Of God the Son — B. The Divinity of Christ (1. Divine Attributes; 2. Title to Divine Honors)

B. The Divinity of Christ

If Christ is truly the Son of God, no special argument is required to show that He is Divine. Yet as Holy Scripture, aside from those passages which prove Christ’s Divine Sonship, also contains a number of texts which expressly assert His Divinity, it will be well to study these separately and to show how they confirm our thesis. We shall divide them into three distinct groups.

1. The Divine Attributes of Christ

Every being that possesses divine attributes and performs divine acts, is truly divine. Christ, according to the New Testament Revelation, possesses divine attributes and performs divine acts. Consequently He is true God. The major premise of this syllogism, being merely a descriptive definition of God, needs no proof. From out of the profusion of Scriptural texts which can be cited in support of the minor, we select the following.

a) The New Testament predicates self-existence, which is the fundamental attribute of the Godhead, in the same terms of Christ in which the Old Testament predicates it of Jehovah. Jesus said to St. John:¹ “Noli timere, ego sum primus et novissimus (ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος) et vivus et fui mortuus — Fear not, I am the first and the last, and alive, and was dead.”² As causa prima the αὐτούσιος is per se and by intestine necessity the finis ultimus of all creation. Now Christ says of Himself:³ “Ego sum a et ω, primus et novissimus, principium et finis — I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Similarly St. Paul:⁴ “Τὰ πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται — All things were created by him and in him.”

Because of His aseity God is incomprehensible to the created intellect. Christ shares in this incomprehensibility. On the other hand He possesses a truly comprehensive knowledge of the Father. Cfr. Matth. XI, 27: “Nemo novit (ἐπιγινώσκει) Filium nisi Pater, … neque Patrem quis novit (ἐπιγινώσκει) nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare — No one knoweth the Son but the Father: neither doth any one know the Father but the Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him.” Note that the verb ἐπιγινώσκειν is stronger than simple γινώσκειν; it denotes that comprehensive knowledge which is proper to the infinite God.⁵

b) Chief among God’s transcendental attributes of being is His absolute truth. Now Christ is the absolute, living Truth, as He Himself testifies: “Ego sum via et veritas et vita (ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή) — I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”⁶ This (truth-)life is communicated to Him in virtue of His eternal generation by the Father; hence it is a divine life, and as such self-existent in character. John V, 26: “Sicut enim Pater habet vitam in semetipso (ἐν ἑαυτῷ), sic dedit [i. e., generando communicavit] et Filio habere vitam in semetipso (ἐν ἑαυτῷ) — For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the Son also to have life in himself.” This process of communication, therefore, results in a differentiation, not of nature or essence, but of persons only. Cfr. 1 John I, 2: “Annuntiamus vobis vitam aeternam (τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον), quae erat apud Patrem (πρὸς τὸν πατέρα) et apparuit nobis — We declare unto you the life eternal, which was with the Father, and hath appeared to us.” As the living truth, the Saviour must also be the author of life,⁷ especially in the supernatural order of grace. Cfr. John XI, 25: “Ego sum resurrectio et vita (ἡ ζωή); qui credit in me, etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet — I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live.” Again, “Qui habet Filium, habet vitam (τὴν ζωήν) — He that hath the Son, hath life.”⁸

God’s attributes of veracity and fidelity are rooted in His absolute truth. In this absolute sense Christ, too, is veracity itself; for He “testifieth” only “what he hath seen and heard” of His Father in Heaven. Cfr. John III, 31 sq.: “Qui de coelo venit, super omnes est. Et quod vidit et audivit, hoc testatur — He that cometh from heaven, is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth.” John VIII, 26: “Qui me misit, verax (ἀληθής) est; et ego, quae audivi ab eo, haec loquor in mundo — He that sent me is true: and the things I have heard of him, these same I speak in the world.”

For this reason, too, He is absolute fidelity. Cfr. Matth. XXIV, 35: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Apoc. XIX, 11: “Fidelis et verax — Faithful and true.” Apoc. III, 14: “Haec dicit Amen, testis fidelis et verax, qui est principium creaturae Dei — These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the beginning of the creation of God.”

