The
Person of Christ
1]
A controversy has also occurred among the theologians
of the Augsburg Confession concerning the Person of Christ,
which, however, did not first arise among them but sprang
originally from the Sacramentarians [for which the Sacramentarians
furnished the occasion].
2]
For when Dr. Luther, in opposition to the Sacramentarians,
had maintained the true, essential presence of the body
and blood of Christ in the Supper with solid arguments
from the words of institution, the objection was urged
against him by the Zwinglians that, if the body of Christ
were present at the same time in heaven and on earth in
the Holy Supper, it could be no real, true human body;
for such majesty was said to be peculiar to God alone,
and the body of Christ not capable of it.
3]
But while Dr. Luther contradicted and effectually refuted
this, as his doctrinal and polemical writings concerning
the Holy Supper show, which we hereby publicly confess
[approve], as well as his doctrinal writings [and we wish
this fact to be publicly attested], 4] some theologians
of the Augsburg Confession after his death sought, though
still unwilling to do so publicly and expressly, to confess
themselves in agreement with the Sacramentarians concerning
the Lord's Supper; nevertheless they introduced and employed
precisely the same false arguments concerning the person
of Christ whereby the Sacramentarians dared to remove
the true, essential presence of the body and blood of
Christ from His Supper, namely, that nothing should be
ascribed to the human nature in the person of Christ which
is above or contrary to its natural, essential property;
and on this account they have loaded the doctrine of Dr.
Luther, and all those who follow it as in conformity with
God's Word, with the charge of almost all the ancient
monstrous heresies.
5]
To explain this controversy in a Christian way, in conformity
with God's Word, according to the guidance [analogy] of
our simple Christian faith, and by God's grace entirely
to settle it, our unanimous doctrine, faith, and confession
are as follows:
6]
We believe, teach, and confess that the Son of God, although
from eternity He has been a particular, distinct, entire
divine person, and thus, with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, true, essential, perfect God, nevertheless, in
the fulness of time assumed also human nature into the
unity of His person, not in such a way that there now
are two persons or two Christs, but that Christ Jesus
is now in one person at the same time true, eternal God,
born of the Father from eternity, and a true man, born
of the most blessed Virgin Mary, as it is written Rom.
9, 5: Of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who
is over all, God blessed forever.
7]
We believe, teach, and confess that now, in this one undivided
person of Christ, there are two distinct natures, the
divine, which is from eternity, and the human, which in
time was assumed into the unity of the person of the Son
of God; which two natures in the person of Christ are
never either separated from, or mingled with, one another,
or changed the one into the other, but each abides in
its nature and essence in the person of Christ to all
eternity.
8]
We believe, teach, and confess also that, as both natures
mentioned remain unmingled and undestroyed in their nature
and essence, each retains also its natural, essential
properties, and does not lay them aside to all eternity,
neither do the essential properties of the one nature
ever become the essential properties of the other nature.
9]
Accordingly, we believe, teach, and confess that to be
almighty, eternal, infinite, to be of itself everywhere
present at once naturally, that is, according to the property
of its nature and its natural essence, and to know all
things, are essential attributes of the divine nature,
which never to eternity become essential properties of
the human nature.
10]
On the other hand, to be a corporeal creature, to be flesh
and blood, to be finite and circumscribed, to suffer,
to die, to ascend and descend, to move from one place
to another, to suffer hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and
the like, are properties of the human nature, which never
become properties of the divine nature.
11]
We believe, teach, and confess also that now, since the
incarnation, each nature in Christ does not so subsist
of itself that each is or constitutes a separate person,
but that they are so united that they constitute one single
person, in which the divine and the assumed human nature
are and subsist at the same time, so that now, since the
incarnation, there belongs to the entire person of Christ
personally, not only His divine, but also His assumed
human nature; and that, as without His divinity, so also
without His humanity, the person of Christ or Filii Dei
incarnati (of the incarnate Son of God), that is, of the
Son of God who has assumed flesh and become man, is not
entire. Hence Christ is not two distinct persons, but
one single person, notwithstanding that two distinct natures
are found in Him, unconfused in their natural essence
and properties.
12]
We believe, teach, and confess also that the assumed human
nature in Christ not only has and retains its natural,
essential properties, but that over and above these, through
the personal union with the Deity, and afterwards through
glorification, it has been exalted to the right hand of
majesty, power, and might, over everything that can be
named, not only in this world, but also in that which
is to come [Eph. 1, 21].
13]
Now as regards this majesty, to which Christ has been
exalted according to His humanity, He did not first receive
it when He arose from the dead and ascended into heaven,
but when He was conceived in His mother's womb and became
man, and the divine and human natures were personally
united with one another. 14] However, this personal
union is not to be understood, as some incorrectly explain
it, as though the two natures, the divine and the human,
were united with one another, as two boards are glued
together, so that they realiter, that is, in deed and
truth, have no communion whatever with one another. 15]
For this was the error and heresy of Nestorius and Samosatenus,
who, as Suidas and Theodore, presbyter of Raithu, testify,
taught and held: duvo fuvsei" ajkoinwnhvtou" prov" eJauta;"
pantavpasin, hoc est, naturas omni modo incommunicables
esse, that is, that the two natures have no communion
whatever with one another. Thereby the natures are separated
from one another, and thus two Christs are constituted,
so that Christ is one, and God the Word, who dwells in
Christ, another.
