Wednesday 30th November
Read John 1:14 and the Chalcedonian Creed
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NIVUK)
“We, then, following the holy fathers, all with one consent teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a rational soul and body; coessential with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one person and one subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the creed of the holy fathers has handed down to us.” (Bishops of Chalcedon, 451AD)
Many theories had arisen as to how ‘the Word became flesh’ (John 1:14). The mystery vexed and challenged the early church for many, many decades. At heart the issue was how the perfect, holy and divine nature of God could co-exist with fallen, sinful flesh. The church fathers all agreed that only the Creator could save fallen creatures. Another creature, imperfect as they are, could not. They also agreed that only the assumption of a fully human nature could effectively redeem humans. A ‘partly assumed’ humanity was unable to save fully.
Variations in describing both the human and divine nature of Jesus abounded. Some were articulated clearly and caused intense debate, particularly those of Apollinarius, Nestor and Eutychus. Ultimately their views (Google them if you like!) were categorised as heretical after the Council of Chalcedon.
The creed above was an attempt at consensus, much like the way the early church met together to decide what to about welcoming ‘unclean’ Gentiles into the church (cf Acts 15). It very carefully states that Jesus was fully divine and fully human but was not divided in any way. There was not a separate ‘human part’ to Jesus, distinct from the ‘divine part’ – but the two natures were united in the will of God. But it does not clarify how both can be true – a level of ambiguity or mystery is built into the creed, for which we are grateful. We hold to this creed today* and affirm that the Word indeed became flesh and that Jesus was fully divine and fully human in every way and hence able to save us eternally.
Whilst it will remain a mystery, the video below is a fascinating summary of how seemingly counterfactual truths can co-exist – even in the ‘real’ world! Enjoy!
*except perhaps to the controversial, then and now, phrase ‘mother of God’ (‘theotokos’ in Greek) but that is another story…