Christ’s substantial sanctity coincides with His ethical goodness and is based on His Divine Sonship. Cfr. Luke I, 35: “Quod nascetur ex te Sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei — The Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”⁹ In virtue of the Hypostatic Union His divine sanctity overflows into the human race. Cfr. Heb. VII, 26: “Talis enim decebat, ut nobis esset pontifex, sanctus, innocens, impollutus, segregatus a peccatoribus et excelsior coelis factus — For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”¹⁰

c) Among God’s categorical attributes of being is omnipotence, which in the natural order manifests itself in the creation and preservation of the universe, while in the supernatural sphere it works miracles by its own power. In both respects Christ has given irrefragable proofs of His Divinity. He is, in the first place, the creator and preserver of the universe. Col. I, 16 sq.: “In ipso (ἐν αὐτῷ) condita sunt universa in coelis et in terra, visibilia et invisibilia, sive throni sive dominationes sive principatus sive potestates: omnia per ipsum (δι’ αὐτοῦ) et in ipso (εἰς αὐτόν) creata sunt, et ipse est ante omnes (πρὸ πάντων) et omnia in ipso constant — For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and in him, and he is before all, and by him all things consist.” This text contains three separate and distinct propositions: (1) All things were created in the Son; that is to say, according to the counsels of Christ and in virtue of His omnipotence. (2) All things were made through the Son (per ipsum), i. e., the Son was not merely the instrument of creation, but its true creative cause.¹¹ (3) All things were made in reference to the Son (εἰς αὐτόν), that is to say, He is the final end of the whole created universe. Consequently He is true God, and as such “before all” (ante omnes) i. e., eternal, and at the same time the preserver of the universe. Heb. I, 3: “Portans omnia verbo virtutis suae — Upholding all things by the word of his power.” Holy Scripture throughout both Testaments regards the working of signs and miracles in one’s own name and by one’s own power as a sure proof of omnipotence. The miracles of Christ proceed from His own omnipotence, not from any derived or communicated power — except in this sense that God the Father has communicated this power to Him as His Son by a truly divine γέννησις from everlasting. Cfr. John V, 19: “Non potest Filius a se facere quidquam, nisi quod viderit Patrem facientem; quaecumque enim ille fecerit, haec et Filius similiter facit — The Son cannot do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.” In this sense Christ possesses the power of raising the dead. John V, 21: “Sicut Pater suscitat mortuos et vivificat, sic et Filius, quos vult, vivificat — For as the Father raiseth up the dead and giveth life: so the Son also giveth life to whom he will.” Therefore He is able to say: “Et ego resuscitabo eum (ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐγώ) in novissimo die — And I will raise him up in the last day.”¹² When the leper adored him, Christ did not object. Matth. VIII, 2 sqq.: “Et ecce leprosus veniens adorabat eum (προσεκύνει αὐτῷ), dicens: Domine, si vis, potes me mundare. Et extendens Iesus manum, tetigit eum dicens: Volo, mundare — And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean.” Christ’s omnipotence is the source of the universal sovereignty to which He lays claim. As God alone is Lord of life and death, heaven and hell, so Christ holds “the keys of death and of hell.” Apoc. I, 18: “Et habeo claves mortis et inferni.”¹³ He is the παντοκράτωρ¹⁴ to whom all creatures, including the angels, are subject,¹⁵ and as such is “the Lord of lords, and King of kings.” Apoc. XVII, 14: “Agnus vincet illos, quoniam dominus dominorum est et rex regum.”¹⁶ As we have but one God the Father, so we have but one Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. VIII, 6: “Nobis tamen unus est Deus Pater, ex quo omnia et nos in illum, et unus Dominus (εἷς κύριος) Iesus Christus, per quem omnia et nos per ipsum (δι’ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι’ αὐτοῦ) — Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

