Demetrios Bathrellos - The Patristic Tradition on the Sinlessness of Jesus

In the last couple of centuries many theologians have argued that Jesus Christ bore a fallen, sinful human nature. Some of them (for instance, Karl Barth) recognized that this is at odds with patristic teaching. Others however (such as T.F. Torrance and T. Weinandy) maintained that many Fathers of the Church also believed that Christ's human nature was fallen. This paper will attempt to give a succint presentation of the relevant views of some of the most distinguished Fathers of the Church, including Gregory of Nyssa, Cyril of Alexandria, Maximus the Confessor, and John of Damascus, as well as the teachings of Chalcedon and Constantinople II. From this, it will be concluded that the evidence strongly suggests that the standard view found in the patristic tradition on this matter is that the humanity of Christ was not sinful. By presenting the teachings of select Fathers of the Church, the paper will also show why these Fathers believed that the humanity of Christ was sinless and furthermore had to be sinless to be sinless, and, by implication, why the view of modern theologians who maintain the opposite view is theologically unsustainable.