Lecture 11: The Doctrine of the Incarnation
The key points of the orthodox doctrine of the Incarnation were set forth by
Bishop Cyril of Alexandria in the early 5th century. Following the narrative
arc of the Nicene Creed, Cyril points out that the one who is “of the same
essence with the Father” is the same one who is also “born of the Virgin
Mary and made human.” This means the same one has two births, of two
different kinds: He is begotten from the Father in his divinity and he is born
of Mary in his humanity. Because Mary gives birth to the same one who is
“God from God,” she is rightly called theotokos, “God-bearer” or “mother
of God.”Cyril introduced important technical concepts into Christology. The
Incarnation is a hypostatic union, because it unites the divine and the
human in one hypostasis or person. Because of this union there is a sharing
of attributes, communicatio idiomatum, which means the divine Word has
human attributes and the man Jesus has
divine attributes. On the one hand, for
example, the divine Word is cruci¿ ed.
On the other hand, for example,
Christ’s body is life-giving À esh.Cyril’s Christology was developed in
opposition to Nestorius, archbishop
of Constantinople. Nestorius and
his teachings were condemned as a heretical in the third ecumenical
council at Ephesus in 431. Henceforth “Nestorianism” became the label
for Christologies that divided the humanity of Christ from his divinity, as
if Christ were not one person but a combination of two separately-acting
principles or persons.The Council of Chalcedon in 451 af¿ rmed that in Christ there are two distinct
natures, divine and human. To emphasize the unity of Christ, Cyril spoke of
his being “one incarnate nature of the Word.” He also spoke of “one nature
after the union” and a “union of two natures.” Christ is “out of two natures”
not “in two natures” for there’s only one Christ, and the two natures are not
separate in him. He was willing to speak of a union “in two natures” so long
as it was clear that the two natures, divine and human, were inseparable and
did not act apart from one another.The Council of Chalcedon
in 451 af¿ rmed that in
Christ there are two distinct
natures, divine and human.