Do we Say Jesus is a human being?

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fide said:
By grace we can attain our vocation, dying to our old nature and living in the new (our human participation in the divine life) - our divinization. This is made possible in Christ, a spiritual ascent in Him, into Him who is in the Holy Trinity.
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I think you are right and this is related to the two natures of Jesus.
 
JohnR77 said:
… However, it can cause problems if we speak of Him as being both a human being and a Divine being, as some could understand that to endorse the heretical position that He is two beings.
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One Divine Person, with two natures. The human nature is the body and soul of Jesus.
 
In Jesus’ divinity, we grasp His spiritual perfection, omnipotence, and Lordship over the universe.

In Jesus’ incarnation as man, we identify ourselves with Him, and recognize human qualities in the personality of the Divine.
 
JohnR77 said:
Note that Jesus is a Divine Person. Person is defined as a being, therefore Jesus is a Divine Being. He has both a Divine Nature and a Human Nature. He is One Person who has Two Natures. Since He is not two persons, He is not two Beings, but only one Being. Jesus, who is always Divine, is also fully human, since the Incarnation. However, it can cause problems if we speak of Him as being both a human being and a Divine being, as some could understand that to endorse the heretical position that He is two beings.
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Jesus, who is God, subjected Himself on earth to the laws of nature: He was hungry, thirsty, cold, weary, sleepy; but Jesus, who is God, subjected Himself on earth to the laws of morale: He felt tedium, fear, sadness; He rejoiced in friendship, was horrified by betrayal, trembled to the point of sweating blood at the thought of what He had to suffer, and prayed like a humble man in need of everything. Jesus, too, possessed a soul.

He was fully human, though due to His stronger will power, and God the Father’s help, He was able to resist all temptation, and thus not commit sin. He was fully divine in His thoughts and actions. We are taught to imitate Him, as He is proof we can succeed as well if we do.
 
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All men are human beings; not every human being is a man.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
All men are human beings; not every human being is a man.

ICXC NIKA
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Spiritually, it is not that easy, it is complicated and a great mystery.
“for this reason, a man shall be joined to the wife and the two shall be one…”
 
Shakuhachi said:
What if being truly human is to be divine?
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In a manner of speaking yes, yet divnity and humanity are not equivalent for a human being is a creature but the Holy Trinity is not a creature. The adopted sons or partakers of the divine nature still have only one human nature, whereas the person of the Son of God assumed a human nature such that Jesus Christ possesses two natures.

Catechism
460 The Word became flesh to make us " partakers of the divine nature ":78 "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God."79 "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God."80 "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."81

78 2 Pt 1:4.
79 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 19, 1: PG 7/1, 939.
80 St. Athanasius, De inc. 54, 3: PG 25, 192B.
81 St. Thomas Aquinas, Opusc . 57, 1-4.

PG J.P. Migne, ed., Patroligia Greaca (Paris, 1867-1866)
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Of course Jesus was a human being, at least to any orthodox Catholic and most other Christians. That issue was resolved in 325.
 
I’m not sure what the act of procreation has to do with the definition of a human being.

One is a human being many years before one is capable of the procreative act; a child is a human being.

ICXC NIKA
 
GEddie said:
I’m not sure what the act of procreation has to do with the definition of a human being.

One is a human being many years before one is capable of the procreative act; a child is a human being.

ICXC NIKA
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Spiritually speaking, nope. Children are one with the Father and husband one with the bride. It is this reality that makes creation possible and also our salvation possible.
 
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Jesus is True God and True Man

But, as for the early creeds you are never going to find a reference to Jesus as a human being. They speak of His humanity, human flesh, human body, human nature, but not of Him as a human being.

See Early Creeds

The term “being” is ambiguous.

I do not believe that saying

“Jesus is a human being”

is heretical, but that because it is ambiguous it is better not to use it for the sake of clarity.

**If a person says that **
“Jesus is a human being”

What does he mean by the term “being” ?
We can say that

“Bob is a human person”

But we would never say that

“Bob is a human nature.” Correctly, we would say that “Bob has a human nature.”

Person is who you are.

Nature is what you are or what you possess.
Substitute the words “person” and “nature” for the word “being” in the following phrase.

“Jesus is a human being”

So, we have :

A . Jesus is a human person.
B . Jesus is a human nature.

.

From 2 above we can see that Line B above does not work.

However, Line A is heretical. Jesus is a Divine Person. If He is also a human person then this would make Him two persons. This is the heresy of Nestorius which was condemned in 431 AD.

Again, the Early Creeds

never say that Jesus is a human being.

Hope this helps,

John
 
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Noose001 said:
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GEddie:
I’m not sure what the act of procreation has to do with the definition of a human being.

One is a human being many years before one is capable of the procreative act; a child is a human being.

ICXC NIKA
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Spiritually speaking, nope. Children are one with the Father and husband one with the bride. It is this reality that makes creation possible and also our salvation possible.
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Marriage is the primordial sacrament, meaning:
Marriage signifies the way God is, and marriage does this in a way that no other reality can do.
God is incarnate in Christ. In Christ, God and man are unified.
Theology of the Body goes into this with a profound and beautiful depth.
 
The only proof I need about Jesus’ humanity:

‘Jesus wept.’ - John 11:35
 
Jesus is a human being.
Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, the Divine Logos.
God the Son took a human nature so he could be a human being. A man like us in all things but sin.
Two natures, one Divine, one human.
One Person, the second Person of the Trinity.
Thus he could say “Before Abraham was, I Am.”
 
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2560.htm

2560 “If you knew the gift of God!” The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and …"

Notice that the catechism does not say that,
“Christ comes to meet every other human being …”

We are all defending The Catholic doctrine that Jesus is fully human. I realize that some people want to use the phrase that
“Jesus is a human being”
but the church does not use that language In its official pronouncements. I prefer to use the language of the church. That’s why I made the Web page above on the creeds. I Quoted every major creed in the history of the church. I will stick with that language.
John
 
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