Appendix II
Other views as to Christ

(a) God in human form

" The gods, having made themselves like men, are come down to us " (Acts 14:11)

This view would deny to Christ any real manhood and savours of the Lycaonian idea quoted above. It carries with it the implication that God is not that much different from ourselves: " Thou thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself " (Psalm 50:21). This is wrong. God is invisible and remains so (John 1:18). Christ is his image (Colossians 1:15). If Christ were simply God Himself He could not at the same time be his image, for the idea of an image is representation of another.

Again, God dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). Scripture never says he left it. He is immortal (1 Timothy 6:16), but Christ died (1 Corinthians 15:3).

God fills heaven and earth (Jeremiah 23:24). He is everywhere (Psalm 139:7-13). He is through all (Ephesians 4:6). Saying He took human form involves saying that He abandoned this " omni-presence ", otherwise his taking human form would have been unreal.

Again, we know that God declares " The end from the beginning " (Isaiah 46:10), but Christ denied that He had knowledge of certain times (Mark 13:32). He said that the Father had placed them in his own authority (Acts 1:7). Christ was not then " omniscient " (all knowing) unless we argue that He was not telling the truth; a terrible thing to say of Christ. God however knows everything (Psalm 139:1-6). " He counteth the number of the stars; he giveth names to them all " (Psalm 147:4). " Even the hairs of the head are all numbered " (Matthew 10:30). A sparrow does not fall to the ground without God knowing (Matthew 10:29). God neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4), but Christ did (Matthew 8:24). We cannot assume that at the same time He was cognisant of all that was going on in heaven and earth. If we do we deny the reality of his sleep.

Again, Christ was not " omnipotent " (supreme) for He said: " My Father is greater than I " (John 14:28). He elsewhere stated that He could do nothing of Himself save whatever He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). He received authority from God (John 5:27). He was sealed by Him (John 6:27) and sanctified (John 10:36). He was God's servant (Acts 4:27) and sent by Him (John 8:42). Clearly, this all shows He has a great but subsidiary place, not the place of God Himself.

Apart from this we know that he became weary (John 4:6), something which is impossible for God (Isaiah 40:28). On one occasion He was strengthened by an angel (Luke 22:43). Could God be so helped ? And so we could go on, taking almost any New Testament passage and substituting God where Christ is spoken of. The result would be profanity. The impossibility of holding that Christ is simply God in human form would become apparent at every quote.

Further, we know that Christ was God's elect (1 Peter 2:6) and that He was foreknown (1 Peter 1:20). Are we to assume that God was elect and that God was foreknown ? It would be simple absurdity !

In contrast to the view considered above, Scripture continually speaks of Christ as a man. Pilate said to the people " Behold the man!" (John 19:5). God by contrast " is not a man " (1 Samuel 15:29).

The passages where Christ and God are identified cannot be taken to prove that He was personally God, because if they were proof, the passages that identify Him with David and others could in the same way be taken to prove that He was actually those persons, when He clearly wasn't. He that receives Christ's disciples receives Christ, but that does not prove that his disciples are Christ Himself. Likewise, he that receives Christ receives God, but this does not prove that Christ is God Himself (Matthew 10:40).

We know of course that there are passages which state that Christ is God (e.g. 1 John 5:20), but most, if not all, of these mean that He is the living representation of God, as is shown elsewhere in these writings.

However,if we say that Christ is simply God in human form we lose a good deal, including the reality of his humanity, and consequently his mediatorship. The mediator is the "man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). The reality of his distinctive offices is lost or weakened in our minds. He is the Prophet (Acts 3:22/23), that is, God's spokesman, and the High Priest (Hebrews 5:1), that is, man's representative before God. If He were simply God He could not be his spokesman (speaking for God), or a representative of man before God (speaking to God). Further, Christ is made Lord (Acts 2:36), but how could God who is Lord (Matthew 11:25), be made Lord ? It would be making Him what He is already. Again, He is made Head over all (Ephesians 1:22), but God is that anyway (1 Chronicles 29:11). Christ prayed (Luke 9:28/29), but how could God be said to pray ? Prayer is the expression of dependence, but if God is dependent He is not God.

Those who take Christ to be simply God look upon his miracles as the expression of his own power, but Scripture says his works were God's witness to Him (Acts 2:22). They do not prove his divinity, any more than the "greater works" (John 14:12) done by the Apostles prove that they were divine.

Again, those who take Christ to be simply God must take Mary to be the Mother of God. However, if God had a Mother He would not be God, for God is the source of all (Romans 11:36). Here we may let the matter rest.

(b) A man of Adam's order

" A good man " (John 7:12)

The other extreme to saying Christ is God in human form is to say that He is but a man of Adam's race, albeit a remarkable and good man. This view would put Him on a level with such great religious teachers as Buddha, Confucious, LaoTse and Mohammed, and entirely fails to do justice to the many Scriptures which set Him apart from them. He, unlike them, was " marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead " (Romans 1:4). He alone of the religious teachers was raised from the dead.