hominibus consubstantialem, et per omnia similem, peccato ex- c-epto." Therefore the theologians teach,^ " Natura divina est es- sentia divina, qua Christus Patri et Spiritui Sancto coessentialis est. Natura humana est essentia seu substantia humana, qua Christus nobis hominibus coessentialis est." Or as stated in the ancient creeds, Christ is not aXXos koL aAXos (one person and another person), but aXXo koI aAAo (one substance and another substance).
The Two Natures are 'united hut not mingled or confounded.
We have seen that the first important point concerning the i)('r- son of Christ is, that the elements united or combined in his person are two distinct substances, humanity and divinity ; that He has in his constitution the same essence or substance which constitutes us men, and the same substance which makes God infinite, eternal, and immutable in all his perfections. The second point is, that this union is not by mixture so that a new, third substance is pro- duced, which is neither humanity nor divinity but possessing the properties of both. This is an impossibility, because the properties in question are incompatible. We cannot mingle mind and mat- ter so as to make a substance which is neither mind nor matter, but spiritual matter, for that would be a contradiction. It would amount to unextended extension, tangible intangibility, or visible invisibility. Neither is it possible that the divine and human natures should be so mingled as to result in a third, which is neither purely human nor purely divine, but theanthropic. Christ's per- son is theanthropic, but not his nature ; for that would make the finite infinite, and the infinite finite. Christ would be neither God nor man ; but the Scriptures constantly declare Him to be both God and man. In all Christian creeds therefore, it is declared that the two natures in Christ retain each its own properties and attrib- utes. They all teach that the natures are not confounded, " Sed salvis potius et permanentibus naturarum proprietatibus in una persona unitge vel conjunctas."
As therefore the human body retains all its properties as matter, and the soul all its attributes as spirit in their union in our persons; 80 humanity and divinity retain each its peculiar properties in their union in the person of Christ. And as intelligence, sensibility, and will are the properties of the human soul, without which it ceases to be a' soul, it follows that the human soul of Christ retained its intelligence, sensibility, and will. But intelligence and will are no less the essential properties of the divine nature, and therefore were
1 Polanus, Syntagma 7'heolv(jice, vi. 12, Hanovise, 1625, p. 362, a, b.
390 PART m. Ch. IIL — the person of CHRIST.
retained after its union with the human nature in Christ. In teach- ing, therefore, that Christ was truly man and truly God, the Scriptures teach that He had a finite intelligence and will, and also an infinite intelligence. In Him, therefore, as the Church has ever maintained, there were and are two wills, two ivepyeiai or opera- tions. His human intellect increased, his divine intelligence was, and is infinite. His human will had only human power, his divine will was, and is almighty. Mysterious and inscrutable as all this is, it is not more so than the union of the discordant elements of mind and matter in our own constitution.
There is no Transfer of the Attributes of one Nature to the Other.
The third point in relation to the person of Christ, is that no attribute of the one nature is transferred to the other. This is virtually included in what has already been said. There are those, however, who admit that the two natures in Christ are not mixed or confounded, who yet maintain that the attributes of the one are transferred to the other. But the properties or attributes of a substance constitute its essence, so that if they be removed or^ if others of a different nature be added to them, the substance itself is changed. If you take rationality from mind it ceases to be mind. If you add rationality to matter it ceases to be matter. If you make that extended which in itself is incapable of extension, the identity of the thing is lost. If therefore infinity be conferred on the finite, it ceases to be finite. If divine attributes be con- ferred on man, he ceases to be man ; and if human attributes be transferred to God, he ceases to be God. The Scriptures teach that the human nature of Christ remained in its integrity after the incarnation ; and that the divine nature remained divine. The Bible never requires us to receive as true anything which the con- stitution of our nature given to us by God himself, forces us to believe to be false or impossible.
The Union is a Personal Union.
The union of the two natures in Christ is a personal or hypo- static union. B}^ this is meant, in the first place, that it is not a mere indwelling of the divine nature analogous to the indwelling of the Spirit of God in his people. Much less is it a mere moral or sympathetic union ; or a temporary and mutable relation between the two. In the second place, it is intended to affirm that the union is such that Christ is but one person. As the union of the soul and body constitutes a man one person, so the union of the