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Do you know how to speak about Christ? How to use the exact words so as to avoid anything that could logically lead to — heresy? It used to scare me so much I hesitated to use fuller words, but St. Thomas lays it out for us. Here’s a brief explanation, and a list for you to use when you need a quick reference.
When speaking of the Incarnation theologians use the term “hypostatic union” to refer to the union of a human nature and the Divine Nature in the hypostasis, or personality, of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of God.
It helps to understand the difference between nature and person.
What was Christ? He was true man and true God.
Who was Christ? He was the Son of God.
The Son of God is also referred to as the Word of God, or the Logos of the Father. The Incarnation is God Himself as man, a human nature assumed to the Divine Nature in the soul of Christ. St. Augustine likened the Incarnation to a cosmic soul which takes material into the form of a human being united with Himself.
In the Third Part of the Summa Theologica, Question 16 (also Question 35, Article 2) the discussion of the consequences of this union and how to speak of them – the communication of idioms which belong to Christ and His becoming – is addressed. The two natures in Christ are distinct, but not separate, and so it is necessary to articulate the properties resulting from the hypostatic union in precise terminology; that is, the properties of the Divine nature that can be attributed to the man must be articulated, and the properties of the human nature that can be attributed to God must be articulated.
Although Christ is true man and true God, this does not mean that there are two persons, but that there are two nativities, the only begotten Son of God who exists for all eternity and Christ conceived of the Virgin Mary, as Man, in time, a human nature assumed to the Divine Nature in the one person of the Son of God.
All of this is in accordance with the infallible pronouncement of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, in 451, whose principle purpose was to assert orthodox Catholic doctrine against heresies concerning the person of Christ. “We all with one accord teach…one identical Son, our Lord Jesus Christ…perfect both in His divinity and His humanity, truly God and truly man composed of body and rational soul…in His divinity He was begotten of the Father before time, and in His humanity He was begotten in the last age of Mary the Virgin, the Mother of God, for us and for salvation.”
Here’s a brief list for quick reference. Tip: Don’t open them all at once.
[tabs slidertype="top tabs"] [tabcontainer] [tabtext] True Propositions[/tabtext] [tabtext]False Propositions[/tabtext] [/tabcontainer] [tabcontent] [tab]
[learn_more caption="1. God is Man."]St. Thomas asserts that by reason of the hypostatic union, this must be literally held true, but only when speaking of Christ. Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP offers in his book, Christ the Savior, a general rule for speaking of Christ as God and Christ as man. A distinction must be made between concrete (in this context “concrete” means unified) terms which signify the nature in the individual as one object, such as God and man, and abstract terms which signify the general nature separated from the individual, such as the Godhead and humanity. “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man.” Philippians 2:6-7[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="2. Man is God."]St. Thomas asserts that by reason of the hypostatic union, this must be literally held true, but only when speaking of Christ. Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP offers in his book, Christ the Savior, a general rule for speaking of Christ as God and Christ as man. A distinction must be made between concrete (in this context “concrete” means unified) terms which signify the nature in the individual as one object, such as God and man, and abstract terms which signify the general nature separated from the individual, such as the Godhead and humanity. “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man.” Philippians 2:6-7[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="3. God was made Man."]“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” It follows from the rule of Fr. Langrange (see God is Man) and from the proposition that there are two nativities in Christ, that “God was made man.” For something to be said to “be made” what it becomes is what it was meant to be, predicated of it for the first time. This is strictly true from the time of Christ assuming human nature, but it doesn’t mean that God was created. Rather, it refers to the assumption of a human nature to the eternal God but does not mean that God was changed, only that human nature began to subsist in a Divine Person.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="4. Christ is a Divine Person."]It is important to note that Jesus Christ was not a human person. He was both God and man, a perfect human nature united to the perfect Divine Nature, but since Mary was the Mother of God, she was the Mother of a Divine Person born of her. Thus although Christ was a human being, He was not a human person. He is a Divine Person.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="5. Christ was human."]It is important to note that Jesus Christ was not a human person. He was both God and man, a perfect human nature united to the perfect Divine Nature, but since Mary was the Mother of God, she was the Mother of a Divine Person born of her. Thus although Christ was human, He was not a human person. He is a Divine Person. UPDATE: Please see the explanation from Mary An Parks and Father OP in the comments below too.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="6. God was humanized."]It is not correct to say that man was made God because the human nature was not deified; it was assumed. To say that it was deified would logically require the human being to exist before Christ, and that is impossible. It is correct to say that “God was humanized”, but not correct to say that “man began to be God.”