Christology
From Textus Receptus
Christology (from Christ and Greek λογία, -logia) is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature and person of God. As such, Christology is generally less concerned with the details of Jesus' life (what he did) or teaching than with who or what he is. There have been and are various perspectives by those who claim to be his followers since the church began after his ascension. The controversies ultimately focused on whether and how a human nature and a divine nature can co-exist in one person. The study of the inter-relationship of these two natures is one of the preoccupations of the majority tradition.
Some essential sub-topics within the field of Christology include:
- the Incarnation,
- the Resurrection,
- the salvific work of Jesus (known as soteriology).
Christology is related to questions concerning the nature of God like Trinitarianism, Unitarianism or Binitarianism. However, from a Christian perspective, these questions are concerned with how the divine persons relate to one another, whereas Christology is concerned with the meeting of the human (Son of Man) and divine (God the Son or Word of God) in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Throughout the history of Christianity, Christological questions have been very important in the life of the Church. Christological issues were present from literally the beginning of the church and were a fundamental concern from the First Council of Nicaea (325) until the Third Council of Constantinople (680), or most of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils. In this time period, the Christological views of various groups within the broader Christian community led to accusations of heresy, and, infrequently, subsequent religious persecution. In some cases, a denomination's unique Christology is its chief distinctive feature; in these cases it is common for the denomination to be known by the name given to its Christology.
