Cornerstone of Christian Faith

The doctrine of the deity of Christ is the very cornerstone upon which the Chris­tian religion is built

By A. V. OLSON, President of the Southern European Division

The doctrine of the deity of Christ is the very cornerstone upon which the Chris­tian religion is built. Destroy this foundation, and the whole superstructure must crumble and fall. Satan is well aware of this, and therefore he is making determined efforts to undermine and to completely destroy men's faith in the deity of Christ. Sad to say, he has been ex­ceedingly successful in his nefarious work. Already a large section of the Christian world has abandoned faith in Jesus as the divine Son of God. They regard Him merely as the son of Joseph and Mary. They say that He was the Son of God in the same sense as Abraham, Moses, Paul, and all other God-fearing men have been His sons, and that He "is essentially no more divine than we are or than nature is." These Christless Christians (for that is in reality what they are) are not all in the pews. An alarming number of them are in the pulpit. Some are editing important religious journals, and others are teaching in theological semi­naries and colleges. This seductive, soul-destroying heresy is not confined to any one country, or to any one church. It is to be found in every land and clime, even in the faraway mission fields; and no church or denomination is immune to its baneful influence. Recently, in one of our fields, the committee was compelled to discharge one of its ablest preachers because he had entirely lost his faith in the 'divinity of Christ, and was teaching that Jesus was no more divine, or no more the Son of God, than we are. Through his influence, several members became confused in their minds regarding the deity of Christ.

In His providence, God has given to His remnant church a specific message to meet the tragic unbelief which is growing both within and without the Christian church. The very center of the third angel's message is the ever­lasting gospel, and the heart of the gospel is the divine Son of God.

Seventh-day Adventists have always preached Christ. They have proclaimed with conviction that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoso­ever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." They have also stressed the fact that there is salvation in no other name than in the name of Jesus. It is to be feared, however, that we have not given the promi­nence that we should have to the vital doctrine of the divinity of Christ. We often refer to it in our sermons and in our writings, we pub­licly deplore the growing disbelief in the deity of our Lord and Saviour, but we do not fre­quently present the doctrine as a subject. I cannot recall having heard, in many years, a sermon preached by any of our ministers on this topic. We seem to take it for granted that the question is so clear and so well under­stood that it is not necessary to present the Scriptural proofs thereof. This, I fear, is a mistake.

In the face of this paralyzing heresy which is spreading like a poison gas throughout Christ­endom, is it not time that we come out more openly and boldly in defense of this all-im­portant doctrine, which is, as already stated, the very cornerstone upon which the whole Christian religion is founded? Ought we not, by voice and by pen, to present the evidences from the word of God showing that Jesus was God before He was born into this world; that He was God incarnate in human flesh while here on earth; that He is God now; that He will come as God when He returns in glory to gather His saints, and that He will be God throughout eternity ?

If we want our people to withstand the strong delusions now abroad regarding the nature of Christ, we must make sure they are rooted and grounded in the eternal truth con­cerning His divinity. It is also our Christian duty to enlighten the whole world. At a time when so many preachers and other religious leaders are presenting only a human Saviour to a lost world, Seventh-day Adventist ministers all around the earth must convince every hon­est soul that we have a divine Saviour, even Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the living God.


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By A. V. OLSON, President of the Southern European Division

September 1942

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