16]
For thus Theodore the Presbyter writes: Paulus quidam
iisdem, quibus Manes temporibus, Samosatenus quidem ortu,
sed Antiochiae Syriae antistes, Dominum impie dixit nudum
fuisse hominem, in quo Deus Verbum sicut et in singulis
prophetis habitavit [habitaverit], ac proinde duas naturas
separatas et citra omnem prorsus inter se communionem
in Christo esse, quasi alius sit Christus, alius Deus
Verbum in ipso habitans. That is: At the same time in
which also the heretic Manes lived, one by the name, of
Paul, who, though born in Samosata, was a bishop at Antioch
in Syria, wickedly taught that the Lord Christ was nothing
else than a mere man in whom God the Word dwelt, just
as in every prophet; therefore he also held that the divine
and human natures are apart from one another and separate,
and that in Christ they have no communion whatever with
one another, just as though Christ were one, and God the
Word, who dwells in Him, the other.
17]
Against this condemned heresy the Christian Church always
and at all times has simply believed and held that the
divine and the human nature in the person of Christ are
so united that they have a true communion with one another,
whereby the natures [do not meet and] are not mingled
in one essence, but, as Dr. Luther writes, in one person.
18] Accordingly, on account of this personal union
and communion, the ancient teachers of the Church, before
and after the Council of Chalcedon, frequently employed
the word mixtio, mixture, in a good sense and with [true]
discrimination. For proof of this, many testimonies of
the Fathers, if necessary, could be adduced, which are
to be found frequently also in the writings of our divines,
and which explain the personal union and communion by
the illustration animae et corporis and ferri candentis,
that is, of the soul and body, and of glowing iron. 19]
For the body and soul, as also fire and iron, have communion
with each other, not per phrasin, or modum loquendi, or
verbaliter (by a phrase or mode of speaking, or in mere
words), that is, so that it is to be a mere form of speech
and mere words, but vere and realiter (truly and really),
that is, in deed and truth; and, nevertheless, no confusio
or exaequatio naturarum, that is, a mixing or equalizing
of the natures, is thereby introduced, as when hydromel
is made from honey and water, which is no longer pure
water or pure honey, but a mixed drink. Now, in the union
of the divine and the human nature in the person of Christ
it is far different. For it is a far different, more sublime,
and [altogether] ineffable communion and union between
the divine and the human nature in the person of Christ,
on account of which union and communion God is man and
man is God, yet neither the natures nor their properties
are thereby intermingled, but each nature retains its
essence and properties.
20]
On account of this personal union, which cannot be thought
of nor exist without such a true communion of the natures,
not the mere human nature, whose property it is to suffer
and die, has suffered for the sins of the world, but the
Son of God Himself truly suffered, however, according
to the assumed human nature, and (in accordance with our
simple Christian faith) [as our Apostles' Creed testifies]
truly died, although the divine nature can neither suffer
nor die. This Dr. Luther has fully explained in his Large
Confession concerning the Holy Supper in opposition to
the blasphemous alloeosis of Zwingli, who taught that
one nature should be taken and understood for the other,
which Dr. Luther committed, as a devil's mask, to the
abyss of hell.
22]
For this reason, then, the ancient teachers of the Church
combined both words, koinwniva and e{nwsi", communio et
unio, that is, communion and union, in the explanation
of this mystery, and have explained the one by the other.
Irenaeus, lib. 4, chap. 37; Athanasius, in the Letter
to Epictetus; Hilary, Concerning the Trinity, Book 9;
Basil and Gregory of Nyssa, in Theodoret; Damascenus,
Book 3, chap. 19.
23]
On account of this personal union and communion of the
divine and the human nature in Christ we believe, teach,
and confess also, according to our simple Christian faith,
what is said concerning the majesty of Christ according
to His humanity, [by which He sits] at the right hand
of the almighty power of God, and what is connected therewith
[follows therefrom]; all of which would be naught and
could not stand if this personal union and communion of
the natures in the person of Christ did not exist realiter,
that is, in deed and truth.
24]
On account of this personal union and communion of the
natures, Mary, the most blessed Virgin, bore not a mere
man, but, as the angel [Gabriel] testifies, such a man
as is truly the Son of the most high God, who showed His
divine majesty even in His mother's womb, inasmuch as
He was born of a virgin, with her virginity inviolate.
Therefore she is truly the mother of God, and nevertheless
remained a virgin.
25]
In virtue of this He also wrought all His miracles, and
manifested this His divine majesty, according to His pleasure,
when and as He willed, and therefore not first after His
resurrection and ascension only, but also in His state
of humiliation; for example, at the wedding at Cana of
Galilee; also, when He was twelve years old, among the
learned; also in the garden, when with a word He cast
His enemies to the ground; likewise in death, when He
died not simply as any other man, but in and with His
death conquered sin, death, devil, hell, and eternal damnation;
which the human nature alone would not have been able
to do if it had not been thus personally united and had
not had communion with the divine nature.
