Incarnation - Ratio Christi

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Incarnation
Ratio Christi at Texas A&M
Zachary Lawson
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Importance
■ Arguably
the single most
central doctrine to
Christianity
■ Central
point of the
Gospel message
■ Often
attacked for
incoherence
■ Islam
■
How could He have a son when He
does not have a companion and He
created all things? - Surah 6
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Importance
■ Keen’s
Law #3
■ All
streams of thought in
religious history persist to
the present day
■ Mystery
■ Mystery
is instance of
sparse data, not illogical
■ Scripture
commands us
to think on the ways of
God
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The Doctrine Defined
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Jesus is truly human
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Jesus is truly God
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Jesus is one person
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Jesus has two natures
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Council of Chalcedon (451
AD) called in response to
division in the Church
■
Established four Biblical
essentials that any
Christology must include in
order to be orthodox
■
Does not defend a specific
view as much as establishes
the boundaries
Chalcedonianism
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Taken as a statement of predication, Jesus
is truly God.
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Gospel of John - “In the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the
Word was God…”
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Colossians - “He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by hm all things were created…”
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Hebrews - “He is the radiance of the glory
of God and the exact icon of his nature,
and he upholds the universe by the word of
his power…of the Son, he says ‘Your
throne, O God, is forever and ever’”
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Isaiah//John - “I saw YHWH high and lifted
up // Isaiah said these things because he
saw his glory and spoke of him”
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Psalm 102 // Hebrews - “You, O Lord, laid
the foundation of the earth”
True Divinity
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True Humanity
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Taken as a statement of predication,
Jesus is truly human.
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Human body
■ “the Word became flesh” - John
1:14
■ Grew physically - Luke 2:40
■ Human mom - Luke 2:7
■ Hungry - Matthew 4:2
■ Thirsty - John 19:28
■ Tired - Luke 23:26
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Human emotions
■ Marveled - Matthew 8:10
■ Sorrow - John 11:33-35, Matthew
26:38
■ Joy - Matthew 9:15; 11:16-19
■ Humor
■ straining gnats, swallowing camels
■ ignoring plank in your own eye
■ blind leading the blind
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One Person
Two Natures
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Philosophical reflections on the
text
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Jesus speaks with a unified mind
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To posit an amalgam of natures
would be to deny Jesus has the
nature of either divinity or
humanity (i.e. demigod)
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Heresies!
2 Natures
Arianism?
1 Person
Adoptionism
(not divine)
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Psilanthropism
Humanity
Nestorianism
(2 persons)
Eutychianism
(1 nature)
Divinity
IDK, Bogomils?
Docetism
Apollonarianism
(not human)
Audianism
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10
Heresies!
Humanity
Orthodoxy
Docetism
Apollonarianism
Adoptionism
Nestorianism
Euthychianism
Psilanthropism
Naturalism
Audianism
Mythicism
Divinity
1 Person
2 Natures