Two other divine attributes not shared by any creature are absolute immutability, and eternity which flows therefrom. Both of these are ascribed by Holy Scripture to Christ. What the Psalmist says of the immutability of Jehovah,¹⁷ “Ipsi peribunt, tu autem permanes — They shall perish, but thou remainest,” St. Paul applies without limitation to Jesus.¹⁸ That Christ is eternal can be deduced from the Scriptural teaching that He existed before time. John the Baptist confessed:¹⁹ “He was before me (πρῶτός μου ἦν),” and Christ Himself confirmed this assertion by His solemn declaration:²⁰ “Antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum (πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί) — Before Abraham was made, I am.” St. Augustine commentates this text as follows: “Non dixit: antequam Abraham esset, ego eram, sed: antequam Abraham fieret, qui nisi per me non fieret, ego sum. Neque hoc dixit: antequam Abraham fieret, ego factus sum. In principio enim fecit Deus coelum et terram; nam in principio erat Verbum. Antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. Agnoscite creatorem, discernite creaturam — He said not, Before Abraham was, I was; but, Before Abraham was made (and he could not be made but by Me), I am. Neither said he this: Before Abraham was made, I was made. For, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth: namely, in the beginning was the Word. Before Abraham was made, I am. Acknowledge the Creator, discern the creature.”²¹ Cfr. also the famous passage in Christ’s prayer for His disciples:²² “Et nunc clarifica me tu, Pater, apud temetipsum claritate, quam habui prius, quam mundus esset, apud te (τῇ δόξῃ ᾗ εἶχον πρὸ τοῦ τὸν κόσμον εἶναι παρὰ σοί) — And now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee.” As Cardinal Toletus pertinently observes, this passage has reference to the divine glory which Christ enjoyed as God together with His Father from all eternity. Therefore His Ascension was merely a return to “where he was before,”²³ or, more correctly, where “He always is.” Cfr. John III, 13: “Nemo ascendit in coelum, nisi qui descendit de coelo, Filius hominis, qui est in coelo — And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descendeth from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.”²⁴ Hence for Christ to be “in Heaven” means to be “in the bosom of the Father,” i. e., to be the true Son of God from all eternity. Eternity for Him is merely the past, present, and future combined in an unchanging life. Heb. XIII, 8: “Iesus Christus heri et hodie, ipse et in saecula — Jesus Christ, yesterday, and to-day, and the same for ever.”

In His relation to space, and to the world of pure spirits, Christ is endowed with omnipresence, and particularly with that power of indwelling in the souls of the just which is peculiar to God. St. Paul probably means to emphasize His omnipresence when he says:²⁵ “Qui descendit, ipse est et qui ascendit super omnes coelos, ut impleret omnia (ἵνα πληρώσῃ τὰ πάντα) — He that descendeth is the same also that ascended above all heavens, that he might fill all things;” unless indeed the phrase to “fill all things” is meant to indicate the fulfilment of the prophecies relating to Christ’s Ascension. Cfr. John XIV, 23: “Pater meus diliget eum, et ad eum veniemus et mansionem apud eum (μονὴν παρ’ αὐτῷ) faciemus — My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him.” No mere creature could, without committing blasphemy, thus put himself on a level with God, and promise to indwell with God in the souls of the just; and none but God Himself could solemnly promise: “Et ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi — And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”²⁶ Only a believer in the Divinity of Jesus can exclaim with St. Paul: “Vivit vero in me Christus — But Christ liveth in me.”²⁷

d) Among the operative attributes of God the most important is probably omniscience. As God alone can adequately comprehend His own Essence, so likewise only a truly divine Son can adequately comprehend the divine Father. Cfr. John X, 15: “Sicut novit (γινώσκει) me Pater, et ego agnosco (γινώσκω) Patrem — As the Father knoweth me, I know the Father.” And again: “Ego scio eum (ἐγὼ οἶδα αὐτόν), quia ab ipso sum (παρ’ αὐτοῦ εἰμί), et ipse me misit — I know him, because I am from him, and he hath sent me.”²⁸ This argues an intimate knowledge such as no creature can possess. John VI, 46: “Non quia Patrem vidit quisquam, nisi is qui est a Deo (εἰ μὴ ὁ ὢν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ), hic vidit Patrem (οὗτος ἑώρακε τὸν πατέρα) — Not that any man hath seen the Father; but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father.” This intuitive vision has its source in Christ’s divine γέννησις. Cfr. John I, 18: “Deum nemo vidit unquam; unigenitus Filius, qui est in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit — No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” Christ’s divine self-comprehension necessarily implies an adequate knowledge of all things external to the Godhead. For if, as St. Paul assures us, “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally,”²⁹ it is evident that “in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”³⁰ It is by this standard, therefore, that His knowledge of all things, even the most hidden, must be gauged. Thus He was able to assure Nathanael: “Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.”³¹ Whereupon the new Apostle, struck by Christ’s wonderful knowledge, exclaimed: “Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.”³²