26]
Hence also the human nature, after the resurrection from
the dead, has its exaltation above all creatures in heaven
and on earth; which is nothing else than that He entirely
laid aside the form of a servant, and yet did not lay
aside His human nature, but retains it to eternity, and
is put in the full possession and use of the divine majesty
according to His assumed human nature. However, this majesty
He had immediately at His conception, even in His mother's
womb, but, as the apostle testifies [Phil. 2, 7], laid
it aside; and, as Dr. Luther explains, He kept it concealed
in the state of His humiliation, and did not employ it
always, but only when He wished.
27]
But now He does, since He has ascended, not merely as
any other saint, to heaven, but, as the apostle testifies
[Eph. 4, 10], above all heavens, and also truly fills
all things, and being everywhere present, not only as
God, but also as man [has dominion and] rules from sea
to sea and to the ends of the earth; as the prophets predict,
Ps. 8, 1. 6; 93, 1f ; Zech. 9, 10, and the apostles testify,
Mark 16, 20, that He everywhere wrought with them and
confirmed their word with signs following. 28]
Yet this occurred not in an earthly way, but, as Dr. Luther
explains, according to the manner of the right hand of
God, which is no fixed place in heaven, as the Sacramentarians
assert without any ground in the Holy Scriptures, but
nothing else than the almighty power of God, which fills
heaven and earth, in [possession of] which Christ is installed
according to His humanity, realiter, that is, in deed
and truth, sine confusione et exaequatione naturarum,
that is, without confusion and equalizing of the two natures
in their essence and essential properties; 29]
by this communicated [divine] power, according to the
words of His testament, He can be and truly is present
with His body and blood in the Holy Supper, to which He
has directed us by His Word; this is possible to no other
man, because no man is in such a way united with the divine
nature, and installed in such divine almighty majesty
and power through and in the personal union of the two
natures in Christ, as Jesus, the Son of Mary. 30]
For in Him the divine and the human nature are personally
united with one another, so that in Christ dwelleth all
the fulness of the Godhead bodily, Col. 2, 9, and in this
personal union have such a sublime, intimate, ineffable
communion that even the angels are astonished at it, and,
as St. Peter testifies, have their delight and joy in
looking into it [1 Pet. 1, 12]; all of which will shortly
be explained in order and somewhat more fully.
31]
From this basis of the personal union, as it has been
stated and explained above, that is, from the manner in
which the divine and the human nature in the person of
Christ are united with one another, namely, that they
have not only the names in common, but have also in deed
and truth communion with one another, without any commingling
or equalizing of the same in their essences, flows also
the doctrine de communicatione idiomatum, that is, concerning
the true communion of the properties of the natures, of
which more is to be said hereafter.
32]
For since this is verily so, quod propria non egrediantur
sua subiecta (that properties do not leave their subjects),
that is, that each nature retains its essential properties,
and these are not separated from the nature and poured
into the other nature, as water from one vessel into another,
so also no communion of properties could be or subsist
if the above-mentioned personal union or communion of
the natures in the person of Christ were not true. 33]
Next to the article of the Holy Trinity this is the greatest
mystery in heaven and on earth, as Paul says: Without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, that God
was manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim. 3, 16. 34] For
since the Apostle Peter in clear words testifies [2 Pet.
1, 4] that we also, in whom Christ dwells only by grace,
on account of that sublime mystery, are in Christ, partakers
of the divine nature, what kind of communion of the divine
nature, then, must that be of which the apostle says that
in Christ dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,
so that God and man are one person? 35] But since
it is highly important that this doctrine de communicatione
idiomatum, that is, of the communion of the properties
of both natures, be treated and explained with proper
discrimination,—for the propositiones or praedicationes,
that is, how to speak of the person of Christ, and of
its natures and properties, are not all of one kind and
mode, and when they are employed without proper discrimination,
the doctrine becomes confused and the simple reader is
easily led astray,—the following explanation should
be carefully noted, which, for the purpose of making it
plainer and simple, may well be comprised under three
heads:
36]
Namely, first, since in Christ two distinct natures exist
and remain unchanged and unconfused in their natural essence
and properties, and yet of both natures there is only
one person, hence, that which is, indeed, an attribute
of only one nature is ascribed not to that nature alone,
as separate, but to the entire person, which is at the
same time God and man (whether it is called God or man).
37]
But in hoc genere, that is, in this mode of speaking,
it does not follow that what is ascribed to the person
is at the same time a property of both natures, but it
is distinctively explained what nature it is according
to which anything is ascribed to the person. Thus the
Son of God was born of the seed of David according to
the flesh, Rom. 1, 3. Also: Christ was put to death according
to the flesh, and hath suffered for us in, or according
to, the flesh, 1 Pet. 3, 18; 4, 1.
38]
However, since beneath the words, when it is said that
what is peculiar to one nature is ascribed to the entire
person, secret and open Sacramentarians conceal their
pernicious error, by naming indeed the entire person,
but understanding thereby nevertheless only the one nature,
and entirely excluding the other nature, as though the
mere human nature had suffered for us, as Dr. Luther in
his Large Confession concerning the Holy Supper has written
concerning the alloeosis of Zwingli, we will here set
down Luther's own words, in order that the Church of God
may be guarded in the best way against this error. His
words are as follows:
39]
Zwingli calls that an alloeosis when something is said
of the divinity of Christ which really belongs to the
humanity, or vice versa. As Luke 24, 26: "Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?"
