This page contains extracts and links to the various times Jesus was deemed to have been exalted to be divine and then later equal to God Almighty.
Bart Ehrman’s Lecture How Jesus Became God, Part 3 of 3
In Part 3 he presents the progression taken by early Christians in moving the exaltation backward in time as outlined below.
- First, Jesus was exalted to a deity at the resurrection
- Romans 1:3-4; See Bart Ehrman’s post here. Bart said this statement is called a “literary tradition”— this is a very early statement of belief by the first Christians, before Paul, and shows they believed Jesus was exalted upon resurrection.
- 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
- BUT, some noted he had been doing miracles when alive so he had to have been exalted before the resurrection. So….
- Romans 1:3-4; See Bart Ehrman’s post here. Bart said this statement is called a “literary tradition”— this is a very early statement of belief by the first Christians, before Paul, and shows they believed Jesus was exalted upon resurrection.
- Then Jesus was believed to be exalted to a deity at Baptism
- See Matthew with God saying at the baptism, “Today I have begotten you”.
- But, the early Christians then thought surely he must have been the son of God his whole life.
- Then Jesus was believed to be exalted to a deity at Birth
- See Matthew and Luke’s miraculous virgin birth with Gabriel telling Mary that the Holy Spirit will come over her.
- BUT, the second/third-generation Christians thought not at the resurrection, not at the baptism, not at his birth, he had always been divine since the beginning.
- Then Jesus was exalted to a diety for all time; i.e. Incarnation Theology as cited in John’s prologue.
Luke 3:22, Originally “You Are My Beloved Son, Today, I have begotten you.” Also, see Acts 13:32 below.
The primary point of this significant article is in the two paragraphs extracted below. The article contains many examples of pre-Nicaean quotes as well as a list of links to articles about other corrupted scriptures.
One of the most important examples of deception and corruption comes from the baptismal account of Jesus, which was recorded in Luke. In most of the present-day versions of Luke, Jesus is baptized by John, and as he comes up out of the water, the Spirit descends upon him and a voice comes from heaven and says, “You are my son, in you I am well-pleased”. (Luke 3:22)
The way Luke now reads is not the way it read before the Nicaean Council. Forensic research of ancient quotes of this verse reveals that Luke 3:22 was changed after the council of Nicea in the fourth century because, the only way that Luke 3:22 was quoted by the early church before 400 AD was this way: ‘You Are My Beloved Son, Today, I have begotten you.’
Acts 13:32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to our ancestors 33he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’
Romans 1:1-5
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
“Why do you call me good, there is One who is good, God” (Mark 10:17-18)
Wikipedia’s Athanasius of Alexandria has much info on his role in the Council of Nicaea and “the term “consubstantial” (homoousion – ‘same in being, same in essence) was adopted, and a formulary of faith embodying it was drawn up by Hosius of Córdoba. From this time to the end of the Arian controversies, the word “consubstantial” continued to be the test of orthodoxy. The formulary of faith drawn up by Hosius is known as the Nicene Creed.[23]: 232 “
From Wikipedia’s Gospel of Luke here. Formating into a list is mine.
Even what Luke does say about Christ is ambiguous or even contradictory.[44] For example,
- according to Luke 2:11 Jesus was the Christ at his birth, but in Acts 2:36 he becomes Christ at the resurrection, while in Acts 3:20 it seems his messiahship is active only at the parousia, the “second coming“; similarly, in
- Luke 2:11 he is the Saviour from birth, but in Acts 5:31[45] he is made Saviour at the resurrection; and
- he is born the Son of God in Luke 1:32–35,[46] but becomes the Son of God at the resurrection according to Acts 13:33.[47][48]
Many of these differences may be due to scribal error, but others are argued to be deliberate alterations to doctrinally unacceptable passages, or the introduction by scribes of “proofs” for their favourite theological tenets.[49]
