Nature of Christ

[philangcatholic]

I have always known that while He lived here on earth Christ had two natures, human and Divine. But, what happened after He died and ascended into heaven? Does He still have these natures? A Protestant friend of mine criticized me for focusing on the two natures of Christ and said “Christ was man but He is only God now” This makes sense. Christ was human and suffered and died for us. But He ascended in glory to heaven. Does He still have two natures?

 

[Ahimsa]

I was reading about this the other day (i.e., yesterday).

If I remember correctly (regarding the interpretation common in the Orthodox Church), before incarnation, God the Son was purely God. In taking birth as a human, God the Son fully added his human nature to his divine nature – and the two natures are no longer separate, but one. (The idea tha the two natures remained separate is a heresy, called “monophysitism,” and your Protestant friend seemed to be edging towards it.) So now, after God the Son has ascended into heaven, he still maintains (and will forever include) both his divine and human natures.

I don’t have the link that describe this idea, so I may have remembered incorrectly.

 

[Ahimsa]

From the Greek Orthodox website:

Humanity and divinity are hypostatically united together: the two natures exist in the one person of the Word who became flesh, a divine person (or hypostasis). Christ exists “in two natures,” without being of two natures; the two natures exist united together “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” (Council of Chalcedon). The first two adverbs are addressed against the heresy of Eutyches and the monophysites who confused the natures and the last two against the Nestorians, who separated and divided humanity and divinity in Christ.

Since Catholics also accept Chalcedon, I suspect Catholics would agree with the basics of the Orthodox interpretation (though perhaps with slightly different emphases).

 

[Ahimsa]

philangcatholic:

I have always known that while He lived here on earth Christ had two natures, human and Divine. But, what happened after He died and ascended into heaven? Does He still have these natures? A Protestant friend of mine criticized me for focusing on the two natures of Christ and said “Christ was man but He is only God now” This makes sense. Christ was human and suffered and died for us. But He ascended in glory to heaven. Does He still have two natures?

Yep, He still has two natures, totally unified.

Your Protestant friend seems to support a version of Nestorianism, a heresy that argued that Jesus Christ had a divine nature and a human nature that could be separated one from the other. Once the Christ incarnated, such separation is no longer possible.

 

[JimG]

Christ didn’t take on a human nature only to discard it later. Even in heaven he is both human and divine.