Index Page - The Hypostatic Union of Christ

[The Union of His Two Natures, United during the Incarnation, in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by the Power of the Holy Spirit]

Index to Pages
on
The Hypostatic Union of Christ

One (1) Divine Person, Two (2) Natures

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. brought to the Climax the long debates about the make-up of Jesus: He is One (1) Person, a Divine Person, having Two (2) Natures, Divine and Human, in such a way that these Two (2) Natures remain Distinct after the Union in the One (1) Person. We call this Union "Hypostatic Union" from the Greek "Hypostasis" which means Person - Two (2) Natures joined in One (1) Person. It is to be remembered that, when the Word took Flesh in Mary's Womb (Incarnation), there was no Change in the Word (God is Unchangeable); all the Change was in the Flesh. His Human Nature is the same as ours, for He had a Human Body and a Human Soul. He was like us in all things except that He was without Sin, even though He was Tempted as we are (Hebrews 4:15). However, this does not mean that He had within Him Disorderly Passions. The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 A.D. Defined this Truth. His Divine Nature is the same as that of the Father. The Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. defined that He is "One in Substance [Homoousios] with the Father".

The Divine Person/Personality of Christ bridges the Infinite Gap between His Human and Divine Natures
Divine Person/ Personality	Divine Nature of Christ
	Brick Wall between Natures
	Human Nature of Christ

The Profound Mystery of One (1) Person in Christ, with Two (2) Natures

	- Christ's Divine Nature - Unchangeable Infinite Complete Perfect His Divine Nature is the same as that of the Father and Holy Spirit.	No Body "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24).
		No Soul
		Christ's Divine Intellect and Will In common with the Father and Holy Spirit
	A Virtual Brick Wall exists between Christ's Divine Nature and His Human Nature. The Two (2) are Distinct and Infinitely Distant. Christ's Divine Nature and Human Nature are not United Directly, not Mixed, not Fused. Instead, Christ's Two (2) Natures are Mysteriously United through the Divine Person/Personality of Christ.
- Person of Christ - One (1) Divine Person. Person signifies an individual subject, which is First Intellectual, Secondly Free, i. e.: master of his own acts, one whose acts are self-initiated. . . . . Saint Thomas Aquinas. His Person is Uncreated. One (1) Divine Personality. Personality is that which Unites the Two (2) Natures and makes them One (1) complete Whole Person. Unifies the Divine and Human Natures. One (1) sole Ego, possesses both Natures. This Union of Two (2) Natures is not an Essential Union, since the Two (2) are Distinct and Infinitely Distant. The Word sustains the Human Nature of Christ. His Humanity, far from being Lowered by this Union with the Word, is rather thereby Elevated and Glorified. Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Immortal and Eternal. Pre-exists His Human Nature. The Responsible Agent for all Actions. The lowliness of the Inferior Nature was not consumed in the Glory of the Superior, nor did the assumption of the Inferior lessen the Glory of the Superior. . . Pope Leo the Great Wisdom is vested in Personality
	- Christ's Human Nature - His Human Nature is composed of Body and Soul; Created by the Power of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb. His entire Humanity was Mysteriously Assumed, taken over by the Second Person of the Holy Trinity; therefore not Independent. His Humanity, which is Created, cannot become Divine. It has no Human Personality. Had not His Human Nature been Assumed by a Divine Person, that Nature would have its own Proper Personality. Hence we may say, speaking inexactly, that the Divine Person consumed the Human Personality, because the Divine Person, by being United to the Human Nature, prevented that Nature from having its Own Personality. . . Saint Thomas Aquinas In Knowledge and Power, the Human Nature of Christ possesses all the Perfection possible to a Human Nature. Jesus worked Miracles by His Divine Omnipotence but, (watch the preposition) but through His Human Nature as Man. His Humanity, seeing the Vision of God (Beatific Vision in the Womb of Mary), knew all. Whatever was Physical in Christ as regards His Human Nature was completely subject to His Will because of the Power of His Divinity, to which All Nature is subject. Therefore Christ had it in His Power that so long as He Willed, His Soul would remain United to His Body, and that the instant He Willed, the Soul would depart from the Body . . . . Saint Thomas Aquinas	- Christ's Human Free Will - Perfectly conformed to the Divine Will. Could not do Evil, since to be able to do Evil is a Defect and Jesus is Perfect.
		- Christ's Human Body - Fully subject to suffering of Hunger, Pain, Thirst, Fatigue and Death. This was fully demonstrated during His Passion and Death on the Cross. Sickness and Deformity are excluded by most Theologians.
		Death, by its very nature, is a Breaking of the Union between Body and Soul. Christ Willed the exact 'Instant' of His Death via His Divinity.
		- Christ's Human Soul - Rational, Human Intellect; not Infinite. Capable of Acquiring Knowledge. Perfectly Sanctified by Grace. Impossible that any Stain of Sin should Soil the Soul of Christ. Possesses the Perfection of the Divine Knowledge and Enriched with the Vision of God (Beatific Vision), but still Finite and not Infinite. Subject to Suffering. Christ's Soul suffered at the Death of His Friend Lazarus. His Soul also suffered at the sight of the Lame, Blind, Sick, Hungry and Demonic-Possessions which He cured.

If Jesus was One (1) Unified Person, and not Two (2) Persons in One (1) Body (One (1) Divine and One (1) Human), then He must always be spoken of as the God-man. We cannot speak of His Humanity or His Deity in Isolation, but must always speak of them together in Unity (1). Whatever can be said of One(1) of His Natures can be said of His Whole Person. In Theology this is called the Communicatio Idiomatum, i.e. a 'Communication of Attributes'.