Doctrines
Adoptionism
Orthodoxy and Dissent
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Origin from 260
Adoptionism is the position that Jesus was born a man and became Son of God only at a later point, by adoption or empowerment, most often placed at his baptism, rather than being divine Son from eternity or from conception. It appears in at least two separate episodes centuries apart. Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, taught a version of it and was deposed by a synod of bishops at Antioch in 268. A second, Spanish form, associated with Elipandus of Toledo and Felix of Urgell in the eighth century, held that Christ was Son of God by nature in his divinity but son by adoption in his humanity; it was condemned at the Council of Frankfurt in 794, called by Charlemagne. Its opponents in both periods held that scripture and the church own worship confess Christ as Son of God from eternity or from the incarnation, not by a later promotion.
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Origins
Origin Period Held ByA position, recurring in at least two distinct episodes centuries apart, holding that Jesus became Son of God at a later point, commonly his baptism, rather than being divine from eternity or conception; condemned at a synod in Antioch in 268 for its earlier form and at the Council of Frankfurt in 794 for its Spanish form; not held by any major Christian body today. 1 Defining MomentA synod of bishops at Antioch deposed Paul of Samosata in 268; the Council of Frankfurt, called by Charlemagne in 794, condemned the later Spanish form. 1 Position Profile
Principal ProponentPaul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch, for the third century form; Elipandus of Toledo and Felix of Urgell for the eighth century Spanish form. 1 Opposing PositionThat scripture and the church own worship confess Christ as Son of God from eternity, or at the latest from the moment of the incarnation, not by a later adoption or promotion. 1 Status
Status Within the TraditionRejected, or not held, within this tradition 1Tradition: Christianity Doctrinal Category Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourceThat Jesus was born a man and was adopted or empowered as Son of God at a later point in his life, most often placed at his baptism, rather than being the eternal divine Son incarnate from conception. 1 Learn More
Two Adoptionisms, Five Centuries Apart
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Adoptionism is not one controversy but two, separated by roughly five hundred years and unconnected except by the shared shape of the claim. Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch in the mid third century, taught that the man Jesus was joined to the divine Word by a moral union of will rather than by a real incarnation, effectively becoming Son of God through that indwelling rather than being it from birth. A synod of bishops meeting at Antioch deposed him in 268, in one of the earliest recorded instances of a formal episcopal council settling a doctrinal dispute by removing a bishop from office.
The second episode surfaces in eighth century Spain, under Muslim rule, where the archbishop of Toledo, Elipandus, and the bishop of Urgell, Felix, taught that Christ was Son of God by nature in his eternal divinity but son of God only by adoption in his assumed humanity, a formula meant to safeguard the true humanity of Christ rather than to deny his divinity outright. Charlemagne, extending Frankish influence into the question, called the Council of Frankfurt in 794, which condemned the position, and further councils through the 790s reinforced the ruling. In neither case did the label survive as a live confession; both are read today as attempts, in different centuries and for different reasons, to hold Christ humanity and his divinity together without letting either swallow the other, attempts the wider church judged to have let the humanity swallow too much.
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