During different historical periods there were always church fathers who proclaimed the truth about the deity and self-existence of the Lord Jesus, as well as the fact that He is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. But there were also those who questioned and completely distorted biblical Christology. Through their views these deluded fathers deceived millions of other people. Examples will be given of true as well as false views about Jesus.
There is evidence indicating strong convictions that were entertained by the apostles and early church fathers on the eternal deity of the Lord Jesus. Kelly (1977:92-93) refers to the godly church father, Ignatius (35-107 AD), bishop of Antioch, who was later martyred for his faith, as a good source of theological thought of his time: “The centre of Ignatius’ thinking was Christ… (he) even declares that He is ‘our God’, describing Him as ‘God incarnate’… and ‘God made manifest as man’… in His pre-existent being ‘ingenerate’ (the technical term reserved to distinguish the increate God from creatures), He was the timeless, invisible, impalpable, impassable one Who for our sakes entered time and became visible, palpable and passable.” The thought of Ignatius was steeped in the Gospel of John with its strong emphasis on Christ’s unity with the Father: John 1:1-3 describes Christ as the Word that was with God since beginning, being also God Himself, and the One who has created all things that exist. John 10:30 says that Christ and His Father are one, and in John 14:9 Jesus explains to His disciples that he who has seen Him has seen the Father. In John 17:5 Jesus refers to the glory that He had with the Father before the world was.