The Implications of Early Christian Worship for the Deity of Christ
Taken together, the evidence shows that Jesus is worshiped, not because His followers gradually inflated His status, but because His life made worship unavoidable. His words carried the authority of God. His works bore the marks of Israel’s Scriptures. His presence confronted those around Him with a question that could not be postponed. The people who knew Him best and followed Him closest did not merely admire Him. They bowed before Him.
Within the strict monotheism of Scripture, worship is a moral act and a theological confession. To give worship where it does not belong is idolatry. To withhold worship where it is due is unbelief. Worshiping Jesus is the only response that fits who He is as the true God. This conviction did not fade as the church moved into the wider Greco-Roman world. The first Christians remained resolutely monotheistic even as they consistently worshiped Christ. The deity of Christ is embedded in the church’s earliest practices.
-Special thanks to Donnie DeBord of Apologetics Press for this series.
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