Jesus’ relation to his Father in heaven
What you need to know:
- Jesus is just as powerful, infinite and eternal as his Father in heaven.
- The council of bishops explained that Jesus is perfect God and perfect man.
One of the most ancient phrases used to express belief in Jesus Christ comes from a council of bishops.
The council was held because Arius— one of the priests in the early Church—was spreading heresy. He was telling everyone that Jesus was not really the Son of God, but a holy man who was blessed by God with special privileges. The other bishops met to condemn the heresy.
Why was Arius so successful before his heresy was condemned? How did he manage to confuse many Christians, leading them to deny the divinity of Jesus?
He picked one phrase from the Scripture and kept repeating it, neglecting everything else the Gospel tells us about Jesus. The phrase is in John’s account of the Gospel, where Jesus says (14:28): “You heard me say: I am going away and shall return. If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” From that text, Arius wrongly concluded that Jesus was not God, rather a man. He did not understand that Jesus was both God and man.
To clarify what Christians are supposed to believe, the council of bishops explained that Jesus is perfect God and perfect man. The council stated that, as man, Jesus is less than the Father and, as God, he is equal to the Father. Jesus is just as powerful, infinite and eternal as his Father in heaven.
What does it mean to say that Jesus is consubstantial with the Father? It means that the Father and the Son, while being two distinct persons, are one single being. This is exactly what Jesus meant when, in John’s gospel, he says (10:30): “The Father and I are one.”