Denial of Jesus Christ as God's Son in Scripture
The denial of Jesus Christ as God's Son is a significant theme in the New Testament, particularly in the Johannine literature. In 1 John 2:22, it is written, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son" [1, 2]. This passage establishes that denying Jesus as the Christ (or Messiah) is equivalent to denying both the Father and the Son, thereby identifying such a person as antichrist.
The early Christian tradition understood this denial to be a fundamental rejection of the Christian faith. The early Church Fathers, such as Hippolytus, Cyprian, and Novatian, emphasized the divinity of Christ and the importance of acknowledging Him as the Son of God. They argued that Christ's divinity is proven by His works and the Scriptures, and that denying this divinity is a grave error [4, 5, 7].
The denial of Jesus Christ as God's Son was not limited to a single heresy or sect. Various early Christian writers, including Tertullian, addressed the issue, highlighting the distinction between the Father and the Son while affirming their unity in divine nature [10, 11]. According to Adam Clarke, a Methodist/Wesleyan commentator, those who denied Jesus to be the Christ or the Son of God were considered to be antichrist, and such a denial was seen as a rejection of the Father as well [6].
Reformed theologians, such as John Calvin, also emphasized the importance of acknowledging Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Calvin argued that Christ's humanity and divinity are united in one person, and that denying this union is a grave theological error [8].
The significance of affirming Jesus Christ as God's Son is underscored by the biblical warning that those who deny Him do not have the Father. As Adam Clarke notes on 1 John 2:23, "He who denies Jesus to be the Son of God, and consequently the Christ or Messiah, he hath not the Father" [9].
The early Christian understanding of Jesus Christ as the Son of God was shaped by their reading of Scripture and their response to various heresies that arose in the early Church. The affirmation of Jesus' divinity and His role as the Son of God remains a cornerstone of Christian orthodoxy, distinguishing it from various forms of antichristian or heretical thought [3].
Sources
- I John “I John 2:22 (DRC) — Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father and the Son.”
- King James Version “[KJV] 1 John 2:22 — Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Antichrist — Denies the Father and the Son -- 1Jo 2:22. Denies the incarnation of Christ -- 1Jo 4:3; 2Jo 1:7. Spirit of, prevalent in apostolic times -- 1Jo 2:18. Deceit, a characteristic of -- 2Jo 1:7.”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian — CHAP. XII. ARGUMENT.--THAT CHRIST IS GOD, IS PROVED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. (part 2): advent these should be the signs which come to pass; let men acknowledge either that Christ is the Son of God, at whose advent and by whom these wonders of healings were performed; or, overcome by the truth of Christ's divinity, let them rush into the other heresy, and refusing to confess Christ to be the Son of God, and God, let them declare Him to be the Father. For, being bound by the words of the prophets, they can no longer deny ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian — CHAP. XV.[1] ARGUMENT.--AGAIN HE PROVES FROM THE GOSPEL THAT CHRIST IS GOD. (part 4): His Son, and being born of Him, being declared to have proceeded from Him, by which He is also God; which when the Jews thought to be hateful, and believed to be blasphemous, for that He had shown Himself in these discourses to be God, and therefore rushed at once to stoning, and set to work passionately to hurl stones, He strongly refuted His adversaries by the example and witness of the Scriptures. "If," said He, "He called them gods to whom the words of G”
- 1 John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 1 John 2:22: Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? - Here we see some of the false doctrines which were then propagated in the world. There were certain persons who, while they acknowledged Jesus to be a Divine teacher, denied him to be the Christ, i.e. the Messiah. He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son, - He is antichrist who denies the supernatural and miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, who denies Jesus to be the Son of God, and who denies God to be the Father of the Lord Jesus; thus he denies the Father and the Son. The Jews in general, an”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 5: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian — CHAP. XI.-- AND INDEED THAT CHRIST WAS NOT ONLY MAN, BUT GOD ALSO; THAT EVEN AS HE WAS THE SON OF MAN, SO ALSO HE WAS THE SON OF GOD. (part 2): His works assert in Him divine power? For if this should not avail to assert Him to be God from His powers, neither can His sufferings avail to show Him to be man also from them. For whatever principle be adopted on one or the other side, will be found to be maintained.[2] For there will be a risk that He should not be shown to be man from His sufferings, if He could not also be approved as God by His”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 50: because he is God, not God because he is man, and neither God nor man because he is both at once. Christ, therefore, as God and man, possessing natures which are united, but not confused, we conclude that he is our Lord and the true Son of God, even according to his humanity, though not by means of his humanity. For we must put far from us the heresy of Nestorius, who, presuming to dissect rather than distinguish between the two natures, devised a double Christ. But we see the Scripture loudly protesting against this, when the name”
- 1 John (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 1 John 2:23: Whosoever denieth the Son - He who denies Jesus to be the Son of God, and consequently the Christ or Messiah, he hath not the Father - he can have no birth from above, he cannot be enrolled among the children of God, because none can be a child of God but by faith in Christ Jesus. He that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also - This clause is printed by our translators in Italics to show it to be of doubtful authority, as it was probably wanting in the chief of those MSS. which they consulted, as it was in Coverdale's Bible, printed 1535; Tindall's Text, printe”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 3: Tertullian — CHAP. XXV.--THE PARACLETE, OR HOLY GHOST. HE IS DISTINCT FROM THE FATHER AND THE SON AS TO THEIR PERSONAL EXISTENCE. ONE AND INSEPARABLE FROM THEM AS TO THEIR DIVINE NATURE. OTHER QUOTATIONS OUT OF ST (part 2): does this mean, I ascend as the Father to the Father, and as God to God? Or as the Son to the Father, and as the Word to God? Wherefore also does this Gospel, at its very termination, intimate that these things were ever written, if it be not, to use its own words, "that ye might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?"[17] Whenever, therefore, you take any ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 3: Tertullian — CHAP. XXVIII.--CHRIST NOT THE FATHER, AS PRAXEAS SAID. THE INCONSISTENCY OF THIS OPINION, NO LESS THAN ITS ABSURDITY, EXPOSED. THE TRUE DOCTRINE OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO ST. PAUL, WHO AGREES WITH (part 2): all his writings, which testify plainly to the same effect, and set forth Two--God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father. (They also testify) that Jesus is Himself the Christ, and under one or the other designation the Son of God. For precisely by the same right as both names belong to the same Person, even the Son of God, does either name ”