Jesus and His Attributes

[Gusto]

I have come across a few protestants say the following or something like it:

The primary fundamental of the Gospel is that Christ laid aside his attributes as God and humbled Himself to be a servant and die for the sins of the whole world and paid the ransom for all and especially them that believe in HIM.

The main issue with the above statement is dealing with Jesus laying aside His attributes as God.

Now this is not something I have not heard too often and I am not quite sure as how to understand it.

Part of me thinks it is sounding a little Arian in its tone and they have seperated His divinity and humanity.

Then I think it may be what they have come up with to counter the Churches teaching that Mary is the Mother of God.

Any insights?

 

[thetruth0flife]

I have come across a few protestants say the following or something like it:

The primary fundamental of the Gospel is that Christ laid aside his attributes as God and humbled Himself to be a servant and die for the sins of the whole world and paid the ransom for all and especially them that believe in HIM.

The main issue with the above statement is dealing with Jesus laying aside His attributes as God.

Now this is not something I have not heard too often and I am not quite sure as how to understand it.

Part of me thinks it is sounding a little Arian in its tone and they have seperated His divinity and humanity.

Then I think it may be what they have come up with to counter the Churches teaching that Mary is the Mother of God.

Any insights?

What it means is that he became a regular ordinary man and wasn’t ordering people around as if he was God while he was on Earth. He wasn’t flying or floating or punishing his people for sins and wasn’t living a Godly life on Earth. Not until he was close to reaching his death did he perform miracles and other things that were attributes of his divinity or being God. He wasn’t telling the whole world that he was God and that they should adore him either. He put all that aside and wanted to become like everyone else and get the chance to experience how it felt like to ‘not’ be God (he was though) and be a normal person. Trust me, if he wouldn’t have laid aside his attributes of God, who knows all the things he could have done or performed. He could have done inumerable miracles and even have his own palace with servants and could of had his own magical house with trees and other things. The angels could have been around him and served him on Earth too. I hope this helps you a little. God bless you.

 

[geekborj]

Another point. This idea is also not incompatible with the Catholic Faith.

I believe that bulk of the paragraph meant that Jesus willfully did not “use” his divinity to “go around” the hardship of being human. Jesus chose to become totally human in redeeming mankind. It should not be taken however that his divinity CAN be separated from his person. Hence, in effect Jesus suffered as a man and saved man as a divine. There is no way a plain human save the entire humanity and in all times!

The problematic statement is the last. That we all need is faith. Catholics believe that we need a “persevering faith” that is, a faith that lasts until death – even through hardships and hardwork.

 

[fhansen]

From Phil 2:

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

 

[ad_altare_Dei]

What’s awkward is the phrase “laid aside.” What does that even mean? If it means that he in any way stifled his divine nature, that’s a no. But if it means, as geekborj said, that “Jesus willfully did not ‘use’ his divinity to ‘go around’ the hardship of being human,” then I can get behind that. At the same time, I am wary that it implies that human nature somehow does violence to divine nature or vice versa, which is obviously not the case, as St. Leo the Great explains in his Tome. Anyways, the phrase just seems unnecessary and vague. You could just as easily say, “Jesus, who is God, became man.” It’s not as though he ridded himself of anything, as the phrase “laid aside” implies. Since the phrase implies something more than simply becoming man, I don’t care for it. Seriously, if something can be said, it can be said clearly.