Week One- The Incarnation

1. The IncarnationThe Incarnation
APOL 6543APOL 6543

2. IntroductionIntroduction
• The New Testament affirms both the humanity
of Jesus and the deity of Jesus
• But how can this not be contradictory?
– Jesus is both God and man, infinite and finite, Creator
and creature!
– How can we reconcile the distinct attributes of Jesus
as both truly man and truly God?

3. The Christological ControversiesThe Christological Controversies
• As a result of the
Trinitarian controversy
culminating in…
– Council of Nicaea (325)
– Council of
Constantinople (381)
• The full deity of Christ,
along with his
humanity was declared
non-negotiable
• Christological controversies
that ensued in the 4th
– 7th
centuries focused on the
central question:
“How should we understand
the affirmation that Jesus
Christ is both human and
divine?”
Presupposition to discuss:
Natural kinds of things have
“natures”/essential properties

4. Broad Schools of Christological ThoughtBroad Schools of Christological Thought
Alexandrian Christology
• Logos-flesh
• Monophysite (one-nature)
• Apollinarius
• Argued it is impossible that
Christ should have both a
complete divine & complete
human nature as it would
amount to little more than a
mere indwelling falling short
of a genuine incarnatino
Antiochene Christology
• Logos-man
• Dyophysite (two-nature)
• Theodore of Mopsuestia
• Conceived of the incarnation
as a special sort of indwelling
by means of which the Logos
attached himself to the man
Jesus at the moment of
conception in Mary’s womb

5. Alexandrian ChristologyAlexandrian Christology
• Apollinarius viewed each
human being as consists of…
– A body (soma)
– An animal soul (psyche)
– A rational soul (nous)
– The rational soul was
perceived as the seat of sinful
instincts
• To the right you will see a
visual depiction of
Apollinarius’ conception
Nous
Psyche Soma
Human
Anthropology
The Logos
This view was condemned as heretical at a
synod in Rome (377 AD)

6. Antiochene ChristologyAntiochene Christology
• It was Nestorius who, as
Patriarch in Constantinople
in 428 AD whose name
came to be associated with
dyophysite Christology
• Alexandrians, forced to
admit the existence of a
human soul, could not
supply a solution but were
certain that the Bible does
not teach two Sons
Council of Chalcedon
451 AD
•The pope, following the
lead of Tertullian (against
Praexas) declared Christ to
be one person having two
natures – this settlement
marked the zenith of the
early church’s Christological
speculations

7. Chalcedonian StatementChalcedonian Statement
• We… confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same
perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood, truly God and truly
man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father
according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to
the manhood, like us in all things except sin; begotten before all ages
of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for
us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God,
according to the manhood, one and the same Christ, Son, Lord,
Only-Begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures without
confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the
difference of the natures being by no means taken away because of
the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved,
and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not divided or
separated into two Persons, but one and the same Son and only-
begotten God, Word, Lord Jesus Christ.

8. Implications of ChalcedonImplications of Chalcedon
• The settlement is a ringing endorsement of dyophysite
Christology
• The famous series of adjectives (without confusion,
change, division, separation) serves as a reminder that
the two natures of Christ must be kept distinct and that
the unity of his person must not be compromised
• Thus, orthodox Christology must “neither confuse the
natures nor divide the person” of Christ

9. Later Christological ControversiesLater Christological Controversies
Lutheran ChristologyLutheran Christology
• During the Protestant Reformation the old dispute
between Alexandria and Antioch replayed in debates
between Lutheran and Reformed theologians
• Lutheran Christology through its doctrine of the
communication of the attributes seems to violate
Chalcedon’s prohibition of confusing the two natures of
Christ and thus threatens the reality of Christ’s humanity

10. Later Christological ControversiesLater Christological Controversies
Reformed ChristologyReformed Christology
• Traditional view of the two natures and one person is set
forth – the hypostatic union of the natures being
declared more intimate than that of soul and body
• As for attributes belonging to divine nature, such as
omniscience or omnipresence, Christ did not manifest
these properties openly during his state of humiliation
(state of conception through ascension) but in his state of
exaltation these are openly disclosed and his humanity
perfected with its infirmities being left behind
• Problem here is that it tends towards Nestorianism

11. A Radical New School EmergesA Radical New School Emerges
Kenotic ChristologyKenotic Christology
• Kenoticism can be thought of as an extension of either
Lutheran or Reformed Christology
• Kenoticism is the view that contends that in the
Incarnation Christ ceased to possess certain attributes of
deity so that he might become truly human
– Four main schools of kenotic Christology
– But, it represents a non-Chalcedonian approach to Christology
since it holds that the Logos in becoming incarnate changed his
nature

12. A Proposed ChristologyA Proposed Christology
• Reminder: this is an attempt to provide a possible model of
the Incarnation – it is not presumed to dogmatize but the
goal is that if a plausible model can be expounded then
objections to the coherence of the doctrine will be defeated

13. Postulations of Proposed ModelPostulations of Proposed Model
1) We postulate with
Chalcedon that in Christ
there is one person who
exemplifies two distinct
and complete natures,
one human and one
divine
2) We postulate with
Apollinarius that the
Logos was the rational
soul of Jesus of Nazareth
3) We postulate that the
divine aspects of Jesus’
personality were largely
subliminal during his state
of humiliation

14. Discussion & ReflectionDiscussion & Reflection
• Class discussion
– Reflect additionally on Thomas Morris’ “two minds” view and
analogies shared
– View a question from Reasonable Faith and discuss:
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/Does-my-Proposed-Christology-Deny
• If the model proposed makes sense then it serves to show
that the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ is coherent
and plausible