If cardiognosis is an exclusive prerogative of the Godhead,³³ Christ is true God. For He applied to Himself the words of Jeremiah: “I am the Lord who search the heart,”³⁴ when He said: “All the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts.”³⁵ More than once in fact did He demonstrate that He possessed this attribute of Divinity. Cfr. Luke IX, 47: “At Iesus videns cogitationes cordis illorum (ἰδὼν τὸν διαλογισμὸν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν) — But Jesus seeing the thoughts of their heart.” With vision wondrous clear He foresees free future events, as, e. g., His betrayal at the hands of Judas, Peter’s denial, the flight of His disciples, His Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension, the destruction of Jerusalem, etc. His “Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida”³⁶ shows that He also possesses the scientia futuribilium.³⁷

2. Christ’s Title to Divine Honors

No mere creature can claim divine honors without incurring the awful crime of idolatry. But Christ claims and receives divine honors. Therefore, He is true God. This syllogism rests on the supposition — which it is the business of apologetics to prove — that Christ was neither an impostor nor a megalomaniac, but, on the contrary, a morally altogether superior and physically normal being. We also assume it as a datum furnished by fundamental theology,³⁸ that His Apostles and Disciples were neither fools nor knaves, but men who knew the facts of Christ’s career and who were sincere in worshipping Him as God.

a) Christ laid claim to divine honors.

John V, 22 sq.: “Pater … omne iudicium dedit Filio, ut omnes honorificent Filium, sicut honorificant Patrem (ἵνα πάντες τιμῶσι τὸν υἱόν, καθὼς τιμῶσι τὸν πατέρα) — The Father … hath given all judgment to the Son, that all men may honor the Son, as they honor the Father.” Here Jesus plainly exacts for Himself, as Son, the same worship which He demands for His Father. The context proves that the adverb καθώς is meant to express not merely similitude but equality; for in the same chapter of St. John’s Gospel from which the passage is taken, Christ distinctly asserts and defends His coequality with the Father, and “the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he … said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.”³⁹ He never was known to refuse divine worship when offered to Him, but accepted it without protest.⁴⁰ His Apostles, too, particularly St. Paul and St. John, insist that Christ is entitled to divine honors. Rom. XIV, 10 sq.: “Omnes enim stabimus ante tribunal Christi; scriptum est enim: Vivo ego, dicit Dominus, quoniam mihi flectetur omne genu et omnis lingua confitebitur Deo — We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”⁴¹ This can only mean that all men will one day appear before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ and be compelled to worship Him as God. The same thought is expressed yet more effectively in another Pauline text:⁴² “Donavit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen, ut in nomine Iesu omne genu flectatur coelestium, terrestrium et infernorum; et omnis lingua confiteatur, quia Dominus Iesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris — God hath given him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”⁴³

If Christ is true God, then the prayers directed to Him must be equally efficacious as those addressed to the Father. Holy Scripture plainly teaches that they are. John XIV, 13: “Quodcunque petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, hoc faciam [not: faciet], ut glorificetur Pater in Filio — Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John XIV, 14: “Si quid petieritis me in nomine meo, hoc faciam — If you shall ask me any thing in my name, that will I do.” In the hour of death no man may, without grievous sin, commend his soul to any creature. Christ commends His into the hands of His Heavenly Father. Luke XXIII, 46: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” And the dying protomartyr Stephen unhesitatingly cries out: “Domine Iesu, suscipe spiritum meum — Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”⁴⁴

b) The Godhead is the sole formal object of the three theological virtues. But Holy Scripture represents Christ as a Supreme Being, to whom all men owe faith, hope, and charity. Consequently, He is true God.

