Did Early Christians Call Christ God?

Ignatius, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Long Version) Direct teaching

We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin.

Justin Martyr, The Second Apology Direct teaching

And His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word, who also was with Him and was begotten before the works, when at first He created and arranged all things by Him, is called Christ, in reference to His being anointed and God’s ordering all things through Him;

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

For Christ is King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and angel, and man, and captain, and stone, and a Son born, and first made subject to suffering, then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and He is preached as having the everlasting kingdom: so I prove from all the Scriptures.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

For to You belongs the glory, praise, majesty, worship, and adoration, and to Your Son Jesus, Your Christ, our Lord and God and King, and to the Holy Ghost, now and always, for ever and ever.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

and in one Lord Jesus Christ, true God, that is, Image of the true God, Maker of all things seen and unseen, Son of God and only-begotten Offspring, and Eternal Word, living and self-subsistent and active.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Direct teaching

And he expresses himself thus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Direct teaching

For he set forth His proper personality, saying, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Ignatius of Antioch, Connection to John 20:28 Direct teaching

Wherefore Thomas also says to Him, "My Lord, and my God." These things did He do, and showed Himself risen, and they believed.

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

but the Son of God is the Word of God: and the Word of God was made flesh, and dwelt among us;

John 1:1 Direct teaching

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 20:28 Direct teaching

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

John 1:2 Background

He was in the beginning with God.

Ignatius of Antioch, Connection to John 1:14 Direct teaching

For "the Word was made flesh." Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passible body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts.

Ignatius of Antioch, Connection to John 1:14 Direct teaching

He truly assumed a body; for "the Word was made flesh," and lived upon earth without sin.

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

...and man. But now, by explaining separately the ordinance and the reason of so great a mystery, he clearly showed, when he said, "And that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God," the proof that the Son of God descended, and that by taking the Son of man into Himself He consequently made Him the Son of God, because the Son of God joined and united Him to Himself. So, while the Son of man in His birth clings to the Son of God, by that very mingling He holds by pledge and derivation what He could not possess by His own nature. And so, by the word of the angel, the distinction is made, against the desire of the heretics, between the Son of God and man, yet with their association also preserved. This presses them to understand that Christ, the Son of man, is man, and also to receive the Son of God and man, the Son of God; that is, the Word of God, as it is written, as God. And thus to acknowledge that Christ Jesus the Lord, joined on both sides, so to speak, is on both sides woven in and grown together, and united in the same agreement of both substances, by the binding together of a mutual alliance: man and God, by the truth of Scripture, which declares

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

...s people's eyes to bear its full circle by the gradual increase of its rays. In the same way, then, Christ also—that is, the image of God and the Son of God—is looked upon by men, since He could be seen. And so the weakness and imperfection of the human condition is nourished, led upward, and taught by Him, so that, being accustomed to look upon the Son, it may one day be able to see God the Father Himself also as He is. Then it will not be struck down by His sudden and unbearable brightness and be kept from seeing God the Father, whom it has always desired. Therefore it is the Son who is seen. But the Son of God is the Word of God, and the Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among us, and this is Christ. What reason in the world is there for us to hesitate to call Him God, when in so many ways He is shown to be God? And further, the angel meets Hagar, Sarah's maid, after she has been driven from home and cast out, near the spring of water on the way to Shur. He asks and learns the reason for her flight. After that, He advises her to humble herself. He also gives her the hope of becoming a mother, and He pledges and promises that from her womb there would come a numerous seed,

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

Moreover, this Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, — to wit, Christ the Son of God;

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

but the Son of God is the Word of God: and the Word of God was made flesh, and dwelt among us;

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Direct teaching

The same person is the son of God and of man.

John 1:14 Direct teaching

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Philippians 2:7 Direct teaching

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

... He is rather some third substance, very different from either. But the truth is that we find Him clearly presented as both God and Man. The very psalm we quoted indicates, concerning the flesh, that God became man in the midst of it. “He therefore established it by the will of the Father.” Certainly, then, He is in every respect both the Son of God and the Son of Man, being God and Man. No doubt they differ according to each substance and its own special property, since the Word is nothing other than God, and the flesh is nothing other than Man. In this way the apostle also teaches about His two substances, saying, “who was made of the seed of David,” Romans 1:3 and in these words He is Man and Son of Man. And, “who was declared to be the Son of God, according to the Spirit”; in these words He is God, and the Word, the Son of God. We plainly see the twofold condition, not confused but joined in one Person, Jesus, God and Man. As for Christ, I am postponing what I have to say. I remark here that the property of each nature is so fully preserved that the Spirit, on the one hand, did in Jesus all things suitable to itself, such as miracles, mighty deeds, and wonders. And the Flesh

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

We see plainly the twofold state, which is not confounded, but conjoined in One Person — Jesus, God and Man.

