The pre-existence of Christ asserts the existence of Christ prior to his incarnation as Jesus. One of the relevant Bible passages is John 1 () where, in the Trinitarian interpretation, Christ is identified with a pre-existent divine hypostasis (substantive reality) called the Logos (Koine Greek for "word" or "reason"). There are nontrinitarian views that question the aspect of personal pre-existence, the aspect of divinity, or both.
More particularly, John 1:15, 18 says:
This doctrine is supported in when Jesus refers to the glory that he had with the Father "before the world existed" during the Farewell Discourse.Creation and Christology: A Study on the Johannine Prologue in the Light of Early Jewish Creation Accounts by Masanobu Endo 2002 page 233 also refers to the Father loving Jesus "before the foundation of the world". Passages in in which Jesus refers to himself as the Alpha and Omega has been thought to refer to the pre-existence of Jesus. In the Pauline soteriology, , , and are passages that are seen as evidence that Paul believed in the pre-existence of Christ. However, the interpretation that these passages refer to the pre-existence of Christ has been disputed by a minority of scholars such as James Dunn.
The pre-existence of Christ is affirmed at the beginning of the Nicene Creed.At the following words: "I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages." The expression "Before of all ages" means before the time and creation of Genesis 1. Cf.
Nicene Christianity
The pre-existence of Christ is a central tenet of mainstream Christianity. Most mainstream churches that accept the Nicene Creed consider the nature of Christ's pre-existence as the divine hypostasis called the Logos or Word, described in , which begins:
In Trinitarianism this "Logos" is also called God the Son or the second person of the Trinity. Theologian Bernard Ramm noted that "It has been standard teaching in historic Christology that the Logos, the Son, existed before the incarnation. That the Son so existed before the incarnation has been called the pre-existence of Christ."Bernard L. Ramm, An Evangelical Christology: Ecumenic and Historic, 1983, reprinted by Regent College Publishing, 1993, , p. 47.
Douglas McCready, in his analysis and defense of the pre-existence of Christ,Douglas McCready. He Came Down From Heaven: The Preexistence of Christ and the Christian Faith. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2005. notes that whereas the pre-existence of Christ "is taken for granted by most orthodox Christians, and has been since New Testament times",McCready, p. 11. during the past century the doctrine has been increasingly questioned by less orthodox theologians and scholars.
James Dunn, in his book Christology in the Making, examines the development of this doctrine in early Christianity, noting that it is "beyond dispute"Dunn, p. 239. that in John 1:1–18, "the Word is pre-existent, and Christ is the pre-existent Word incarnate," but going on to explore possible sources for the concepts expressed there, such as the writings of Philo.
Some Protestant theologians believe that God the Son emptied himselfPhilippians 2:7, as translated in the New Revised Standard Version or Holman Christian Standard Bible. of divine attributes in order to become human. Others reject this.Pope Pius XII condemned this in 1951 in Sempiternus Rex Christus, and Protestant theologian Wayne Grudem likewise denies it in his Systematic Theology (Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, , pp. 549–552).
Tertullian in Against Marcion Ch.21 sees a pre-existent appearance of Christ in the fiery furnace of one who is "like the son of man (for he was not yet really son of man)."Robert, Rev. A. The Ante-nicene Fathers: the Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325 p381 The identification of specific appearances of Christ is increasingly common in evangelical literature from the 1990s onwards. For example, W. Terry Whalin states that the fourth person in the fiery furnace is Christ, and that "These appearances of Christ in the Old Testament are known as Theophanies or 'appearances of God' ".W. Terry Whalin Alpha Teach Yourself the Bible in 24 Hours Page 119
Catholicism According to the Catholic Church, Saint Augustine defined the Word as the eternal and perfect thought that God has of Himself, generated by the Father as a living and personal divine concept, which had no beginning and expresses God’s perfect self-knowledge. For Saint John Damascene, the Word is the perfect and revealing image of the Father, eternally generated without separation, just as light generates the ray, and through Him God created the world and revealed Himself to humanity. Saint Thomas Aquinas described the Word as the divine concept generated by God’s knowledge of Himself, generating a Person consubstantial with the Father, eternal and the agent of creation, through whom God acts and communicates.
According to Thomas Aquinas, "the human nature" of Christ was created and began in time, where "the subsistent subject" is both uncreated and eternal.Summa Theologica, 3a. 16. 10
Manichaeism A clear idea of Christ's pre-existence is given in Manichaean thought, where he is conferred the name Jesus the Splendour. Considered a divine being, he was believed to have been the entity to lead Adam into eating from the Tree of Knowledge instead of the Devil (AKA Prince of Darkness) who, according to Manichaeism, actually wanted humanity to stay away from it so they would remain trapped in matter and never find gnosis. Likewise, Manichaeans associated Christ with the Tree of Life and saw him as a holy emanation of the Father of Greatness.
