‘Two Jesuses’: You’re wrong, teaching heresy -Fr Mbaeri scolds, schools Abel Damina

‘…your statements in Honest Bunch Podcast fallacious, Nestorianism’

CLARIFYING ABEL DAMINA WITH SCRIPTURE:

Dear friends in Christ, 

First I would like to appreciate Dr. Damina for being vocal against many wrong practices and doctrines in Christendom today. Some days back, I openly appreciated his teaching where he refuted the idea of “generational curse.”

Nevertheless, having listened to him on the Honest Bunch Podcast, I highlighted some statements that are fallacious and need to be corrected immediately. So, today we shall be clarifying the first I highlighted yesterday. Dear readers, I crave your indulgence to patiently read this post to understand it better and don’t forget to share after reading. It would take you about 5 – 7 minutes to read.

Dr Damina stated: “There are two Jesuses in the Bible: the incarnate one and the glorified one. The incarnate one is not useful to me, but the glorified Christ is. The incarnate Christ could not get anyone born again in the Bible, but after He rose, He received all power and authority…”

We shall refute and correct this statement in 10 points, viz:

1. Biblically, the belief in two Jesuses, the incarnate one and the glorified one is anti-biblical and breeds so many confusions and misunderstandings of the nature and Person of Christ. Scripture never indicated a division between an “incarnate” and a “glorified” Jesus. Instead, it affirms that Jesus, in His entire ministry—from incarnation to glorification—carries the fullness of divine glory.

How can we understand this? The Bible consistently presents Jesus Christ as one person, fully divine and fully human. The idea of two separate “Jesuses” is a misunderstanding of the Christian doctrine of the hypostatic union, which teaches that Jesus has two natures—divine and human—united in one Person, for John 1:14 makes us understand that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” This same Jesus, who took on human flesh, is also the glorified Christ, that is why Hebrews 13:8 says: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” If there were two different Jesuses, then he wouldn’t be the same.

2. An attempt should not be made to separate the natures of Christ into two separate persons because Jesus’ incarnation and glorification are two aspects of His singular mission. They are not separate identities but stages in His work of redemption. The same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem is the one who died, rose, and ascended to heaven. Thus, there is no division between an “incarnate” Jesus who is less than God and a “glorified” Jesus who is fully God.

 From birth, Jesus is worshipped, indicating His divine status and the unity of His personhood. Little wonder Hebrews 1:6 says, “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him.'” This verse is very important because it shows that the infant Jesus, even in His incarnate state, is worthy of worship by the angels. Worship is due only to God, which means that Jesus, even as an infant, is recognized as fully divine. 

That is why also Hebrews 1:3 says: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature,” before going on to say he made purification for sins. This indicates that Christ is fully divine and even radiates the glory of God before his death and resurrection – that is, in His earthly and glorified states.

3. For Damina, the incarnate Jesus (which he separated from the glorified one) is not useful to him, but he seems to forget that God becoming flesh (incarnation) is foundational to salvation. Without the incarnation, there would be no sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 2:14-17 explains that Jesus shared in our humanity so that by His death, He might destroy the devil and free those who were held in slavery by the fear of death.

 Likewise, Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 that Christ’s death and resurrection are of “first importance” because they are the means by which we are saved. The glorification of Christ is important, but it is His incarnation that made the glorification possible.

4. Damina seems to have forgotten that Christ (before his death) even gave us a glimpse of his glory, “the same glory he had with the Father, even before the world was” (John 17:5), which was made possible by the Transfiguration. 

The same Christ that took his disciples to the mountain was transfigured in their presence, revealing His glory to His disciples (cf. Matt 17.1-9 Mark 9.2-9 Luke 9.28-36). Verse 32 of Luke’s account of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36) says: “Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, THEY SAW HIS GLORY and the two men who stood with him.

This passage is a powerful revelation of Jesus’ divine glory, witnessed by Peter, John, and James; meaning that even in His incarnate state, His glory strongly dwells on Him. Now, will Damina tell us that when “incarnate Christ” got to the mountain of transfiguration, he was replaced by another glorified Christ or was that incarnate Christ different?