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...and man. But now, by explaining separately the ordinance and the reason of so great a mystery, he clearly showed, in saying, “And that Holy Thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God,” the proof that the Son of God descended, and that, by taking the Son of man up into Himself, He consequently made Him the Son of God, because the Son of God associated and joined Him to Himself. So while the Son of man, in His birth, cleaves to the Son of God, by that very mingling He holds as pledged and derived what by His own nature He could not possess. And so, by the word of the angel, the distinction is made, against the desire of the heretics, between the Son of God and man, yet with their association. This presses them to understand that Christ, the Son of man, is man, and also to recognize that the Son of God, who is God and man, is the Son of God; that is, the Word of God, as it is written, as God. And so they must acknowledge that Christ Jesus the Lord, joined on both sides, so to speak, is on both sides woven in and grown together, and associated in the same agreement of both substances, by the binding to one another of a mutual alliance: man and God, by the truth

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

whom both on receiving subsequently as man according to the flesh, and seeing before the foundation of the world to be the Word of God, and God, we reasonably, according to the instruction of the Old and New Testament, believe and hold to be as well God as man, Christ Jesus.

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

...is not God only, but man also. For just as He is not of this world according to the divinity of the Word, so He is of this world according to the frailty of the body that He has taken upon Himself. For man is joined with God, and God is linked with man. But for that reason Christ here laid more stress on the one aspect of His divinity alone, because the blindness of the Jews looked at in Christ the aspect of the flesh alone. And so in the present passage He passed over in silence the frailty of the body, which is of the world, and spoke of His divinity alone, which is not of the world. He did this so that, in proportion as they had inclined to believe Him to be only man, in that proportion Christ might draw them to consider His divinity, so as to believe Him to be God. He desired to overcome their unbelief concerning His divinity by omitting for the time being any mention of His human condition, and by setting before them His divinity alone. If Christ is man only, how does He say, “I proceeded forth and came from God,” when it is clear that man was made by God, and did not proceed forth from Him? But in the way in which as man He did not proceed from God, in that way the Word of

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

...re of man. And so both teachings would be put in danger on either side, because when one is denied, belief in the other is also lost. Therefore, let those who read that Jesus Christ, the Son of man, is man, also read that this same Jesus is also called God and the Son of God. For in the same way that as man He is of Abraham, so also as God He is before Abraham himself. And in the same way that as man He is the Son of David, so as God He is proclaimed to be David's Lord. And in the same way that as man He was made under the law, Galatians 4:4, so as God He is declared to be Lord of the Sabbath. And in the same way that as man He suffers condemnation, so as God He is found to have all judgment of the living and the dead. And in the same way that as man He is born after the world, so as God He is shown to have been before the world. And in the same way that as man He was begotten from the seed of David, so also as God the world is said to have been ordered by Him. And in the same way that as man He was after many, so as God He was before all. And in the same way that as man He was less than others, so as God He was greater than all. And in the same way that as man He ascended into

Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching

Now, in order that He might be shown to have together in Himself at once the nature of God and that of man — as the apostle, too, says: Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Supporting witness

and we saw Christ our Saviour, who was made known as both God and man.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

The same (Son) is both man and God, both these together as though one;

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

He was therefore both God and man, being placed in the middle between God and man.

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Direct teaching

and He was no less God in man, and man in God.

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

God is mingled with man. This is our God, this is Christ, who, as the mediator of the two, puts on man that He may lead them to the Father.

