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May 11, 2026—Defenders · Reasonable Faith
Doctrine of Christ Part 2: Apollinarianism
Key Points
- 01Apollinaris’s core problem: if the Logos merely indwells a complete human being, that is not genuine incarnation — it is just God living inside a man.
- 02His tripartite anthropology: human beings = body (soma) + animal soul (psyche) + rational mind (nous). In Christ, the divine Logos replaced the human nous, producing a genuine constitutional union rather than mere indwelling.
- 03This model traces back to Athanasius, who consistently spoke of the Logos “taking on flesh” and never referred to a human soul in Jesus. The Logos experienced suffering, hunger, and fatigue through the flesh he assumed.
- 04Apollinarianism has real advantages: it secures genuine personal unity (one person, one mind), explains Christ’s sinlessness (the nous is the seat of sinful desire; Christ had no human nous), and is no more philosophically puzzling than soul-body union in ordinary humans.
- 05The temptation problem: if the Logos cannot be tempted and cannot sin, were Christ’s desert temptations real? Craig says on Apollinarianism they are like “bullets bouncing off Superman” — a constraint that any adequate Christology must address.
- 06First fatal flaw (condemned 377 AD): a body without a rational soul is not a true human nature but merely an animal nature. Gregory of Nyssa charged that Apollinaris made the Incarnation God becoming an animal, not a man.
- 07Second fatal flaw: quod non assumptum, non sanatum — “What is not assumed is not saved.” If Christ had no human mind or human will, he could not redeem them. Apollinarianism undermines the very salvation it claims to ground.
Watch the Full Discussion
Summary
Dr. William Lane Craig continues the Christology unit by examining the first major monophysite solution to the Incarnation: Apollinarianism. Apollinaris of Laodicea (died 390 AD) identified a key problem — if Christ possessed both a complete human mind and the divine Logos, the result would be merely God indwelling a man, not true Incarnation. His solution drew on a tripartite anthropology: humans consist of a body (soma), animal soul (psyche), and rational mind (nous). In Christ, the Logos replaced the human nous, constitutionally uniting with humanity rather than merely inhabiting it. Craig traces this model back to Athanasius, surveys its genuine advantages — including its explanation of Christ’s sinlessness — and then presents the two fatal objections that led to its condemnation in 377 AD: it reduces human nature to a merely animal nature, and by failing to assume a human mind, Christ cannot redeem the human mind. A rich class discussion probes the unsolved tension of Christ’s real temptations, free will in heaven, the transmission of original sin, and the two wills of Christ.
Scripture References
Detailed Outline
I. Recap of Part 1
- Two competing schools: monophysite (one divine-human nature) vs. dyophysite (two complete natures).
- Monophysites pictured the Logos clothing himself in flesh — a single blended nature after the Incarnation.
- Dyophysites insisted the Logos was joined at conception to a complete human being (body + rational soul), resulting in two complete natures in one person.
II. Apollinaris of Laodicea
- Bishop in Laodicea, died 390 AD — one of the most creative and influential Alexandrian thinkers of the Christological controversies.
- Core problem he identified: if Christ had both a complete human mind (nous) and the divine Logos, then the Logos merely indwelt the man Jesus — that falls short of a true incarnation.
- His anthropology was tripartite: humans = soma (body) + psyche (animal soul) + nous (rational mind). In Christ, the Logos took the place of the human nous.
- Result: Christ = divine Logos + human soma + human psyche. A single nature — part co-essential with God (the Logos), parts co-essential with us (body and animal spirit).
- On this model the body was both the Logos’s means of experiencing the world and his instrument for acting in it.
III. Athanasius as Precedent
- The great Athanasius — champion of Nicene orthodoxy — consistently spoke of the Logos “taking on flesh,” never once referring to a human soul in Jesus.
- From Orations Against the Arians: “The Logos in his own nature is impassable... because of the flesh which he put on, these things are ascribed to him since they belong to the flesh.”
- Apollinaris stands squarely in this Alexandrian tradition of seeing the Incarnation as the Logos taking on flesh.
IV. Advantages of Apollinarianism
- Genuine constitutional union: not God inhabiting a man, but the Logos being constitutionally united with humanity — analogous to how a soul unites with a body.
- Unity of person: there is only one person, one intellect — the Logos clothed with flesh. No risk of splitting Christ into two persons.
- Sinlessness secured: the nous is the seat of sinful desires. Since Christ had no human nous but the divine Logos, he was not merely resistant to sin but incapable of it.
- No greater philosophical difficulty than ordinary anthropological dualism — if soul-body union is intelligible, so is Logos-body union on this model.
V. The Temptation Problem (Class Discussion)
- If the Logos is God and God cannot be tempted (James 1:13), yet Hebrews 4:15 says Christ “was tempted in every way just as we are,” how are these reconciled?
- Craig: on Apollinarianism, Christ’s temptations would be like “bullets bouncing off Superman” — no real lure, no existential pull.
- This is a constraint any viable Christological model must satisfy: Christ must have genuinely felt the force of temptation while remaining sinless.
- Craig flags the issue as unresolved on Apollinarianism and says it will require “finessing” — returning to it in future sessions.
VI. Condemnation — Two Fatal Deficiencies (Synod of Rome, 377 AD)
- Deficiency 1: A body without a rational soul is not a true human nature — it is merely an animal nature. Gregory of Nyssa accused Apollinaris of making the Incarnation God becoming an animal, not a man. The true humanity of Christ is compromised.
- Deficiency 2: The principle quod non assumptum, non sanatum — “What is not assumed is not saved.” If the Logos did not take on a human mind, the human mind was not redeemed. As a class member notes: if he had no human will, the human will is also unredeemed.
- Both objections strike at the same root: Apollinarianism gives us a Christ who is not genuinely human and therefore cannot genuinely save what is human.
VII. Looking Ahead
- Next session: the Antiochian (dyophysite) school of Christology, which insisted Christ must have two complete natures — both fully divine and fully human.
- Craig previews the problem this view creates: if there are two complete natures, how do we avoid splitting Christ into two persons? That tension will define the next chapter of the Christological controversies.
