Psilanthropism is an approach to Christology

Christology

Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...

 which understands Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 to be a "mere human", and the literal son of human parents. The term derives from the combination of the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 ψίλος (psílos), "plain," "mere" or "bare," and ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos) "human." Psilanthropists generally deny both the virgin birth of Jesus, and his divinity

God the Son

God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of Nazareth as God the Son, united in essence but distinct in person with regard to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit...

.

Historical figures such as Nestorius

Nestorius

Nestorius was Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to 22 June 431.Drawing on his studies at the School of Antioch, his teachings, which included a rejection of the long-used title of Theotokos for the Virgin Mary, brought him into conflict with other prominent churchmen of the time,...

 were technically not psilanthropists because they still maintained a divine component in their Christology. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...

 was, however, an example of a psilanthropist.

Early psilanthropism

The term is sometimes used to describe Ebionitism, which was rejected by the ecumenical council

Ecumenical council

An ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....

s, especially in the First Council of Nicaea

First Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...

, which was convened to deal directly with the nature of Christ's divinity.

Modern psilanthropism

An example of a modern psilanthropist is Uta Ranke-Heinemann

Uta Ranke-Heinemann

Uta Ranke-Heinemann is a German theologian, academic and author. She holds the chair of History of Religion at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Essen, her birthplace.- Early life :...

 who contends that the virgin birth of Jesus was meant—and should be understood—as an allegory

Allegory

Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...

 of a special initiative of God, comparable to God's creation of Adam

Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...

, and in line with legends and allegories of antiquity.

Modern psilanthropists also include some members of the Unification Church

Unification Church

The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...

. The church's textbook, the Divine Principle

Divine Principle

The Divine Principle or Exposition of the Divine Principle -in Korean, 원리강론/原理講論- is the main theological textbook of the Unification Church. It was co-written by church founder Sun Myung Moon and early disciple Hyo Won Eu and first published in 1966. A translation entitled Divine Principle was...

does not include the teaching that Zacharias was the father of Jesus, however according to Ruth Tucker some members of the church hold that belief based on the work of Leslie Weatherhead

Leslie Weatherhead

Leslie Dixon Weatherhead was an English Christian theologian in the liberal Protestant tradition. One of Britain's finest preachers in his day, Weatherhead was noted for his preaching ministry at City Temple in London and for his books, including The Will of God, The Christian Agnostic, and...

.