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Direct teaching

And so, most foolish heretic, you make Christ to be the Father, without even considering the actual force of this name. For Christ, if indeed it is a name, is not so much a proper name as a surname or designation. For it means Anointed. But Anointed is no more a proper name than Clothed or Shod. It is only something added to a name. Suppose now that by some means Jesus were also called Vestitus, that is, Clothed, just as He is in fact called Christ from the mystery of His anointing. Would you in the same way say that Jesus was the Son of God, and at the same time think that Vestitus was the Father? Now then, concerning Christ, if Christ is the Father, the Father is an Anointed One, and of course receives the anointing from another. But if He receives it from Himself, then you must prove that to us. But we learn no such thing from the Acts of the Apostles, in that cry of the church to God: "Truly, Lord, against Your holy child Jesus, whom You have anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together." Acts 4:27 These words testify both that Jesus was the Son of God, and that, being the Son, He was anointed by the Father. Christ

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...ing out the controversy against pure tradition and the Catholic faith, because they take offense at Christ, and because Scripture also declares that He is God, and we also believe this, we must rightly contend that Christ is also God, so that every heretical slander may be removed from our faith. Yet we must do this in such a way that it does not fight against the truth of Scripture, nor against our faith, by which Scripture declares that God is one, and by which we also hold and believe this. For both those who say that Jesus Christ Himself is God the Father, and those who want Him to be only a man, have gathered the sources and reasons for their error and perversity from there. When they saw that it was written that God is one, they thought they could hold that opinion only by supposing that either Christ must be believed to be only man, or else truly God the Father. And they were used to joining their clever arguments together in such a way as to try to defend their own error. And so those who say that Jesus Christ is the Father argue like this: "If God is one, and Christ is God, then Christ is the Father, since God is one. If Christ is not the Father, because Christ is God t

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Direct teaching

...dragging out the controversy against pure tradition and the Catholic faith, while taking offense at Christ, and because the Scriptures also declare Him to be God, and we also believe this, we must rightly contend that Christ is also God, so that every heretical slander may be removed from our faith. Yet we must do this in such a way that it does not go against the truth of Scripture, or against our faith, which declares and believes from Scripture that there is one God. For both those who say that Jesus Christ Himself is God the Father, and those who want Him to be only a man, have drawn from there the sources and reasons for their error and perversity. When they saw that it was written that God is one, they thought they could hold their opinion only by supposing that either Christ was only a man, or else that He was truly God the Father. And they used to join together their clever arguments in such a way as to try to defend their own error. So those who say that Jesus Christ is the Father argue like this: If God is one, and Christ is God, then Christ is the Father, since God is one. If Christ is not the Father, because Christ is God the Son, then it seems that two Gods are intr

Origen, Commentary on John Direct teaching

...that the Son is second beside the Father, He being the same as the Father, while a distinction is clearly drawn between the Spirit and the Son in the passage, Matthew 12:32: “Whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, he shall not have forgiveness, either in this world or in the world to come.” We consider, therefore, that there are three hypostases: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we believe that nothing is uncreated except the Father. Therefore, as the more pious and truer course, we admit that all things were made by the Word, and that the Holy Spirit is the most excellent and the first in order of all that was made by the Father through Christ. And this, perhaps, is the reason why the Spirit is not called God’s own Son. The Only-begotten alone is by nature and from the beginning a Son, and the Holy Spirit seems to need the Son to minister His essence to Him, so as to enable Him not only to exist, but also to be wise and reasonable and just, and all that we must think of Him as being. All this He has by participation in the character of Christ, of which we have s

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

For Spirit, as the Deity, is, he says, not any being different from the Logos, or the Logos from the Deity;

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Direct teaching

12. Then, working through these prophets, the Word spoke about Himself. For He had already become His own messenger and showed that the Word would be revealed among men. And for this reason He cried out in this way: "I was made known to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not ask for me." And who is this that was made known except the Word of the Father? It is the One whom the Father sent, and in whom He showed to men the power that proceeds from Him. So then, the Word was made known, just as the blessed John says. For he brings together the things spoken by the prophets and shows that this is the Word, through whom all things were made. For he speaks in this way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him not one thing was made." And later he says, "The world was made by Him, and the world did not know Him; He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." If, then, he said that the world was made by Him, according to the word of the prophet, "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made," then this is the Word that was also made known. So we see the Word made flesh, and thr

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Supporting witness

Now this Word, the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, must be the very Son of God.

Hippolytus, Against the Heresy of Noetus Supporting witness

For neither was the Word, prior to incarnation and when by Himself, yet perfect Son, although He was perfect Word, only-begotten.

Tertullian, Against Praxeas Supporting witness

The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.