Lists COPY Flashcards
Four main points of Leo’s Tome
(i) Person of God-man identical with the Logos (ii) Divine and Human natures co-exist in Logos without mixture (each retains its properties); redemption required that the one mediator should be able both to die in one nature (human) and not die in the other (divine) (iii) The two natures are separate principles of operation, but act in harmony (iv) The oneness of the Logos justifies the communication of properties (we can say the Son of God died in his human nature)
Significance of Chalcedon
(1) First ecumenical council where both east and west showed up. It reached a synthesis of the two eastern schools: Alexandria & Antioch (2) It clarified the terms with precision: two natures (fusus/substance/nature/ousia), one person (hypostasis/prosopon) (3) Emphasized the preposition “in” two natures and not “from” two natures * This rejects the Eutyucean notion of a mixture of the natures. Eutyches taught that Christ was one person that came from two natures. * Christ is in two natures or of two natures but not from two. * To say “from” implies that he no longer had them, that before he had two and after there was one. But this is illogical because he never had two natures before the union. * Considered a triumph of western theology and Antioch (which stressed two natures)
Three reasons the Incarnation was appropriate from the view of the Word
(1) The Son was the one through whom all things were made (John 1). It was fitting that the Son would be the one who would come to remake all things. (2) The Word is the perfect image and refulgence of the Father (Heb 1:3, Col 1:15). It is fitting that the one who is the image of God would come and restore man who is in the image of God. St Athanasius compared the fall to a portrait that was blurred. (3) The Word is the son of God by nature, so it is fitting that that natural son would come to make us adopted sons of God.
Aquinas’ 3 reasons why the Incarnation was appropriate from the point of view of man
(1) Justice: It would seem to belong to justice that the one who offended God should make amends. (2) Dignity: To invest man with greater dignity, it was appropriate that the conqueror of the Devil should spring from the same stock that was conquered by the Devil. (3) God’s Power: is made more manifest through the Incarnation. God took from the corrupt and defeated nature to defeat its conqueror.
Explain why the Incarnation is a free decision of God
(1) Creation: he doesn’t have to create us, but he did (2) Salvation: he doesn’t have to save us, but he decided to (3) Redemption: he doesn’t have to choose redemption as the method to save us, but he did (he could have freed us by an offering or any other means) (4) Satisfaction: he was free to choose to require perfect satisfaction or not (5) Incarnation: since he choose to require satisfaction, God became man.
How is the incarnation necessary based on the hypothesis that God chose to redeem man in the most perfect way?
* Redemption is the method of salvation that requires payment of a price. God was free to choose this method or any other method. He did choose to save us by redemption, but he could have done it any variety of ways. But given that he did choose redemption, he still had many options that would not have required the payment of a price. * Satisfaction is the payment of a price proportional to the offense. The satisfaction we owed was an infinite price, but God didn’t have to require this. The debtor owes the entire debt, but there is no violation of justice for the creditor to require less (this is mercy). * Since God chose to require satisfaction, the Incarnation becomes necessary in this sense since only God can pay our infinite debt.
Ontological Unity of the Person: What is the term nature?
What a person is (quid) * Ousia * Substance * Essence
Ontological Unity of the Person: What is the term person?
Who a person is (quis) * Hypostasis * Subject * Subsistence * Boethius: Individual substance (hypostasis) of a rational nature ** Hypostasis is ousia insofar as it is individualized
How is it that Christ had a complete human nature but was not a human person?