Here Zwingli juggles, asserting that [the word] Christ
is understood of the human nature. 40] Beware,
beware, I say, of the alloeosis! For it is a devil's mask,
for at last it manufactures such a Christ after whom I
certainly would not be a Christian; namely, that henceforth
Christ should be no more and do no more with His sufferings
and life than any other mere saint. For if I believe this
[permit myself to be persuaded] that only the human nature
has suffered for me, then Christ is to me a poor Savior,
then He Himself indeed needs a Savior. In a word, it is
unspeakable what the devil seeks by the alloeosis.
41]
And shortly afterwards: If the old weather-witch, Dame
Reason, the grandmother of the alloeosis, would say, Yea,
divinity cannot suffer nor die; you shall reply, That
is true; yet, because in Christ divinity and humanity
are one person, Scripture, on account of this personal
union, ascribes also to divinity everything that happens
to the humanity, and vice versa. 42] And it is
so in reality; for you must certainly answer this, that
the person (meaning Christ) suffers and dies. Now the
person is true God; therefore it is rightly said: The
Son of God suffers. For although the one part (to speak
thus), namely, the divinity, does not suffer, yet the
person, which is God, suffers in the other part, namely,
in His humanity; for in truth God's Son has been crucified
for us, that is, the person which is God. For the person,
the person, I say, was crucified according to the humanity.
43]
And again, shortly afterwards: If the alloeosis is to
stand as Zwingli teaches it, then Christ will have to
be two persons, one divine and one human, because Zwingli
applies the passages concerning suffering to the human
nature alone, and diverts them entirely from the divinity.
For if the works be parted and separated, the person must
also be divided, since all the works or sufferings are
ascribed not to the natures, but to the person. For it
is the person that does and suffers everything, one thing
according to one nature, and another according to the
other nature, all of which the learned know well. Therefore
we regard our Lord Christ as God and man in one person,
non confundendo naturas nec dividendo personam, so that
we neither confound the natures nor divide the person.
44]
Dr. Luther says also in his book Of the Councils and the
Church: We Christians must know that if God is not also
in the balance, and gives the weight, we sink to the bottom
with our scale. By this I mean: If it were not to be said
[if these things were not true], God has died for us,
but only a man, we would be lost. But if "God's death"
and "God died" lie in the scale of the balance, then He
sinks down, and we rise up as a light, empty scale. But
indeed He can also rise again or leap out of the scale;
yet He could not sit in the scale unless He became a man
like us, so that it could be said: "God died," "God's
passion," "God's blood," "God's death." For in His nature
God cannot die; but now that God and man are united in
one person, it is correctly called God's death, when the
man dies who is one thing or one person with God. Thus
far Luther.
45]
Hence it is manifest that it is incorrect to say or write
that the above-mentioned expressions (God suffered, God
died) are only praedicationes verbales (verbal assertions),
that is, mere words, and that it is not so in fact. For
our simple Christian faith proves that the Son of God,
who became man, suffered for us, died for us and redeemed
us with His blood.
46]
Secondly, as to the execution of the office of Christ,
the person does not act and work in, with, through, or
according to only one nature, but in, according to, with,
and through both natures, or, as the Council of Chalcedon
expresses it, one nature operates in communion with the
other what is a property of each. 47] Therefore
Christ is our Mediator, Redeemer, King, High Priest, Head,
Shepherd, etc., not according to one nature only, whether
it be the divine or the human, but according to both natures,
as this doctrine has been treated more fully in other
places.
48]
Thirdly, however, it is still a much different thing when
the question, declaration, or discussion is, whether the
natures in the personal union in Christ have nothing else
or nothing more than only their natural, essential properties;
for that they have and retain these has been mentioned
above.
49]
Now, as regards the divine nature in Christ, since in
God there is no change, Jas. 1, 17, His divine nature,
in its essence and properties, suffered no subtraction
nor addition by the incarnation; was not, in or by itself,
either diminished or increased thereby.
50]
But as regards the assumed human nature in the person
of Christ, some have indeed wished to contend that even
in the personal union with divinity it has nothing else
and nothing more than only its natural, essential properties
according to which it is in all things like its brethren;
and that, on this account, nothing should or could be
ascribed to the human nature in Christ which is beyond,
or contrary to, its natural properties, even though the
testimony of Scripture is to that effect. 51] But
that this opinion is false and incorrect is so clear from
God's Word that even their own associates rebuke and reject
this error. For the Holy Scriptures, and the ancient Fathers
from the Scriptures [in which they were fully trained],
testify forcefully that, for the reason and because of
the fact that it has been personally united with the divine
nature in Christ, the human nature in Christ, when it
was glorified and exalted to the right hand of the majesty
and power of God, after the form of a servant and humiliation
had been laid aside, did receive, apart from, and over
and above its natural, essential, permanent properties,
also special, high, great, supernatural, inscrutable,
ineffable, heavenly prerogativas (prerogatives) and excellences
in majesty, glory, power, and might above everything that
can be named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come [Eph. 1, 21]; and that, accordingly,
in the operations of the office of Christ: the human nature
in Christ, in its measure and mode, is equally employed
[at the same time], and has also its efficaciam, that
is, power and, efficacy, not only from, and according
to, its natural, essential attributes, or only so far
as their ability extends, but chiefly from, and according
to, the majesty, glory, power, and might which it has
received through the personal union, glorification, and
exaltation. 52] And nowadays even the adversaries
can or dare scarcely deny this, except that they dispute
and contend that those are only created gifts or finitae
qualitates (finite qualities), as in the saints, with
which the human nature in Christ is endowed and adorned;
and that, according to their [crafty] thoughts or from
their own [silly] argumentationes (argumentations) or
[fictitious] proofs, they wish to measure and calculate
of what the human nature in Christ could or should be
capable or incapable without becoming annihilated.
