Was Jesus truly God and truly man?
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| Our Lord Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The subject of this Section is the constitution of the Person of the Mediator as the God-man. Having proved before (Chapter ii., § 3) that Jesus Christ is the one God, and that he is the second Person of the adorable Trinity, of one substance and equal with the Father, this Section proceeds to assert:
- 1st. Jesus of Nazareth was a true man, possessing all the essential properties of humanity, conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance.
- 2d. That he was absolutely without sin.
- 3d. That he was no less very God, the eternal Son of the Father.
- 4th. That nevertheless this God and this man is one single person.
- 5th. That this personality is the eternal Person of the divine Son, who in time took a human soul and body into personal union with himself.
- 6th. That although one person, the divine and human nature in Christ are not mixed or confounded in one, but remain two pure and distinct natures, divine and human, constituting one person for ever.
The most ancient and universally accepted statement of the Church doctrine as to the Person of Christ is that which was formed by the fourth General Council, consisting of “six hundred and thirty holy and blessed fathers,” who were convened in Chalcedon, A. D. 451:
“We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to 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; in all things like unto us without 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 Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably, the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets have from the beginning declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us, and the creed of the holy Fathers has delivered to us.”
1st. Jesus of Nazareth was a true man, possessing all the essential properties of humanity, conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. This includes two constituent propositions:
(1.) Jesus Christ was a true and proper man, possessing all the essential properties of humanity. He is constantly and characteristically called the Man Christ Jesus and the Son of Man. Matt. 8:20; 1 Tim. 2:5. He had a true body, for he ate, drank, slept and increased in stature. Luke 2:52. Through his whole life he was in all public and private association recognized as a true man. He died in agony on the cross, was buried, rose again and proved his identity by physical signs. Luke 24:36–44. He had a reasonable soul, for he increased in wisdom, loved, sympathized, wept and shrank from suffering as a man. John 11:33–35; Matt. 26:36–46.
(2.) The human nature of Jesus is not an independent creation merely, like ours, but it was generated out of the common life of our race, of the very substance of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Ghost. The angels do not constitute a race produced by generation, but only a collection of individuals. This distinction is emphasized when it is declared of Christ, “He took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” Heb. 2:16. He is the seed of Eve. Gen. 3:15; the seed of David. Rom. 1:3. He was made of a woman (Gal. 4:4), conceived by her in her womb. Luke 1:31; 2:5–7.
2d. That Jesus, although tempted in all points like as we are, was yet absolutely without sin, is expressly declared in Scripture. Heb. 4:15. Peter testifies of him that he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. 1 Pet. 2:22. John testifies that in him is no sin. 1 John 3:5; Heb. 7:26; Luke 1:35. The same is evident from the origin and constitution of his Person as the Incarnate Word; from the nature of the work he came to perform as the deliverer of men from sin; and from the record of his holy life preserved by the evangelists, which remains, in the constrained acknowledgements of infidels as well as the faith of Christians, the great moral miracle of all ages.
3d. That he was no less very God, the eternal Son of the Father, has been already proved. Chapter ii., § 3.
4th. That, nevertheless, this God and this man is one single person, is proved in every way that such a truth can be verified.
2d. That Jesus, although tempted in all points like as we are, was yet absolutely without sin, is expressly declared in Scripture. Heb. 4:15. Peter testifies of him that he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. 1 Pet. 2:22. John testifies that in him is no sin. 1 John 3:5; Heb. 7:26; Luke 1:35. The same is evident from the origin and constitution of his Person as the Incarnate Word; from the nature of the work he came to perform as the deliverer of men from sin; and from the record of his holy life preserved by the evangelists, which remains, in the constrained acknowledgements of infidels as well as the faith of Christians, the great moral miracle of all ages.
3d. That he was no less very God, the eternal Son of the Father, has been already proved. Chapter ii., § 3.
4th. That, nevertheless, this God and this man is one single person, is proved in every way that such a truth can be verified.
(1.) In all the record of his life there is no word spoken of him, no action performed by him, no attribute predicated of him, that suggests the idea that he is not one single, indivisible person.
(2.) The personal pronouns are always used by him and applied to him as if he was a single person. Of the same subject and in the same connection divine attributes and actions and human attributes and actions are predicated.
(3.) To make the matter more certain and evident, there are passages in which the Person is designated by a title proper to his divine nature, while the attribute or action predicated of him is proper to his human nature; e. g., “The Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood,” Acts 20:28; “Crucified the Lord of glory,” 1 Cor. 2:8.
