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May 4, 2026—Defenders · Reasonable Faith
Doctrine of Christ Part 1: The Incarnation
Key Points
- 01Christology has two divisions: the Person of Christ (the Incarnation) and the Work of Christ (the Atonement). Both are absolutely central to Christian theology — everything distinctly Christian hinges on them.
- 02Scripture affirms Christ’s true deity through passages like Philippians 2:5–8, which describes him as being “in the form of God” and equal with God before his voluntary humbling and taking on human form.
- 03Christ’s true humanity is equally attested: Scripture records him experiencing physical birth, hunger (Matt. 4:2), fatigue (John 4:6), sleep (Mark 4:38), temptation (Matt. 4:1), mental limitation — not knowing the day of his return (Mark 13:32) — and finally torture and death (Luke 23:33, 46).
- 04Hebrews 5:7–10 reveals that Jesus was “perfected through what he suffered,” meaning he underwent real moral and spiritual growth as a human being. This may be uncomfortable, Craig says, but is doctrinally essential.
- 051 John 4:1–3 declares that any spirit which does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh “is not of God” — affirming the true humanity of Christ is not optional but a test of orthodoxy.
- 06The Incarnation must be understood as addition, not subtraction. The Logos did not shed divine attributes to turn into a human being (as in pagan mythology). Rather, the eternal Son acquired a full human nature — body and rational soul — in addition to his existing divine nature.
- 07The central christological dispute of the early church was between monophysites (Christ has one blended divine-human nature) and dyophysites (Christ has two complete and distinct natures). Craig closes by asking students to consider which position makes more sense — to be resolved in the next session.
Watch the Full Discussion
Summary
Dr. William Lane Craig opens the Christology unit of his Defenders series by introducing the two-part structure of the doctrine of Christ: the person of Christ (the Incarnation) and the work of Christ (the Atonement). Drawing from a range of New Testament passages, Craig establishes that Scripture affirms both the true deity and the true humanity of Jesus. He walks through texts showing Christ experienced physical birth, hunger, fatigue, sleep, mental limitation, temptation, moral growth through suffering, and ultimately death. Critically, Craig notes that 1 John 4:1–3 identifies denial of Christ’s coming in the flesh as the spirit of antichrist — making the humanity of Christ as doctrinally essential as His divinity. Craig then surveys the Christological controversies of the 4th–7th centuries, framing the central debate between monophysite (one blended divine-human nature) and dyophysite (two complete natures) Christology. He closes with the crucial insight that the Incarnation was not subtraction — the Logos did not shed divine attributes to become human — but addition: the eternal Son acquired a complete human nature while remaining fully divine.
Scripture References
Detailed Outline
I. Introduction to Christology
- Craig begins a new unit in the Defenders series: the Doctrine of Christ, which goes by the name Christology.
- Christology divides into two major areas: (1) the Person of Christ — Who is Jesus? — centered on the Incarnation; and (2) the Work of Christ — What did he do? — centered on the Atonement.
- Until now the series covered a generic monotheism (the doctrine of God, Trinity, Holy Spirit). With Christ, the content becomes distinctly and uniquely Christian.
II. The True Deity of Christ
- Craig refers back to the Trinity section for the full biblical case for Christ’s divinity rather than repeating it here.
- Key passage: Philippians 2:5–8 — “Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
- This passage captures both Christ’s pre-existent deity and his voluntary humbling in the Incarnation.
III. The True Humanity of Christ
- Physical birth — Luke 2:7, 11: Jesus was born as Mary’s firstborn son, laid in a manger. “For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
- Temptation — Matthew 4:1: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” He experienced real temptation as we do.
- Intellectual and physical growth — Luke 2:52: “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” The boy Jesus grew both mentally and physically.
- Hunger — Matthew 4:2: After fasting forty days, “afterward he was hungry.” His body was subject to physical deprivation.
- Fatigue and thirst — John 4:6: “Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well.” He was tired and asked the Samaritan woman for a drink.
- Exhaustion — Mark 4:38: During the violent storm on the lake, Jesus was so exhausted he slept on a cushion in the stern while the boat was being swamped.
- Mental limitation — Mark 13:32: “Of that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus did not know the timing of his own return.
- Torture and death — Luke 23:33, 46: Jesus was crucified and died on the cross, crying out, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”
- Moral growth through suffering — Hebrews 5:7–10: “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered, and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation.” Jesus was morally perfected through his experience of human suffering.
IV. Why the Humanity of Christ Is Non-Negotiable
- Craig acknowledges that affirming Christ’s full human limitations may make believers “squirm in discomfort” — but insists it is just as essential as his deity.
- 1 John 4:1–3: “Every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist.” Denying that Christ has come in the flesh is not a minor theological disagreement — John classifies it as heresy.
- Practically, if Christ’s suffering and death were merely illusory, the Atonement collapses. A merely apparent death cannot produce a real redemption.
V. The Central Christological Problem
- If anything looks like a logical contradiction, Craig says, surely this is it: how can Jesus be simultaneously creator and creature, infinite and finite, omniscient and ignorant, omnipotent and weak, morally perfect and morally perfectible?
- Craig calls this the “proverbial round square” or “married bachelor” — a tension that demanded centuries of careful theological work.
- The attributes of deity seem to drive out the attributes of humanity, and vice versa — making the affirmation of “truly God and truly man” (Latin: vera deus vero homo) appear incoherent on the surface.
VI. The Christological Controversies (4th–7th Centuries)
- After the Trinitarian controversies (Councils of Nicaea 325 AD and Constantinople 381 AD), the church entered a new era of Christological controversy.
- Two broad schools emerged, often labeled Alexandrian vs. Antiochian but more precisely monophysite vs. dyophysite — from the Greek physis, meaning “nature.”
- Both schools shared the Aristotelian framework: things have natures (essential properties) that make them what they are. Human nature = “rational animal” (body + intellectual/rational soul). Divine nature = omnipotence, omniscience, eternity, moral perfection, etc.
- Monophysites held that after the Incarnation Christ possessed a single blended divine-human nature. Some pictured the Logos “clothing himself in flesh”; some believed Christ’s flesh was deified by its union with the divine Logos.
- Dyophysites held that the Incarnation involved the Logos being joined to a complete human being — both body and rational soul — resulting in two complete and distinct natures united in one person.
VII. The Incarnation as Addition, Not Subtraction
- Craig establishes a foundational principle: the Incarnation is not the Logos shedding or laying aside divine attributes in order to become human. That conception resembles pagan mythology — Zeus turning himself into a bull or a swan.
- To shed his divine nature would mean ceasing to be God. But Christian doctrine insists Christ is both God and man simultaneously, not sequentially.
- Therefore the Incarnation must be understood as the Logos acquiring a human nature in addition to his existing divine nature — not subtraction, but addition.
- The remaining question — how exactly to understand this acquisition — is what separates monophysite from dyophysite Christology. Craig closes by posing the question to the class for the next session.
