EWTN Catholic Q&A

Pre-Incarnate Second Person of Trinity
Question from Richard on 12-05-2012:

Dear Father,

A Bible Christian friend of mine keeps saying that Melchizedek was the Pre-Incarnate Christ. I told him I did not think so, but that he MIGHT have actually been Noah's son Shem. What do you think?

Thanks!

Answer by Fr. John Echert on 12-12-2012:

From the Church Fathers to the present, the identity of Melchizedek has been debated. Speculation includes an angel, since angels often represented God in the Old Testament, or a real human person, to include what you suggest. If a pre-Incarnate Christ, then the question becomes how the Son of God was manifested in the flesh. Again, God sometimes did this through the agency of angels, though I suppose we can not preclude a visible manifestation of Son of God through another means.

Thanks, Richard