person. Hence the Church has been constrained to teach what the Bible doctrine involves : first, as to the nature of the union of the two natures in Chi'ist ; and secondly, as to the consequences of that union.
§ 3. The Hypostatical Union.
Two Natures in Christ.
There is a union. The elements united are the divine and hu- man nature. By nature, in this connection is meant substance. In Greek the corresponding words are ^vVts and owta ; in Latin, natura and substantia. The idea of substance is a necessary one. We are constrained to believe that where we see the manifestation of force, there is something, an objective entity which acts, and of which such force is the manifestation. It is self-evident that a non-ens cannot act. It may be well here to call to mind a few ad- mitted principles which have already been repeatedly adverted to. (1.) It is intuitively certain that attributes, properties, and power or force, necessarily imply a substance of which they are manifesta- tions. Of nothing, nothing can be predicated. That of which we can predicate the attributes either of matter or mind, must of ne- cessity be a reality. (2.) It is no less certain that where the attri- butes are incompatible, the substances must be different and distinct. That which is extended cannot be unextended. That which is divisible cannot be indivisible. That which is incapable of thought cannot think. That which is finite cannot be infinite. (3.) Equally certain is it that attributes cannot exist distinct and separate from substance. There cannot be accidentia sine suhjecto ; otherwise there might be extension without anything extended, and thought without anything that thinks. (4.) Again, it is intuitively certain that the attributes of one substance cannot be transferred to an- other. Matter cannot be endowed with the attributes of mind ; for then it would cease to be matter. Mind cannot be invested with the properties of matter, for then it would cease to be mind ; neither can humanity be possessed of the attributes of divinity, for then it would cease to be humanity. This is only saying that the finite cannot be infinite. Speaking in general terms, in the whole history of human thought, these principles have been recognized as axiomatic ; and their denial puts an end to discussion.
If the above mentioned principles be admitted, then it follows that in setting forth his Son as clothed in all the attributes of hu- manity, with a body that was born of a woman, which increased in stature, which was seen, felt, and handled ; and with a soul that
388 PART ni. Ch. m.— the person of christ.
was troubled, joyful, and sorrowful, that increased in wisdom and was ignorant of certain things, God intends and requires that we should believe that He was a true man, — not a phantom, not an abstraction, — not the complex of properties without the substance of humanity, but a true or real man, like other men, yet without sin. In like manner when He is declared to be God over all, to be omniscient, almighty, and eternal, it is no less evident that He has a truly divine nature ; that the substance of God in Him is the subject in which these divine attributes inhere. This being so, we are taught that the elements combined in the constitution of his person, namely, humanity and divinity, are two distinct natures, or substances. Such has been the faith of the Church universal. In those ancient creeds which are adopted by the Greek, Latin, and Protestant Churches, it is declared that Christ as to his hu- manity is consul stantial with us, and as to his divinity, consubstan- tial with the Father. In the Council of Chalcedon, the Church
declared our Lord to be,^ ©eov dXi^^wg koL avOpayivov aX-qOw? toi/ airov €K ijjv^-qs XoyLKrj<; kol crw^aros, ojJiOovaLov to) Trarpi Kara t^v OeoTTjTa kol ofxoov- cnov TOi-" avTov rjjxlv Kara ttjv avOpwrrorqTa.
Thomas Aquinas says,^ " Humana natura in Christo quamvis sit substantia particularis: qui tamen venit in unionem cujusdam com- pleti, scilicet totius Christi, prout est Deus et homo, non potest dici hypostasis vel suppositum : Sed ilium completum ad quod concurrit, dicitur esse hypostasis vel suppositum." In all the creeds of the Reformation the same doctrine is presented. In the " Augsburg Confession"^ it is said, " Filius Dei assumpsit humanam naturam in utero beatae Marise virginis, ut sint duae naturae, divina et hu- mana, in unitate personas inseparabiliter conjunctge, unus Christus, vere Deus et vere homo." " Natura (^i^W, oio-ta) in Christo est substantia vel divinitatis vel humanitatis. Persona (vTrdo-rao-is, Trpoo-wTToi/) Christi est individuum ex uti'aque natura et divina et humana, conjuncta, non mixta, concretum."^ In the "Second Helvetic Confession "^ it is said, " Agnoscimus in uno atque eodera Domino nostro Jesu Christo, duas naturas (for natura^ substantia
is used in other parts of the chapter), divinam et humanam
In una persona unitae vel conjunctse [sunt] : ita ut unum Christum Dominum, non duos veneremur : unum inquam verum Deum, et hominem, juxta divinam naturam Patri, juxta humanam vero nobis
1 Actio Q.uinta, Binius, Concilia Generalia, vol. ii. part 1, p. 253, e.
2 Summa, in. qusest. ii. art. 3, edit. Cologne, 1640, p. 5 of fourth set. 8 in.; Hase, Libi-i Symbotici, p. 10.
* Hase's Hutterus Jiedivivus, sixth edition, p. 224. 6 Cap. XI. ; Niemeyer, Collectio Con/essionum, p. 484.