Jesus Himself requires men to believe in Him with the same faith which they have in God. In this connection it is well to remember that there is an important distinction between credere alicui and credere in aliquem. We may believe a creature, but we believe in God alone. Cfr. John XIV, 1: “Creditis in Deum, et in me credite (πιστεύετε εἰς τὸν θεόν, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ πιστεύετε) — You believe in God, believe also in me.” Faith in Christ is productive of eternal life. John VI, 47: “Amen, amen, dico vobis: qui credit in me (εἰς ἐμέ) habet vitam aeternam — Amen, amen I say unto you: He that believeth in me, hath everlasting life.” For belief in Jesus Christ is nought else than faith in the true Son of God. 1 John IV, 15: “Quisquis confessus fuerit, quoniam Iesus est Filius Dei (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ), Deus in eo manet et ipse in Deo — Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God.”

Christ is also the object of theological hope, as the story of the Atonement clearly shows. If St. Paul calls himself “an apostle of Jesus Christ, … our hope,”⁴⁵ this is neither an empty phrase nor a hyperbole. For, as St. Peter tersely says: “Non est in aliquo alio (ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενί) salus; nec enim aliud nomen est sub coelo datum hominibus, in quo oporteat nos salvos fieri — Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.”⁴⁶

Christ is likewise the object of that theological charity (“amor super omnia”) to which God alone can lay claim. Matth. X, 37: “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me.” Whatever interferes with the love of Christ is to be treated as an obstacle in the way of salvation. Luke XIV, 26: “Si quis venit ad me et non odit patrem suum et matrem et uxorem et filios et fratres et sorores, adhuc autem et animam suam, non potest esse meus discipulus — If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” The Father rewards us with His love if we love Christ. Cfr. John XIV, 23: “Si quis diligit me, … et Pater meus diliget eum, et ad eum veniemus et mansionem apud eum faciemus — If any one love me, … my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.”⁴⁷ St. Paul’s anathema against all those who “love not our Lord Jesus Christ,”⁴⁸ would be wantonly criminal if Christ were not true God. And it is only on this same assumption that the love of Christ can be called “a life in Christ.” Phil. I, 21: “Mihi enim vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum — For to me, to live is Christ: and to die is gain.” 2 Cor. V, 14 sq.: “Caritas enim Christi urget nos, … ut et qui vivunt, iam non sibi vivant, sed ei, qui pro ipsis mortuus est et resurrexit — For the charity of Christ presseth us, … that they also who live, may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again.” St. Paul boldly identifies “caritas Christi” with “caritas Dei,” and says nothing should separate us from it. Rom. VIII, 35 sqq.: “Quis ergo nos separabit a caritate Christi? Tribulatio, an angustia, an fames, an nuditas, an periculum, an persecutio, an gladius? Certus sum enim, quia neque mors neque vita neque angeli … neque creatura alia poterit nos separare a caritate Dei, quae est in Christo Iesu Domino nostro — Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword? … For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels … nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Consequently Christ and God are one.

c) Christ’s adorableness, and consequently His Divinity, can be demonstrated also from the fact that Baptism is conferred in His name conjointly with that of the Father and the Holy Ghost.

We shall not enter into the Scholastic controversy whether by a special privilege the Apostles baptized in the name of Christ only, instead of employing the Trinitarian formula which Jesus Himself gave to them, as recorded in the twenty-eighth chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel.⁴⁹ This and other similar questions do not concern us here. They belong to the dogmatic treatise on Baptism. The very fact that Baptism used to be called “Baptism in Christ’s name” is proof that the early Christians believed in the Divinity of our Lord. Nor does it make the slightest difference whether the Sacrament was originally administered “εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν,”⁵⁰ or “ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,”⁵¹ for both formulas clearly emphasize the authority and power of Christ to forgive sins; — or “εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ,”⁵² which particularly accentuates the consecration and devotion of the baptized convert to Jesus as man’s final end. In matter of fact no man could without committing idolatry allow himself to be baptized “in the name” of any creature; for no one but God can forgive sins and exact absolute subjection and divine worship. Cfr. 1 Cor. I, 13: “Numquid Paulus crucifixus est pro vobis? Aut in nomine Pauli baptizati estis? — Was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”