Apologeticae sive Theologiae Fundamentalis, Tomus I: Demonstratio Christiana

a) From the day of the resurrection the disciples firmly and unshakably believed in the divinity of Jesus. Only Thomas Didymus, doubting the resurrection itself, remained incredulous: "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." After eight days, when the twelve apostles were gathered together, Jesus appeared again and stood in their midst and said to Thomas: "Put in your finger here, and see my hands, and bring your hand, and put it into my side: and be not incredulous, but faithful." Thomas answered, exclaiming: "My Lord and my God!"¹

It cannot be doubted that the other disciples held the same faith. For it must be presumed that they were in no way inferior in faith to the incredulous Thomas. Moreover, from the day of Pentecost all of them preach the same faith as Thomas.² Therefore this faith of theirs was born earlier, namely, immediately after the resurrection.

Now the words "My Lord and my God", in Hebrew "Adonai Elohim", declare the divinity of Jesus most fully. For by this twofold name the Israelites emphatically invoked the true deity. "Elohim" is the plural of majesty, by which the Hebrews from the very beginning opposed the divinity worshipped by themselves to the gods of the Gentiles.

Likewise "Adonai" is a plural of majesty designating the one God inasmuch as he rules over the whole world. Before the captivity the Israelites used the divine appellation "Adonai" more rarely, preferring the name "Iahve" revealed to them by God. In the course of time, however, they came to think that the name Iahve was the ineffable name. Hence, wherever they found it written in the Hebrew text, they did not read Iahve, but Adonai. The Masoretes added to the tetragrammaton Iahve (יהוה) the vowel points of the word Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), to warn the reader that the ineffable name Iahve was to be pronounced Adonai. And so also in the Greek Septuagint version and in the Latin Vulgate the word Iahve is everywhere rendered "ὁ κύριος" and "Dominus". Therefore, whether the disciples confess the risen Jesus as "Lord God" or even simply as "Lord", they undoubtedly proclaim the divinity of the Savior.

b) This faith Jesus himself earnestly fostered both by his resurrection and by his subsequent revelation.

Jesus had often announced his resurrection as the supreme criterion of his messiahship and divinity. Rising from the dead by his own power, Jesus proved that he was the triumphant Messiah and Lord of the world, eluding all the cunning of men. Hence the apostles say that by the resurrection Jesus was made Messiah and Lord, not because he had not been Messiah and Lord before, but because by his resurrection he evidently attained the glory due to the Messiah and Lord of the world.

After the resurrection Jesus presents himself to the disciples on every occasion as Adonai Elohim, Lord God. Through the message of Mary Magdalene he announces to the apostles that by divine power he is about to ascend to his Father: "I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."³ By divine power he confers on the apostles the power of forgiving sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit: whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you retain, they are retained."⁴ He evokes and approves the faith of Thomas and of the other disciples: "Be not incredulous, but faithful ... My Lord and my God ... Blessed are they who have not seen, and have believed."⁵ With his own authority he sends the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and commands them to work miracles in his name: "I send the promise of my Father upon you."⁶ "In my name they shall cast out demons ..."⁷ Finally, at the hour of the ascension, with the greatest weight and solemnity, he declares that he is the almighty Lord of heaven and earth and, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God in a Trinity of persons: "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Going therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ... And behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world."⁸ Thus Jesus Christ, before his return to the Father, manifests his divinity most clearly.⁹