4 Reasons Why "Adoptionism" Is A Dangerous Heresy
All false teaching is dangerous. All heresy is even more dangerous. It is so dangerous of a false teaching that it is labeled a damnable teaching. If one believes it then there is no salvation. There are clearly very serious tones in declaring anything heresy.
But, do we ever take the time to think about why something is a heresy? What are the implications and applications of false teaching that are so detrimental to be damnable?
Adoptionism is a heresy that began to become popular in the 2nd-3rd centuries. It is the teaching that Jesus was only a man but became the Son of God at one point. At either his baptism or his resurrection, He became the Son of God. That is, he became divine.1 Some want to use Romans 1:4 as a proof text for this.
The reason why it was declared a heresy is because it is explicitly unbiblical and gives horribly injurious applications. Here are a four reasons why it is so bad:
If Jesus is not “God of God”2 then He can’t bring us to God, and, therefore, no salvation is possible. To save us to an eternal God, He must be the eternal God—the preexistence of Jesus as the Son of God must be true of Him.
If He became the Son of God at one point (at the resurrection in some views) then He wasn’t of infinite worth when making atonement. If this is the case then His atonement can’t be for us. If He became the Son of God at his baptism then his righteousness up to that point is only sufficient for one man.
How could a finite being “become” God? Is God in need of receiving any addition to His nature? Adoptionism doesn’t only forfeit salvation but it forfeits our understanding of who God Himself is.
This teaching contradicts numerous portions of Scripture (including what Jesus said about Himself). By believing this heresy we could not trust Scripture. Also, Jesus would have no perfect righteousness if he sinned even once. Jesus has clearly said He is God and has been the eternal Son of God even before taking on flesh (see John 17). So, if Jesus became God at one point then He is lying. Therefore, He is no Savior.
I am intentionally using “he” rather than “He” here because Adoptionism denies the teaching that Jesus is very God of God. Only the biblical Jesus, the creedal and confessional understanding of Jesus, is the “He” that is worthy of our worship.
See the Nicene, Athanasian, and Chalcedonian creeds.