53]
But the best, most certain, and surest way in this controversy
is this, namely, that what Christ has received according
to His assumed human nature through the personal union,
glorification, or exaltation, and of what His assumed
human nature is capable beyond the natural properties,
without becoming annihilated, no one can know better or
more thoroughly than the Lord Christ Himself; and He has
revealed it in His Word, as much as is needful for us
to know of it in this life. Now, everything for which
we have in this instance clear, certain testimonies in
the Scriptures, we must simply believe, and in no way
argue against it, as though the human nature in Christ
could not be capable of the same.
54]
Now it is indeed correct and true what has been said concerning
the created gifts which have been given and imparted to
the human nature in Christ, that it possesses them in
or of itself. But these do not reach unto the majesty
which the Scriptures, and the ancient Fathers from Scripture,
ascribe to the assumed human nature in Christ.
55]
For to quicken, to have all judgment and all power in
heaven and on earth, to have all things in His hands,
to have all things in subjection beneath His feet, to
cleanse from sin, etc., are not created gifts, but divine,
infinite properties; and yet, according to the declaration
of Scripture, these have been given and communicated to
the man Christ, John 5, 27; 6, 39; Matt. 28, 18; Dan.
7, 14; John 3, 35; 13, 3; Matt. 11, 27; Eph. 1, 22; Heb.
2, 8; 1 Cor. 15, 27; John 1, 3.
56]
And that this communication is not to be understood per
phrasin aut modum loquendi (as a phrase or mode of speaking),
that is, only in words, with respect to the person according
to the divine nature alone, but according to the assumed
human nature, the three strong, irrefutable arguments
and reasons, now following, show:
57]
1. First, there is a unanimously received rule of the
entire ancient orthodox Church that what Holy Scripture
testifies that Christ received in time He received not
according to the divine nature (according to which He
has everything from eternity), but the person has received
it in time ratione et respectu humanae naturae, that is,
as referring, and with respect to, according to the assumed
human nature.
58]
2. Secondly, the Scriptures testify clearly, John 5, 21f;
6, 39f, that the power to quicken and to execute judgment
has been given to Christ for the reason that He is the
Son of Man, and in as far as He has flesh and blood.
59]
3. Thirdly, the Scriptures speak not merely in general
of the Son of Man, but also indicate expressly His assumed
human nature, 1 John 1, 7: The blood of Jesus Christ,
His Son, cleanseth us from all sin, not only according
to the merit [of the blood of Christ] which was once attained
on the cross; but in this place John speaks of this, that
in the work or act of justification not only the divine
nature in Christ, but also His blood per modum efficaciae
(by mode of efficacy), that is, actually, cleanses us
from all sins. Thus in John 6, 48-58 the flesh of Christ
is a quickening food; as also the Council of Ephesus concluded
from this [statement of the evangelist and apostle] that
the flesh of Christ has power to quicken; and as many
other glorious testimonies of the ancient orthodox Church
concerning this article are cited elsewhere.
60]
Now, that Christ, according to His human nature, has received
this, and that it has been given and communicated to the
assumed human nature in Christ, we shall and must believe
according to the Scriptures. But, as above said, since
the two natures in Christ are united in such a manner
that they are not mingled with one another or changed
one into the other, and each retains its natural, essential
property, so that the properties of one nature never become
properties of the other nature, this doctrine must also
be rightly explained and diligently guarded against all
heresies.
61]
While we, then, invent nothing new of ourselves, but receive
and repeat the explanations which the ancient orthodox
Church has given hereof from the good foundation of Holy
Scripture, namely, that this divine power, life, might,
majesty, and glory was given to the assumed human nature
in Christ, not in such a way as the Father from eternity
has communicated to the Son, according to the divine nature,
His essence and all divine attributes, whence He is of
one essence with the Father and is equal to God (for Christ
is equal to the Father only according to the divine nature,
while according to the assumed human nature He is beneath
God; from which it is manifest that we make no confusionem,
exaequationem, abolitionem, that is, no confusion, equalization,
or abolition of natures in Christ), so, too, the power
to quicken is in the flesh of Christ not in that manner
in which it is in His divine nature, namely, as an essential
property.
62]
Moreover, this communication or impartation has not occurred
through an essential or natural infusion of the properties
of the divine nature into the human, so that the humanity
of Christ would have these by itself and apart from the
divine essence, or as though the human nature in Christ
had thereby [by this communication] entirely laid aside
its natural, essential properties and were now either
transformed into divinity, or had, with such communicated
properties, in and by itself become equal to the same,
or that there should now be for both natures identical
or, at any rate, equal natural, essential properties and
operations. For these and similar erroneous doctrines
were justly rejected and condemned in the ancient approved
councils on the basis of Holy Scripture. Nullo enim modo
vel facienda vel admittenda est aut conversio aut confusio
aut exaequatio sive naturarum in Christo sive essentialium
proprietatum. That is: For in no way is conversion, confusion,
or equalization of the natures in Christ or of their essential
properties to be maintained [made] or admitted.
