Question on Christ's human nature

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Hey All,

This is really a sticky one for me. Yes, we know that Jesus was truly human and truly Divine at the same time. We know and believe that at no time were these two natures separate.

In regards to this, at a group at church tonight, a great question came up. If Christ was truly human, than did he have the possibility to commit sin?

As a person, fully human, Christ was tempted in the desert after 40 days without food or water. Satan approached him, offering first an ability to get food, then a test of the angels catching Him, and finally offering all the kingdoms of all the world (power/fame).

If Christ was fully human, it would mean that in being tempted, he had the choice to either do good or evil, otherwise it isn’t truly a temptation. However, if Christ is also God, which He is, then He couldn’t possibly choose evil as that would be God sinning against Himself, which isn’t possible.

I’m not arguing against Christ being truly God and truly man, just to let you know. I fully agree with the truth of this. However, it did make me think, and I was just wondering if there was a good solid theological answer to the question.

Being fully human, did Jesus truly have the choice to commit sin, or is this impossible simply because he is God, and sinning would go against himself, thus not being the same level of temptation?
 
As St Paul said, Jesus was human in every way that we are, excpt sin. Can you imagine what would be more tempting to someone who wanted to save everyone, to be tempted by the devil to use magical means?

Just because a person doesn’t sin, doesn’t mean they’re not human. It’s a choice one can exercise.

A question…A severely mentally handicapped person…is she or he not human because they never commit a sin?
 
While free will is essential to humanity, sin is not.

It seems to us, as sinful humans with a fallen nature, that sin is inevitable and part of our nature. It is not. Christ had a perfect, not a fallen, human nature. He was not infected with original sin or its effects. That is what our humanity is supposed to be like.
 
ctlw83 said:
Hey All,

In regards to this, at a group at church tonight, a great question came up. If Christ was truly human, than did he have the possibility to commit sin?

Being fully human, did Jesus truly have the choice to commit sin,
Click to expand...
Yes.But,I’m glad He didn’t.
I suppose that the wonderful thing about His dual nature is that He was more inclined to realize the consequences of His actions than you are I.
🤷
 
Great answers!

BTW I am in no way trying to say to be human is to sin, or to imply that Christ sinned. The question was simply, being that Christ was tempted, did he have the POSSIBILITY of committing a sin? I’m not saying that He did sin, just wondering if he had the potential to be able to choose sin, although He wouldn’t, being God.
 
ctlw83 said:
Great answers!

BTW I am in no way trying to say to be human is to sin, or to imply that Christ sinned. The question was simply, being that Christ was tempted, did he have the POSSIBILITY of committing a sin? I’m not saying that He did sin, just wondering if he had the potential to be able to choose sin, although He wouldn’t, being God.
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Being God, He couldn’t choose sin, not just wouldn’t. ct, this topic has been discussed here rather recently and these posts might be of some further help:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=2611982&postcount=18

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=4427223#post4427223
 
FCEGM said:
Being God, He couldn’t choose sin, not just wouldn’t. ct, this topic has been discussed here rather recently and these posts might be of some further help:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=2611982&postcount=18

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=4427223#post4427223
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Greetings,

For myself, this is an interesting topic. The answers given are generally correct, that is, since Christ is God he is incapable of sin.

However, might we pursue this topic a little deeper? For instance, Why is it that God is in fact “incapable” of sin even though he has free will? Also, the Virgin Mary was likewise incapable of sin even though she is not Divine as is Christ? Mary possessed free will yet was incapable of sin. Why was that? How do we explain it? Is the explanation for Mary’s situation of sinlessness share something in common with Christ’s situation? Furthermore, Since Christ was incapable of sin, what was the import and reason for Satan tempting Christ? Surely, Satan knew that Christ was incapable of sin. Or, did Satan know that?
 
I’m not sure that Satan really knew it at the time. I think he probably thought Jesus was a holy man, a Rabbi, maybe he thought he was a Prophet. Or maybe I’m wrong! 😃

I think that being God, Jesus wouldn’t sin. Being man, he could have sinned. He let himself go through all of the temptations that we do on a daily basis. I often wonder if God couldn’t relate to our weaknesses until he put himself through that 33 year trial. But, then again, maybe he could, since he’s God.

I don’t know. I like to think that it gave him empathy for us in our fallen nature, but that in itself sounds heretical as I type it, thinking that God wasn’t capable of something. Or perhaps God was always capable of this empathy, but it took Christ’s human nature for us to understand and believe it.
 
itinerant1 said:
Greetings,

For myself, this is an interesting topic. The answers given are generally correct, that is, since Christ is God he is incapable of sin.

