• ex nihilio
• out of freedom
• with a purpose

• There is no external compulsion to create.  Creation is an act of sheer generosity, arising out of God’s goodness and love.

all creation is essentially good

God's goodness and glory are reflected through creation

1. created in God's image
2. Apex of creation
3. Given dominion over all creation
4. Given a boy and soul
5. Male and Female created equal
6. Given the charge to reproduce

1. Preservation: preserves all things in being
2. Concurrence or cooperation: permits and enables the events of life
3. Governance: guides all things to an end appropriate to GOd's larger purpose

o        Good & Powerful=No Evil

o        Not all good + All Powerful = Evil

o        All Good + Not All Powerful = Evil

o        Not All Good + Not All Powerful = Evil

• Preexistent Word
• Expectant One
• Conceived by Spirit
• Incarnate One
• Born of Virgin
• Identified with Sinners
• Proclaimed the Kingdom
• Suffered
• Crucified
• Dead
• Descended

• Final Judge at last day
• who shall come again
• interceeding
• sitting at the right hand of God
• ascended
• resurrected
• descended into nether world

Christ as God--the view of the church, how the church approaches it

truly divine

'one substance with the Father'

o        Attributes

o        Escription

o        Divine action—does what God can do

o        Adoration—Jesus is worshiped

o        Declaration—Jesus states He is God

o        Statements of equality

o        Jesus must be divine because if Jesus isn’t God, He cannot be our redeemer

o        If we are to have assurance of forgiveness of our sins—Only God can forgive

o        If we are to have true knowledge of God, we are embodied souls;  it is not enough for God to speak or write, if we are to have true communication, it must be embodied communication

o        Dignity and glory is conveyed to humanity—we are worth Him becoming human to redeem us.

o        Worship of God is appropriate

Jesus is a religious genius, the greatest of all prophets, a demigod, a divinized or Spirit-filled man, but not fully God.  Moral union with God, but NO HOMOOUSIOUS

Jesus = fully human

??

'scandal of particularity'

• Christ as mediator
• Christ as second Adam
• Christ as substitute for us
• Jesus' humanity becomes the example/pattern of our lives

•  If Christ could be tempted, then he could have sinned. Peccability is a necessary deduction from temptability. Temptation implies the possibility of sin.

§         If Christ was not able to sin, then the temptation was not real and he can’t sympathize with people.

§         If Christ is impeccable, then his temptations were slight.

§         If Christ could not sin, then he had no free will.

§         Temptability does not imply susceptibility. Just because an army can be attacked does not mean that it conquered. This also implies that what applies to us also applies necessarily to Christ

§         Immutability—cannot do what is contrary to His character

§         Christ through his human nature was tried as we are, but he had no sin nature and he was also divine.

§         Christ’s temptations were like ours except they did not originate in evil desires or original sin.

§         Being of one will with the Father, h was not free to go against that will.

peccability vs. impeccability

tradition of the church

Council of Chalcedon

4 major statements concerning the person of Christ

o        (A) Unconfused: There is no mixing of the two natures. They remain distinct, even while they are in communion.

o        (B) Unchanged: They divine nature is not transmuted into humanity, nor the human nature into deity.

o        (C) Indivisible: The personal union is never at any point split apart. The union can not be divided.

o        (D) Inseparable: The union is undissolved through eternity. The union is perpetual.

Is Christ still fully human?

Why?

YES!

His is resurrected humanity

"communicatio idiomatum"

"perichoresis"