Pre-existence of Christ
The Son did not begin at Bethlehem — he was with the Father before creation itself
The pre-existence of Christ is the conviction that the Son existed eternally with the Father before the Incarnation and before the world was made. Christians find this in passages such as John 1, which speaks of the Word who was in the beginning with God; Philippians 2; and Colossians 1. On this teaching the historic churches broadly agree: the one born of Mary is the eternal Son who took on human nature.
How it traveled
- HebrewsRome · 67explains
- PhilippiansRome · 67explains
- MatthewAntioch · 80explains
- LukeRome · 84explains
- ActsRome · 84explains
- JohnEphesus · 100explains
- RevelationPatmos · 100explains
- 1 JohnEphesus · 100explains
- Dialogue with TryphoRome · 165explains
- Against Heresies: Book IVLyons · 202explains
- Against Praxeas.— · 220explains
- Melito, the Philosopher.— · 220explains
- A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity.Rome · 258explains
- The Church History of EusebiusCaesarea · 339explains
- The Life of Constantine with Orations of Constantine and EusebiusCaesarea · 339explains
- Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.)Alexandria · 373explains
- The Incarnation of the WordAlexandria · 373explains
- Defence of Dionysius. (De Sententia Dionysii.)Alexandria · 373explains
- The Catechetical Lectures of S. CyrilJerusalem · 386explains
- Select Orations of Saint Gregory NazianzenNazianzus · 390explains
- Against EunomiusNyssa · 395explains
- Exposition of the Christian FaithMilan · 397explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. JohnConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the HebrewsConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and ThessaloniansConstantinople (Istanbul) · 407explains
- Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. JohnHippo Regius · 430explains
- Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New TestamentHippo Regius · 430explains
- Expositions on the Book of PsalmsHippo Regius · 430explains
- On the Holy TrinityHippo Regius · 430explains
- The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against NestoriusMarseille · 435explains
- The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of TheodoretCyrrhus · 458explains
- John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox FaithDamascus · 749explains
- Treatise on the Incarnation (qq[1]-59)Paris · 1274explains
- Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the GospelGeneva · 1564explains
- Book First. of the Knowledge of God the CreatorGeneva · 1564explains
- A History of the Work of RedemptionNorthampton, Massachusetts · 1758explains
Key passages(20)
Epistles on the Arian Heresy and the Deposition of Arius. · Alexander of Alexandria
Epistleson the Arian Heresy And the Deposition of Arius. ———————————— I.—To Alexander, Bishop of the City of Constantinople. To the most reverend and like-minded brother, Alexander, Alexander sen
Tap to expand
A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity. · Novatian
Chapter XVI.Argument.—Again from the Gospel He Proves Christ to Be God. If Christ was only man, how is it that He Himself says, “And every one that believeth in me shall not die for evermore?”in this
Tap to expand
And Trypho said, “We have heard what you think of these matters. Resume the discourse where you left off, and bring it to an end. For some of it appears to me to be paradoxical, and wholly incapable o
Tap to expand
Exposition of the Christian Faith · Ambrose of Milan
101. With the consideration whereof we must join another most blasphemous objection of theirs, which covers a subtle purpose to confuse the sense and understanding of simple folk. They ask whether eve
Tap to expand
I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
Tap to expand
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Tap to expand
John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’”
Tap to expand
This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’
Tap to expand
Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”
Tap to expand
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John · Augustine of Hippo
7. “John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is made before me.” He came after me, and He preceded me. What is it, “He is made before me”?
Tap to expand
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John · Augustine of Hippo
16. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw, and was glad.” Abraham’s seed, Abraham’s Creator, bears a great testimony to Abraham. “Abraham rejoiced,” He says, “to see my day.” He did
Tap to expand
who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Tap to expand
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament · Augustine of Hippo
Sermon LXIX. [CXIX. Ben.] On the same words, John i. “In the beginning was the word,” etc. 1. That our Lord Jesus Christ in seeking lost man was made Man, our preaching has never withholden, and yo
Tap to expand
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril · Cyril of Jerusalem
Origen (De Principiis, I. ii. 10) had argued that “even God cannot be called omnipotent, unless there exist those over whom He may exercise His power,” and therefore creation must have been eternal, o
Tap to expand
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril · Cyril of Jerusalem
14. We believe then In the Only-Begotten Son of God, Who Was Begotten of the Father Very God. For the True God begetteth not a false god, as we have said, nor did He deliberate and afterwards begetthe
Tap to expand
The Church History of Eusebius · Eusebius of Caesarea
Chapter II.—Summary View of the Pre-existence and Divinity of Our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. 1. Since in Christ there is a twofold nature, and the one—in so far as he is thought of as God—resembl
Tap to expand
The Church History of Eusebius · Eusebius of Caesarea
9. Moses most clearly proclaims him second Lord after the Father, when he says, “The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord.” Gen. xix. 24. Gen. xxxii. 28. εἶδος θεοῦ.
Tap to expand
The Fifth Ecumenical Council. The Second Council of Constantinople · The Ecumenical Councils
The Anathematisms of the Emperor Justinian Against Origen. The reader should carefully study the entire tractate of the Emperor against Origen of which these anathematisms are the conclusion. It is f
Tap to expand
The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius · John Cassian
That Christ was before the Incarnation God from everlasting. As we have finished three books with the most certain and the most valuable witnesses, whose truth is substantiated not only by human but
Tap to expand
Against Praxeas. · Anti-marcion
Chapter XXI.—In This and the Four Following Chapters It is Shewn, by a Minute Analysis of St. John’s Gospel, that the Father and Son are Constantly Spoken of as Distinct Persons. Consider, therefore,
Tap to expand