63]
Accordingly, we have never understood the words realis
communicatio or communicated realiter, that is, the impartation
or communion which occurs in deed and truth, of any physica
communicatio vel essentialis transfusio, physical communication
or essential transfusion, that is, of an essential, natural
communion or effusion, by which the natures would be commingled
in their essence, and their essential properties, as some
have craftily and wickedly, against their own conscience,
perverted these words and phrases in order to make the
pure doctrine suspected; but we have only opposed them
to verbalis communicatio (verbal communication), that
is, to this doctrine, when such persons assert that it
is only phrasis and modus loquendi (a phrase and mode
of speaking), that is, nothing more than mere words, titles,
and names, upon which they have also laid so much stress
that they would know of no other communion. Hence, for
the true explanation of the majesty of Christ we have
used such terms de reali communicatione (of real communion),
and wished to indicate by them that this communion has
occurred in deed and truth, however, without any confusion
of natures and their essential properties.
64]
We, therefore, hold and teach, in conformity with the
ancient orthodox Church, as it has explained this doctrine
from the Scriptures, that the human nature in Christ has
received this majesty according to the manner of the personal
union, namely, because the entire fulness of the divinity
dwells in Christ, not as in other holy men or angels,
but bodily, as in its own body, so that it shines forth
with all its majesty, power, glory, and efficacy in the
assumed human nature, voluntarily when and as He [Christ]
wills, and in, with, and through the same manifests, exercises,
and executes His divine power, glory, and efficacy, as
the soul does in the body and fire in glowing iron (for
by means of these illustrations, as was also mentioned
above, the entire ancient Church has explained this doctrine).
65] This was concealed and withheld [for the greater
part] at the time of the humiliation; but now, after the
form of a servant [or exinanition] has been laid aside,
it is fully, powerfully, and publicly exercised before
all saints, in heaven and on earth; and in the life to
come we shall also behold this His glory face to face,
John 17, 24.
66]
Thus there is and remains in Christ only one divine omnipotence,
power, majesty, and glory, which is peculiar to the divine
nature alone; but it shines, manifests, and exercises
itself fully, yet voluntarily, in, with, and through the
assumed, exalted human nature in Christ. Just as in glowing
iron there are not two kinds of power to shine and burn
[as though the fire had a peculiar, and the iron also
a peculiar and separate power of shining and burning],
but the power to shine and to burn is a property of the
fire; but since the fire is united with the iron, it manifests
and exercises this its power to shine and to burn in,
with, and through the glowing iron, so that thence and
from this union also the glowing iron has the power to
shine and to burn without conversion of the essence and
of the natural properties of fire and iron.
67]
For this reason we understand such testimonies of Scripture
as speak of the majesty to which the human nature in Christ
is exalted, not in such a way as if the divine majesty,
which is peculiar to the divine nature of the Son of God,
is in the person of the Son of Man to be ascribed [to
Christ] simply and purely according to His divine nature,
or that this majesty is to be in the human nature of Christ
in such a manner only that from it His human nature should
have but the mere title and name per phrasin et modum
loquendi (by a phrase and mode of speaking), that is,
only in words, but in deed and truth should have no communion
whatever with it. 68] For in that way (since God
is a spiritual, undivided essence, and therefore present
everywhere and in all creatures, and wherever He is, dwelling,
however, especially in believers and saints, there He
has with Him such majesty of His) it might also be said
with truth that in all creatures in whom God is, but especially
in believers and saints, in whom He dwells, all the fulness
of the Godhead dwells bodily, all treasures of wisdom
and knowledge are hid, all power in heaven and earth is
given, because the Holy Ghost, who has all power, is given
them. 69] In this way, then, no distinction would
be made between Christ according to His human nature and
other holy men, and thus Christ would be deprived of His
majesty, which He has received above all creatures, as
a man or according to His human nature. 70] For
no other creature, neither man nor angel, can or shall
say: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,
since, although God, with all the fulness of His Godhead,
which He has everywhere with Himself, is in the saints,
He does not dwell in them bodily, nor is personally united
with them as in Christ. For from such personal union it
follows that Christ says, even according to His human
nature, Matt. 28, 18: All power is given unto Me in heaven
and in earth. Also John 13, 3: Jesus knowing that the
Father had given all things into His hands. Also Col.
2, 9: In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Also: Thou crownedst Him with glory and honor, and didst
set Him over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all
things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put
all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not
put under Him, Heb. 2, 7f ; Ps. 8, 6. He is excepted which
did put all things under Him, 1 Cor. 15, 27.
71]
By no means, however, do we believe, teach, and confess
such an infusion of the majesty of God and of all its
properties into the human nature of Christ by which the
divine nature is weakened [by which anything of the divine
nature departs], or anything of its own is surrendered
to another that it does not retain for itself, or that
the human nature in its substance and essence should have
received equal majesty, separate or distinct from the
nature and essence of the Son of God, as when water, wine,
or oil is poured from one vessel into another. For the
human nature, as also no other creature, either in heaven
or on earth, is capable of the omnipotence of God in such
a manner that it would become in itself an almighty essence,
or have in and by itself almighty properties; for thereby
the human nature in Christ would be denied, and would
be entirely converted into the divinity, which is contrary
to our Christian faith, as also to the doctrine of all
the prophets and apostles.