5. I’d also like to take Damina through Colossians 1:19, where the phrase “In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” comes from the original Greek: “ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωμα κατοικῆσαι.” Here, The preposition ἐν (“in”) and the pronoun “αὐτῷ “(autō) “Him” are very important. The pronoun αὐτῷ refers to Christ, indicating that the fullness is not merely around or associated with Him but is intrinsically within Him, indicating that Christ is one Person, not two. 

Paul did not write “in them” but “In Him.” This affirms the unity of Christ’s Personhood. In other words, the use of the singular pronoun αὐτῷ (Him) and the verb “κατοικῆσαι” points to the fact that there is one Jesus, not two. The fullness of God didn’t dwell in one “kind” of Jesus (e.g., the glorified Jesus) and not in another (e.g., the incarnate Jesus). Instead, the fullness of God is present in the one Person, Jesus Christ, from His incarnation through His glorification. 

There is no distinction between an “incarnate” and a “glorified” Christ as separate entities; the same Christ, in His singular personhood, embodies the fullness of God.

6. Damina also stated that: “The incarnate Christ could not get anyone born again in the Bible, but after He rose, He received all power and authority…” He must understand that the task of making people “born again” was not directly Jesus’ mission during His earthly ministry, according to the Gospel of John. 

The concept of being “born again” is deeply tied to the sacrament of Baptism, as Christ explained in John 3:3-5, that “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit,” which is understood by the Church to refer to Baptism, for through Baptism, we are reborn by water and the Holy Spirit, and this baptism is done in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:18-19). 

7. However, we must note that John 4:2 clarifies that “although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples.” This detail is pertinent because it shows that Baptism, while essential for salvation and becoming “born again,” was to be administered by Jesus’ followers in the name of the Trinity. 

Jesus, being the Son of God, did not need to perform the act Himself; instead, He delegated this to His disciples, to signify His authority and the new life granted through His death and resurrection. By not baptizing Himself, Jesus ensures that the focus remains on the sacrament as a communal act within the Church, performed by His ministers, rather than an action He personally undertakes. 

8. Damina must also understand that Jesus’ authority and power were evident even before and after His resurrection in various ways, as seen in Mark 4:39-41, Mark 2:5-12, John 10:17-18, etc. After His resurrection, Jesus then goes on to explicitly declare his authority as seen in Matthew 28:18, where He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” 

This statement reveals the fulfilment and culmination of His earthly ministry. Thus, the resurrection itself serves as the ultimate confirmation of His divine authority, as seen in Matthew 28:6, where the angel announces, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

9. So, dear friends, the belief in “two Jesuses”—one incarnate and one glorified—clearly shows a theological misunderstanding, which in itself is a heresy called Nestorianism that was condemned by the Church.

Nestorianism, named after Nestorius, the Patriarch (bishop) of Constantinople in the 5th century, proposed that Jesus Christ existed as two separate persons: one human (Jesus) and one divine (the Son of God). This heresy sadly divided Christ’s nature, which is contrary to orthodox Christian teaching. 

The Church addressed and refuted Nestorianism at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. The Council affirmed that Jesus Christ is one Person (hypostasis) with two natures, fully divine and fully human, united in what is known as the hypostatic union – united in one person without confusion, change, division, or separation. 

This unity in the person of Christ is foundational to the doctrine of the Incarnation and the redemption offered through His life, death, and resurrection. To assert that there are “two Jesuses” undermines Scripture’s teaching on the Incarnation and redemption. The Council of Ephesus, with its Christological declarations, made it clear that such a division is heretical and contrary to the faith handed down by the Apostles.

10. Above all, the distinction between the “incarnate” and “glorified” Jesus is a theological error. There is only one Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, and who accomplished salvation through His incarnation, death, and resurrection.

The incarnate Christ is not separate from the glorified Christ; rather, they are the same Person at different stages of His redemptive work. Both the incarnation and glorification are important to the Christian faith. Anyone who believes and prays to two Jesuses believes in a kind of Jesus that does not exist.

Shalom!

© Fr. Chinaka Justin Mbaeri (Fr. CJay)