[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="7. Christ, as Man, was a creature."]Even though the Holy Doctors say that Christ was a creature, St. Thomas suggests that a qualifying term be added for clarity. “Christ as man” by reason of His human nature was a creature. Christ suffered, died and was buried, as a corporeal human being according to the nature of human beings, thus He was also created in time – as Man.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="8. Christ, as Man, suffered, died and was buried."]Even though the Holy Doctors say that Christ was a creature, St. Thomas suggests that a qualifying term be added for clarity. “Christ as man” by reason of His human nature was a creature. Christ suffered, died and was buried, as a corporeal human being according to the nature of human beings, thus He was also created in time – as Man.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="9. Christ, as Man, was created in time."]Even though the Holy Doctors say that Christ was a creature, St. Thomas suggests that a qualifying term be added for clarity. “Christ as man” by reason of His human nature was a creature. Christ suffered, died and was buried, as a corporeal human being according to the nature of human beings, thus He was also created in time – as Man.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="10. Christ began to be Man."]It is written in scripture, “Jesus Christ yesterday and today: and the same for ever.” It is correct to say that “Christ began to be Man” but not that “The Man Christ began to be.”[/learn_more]
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[learn_more caption="1. God is humanity."]It is true to say that “God is man” or “man is God” but it is false to intermingle the concrete and the abstract and say that “God is humanity” or “the Godhead is man.” Any true articulation must be in reference to the concrete or united individual object, God or man, since Christ is one individual with both a human and a Divine nature. Thus “the Godhead is humanity” is also false.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="2. The Godhead is man."]It is true to say that “God is man” or “man is God” but it is false to intermingle the concrete and the abstract and say that “God is humanity” or “the Godhead is man.” Any true articulation must be in reference to the concrete or united individual object, God or man, since Christ is one individual with both a human and a Divine nature. Thus “the Godhead is humanity” is also false.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="3. The Word of God is Man."]It is usually admitted by all Christians that “God is man” but not always in the proper articulation of the term. The Manichean heresy logically followed the statement “the Word of God is man” as if the body and soul is separate and the Son of God assumed an imaginary body. But Christ is not imaginary, He is real.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="4. Christ, Who is God and Man, is God by grace."]The Photinus heresy denied the reality on the part of God in Christ saying that “Christ, Who is God and man, is God not naturally, but by participation, i.e. by grace.” [/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="5. Christ is God and Man by indwelling."]The Nestorian heresy did hold that Christ is really God and man, but only by reason of an indwelling of God in the form of a man, which logically follows to a denial of the union of the Divine nature and an assumed human nature and a conclusion that there were two persons in Christ.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="6. The Godhead suffered."]Another rule applies in the communication of idioms, “what belongs to one cannot be said of another, unless they are both the same.” For this reason, although what belongs to human nature can be predicated of God in Christ, it cannot be predicated to the Divine Nature, or the Godhead. The properties of human nature cannot be ascribed to the Divine Nature by reason of the Incarnation, according to the rule described by Lagrange. The Divine Nature and human nature in general are not the same, the hypostatic union is proper only to the one Person of the Word of God, to Christ, and Incarnation implies union with flesh not a property of the flesh. It cannot be said that the Godhead suffered, for instance, or that Christ’s human nature was omnipotent.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="7. Christ’s human nature was omnipotent."]Another rule applies in the communication of idioms, “what belongs to one cannot be said of another, unless they are both the same.” For this reason, although what belongs to human nature can be predicated of God in Christ, it cannot be predicated to the Divine Nature, or the Godhead. The properties of human nature cannot be ascribed to the Divine Nature by reason of the Incarnation, according to the rule described by Lagrange. The Divine Nature and human nature in general are not the same, the hypostatic union is proper only to the one Person of the Word of God, to Christ, and Incarnation implies union with flesh not a property of the flesh. It cannot be said that the Godhead suffered, for instance, or that Christ’s human nature was omnipotent.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="8. Man was made God."]It is not correct to say that man was made God because the human nature was not deified; it was assumed. To say that it was deified would logically require the human being to exist before Christ, and that is impossible. It is correct to say that “God was humanized”, but not correct to say that “man began to be God.”[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="9. Christ as Man is Creator."]It is true to say “Christ as Man is creature” but false to say that “Christ as Man is Creator.[/learn_more]
[learn_more caption="10. Christ as Man is God."]Whatever belongs to Christ as Man belongs to every man by reason of His human nature, and to say “Christ as Man is God” would logically mean that every man is God, which is obviously false. It is truer to say “Christ as the Man, is God.”[/learn_more]
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