice from Heaven, and is asserted by Jesus himself.<ref name=Cathenc /><ref name=OneTeacher >''One teacher: Jesus' teaching role in Matthew's gospel'' by John Yueh-Han Yieh 2004 {{ISBN|3-11-018151-7}} pages 240-241</ref><ref name=Pentecost >Dwight Pentecost ''The words and works of Jesus Christ'' 2000 {{ISBN|0-310-30940-9}} page 234</ref><ref name=Bromiley571 >''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' by Geoffrey W. Bromiley 1988 {{ISBN|0-8028-3785-9}} page 571-572</ref>

In [[Christology]], the concept that Christ is the ''[[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]]'' (i.e., "The Word") has been important in establishing the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and his position as God the Son in the Trinity{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} as set forth in the [[Chalcedonian Creed]]. This derives from the [[John 1:1|opening of the Gospel of John]], commonly translated into English as: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."<ref>{{cite web|title=John 1:1|url=https://biblia.com/books/nkjv/Jn1.1|website=Biblia.com|publisher=Faithlife.com|access-date=2 August 2017}}</ref> λόγος in the original [[Koine Greek]] is translated as ''Word'' and in theological discourse, this is often left in its English [[transliteration|transliterated]] form, ''[[Logos]]''.
The easiest way to understand this is the teaching that [[Jesus]] (The Word of God) came from the bosom of [[God the Father]] and became a living being who then translated into a foetus in the womb of (Virgin Mary) through a [[supernatural]] means, as professed by believers in [[Christ]].

The [[pre-existence of Christ]] refers to the existence of Christ before his [[incarnation]] as Jesus. One of the relevant New Testament passages is [[s:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:1|John 1:1-18]] where, in the Trinitarian view, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine [[Hypostasis (philosophy)|hypostasis]] called the Logos or Word. This doctrine is reiterated in [[s:Bible (American Standard)/John#17:5|John 17:5]] when Jesus refers to the glory which he had with the Father "before the world was" during the [[Farewell Discourse]].<ref name=Endo >''Creation and Christology'' by Masanobu Endo 2002 {{ISBN|3-16-147789-8}} page 233</ref> {{Bibleref2|John|17:24}} also refers to the Father loving Jesus "before the foundation of the world".<ref name=Endo /> [[Nontrinitarian]] views about the pre-existence of Christ vary, with some rejecting it and others accepting it.

Following the [[Apostolic Age]], from the 2nd century forward, several controversies developed about how the human and divine are related within the person of Jesus.<ref name=Editors1999>{{Citation| last = Fahlbusch| first =  Erwin| year = 1999| title = The encyclopedia of Christianity| pages = 463| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=z47zgZ75dqgC&q=Logos+as+God+in+the+early+church&pg=PA463| isbn = 0-8028-2413-7| publisher = Brill| location = Leiden, Netherland}}</ref><ref name=Rausch2003>{{Citation| last = Rausch | first =  Thomas P.| year = 2003| title = Who is Jesus? : an introduction to Christology| pages = 149| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8OJCa6euw5gC&q=Justin+Martyr+christology&pg=PA148| isbn = 0-8146-5078-3| publisher = Liturgical Press| location = Collegeville, Minn.}}</ref><ref name=McGrath2007>{{Citation| last = McGrath | first =  Alister E.| year = 2007| title = Christian theology : an introduction| pages = 282| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tHlY94UWi3UC&q=Justin+Martyr+christology&pg=PA282| isbn = 978-1-4051-5360-7| publisher = Blackwell| location = Malden, Mass. }}</ref> Eventually in 451, the concept of a [[hypostatic union]] was stated at the Council of Chalcedon, namely that Jesus is both fully divine and fully human.<ref name=Editors1999/><ref name=Rausch2003/><ref>Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd series, Vol XIV p207, translated edition by H.R. Percival. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/ephesus.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816024110/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/ephesus.html |date=2000-08-16 }}</ref><ref>The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church, trans H. R. Percival, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, ed. P. Schaff and H. Wace, (repr. Grand Rapids MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1955), XIV, pp. 192-242</ref> However, differences among Christian denominations continued thereafter, with some rejecting the hypostatic union in favor of monophysitism.