The list of Christological heresies is long. At the end of this article I have a brief summary plus some links.
The two I wish to discuss today are rather recent. The first is that Jesus is the good buddy. The second is that Jesus is the lover.
The Good Buddy heresy
The good buddy idea is expressed as terms like Jesus is my good friend. We play football together as well as basketball and boxing and breakdancing, etc. I'm not specifically referring to the "Good buddy Jesus" but that probably would fit this heresy as well. A quick search online found topics as "would Jesus make a good drinking buddy?" You get the idea. Jesus is a good friend, a peer, who you do things with, a bestie. Jesus only is some sort of glorified superman.
The trouble with this view, this Christological heresy is that Jesus is God.
The Lover heresy
Consider some lyrics from "Burning" from IHOP
I have found the love of my desire (Jesus)
I'm caught up in the passion of an ever-flaming fire (We're lovesick)
Captured by a pure and holy gaze (You're beauty ravishes me)
Frightened by your beauty but I just can't look away
Burning, oh I'm burning
My heart becomes and instant flame
At the very mention of Your name
And a few from Undivided Focus
And I am in love, with undivided focus
And I am in love with You
I am in love
And I am in love, with undivided focus
And I am in love with You
I wanna be a laid-down lover [x3]
Filled with You
List of historical Christological heresies
Ebionism | Jesus is only a man | Makes Jesus a liar or lunatic. | Colossians 2:9, |
Arianism | Jesus had all of God's perfections but had a beginning. Jesus was also of a different substance than God | Jesus would not be the perfect Savior. He had to be the God/man of the same substance as God. | John 8:58, Isaiah 9:6, Hebrews 13:8, Isaiah 44:8, John 14:9 |
Adoptionism | Jesus was only a man, who lived a most righteous life and was adopted by God. | Jesus would not be the perfect Savior. | Hebrews 13:8, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Isaiah 45:21-22, Philippians 2:6-7 |
Docetism | Jesus is God/spirit. He has only an appearance as a human. | Jesus would not be the perfect Savior, because He was not a real man. | Luke 24:39, Ephesians 5:30, 1 John 1:1-2, Hebrews 2:14 |
Apollinariansim | Jesus had a human body and a human soul, but he had the divinity as his spirit. | Jesus was neither perfect God nor perfect man. All of man needs to be saved. Jesus would have to be perfect God/man to save the whole man—body, soul, and spirit. | Philippians 2:6-8, Colossians 1:15, John 1:1, Matthew 26:12, Matthew 26:38, Luke 23:46 |
Nestorianism | Jesus had a human and separate God person, so 2 persons in one body. Oil and water do not mix, so God and human are not mixed in Jesus. Jesus is a man who was infused by the second person of the Trinity. | Jesus was a split personality to be sure and not a complete savior. Which person was crucified? The one unified person of Jesus Christ, the God/man, was the Savior. | John 1:1, John 1:14, Hebrews 1:1-4, Philippians 2:4-7. This view is erroneous in that Jesus is always seen in the Scripture as one person. Mary gave birth not to just a son with a human nature but the God/man, one person and two natures. When Jesus died on the cross, both God and man died, since Jesus on the cross was the God/man. Jesus is one person, the God/man unmixed, unchanged, undivided, and inseparable. |
Monophysitism | Jesus was a mixture of human and divine with the divine characteristics predominate. | Humans needed a human savior who was fully God as well. | Jesus is fully human as any other human (yet without sin 1 John 3:5) and fully God. There are two natures and one person. Jesus is fully divine as in John 1:1 and yet fully flesh as in John 1:14. |
Eutychianism | Jesus had a mixture of human and divine is some sort of third substance. Sort of like hot water and cold water get mixed and are neither hot nor cold. | Jesus wouldn't be a perfect savior since he is neither human nor divine. | There is no mixture of natures. Jesus is fully human and fully God—100% human and 100% God. |
