§ 3. The Inseparability of the Two Natures in Christ. 166 CH. II. The Effects of the Hypostatic Union PREFACE In treating of God as the Author of Nature and the Supernatural,' we showed how the harmony of angelic as well as human nature was seriously disturbed by sin. For some reason not revealed to us the fallen angels were beyond redemption. St. Thomas thinks that, as they were pure spirits, once they had determined upon evil, their free will became unalterably fixed therein. Other divines hold that the fallen angels were unable to undo their choice because the decision they had made terminated the status viae. The human race immediately after the Fall was reinstated in grace by virtue of the Protevangelium, i. e., God's solemn promise that the Second Person of the Trinity should redeem the sinful race and reconstitute it in the state of adoptive sonship. "Where sin abounded, grace did more abound." 2 Intimately bound up with the mystery of the Incarnation is that of the Redemption. Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, Son of God, and Himself 1 Pohle-Preuss, God the Author of Nature and the Supernatural, St. Louis 1912. 2" Ubi autem abundavit delictum, superabundavit gratia." Rom. V, 20. 3 true God, offered Himself up as a sacrifice (in His human nature), and gave adequate satisfaction for our sins by His agonizing death on the Cross. "For God indeed was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself by Christ, not imputing to them their sins.' In this dogmatic treatise on the Incarnation, we assume the existence of Jesus Christ as a historical fact, leaving it to Apologetics to refute such infidel objections as that the Gospel story is merely a legendary reflex of the Gilgamesh epic, etc. In regard to the mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, Divine Revelation proposes to our belief two distinct series of truths. Those which concern the Person of the Redeemer form the ground-work of the dogmatic treatise called Christology; those which refer specifically to the Redemption are dealt with in Soteriology, to which we shall devote a separate volume. The Blessed Virgin Mary, as Deipara, is causally related both to the Incarnation and the Redemption, and must therefore be treated in connection with both. This gives us another separate treatise, called Mariology, which will form the sixth volume of the present series. INTRODUCTION 1. In treating of the dogma of the Divine Trinity we based our exposition upon the "Athanasian Creed." 1 According to this same ecclesiastical symbol we will also divide the treatise on Christology, treating (1) of "Duality in Unity,' or the constitutive elements of Christ, and (2) of "Unity in Duality," or the Hypostatic Union. 3 The significant parallel between the two dogmatic treatises seems to point to an analogical relation between their respective subjects. Such a relation does indeed exist. Both treatises are concerned with transcendental mysteries which revolve about the concepts of "Nature" and "Hypostasis," and their mutual relations. It would not, however, be correct to conclude from this analogy that Christ, in respect of the relation of Nature to Person, is a perfect image of the Trinity. There is a very essential distinction. In the Blessed Trinity one Divine Nature subsists in three divine Hypostases (or Persons), who possess a real and identical nature in common; whereas in Christ two distinct and complete natures, one divine, the other human, subsist in one Hypostasis, i. e., the Divine Person of the Logos. Or, to put it somewhat differently, the Blessed 1 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, The Divine Trinity, pp. 5 sqq. 2 Dualitas in unitate. 3 Unitas in dualitate, unio hypostatica. Trinity forms a real Trinity of Persons in an absolute Unity of Nature, whereas in Christ there is a duality of Natures in an absolute Unity of Person. 5 This twofold element in the constitution of the Godman is clearly stated in the "Athanasian Creed": “Est ergo fides recta, ut credamus et confiteamur, quia Dominus noster Iesus Christus Dei Filius, Deus et homo est. Deus est ex substantia Patris ante saecula genitus, et homo est ex substantia matris in saeculo natus: perfectus Deus, perfectus homo, ex anima rationali et humana carne subsistens, aequalis Patri secundum divinitatem, minor Patre secundum humanitatem. Qui licet Deus sit et homo, non duo tamen, sed unus est Christus; unus autem non conversione divinitatis in carnem, sed assumptione humanitatis in Deum, unus omnino non confusione substantiae, sed unitate personae." Anglice: For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born in the world; perfect God, and perfect Man: of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; equal to the Father, as touching His Godhead: and inferior to the Father, as touching His Manhood. Who although He be God and Man: yet He is not two, but one Christ; one; not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh: but by taking of the Manhood into God; one altogether; not by confusion of substance: but by unity of Person." 66 4 Dualitas in unitate. 5 Unitas in dualitate. 6 Enchiridion Symbolorum, Definitionum et Declarationum de Rebus Fidei et Morum Auctore Henrico Denzinger. Editio undecima, Emendata et Aucta, quam paravit Clemens Bannwart, S. J., Friburgi Brisgoviae as 1911, n. 40. For brevity's sake we shall hereafter cite this work Denzinger-Bannwart, Enchiridion. Our translation of the Athanasian Creed is that of the English Book of Common Prayer. We quote verbatim, literatim et punctatim from the Oxford edition of |