Doctrine of Incarnation

what does incarnation mean?

Becoming flesh

what does the doctrine of incarnation express?

The belief that Jesus Christ was God in human form. According to this belief, Jesus’ life on Earth was only a short period in the story of one who had always been and will always be

what does the belief assert?

While Jesus lived on earth people found themselves in the presence of God in the flesh

what does the Gospel put it as in John?

‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father’

who made the most widely accepted definitions of the incarnation and the nature of Jesus?

First Council of nice in 325, the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451

What do they assert about Jesus Christ?

was both fully God: begotten from, but not created by the Father, and fully man: taking his flesh nd human nature from the Virgin Mary

what is a quote from the First Council of Nicea?

‘‘We believe… in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father (the only-begotten; that is of the essence of the Father), God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being one substance with the Father…’’

Define Hypostatic union.

The combination of the divine and human nature in the Person of Christ

what is most important to understand about the doctrine of incarnation?

Does not see Jesus as half human, hakf God. Rather, it states that Jesus is fully God and fully human

How is he fully God?

He is believed to have existed from the beginning with God, and was God. His appearance here on earth was only a brief period in this existence. After his resurrection, he is believed to have returned to his Father, with whom he now reigns for evermore

how is he fully human?

Because he was a man of flesh and blood, born as any other person is born; he was a helpless baby; he had to learn how to walk and talk, like every other child (Luke 2:40,52); he ate and slept and drank; he experienced hunger, weakness, temptation and disappointment, he died

Who rejects the theory of the Hypostatic union?

The theory is rejected by Jews and Muslims, and some Christian denominations such as Unitarians, on the grounds that it violates the transcendence and immutability of God

what has the Church deemed Christian theologians, who have tried to emphasise one nature in Jesus’ Person?

Condemned them as heretics in the past