In Trinitarian theology, people do not personally pre-exist, but only have "ideal" or "notional" pre-existence and Jesus only pre-existed. Furthermore, in light of Jesus has two distinct natures(the hypostatic union), informed by a belief that there is a "species differentiation" between God, angels, and men, such produces a number of issues. Consider the following:
(*) In 1 John 4:1-3, we read of the heresy
of downplaying/relegating the true humanity of Jesus (v. 2: Jesus came ἐν
σαρκὶ; cf. John 1:14--the Word "became flesh" [σὰρξ ἐγένετο])
(*) In light of the hypostatic union, the
singular person of Jesus had two distinct natures and wills: one human, one
divine. The entire person of Jesus did not suffer the atonement, but such was
predicated upon his human nature.
(*) Consider the following objections from Unitarian to the personal pre-existence of Jesus and the
affirmation he was truly human—to summarise the arguments of Unitarian
theologians and apologists such as Anthony F. Buzzard:
Jesus was truly human; Jesus was one person, not two persons (contra Nestorianism);
Humans do not pre-exist as persons; the doctrine of pre-existence undermines
the reality of Jesus’ humanity as pre-existence is not normative for humanity:
If we affirm that
Jesus was a human person, we are driven either into an impossible conception of
a double personality in the incarnate Son of God, or else into the Christology
of liberal Protestantism which we have found to be inadequate. If we deny that
Jesus was a human person, we deny by implication the completeness of his
manhood and stand convicted of Apollinarianism [RB: the heresy that Christ,
while having a human nature, lacked a human rational mind with the "Divine
Logos" taking its place]. (Oliver Quick, Doctrines of the Creed
[Nisbet, 1938], p. 178 as cited by Anthony Buzzard and Charles Hunting, The
Doctrine of the Trinity: Christianity's Self-Inflicted Wound, p. 255)
We can have the
humanity without the preexistence and we can have the preexistence without the
humanity. There is absolutely no way of having both . . . It is simply
incredible that a divine person should have become a fully and normally human
person--that is, if he was also to continue to be, in his essential identity.
the same person. (John Knox, The Humanity and Divinity of Christ [Cambridge
University Press, 1987], 106, 98)
One can see how Trinitarian theologians
speak from both sides of their mouth vis-à-vis the person of Jesus being
impeccable and incapable of being tempted and how he is a perfect model for us.
Consider the following from Dominican theologian Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange:
Since our Lord comes
from above, it is His greatness which separates Him from all that is inferior,
not to isolate Him but so that He may act upon the world from a great height,
and so that in consequence His action may be more universal and more profound.
Such is the action of the sun upon the earth when it is at its zenith, at the
highest point above the horizon. Because our Lord was by His very elevation
free from the bonds that attach men to earthly goods, to their family, to their
own little ideas, to their own will, He was able to act not only on the men of
one nation or of one era, but upon the whole human race, to whom He has brought
eternal life. It is because of the greatness of the Savior that the Gospel is
accessible to all, even the most humble, while at the same time surpassing the
understanding of the greatest geniuses. It is for the same reason that the
Gospel has never grown old and that it will always be timely with an immutable
timeliness, superior to that of the fleeting moment.
Jesus was not of the
world, but He was given to the world by God’s infinite mercy that He might
redeem it. This is brought out by the first aspect of His sanctity, freedom
from all sin and imperfection.
There is a vast
difference between our Lord and ourselves in this respect. Since He comes from
above, He is separated by His very elevation from all that is inferior, evil,
or less good. As for us, we come from below, from the world of sin, of lies, of
covetousness and pride. So we have to separate ourselves progressively from the
spirit of the world, from all that is disorderly in it, and progressively rise
toward God. This is the meaning of the Commandments and of the three
evangelical counsels. (Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, Our Savior and His Love
for Us [trans. A. Bouchard; London: B. Herder Book Co., 1951], 131)
And yet, he would later assert the
following without realising the contradiction in what he had written previously
in the above:
After His baptism,
Jesus willed to be tempted in the desert so that He might be more like us. This
was still another proof of His humility, and it also taught us to conquer the
spirit of evil and to answer was seductive offers with the word of God. (Ibid.,
227)
To see how Latter-day Saint theology
resolves such issues, see:
The
Christological Necessity of Universal Pre-Existence
