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Christological Heresies Today

Modern Heresy: Jesus was a really good person

Modern Heresy: Jesus was a really good person

by Rachel Vinson - Number of replies: 1

One heresy in the world today is the belief that Jesus was a man and was not God. In this belief, Jesus was a wonderful person and a spiritual leader. He loved people and taught about God. His life and teachings may have been inspired by God, as the prophets, and some may even believe that he was a special creation of God. This heresy denies that Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, and that he is eternal and uncreated. It’s not clear how believers of this heresy explain the many miracles that Jesus performed unless they believe that God simply worked through this human Jesus to bring glory to himself.

This heresy is most similar to Socinianism and its more modern version, Unitarianism. The heresy rejects the Trinity and says there is one God in one person. It claims that Jesus was not divine but was an exalted human. It asserts that Jesus is not eternal and did not exist until he was humanly conceived. This heresy developed during the 16th and 17th centuries and is named after two Italian theologians, Laelius and Faustus Socinus (uncle and nephew). Faustus denied many fundamental Christian beliefs, including original sin, Jesus’s substitutionary atonement, and justification of humanity by the righteousness of Jesus. He didn’t believe Jesus was God by nature. He said that Jesus’s ascension after his resurrection made him and “adopted God.” 1

This heresy is clearly not biblical since the Bible indicates facts to the contrary throughout its pages. As a few examples, the Bible teaches in John 1:1-3; 8:58 that Jesus is eternal and existed with God before Creation and before Abraham. Philippians 2:5-8 says that Jesus is God, is divine and human, and humbly died on the cross to save humanity. Colossians 1:15-17; 2:9 says that Jesus is eternal, came to earth in the flesh, and that God created everything through him.

1Information on Socinianism found here: https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/rise-of-christological-heresy/?srsltid=AfmBOor0JjYakDuEc-IPfEOUQUqZMbEUZK30Zu-cG1f_svOrOHFQMJ1c

In reply to Rachel Vinson

Re: Modern Heresy: Jesus was a really good person

by Becky Zuniga -
The Socinianism heresy is well described by you here and I believe can be found in multiple churches today. This creates the opportunity to hold other "prophets" in the same regard/likeness to Jesus, just another really good teacher. Many of the people following these teachings claim Christianity, but at the chore of Christianity is the belief that Jesus is the one and only Son of God, John 3:16, 1 John 4:9.
I agree with the scripture you are using to back this up as heresy and am thankful for the clarity that comes through faith in knowing Jesus was indeed fully human and fully divine. I am thankful for the peace that comes in knowing something can be true even if we can not fully understand it.