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Christology, or the Church’s belief about Jesus Christ, was one of the central theological ideas that influenced the formation of the early Church. The early Church could not afford to treat theology as an afterthought. What Christians believed about Jesus affected everything from how they worshiped Him, preached about Him, found salvation through Him, and identified themselves as members of His Body, the people of God.
A good example of this can be seen in the Arian controversy. Arius argued that Jesus was not eternally God, but rather a created being. This created a serious problem for the Church, since believers had worshiped Jesus from the beginning. If Jesus is merely a creature, then believers’ worship has been misplaced, and their message of salvation has been greatly diminished. At the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, the Church defined what it meant that Jesus Christ is of the same essence as the Father, thereby protecting the gospel message.
If Jesus is not truly God, then He cannot completely reveal God, nor can He completely save humanity. If Jesus is not truly man, then He cannot truly represent mankind. Therefore, the debates over Christology during the first few centuries of the Church’s history were not just intellectual debates; they were necessary for maintaining the very life and faith of the Church.
The early Church’s willingness to confront heresy also established a long-term commitment to orthodoxy. Men like Athanasius demonstrated that defending truth often requires courageous, patient, and faithful action despite opposition. This matter still exists for the Church today. Each succeeding generation of the Church must determine whether it will maintain biblical truth or sacrifice that truth for convenience, popularity, or cultural pressure.
For me, the development of these theological concepts demonstrates that doctrine matters, and so does truth. The early Church’s defense of Christ’s deity provided the foundation for how we worship, preach, disciple, and send others into mission. Without a clear understanding of who Christ is, the Church loses the heart of its message.