(4.) There are other passages in which the Person is designated by a title proper to the human nature, while the attribute or action predicated of it is proper to the divine nature: “The Son of Man, who is in heaven,” John 3:13; “If ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before.” John 6:62. (5.) There are other passages in which divine and human attributes and actions are indiscriminately predicated of the same Person: “Who hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature, … and having made peace through the blood of his cross,” etc. Col. 1:13–20; Heb. 1:3.
5th. This personality is that of the eternal Son of God, who in time took a human soul and body into personal union with himself. This remarkable Person did not begin to exist, and therefore was not constituted, when he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin. “Before Abraham was I am,” he says. “The Word was made flesh.” “God sent his only begotten Son into the world.” “The Son was made of a woman, made under the law.” Gal. 4:4. “Forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise took part of the same.” Heb. 2:14; Phil. 2:6–11.
5th. This personality is that of the eternal Son of God, who in time took a human soul and body into personal union with himself. This remarkable Person did not begin to exist, and therefore was not constituted, when he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin. “Before Abraham was I am,” he says. “The Word was made flesh.” “God sent his only begotten Son into the world.” “The Son was made of a woman, made under the law.” Gal. 4:4. “Forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he likewise took part of the same.” Heb. 2:14; Phil. 2:6–11.
Hence it is evident that the person of Christ is divine and not human, eternal and not formed in time. But in time this eternal divine Person took a human nature (soul and body) into its personality. Just as the body, with its wonderful constitution of organs, nerves, senses and passions, has no personality of its own, but, during its entire life in the womb, grows into the personality of the soul, so the human nature of Christ never for an instant had a separate personal existence of its own, but, from the instant of its conception, grew into the eternal personality of the Son of God.
There are in Christ, therefore, two natures, but one person; a human as well as a divine nature, but only a divine person. His humanity began to exist in the womb of the Virgin, but his person existed from eternity. His divinity is personal, his humanity impersonal, and his divine nature and his human nature one Person.
6th. Although but one Person, the divine and human natures in Christ are not mixed or confused in one, but remain two pure and distinct natures, divine and human, constituting one person for ever.
It is impossible for us to explain philosophically how two self-conscious intelligences, how two self-determined free agents, can constitute one person. Yet this is the precise character of the phenomenon revealed in the history of Jesus. In order to simplify the matter, some errorists have supposed that in the person of Christ there was no human soul, but that his divine Spirit took the place of the human soul in his human body.
6th. Although but one Person, the divine and human natures in Christ are not mixed or confused in one, but remain two pure and distinct natures, divine and human, constituting one person for ever.
It is impossible for us to explain philosophically how two self-conscious intelligences, how two self-determined free agents, can constitute one person. Yet this is the precise character of the phenomenon revealed in the history of Jesus. In order to simplify the matter, some errorists have supposed that in the person of Christ there was no human soul, but that his divine Spirit took the place of the human soul in his human body.
Others have so far separated the two natures as to make him two persons—a God and a man intimately united. Others have so pressed the natures together that neither pure divinity nor pure humanity is left, but a new nature resulting from the mixing of both. In opposition to this, we have proved above
(a) that Christ had a true human soul as well as a human body, and
(b) that he, although both a God and a Man, is only one single Person. The third point, viz., that Christ’s two natures remain separate and unconfused, is self-evident. The very point proved in Scripture is that Christ always continued a true God and a true Man—not something else between the two. Now, the essential properties of divinity cannot be communicated to humanity; that is, humanity cannot be made to be infinite, self-existent, eternal and absolutely perfect. Because, if it possessed these, it would cease to be human and because even God himself cannot create divinity, and therefore cannot make humanity divine.
The same is true with respect to Christ’s divinity. If that should take on the limitations of humanity, it would cease to be divine, and even God is not able to destroy divinity. Hence, since Christ is both God and man, it follows that he cannot be a mixture of both, which is neither. Hence, while the Scriptures constantly affirm (as we have seen) of the one Person whatsoever is true, without exception, of either nature, they never affirm of either nature that which belongs to the other. It is said that God—i. e., the Person who is a God—gave his blood for his Church; but it is never said that his divinity died, or that his humanity came down from heaven.
Hodge, A. A. (1869). A commentary on the confession of faith: With questions for theological students and Bible Classes (pp. 190–196). Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work.
Hodge, A. A. (1869). A commentary on the confession of faith: With questions for theological students and Bible Classes (pp. 190–196). Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work.