72]
But we believe, teach, and confess that God the Father
has so given His Spirit to Christ, His beloved Son, according
to the assumed humanity (on account of which He is called
also Messias, i.e., the Anointed), that He has not received
His gifts by measure as other saints. For upon Christ
the Lord, according to His assumed human nature (because,
according to His divinity, He is of one essence with the
Holy Ghost), rests the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge
[and of the fear of the Lord, Col. 2, 3; Is. 11, 2; 61,
1], 73] not in such a way that on this account,
as a man, He knew and could do only some things, as other
saints know and can do by the Spirit of God, who works
in them only created gifts, but since Christ, according
to His divinity, is the second person in the Holy Trinity,
and from Him, as also from the Father, the Holy Ghost
proceeds, and thus is and remains His and the Father's
own Spirit to all eternity, not separated from the Son
of God, therefore (as the Fathers say) the entire fulness
of the Spirit has been communicated by the personal union
to Christ according to the flesh, which is personally
united with the Son of God. 74] This voluntarily
manifests and shows itself, with all its power therein,
therewith and thereby [in, with, and through the human
nature of Christ], so that He [Christ, according to His
human nature] not only knows some things and is ignorant
of others, can do some things and is unable to do others,
but [according to the assumed human nature] knows and
can do all things. For upon Him the Father poured without
measure the Spirit of wisdom and power, so that, as man,
He has received through this personal union all knowledge
and all power in deed and truth. And thus all the treasures
of wisdom are hidden in Him, thus all power is given to
Him, and He is seated at the right hand of the majesty
and power of God. 75] From history it can be learned
that at the time of the Emperor Valens there was among
the Arians a peculiar sect which was called the Agnoetae,
because they imagined that the Son, the Word of the Father,
knew indeed all things, but that His assumed human nature
is ignorant of many things; against whom also Gregory
the Great wrote.
76]
On account of this personal union, and the communion resulting
from it, which the divine and the human nature have with
one another in the person of Christ in deed and truth,
there is ascribed to Christ according to the flesh what
His flesh, according to its nature and essence, cannot
be of itself, and, apart from this union, cannot have,
namely, that His flesh is a truly quickening food and
His blood a truly quickening drink; as the two hundred
Fathers of the Council of Ephesus have testified, carnem
Christi esse vivificam seu vivificatricem, that is, that
the flesh of Christ is a quickening flesh [or a quickener].
Hence, too, this man only, and no man besides, either
in heaven or on earth, can say with truth, Matt. 18, 20:
Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there
am I in the midst of them. Also Matt. 28, 20: Lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
77]
And these testimonies we do not understand, as though
only the divinity of Christ were present with us in the
Christian Church and congregation, and such presence were
to concern Christ according to His humanity in no way
whatever; for in that manner Peter, Paul, and all the
saints in heaven, since divinity which is everywhere present
dwells in them, would also be with us on earth, which
the Holy Scriptures, however, testify only of Christ,
and of no other man besides. 78] But we hold that
by these words [the above passages of Scripture] the majesty
of the man Christ is declared, which Christ has received,
according to His humanity, at the right hand of the majesty
and power of God, namely, that also according to His assumed
human nature and with the same, He can be, and also is,
present where He will, and especially that in His Church
and congregation on earth He is present as Mediator, Head,
King, and High Priest, not in part, or one-half of Him
only, but the entire person of Christ is present, to which
both natures belong, the divine and the human; not only
according to His divinity, but also according to, and
with, His assumed human nature, according to which He
is our 79] Brother, and we are flesh of His flesh
and bone of His bone. Even as He has instituted His Holy
Supper for the certain assurance and confirmation of this,
that also according to that nature according to which
He has flesh and blood He will be with us, and dwell,
work, and be efficacious in us.
80]
Upon this firm foundation Dr. Luther, of blessed memory,
has also written [faithfully and clearly] concerning the
majesty of Christ according to His human nature.
81]
In the Large Confession concerning the Lord's Supper he
writes thus concerning the person of Christ: Now, since
He [Christ] is such a man as is supernaturally one person
with God, and apart from this man there is no God, it
must follow that also according to the third, supernatural
mode He is and can be in every place where God is, and
all things are through and through full of Christ, also
according to the humanity, not according to the first
corporeal, comprehensible mode, but according to the supernatural,
divine mode. Vol. 2, Wittenb. Germ., fol. 191.
82]
For here you must stand [confess] and say: Wherever Christ
according to the divinity is, there He is a natural, divine
person, and He is there also naturally and personally,
as His conception in His mother's womb well shows. For
if He were to be God's son, He must, naturally and personally
be in His mother's womb and become man. Now, if He is
naturally and personally wherever He is, He must also
be man in the same place. For there are not [in Christ]
two separate persons, but only one person: wherever it
is, there it is the one undivided person; and wherever
you can say, Here is God, there you must also say, Then
Christ the man is also there. And if you would point out
a place where God is, and not the man, the person would
already be divided, because I could then say with truth:
Here is God who is not man, and who never as yet has become
man.
