Christian Beliefs and Convictions Chapter 6

Son of Man (119 120)

The Son of Man is the one who has been "given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed" (Dan. 7:14). Jesus the "Son of Man" is Jesus the "Son of God," who is so intimate with the Father, so beloved by the Father, that we know Him to be "the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being" (Heb. 1:13).

Immutability (122)

God's unchanging nature, i.e., He doesn't change.

Impassibility (124)

God's nature is not subject to the passions or suffering, i.e., Augustinian viewpoint. This is not saying that God doesn't have emotions, rather that God does not have emotions that "disturb the mind."

Apollinarianism (126)

Named for Apollinaris of Laodicea, suggests that Jesus must have been less than fully human.

Eutychianism (127)

Named for Eutyches, presents a Jesus whose humanity has been undone by God, that "Christ is of two natures before the Incarnation, of only one afterwards."

Monophysitism (127)

The incarnate Jesus only has one nature (physis).

Monothelitism (ppt 16)

Christ had no human will.

Incarnation (128)

Divinity unites with humanity while allowing it to be truly human. Divinity cherishes humanity.

Nestorian (128)

Named after Nestorius, saw that Jesus is divine and human, but he wanted to keep the two natures separate, insisting that certain actions were from Jesus' "divine" nature, while others were from His "human" nature.

Theotokos (129)

"The one who gave birth to God."

Council of Chalcedon (130)

Worked through the questions raised by the Christological heresies, and it resulted in a doctrinal statement defining boundaries for Christian speech about and understanding of the identity of Jesus, affirming that Jesus has two natures, a fully divine nature and a fully human nature, and that those two natures are truly united in one person.

Person (131)

Names both the Second Person of the Trinity and the historical person Jesus of Nazareth, God in the flesh.

Two natures (131)

Affirming that Jesus is both divine and human.

Hypostatic union (133)

The unity of the divine and human natures in the person Jesus, which can only be applied to the Incarnation.

Communication of Attributes (133)

Shows us how to think about the things that are appropriate to God and the things that are appropriate to humanity when we meet those attributes in the incarnate Jesus.

Iconography (135)

Due to the Incarnation of Jesus, God becoming flesh and giving us a physical example of Himself, God can therefore be represented. As John of Damascus says, "I worship Him clothed in the flesh, not as if it were a garment… That flesh is divine, and endures."

Particularity (137)

Used in theology to point to the goodness of a God whose love extends to specifics.