Four Patristic Models of Jesus Christ’s Impeccability and Temptation

Abstract. Early Christian theology focused on the identity of Jesus Christ according to the New Testament, and faced an apparent dilemma in Jesus’ deity (which entails his impeccability) and Jesus ’ humanity (marked by his true temptations to sin). While no church council addressed the topic of Je-sus ’ impeccability and temptation directly, patristic theologians did explain the relationship of Jesus ’ divine impeccability (considered as an a priori), his human temptation, and perfect sinlessness. The explanations vary in four types or models of dealing with the question. The description of each of the four models and a brief presentation of evidence from three patristic repre-sentatives for each model will provide the case that patristic theology shows developing sophistication in explaining the topic. In brief, these models are that Jesus was (1) sinless by his inherent impeccability, (2) sinless by deifica-tion, (3) sinless by divine hegemony, and (4) sinless by empowering grace. A brief evaluation of each of the models weighs their theological adequacy for contemporary Christological formulation