83]
However, no such a God for me! For it would follow hence
that space and place separated the two natures from one
another, and divided the person, and yet even death and
all devils could not divide or rend them from one another.
84] And there would remain to me a poor sort of
Christ [a Christ of how much value, pray?], who would
be a divine and human person at the same time in no more
than in only one place, while in all other places He must
be only a mere separate God and divine person without
humanity. No, friend, wherever you place God, there you
must also place with Him humanity; they do not allow themselves
to be separated or divided from one another. There has
been made [in Christ] one person, and it [the Son of God]
does not separate from itself the [assumed] humanity.
85]
In the little book concerning the Last Words of David,
which Dr. Luther wrote shortly before his death, he says
as follows: According to the other, the temporal, human
birth, also the eternal power of God has been given Him;
however, in time, and not from eternity. For the humanity
of Christ has not been from eternity, like the divinity;
but, as we reckon and write, Jesus, the Son of Mary, is
1543 years old this year. But from the instant when divinity
and humanity were united in one person, the man, the Son
of Mary, is and is called almighty, eternal God, who has
eternal might, and has created and sustains all things
per communicationem idiomatum for the reason that He is
one person with the divinity, and is also true God. Of
this He speaks Matt. 11, 27: "All things are delivered
unto Me of My Father"; and Matt. 28, 18: "All power is
given unto Me in heaven and in earth." To which Me? To
Me, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, and born man.
From eternity I have it of the Father, before I became
man. But when I became man, I received it in time, according
to humanity, and kept it concealed until My resurrection
and ascension; when it was to be manifested and declared,
as St. Paul says, Rom. 1, 4: "He is declared and proved
to be a Son of God with power." John [17, 10] calls it
"glorified." Vol. 5, Wittenb. Germ., fol. 545.
86]
Similar testimonies are found in Dr. Luther's writings,
but especially in the book That These Words Still Stand
Firm, and in the Large Confession concerning the Holy
Supper; to which writings, as well-grounded explanations
of the majesty of Christ at the right hand of God, and
of His testament, we would be understood as having referred,
for the sake of brevity, in this article, as well as in
the Holy Supper, as has been heretofore mentioned.
87]
Therefore we regard it as a pernicious error when such
majesty is denied to Christ according to His humanity.
For thereby the very great consolation is taken from Christians
which they have in the aforecited promise concerning the
presence and dwelling with them of their Head, King, and
High Priest, who has promised them that not only His mere
divinity would be with them, which to us poor sinners
is as a consuming fire to dry stubble, but that He, He,
the man who has spoken with them, who has tried all tribulations
in His assumed human nature, and who can therefore have
sympathy with us, as with men and His brethren,—He
will be with us in all our troubles also according to
the nature according to which He is our brother and we
are flesh of His flesh.
88]
Therefore we unanimously reject and condemn, with mouth
and heart, all errors not in accordance with the doctrine
presented, as contrary to the prophetic and apostolic
Scriptures, the pure [received and approved] symbols,
and our Christian Augsburg Confession
89]
1. As, when it is believed or taught by any one that on
account of the personal union the human nature is mingled
with the divine or is changed into it.
90]
2. Also, that the human nature in Christ is everywhere
present in the same mode as the divinity, as an infinite
essence, by essential power and property of its nature.
91]
3. Also, that the human nature in Christ has become equal
to and like the divine nature in its substance and essence
or in its essential properties.
92]
4. Also, that the humanity of Christ is locally extended
in all places of heaven and earth; which is to be ascribed
not even to the divinity. But that Christ, by His divine
omnipotence can be present with His body, which He has
placed at the right hand of the majesty and power of God,
wherever He will, especially where He has, in His Word,
promised this His presence, as in the Holy Supper, this
His omnipotence and wisdom can well accomplish without
change or abolition of His true human nature.
93]
5. Also, that the mere human nature of Christ has suffered
for us and redeemed us, with which the Son of God is said
to have had no communion whatever in suffering.
94]
6. Also, that Christ is present with us on earth in the
Word preached and in the right use of the holy Sacraments
only according to His divinity, and that this presence
of Christ does not in any way pertain to His assumed human
nature.
95]
7. Also, that the assumed human nature in Christ has in
deed and truth no communion whatever with the divine power,
might, wisdom, majesty, and glory, but has in common only
the mere title and name.
96]
These errors, and all that are contrary and opposed to
the [godly and pure] doctrine presented above, we reject
and condemn as contrary to the pure Word of God, the Scriptures
of the holy prophets and apostles, and our Christian faith
and confession. And we admonish all Christians, since
in the Holy Scriptures Christ is called a mystery upon
which all heretics dash their heads, not to indulge in
a presumptuous manner in subtile inquiries, concerning
such mysteries, with their reason, but with the venerated
apostles simply to believe, to close the eyes of their
reason, and bring into captivity their understanding to
the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10, 5, and to take comfort
[seek most delightful and sure consolation], and hence
to rejoice without ceasing in the fact that our flesh
and blood is placed so high at the right hand of the majesty
and almighty power of God. Thus we shall assuredly find
constant consolation in every adversity, and remain well
guarded from pernicious error.