Nontrinitarianism
Some accept the pre-existence of Christ without accepting his full divinity in the Trinitarian sense. For example, it is likely that Arius and most early advocates of Arianism accepted the pre-existence of Christ.Hastings, J. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 2, Part 2 p.785 2003 -"Arius and all his disciples acknowledged the pre-existence of our Lord" However, Thomas Aquinas says that Arius "pretended that the Person of the Son of God is a creature, and less than the Father, so he maintained that He began to be, saying 'there was a time when He was not.'"
John Locke,John Marshall, Locke, Socinianism, "Socinianism", and Unitarianism, from p. 111 in M. A. Stewart (editor), English Philosophy in the Age of Locke (2000), William Ellery Channing, and Isaac NewtonMaurice F. Wiles, Archetypal Heresy: Arianism through the centuries, Oxford University Press, 1996, , p. 83. appear to have maintained belief in the pre-existence of Christ despite their rejection of the Trinity.
Today, several nontrinitarian denominations also share belief in some form of the pre-existence of Christ, including the Church of God (Seventh-Day) and the Jehovah's Witnesses, the latter group identifying Jesus as the archangel Michael,Norman Geisler and Ron Rhodes, Conviction Without Compromise: Standing Strong in the Core Beliefs of the Christian Faith, Harvest House Publishers, 2008, , p. 55. interpreting John 1:1 by translating with the phrase "a god," (or "the Word was divine" or a "godlike one") rather than "God". The Latter Day Saint movement teaches Christ's pre-existence as the first and greatest of the spirit children of God the Father.
Among the many churches which separated from the Worldwide Church of God, also referred to as the "Sabbatarian Churches of God" or, more pejoratively, Armstrongites, there is a shared belief in binitarianism, and that Jesus was the God of the Old Testament through whom God the Father created the world (based on Ephesians 3:9 and John 1:1–3), and that it was Jesus Christ who personally interacted with Adam and Eve, Noah, the patriarchs, ancient Israel, and the kings and prophets of the Old Testament. It is held that in his incarnation, Jesus was sent to reveal the Father who was previously unknown. This is based on an interpretation of John 5:37, Luke 10:22, and by the large number of references Jesus made about the Father in the New Testament compared to the very few, almost figural references to God as Father in the Old Testament. This belief is also based on an interpretation of verses where Christ is believed to be discussing his personal presence in the Old Testament and interaction with ancient Israel, and on a Christological interpretation of Melchizedek.Whatever Happened to the Father?, sermon by Gary Antion, United Church of God, an International Association, 17 November 2009.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, believe that Jesus Christ (and all people) was a pre-existent spirit who then gained a physical body at birth. In that regard, neither Christ nor the spirits of all humans were actually “created” (D&C 93:29). They believe the spirits of all humans are the literal offspring of God the Father (Acts 17:29; Hebrews 12:9) and that His being is a permanently joined spirit and physical body, the same as the post-ascension Christ (D&C 130:22). They believe Christ to be Jehovah of the Old Testament, who was in a spirit prior to birth by Mary (Ether 3:14-17). As the first fruits of the resurrection, through His divine redemption and resurrection, Christ will bring His followers into the same divine nature as He and His Father (2 Peter 1:3-4; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 4:4), to possess the same blessings and life they do. Church members refer to this as exaltation, the highest reward given to faithful followers of Christ (D&C 76:50-70, 94,95; 132:19). During the premortal grand council where in the presence of all of God's pre-existent children, the pre-existent Christ (God the Son) was chosen by God the Father to fulfill His role as the Savior and Redeemer of all God’s creations (Abraham 3:22-28).
Church members believe the appearance of God the Father and Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith in 1820 (known as the First Vision) affirmed this doctrine. In 1830, the LDS Church was founded with Smith as its president and prophet. Since that time, the church's prophets who succeeded Smith have taught and testified of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, His mission and role as Savior and Redeemer, including His pre-eminence and Godhood in pre-existence.
Oneness Pentecostals Oneness Pentecostals are nontrinitarian Pentecostal Christians who do not accept the pre-existence of Christ as distinguished from God the Father, believing that, prior to the incarnation, only "the timeless Spirit of God (the Father)"The Incarnation at ApostolicTheology.com (Oneness Pentecostal theological website), accessed 27 May 2010. existed. Afterwards God "simultaneously dwelt in heaven as a timeless Spirit, and inside of the Son of God on this earth." However, the United Pentecostal Church International, a large Oneness denomination, says in their statement of faith that "The one God existed as Father, Word, and Spirit" prior to the incarnation.