(1) Explain what it means to be a true man: to have a body and soul (2) Explain why being a true man doesn’t require a human person: * Person is a possessor of nature; nothing was lacking in the human nature; * Aquinas: Every created thing is a metaphysical composition of essence (what it is) and existence (the act of being). Human nature requires body and soul, but it still needs an act of existence (esse) to exist. A person (hypostasis) is a complete substance subsisting of itself: an active subject. A person is a subsistence of a complete nature. * Normally, every complete human nature is also a human person because it has a proportional act of being (esse) which makes it exist. * But in the case of the Incarnation, the human nature that Christ assumed did not have its own esse. The Divine nature gives the act of being (esse) to the human nature, so that human nature belongs to the divine person. The human nature did not have or need its own existence/subsistence because he was already the possessor of existence. The human nature of Christ does not need to be a human person because it doesn’t have its own act of being. (3) Explain the hypostatic union: * Two natures united in the person of Christ ** The human nature gets its esse (act of being) from the divine hypostasis of the Word. It gets an immediate, direct infusion of uncreated esse. This is why Christ’s human nature is not a human person…he doesn’t have his own independent existence…his own subsistence. The human nature doesn’t have its own independent existence apart from the Word. ** The subsistence of the human nature is the subsistence of the Word. The subsistence is distinct from the human nature because it’s a pre-existent subsistence. (This is why there is no change in God through the Incarnation).
Four propositions we hold concerning the Consciousness of Christ from Scripture and Tradition:
(1) Jesus, in his human intellect, was conscious that he was the Son of God. The reason the first Christians believed that he was the Son of God was that He knew he was Son of God. (2) Christ was aware of the purpose of his mission: he was sent to redeem mankind. Jesus was aware that his mission in time was a prolongation of his eternal procession from the Father. (3) Christ knew precisely how his mission would be fulfilled: he knew he would die on the cross. He died because he loves us, which is a concrete love for every individual that he would save. The continuum of love: the love of Christ for sinners was an extension of his pre-existing love as the Logos. (4) Christ intended to found the Church. This countered the theory that claimed that Christ wanted to found a kingdom of peace and love, but what “happened” was a human institution with structures.
Christ’s Consciousness Concerning Himself and his mission:
* Christ’s divine intellect is omniscient, so everything is contained in it. * Scripture confirms that Christ had human knowledge. Luke 2:52 “He advanced in wisdom and favor with God.” * Although the Magisterium has never said anything about the existence of human knowledge in Christ, this truth is implicitly defined when it states that he has a rational soul, and that each of his natures acts in a way proper to it.” (p150)
Three types of knowledge that Christ had in his human intellect:
(1) Acquired (2) Infused (3) Beatific Vision
First type of knowledge that Christ has:
Acquired (1) Things we learn through sensory knowledge; either direct or through others. It’s limited because experiences are limited. (2) That Christ assumed a human nature means that he had this knowledge. (3) Aquinas initially thought that it was unfitting and undignified for the Word to have had to learn things. Common exegesis held that Christ didn’t ask questions because he didn’t know something, but in order to teach others. They held that if Christ had acquired knowledge, then it would be unlimited. (4) he had the acquired knowledge that someone in his historical circumstances would and could have; based on his experiences and those that were told to him by others.
Second type of knowledge that Christ has:
Infused (1) The same kind of knowledge as acquired knowledge, just obtained in a different way. It’s created knowledge that gets into ones mind by infusion; (2) The angels have infused knowledge. (3) It’s fitting that Christ had infused knowledge; things he knew but didn’t learn ** The human intellect has the ability (obediential potency) to receive this knowledge. (a) prophets had it (b) angels have it (4) The Gospels show that Christ had knowledge of things that were not acquired: (a) He reads hearts: Nathanial, Samaritan woman (b) He predicts the future: Passover preparation prediction (Luke 22:18-15), donkey tied up, etc. ** different from divine knowledge. ** Created knowledge in the human intellect would blow it up! ** This infusion was limited to things that were applicable to his mission.
Third type of knowledge that Christ has:
Beatific Vision (1) The beatific vision is the knowledge that the blessed have in heaven: an intuitive knowledge of the Godhead, a contemplation of God’s being. Immediate, direct, intuitive knowledge between the human intellect and God. It’s not mediated by images or concepts. (2) Four Reasons Christ had the Knowledge of the Beatific Vision (see other) (3) The beatific vision explains why Christ always acts with absolute certainty.