However, might we pursue this topic a little deeper? For instance, Why is it that God is in fact “incapable” of sin even though he has free will?
Click to expand...
Hi, itinerant 🙂

A truly free will is a will aimed toward the good; a failure in exercising free will towards the good leads to slavery to sin. Thus, God Who is All God cannot fail in His will always desiring His own Goodness. This is why Original Sin and actual sin impact our ability to choose the Good (and makes our will less free); but, as we grow in our identity in Christ, our will becomes freer and is less apt to choose the non-good.
Also, the Virgin Mary was likewise incapable of sin even though she is not Divine as is Christ? Mary possessed free will yet was incapable of sin. Why was that? How do we explain it? Is the explanation for Mary’s situation of sinlessness share something in common with Christ’s situation?
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Unlike Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin was capable of sin, but was free from all sin throughout her life.
Furthermore, Since Christ was incapable of sin, what was the import and reason for Satan tempting Christ? Surely, Satan knew that Christ was incapable of sin. Or, did Satan know that?
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No, he didn’t; he knew that this was a great man, but he didn’t know the full dimension of His Person. As for his tempting the Lord, Satan was presenting him with all the earthly possibilities open to Him; this was a temptation from outside of Himself. IOW, it was an urging from outside, not a desire rising from concupiscience (and He wasn’t subject to concupiscience, i.e., the internal temptations arising from a fallen nature).
 
ctlw83 said:
Being fully human, did Jesus truly have the choice to commit sin, or is this impossible simply because he is God, and sinning would go against himself, thus not being the same level of temptation?
Click to expand...
Jesus did, of course, have that free will of committing sin, but I’m pretty sure He’s too wise for that. I honestly believe He was a logical thinker. 😉

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood
 
ctlw83 said:
Hey All,

This is really a sticky one for me. Yes, we know that Jesus was truly human and truly Divine at the same time. We know and believe that at no time were these two natures separate.

In regards to this, at a group at church tonight, a great question came up. If Christ was truly human, than did he have the possibility to commit sin?

As a person, fully human, Christ was tempted in the desert after 40 days without food or water. Satan approached him, offering first an ability to get food, then a test of the angels catching Him, and finally offering all the kingdoms of all the world (power/fame).

If Christ was fully human, it would mean that in being tempted, he had the choice to either do good or evil, otherwise it isn’t truly a temptation. However, if Christ is also God, which He is, then He couldn’t possibly choose evil as that would be God sinning against Himself, which isn’t possible.

I’m not arguing against Christ being truly God and truly man, just to let you know. I fully agree with the truth of this. However, it did make me think, and I was just wondering if there was a good solid theological answer to the question.

Being fully human, did Jesus truly have the choice to commit sin, or is this impossible simply because he is God, and sinning would go against himself, thus not being the same level of temptation?
Click to expand...
Yes, Jesus as man could sin; in fact, He was tempted by the devil in the desert. But He did not commit sin as man because He beheld the Beatific Vision, in light of the union of the Divine and Human Nature.

An even more interesting question you could bring is, how could Jesus have suffered if He as man enjoyed the Beaitific Vision since His conception?
 
Eucharisted said:
Yes, Jesus as man could sin; in fact, He was tempted by the devil in the desert. But He did not commit sin as man because He beheld the Beatific Vision, in light of the union of the Divine and Human Nature.
Click to expand...
God cannot sin.
 
FCEGM said:
God cannot sin.
Click to expand...
God the Father cannot. God the Son can, considering that He came from a human Mother. Something’s gotta give. 😉

Thankfully, He did not sin. 😃 He’s too Holy for that.
 
FCEGM said:
Unlike Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin was capable of sin, but was free from all sin throughout her life.
Click to expand...
I mention the issue of Mary’s sinlessness as a relevant yet tangential way of viewing Christ’s sinlessness. I maintain that Mary was not only sinless, but furthermore, she was incapable of committing sin. This conclusion comes from reflecting on various Scriptural passages, especially “Hail, full of grace”. What does it mean for a human, and particularly, the Mother of Christ, to be full of grace? I have concluded that Mary’s will was confirmed in the Good, though she probably did not have any experiences on earth of the Beatific Vision, only great mystical experiences, such as the great saints had like St. Theresa of Avila. Yet, Mary’s grace was greater than what any of the saints received. Grace made her the greatest human and superior to all of the angels in heaven. Hence, she is called the Queen of Heaven and Queen of Angels. Instead of, at this point, going into more detailed theological reasons for my position that Mary was incapable of sin, I will quote from the Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. 9; 2003):

"Mary’s predestination as the worthy mother of God postulates a fitting preparation in her soul and that from the first moment of her existence she was filled with grace.

"This positive aspect of holiness, measured in terms of her possession of grace, stands in contradistinction to what is termed Mary’s perfect sinlessness, the negative aspect of her sanctity. In the case of Our Lady, this perfect sinlessness implies more than merely the absence of sin; it implies also a complete indefectability in the moral order, or the actual inability to sin." [my emphasis] (p. 250).

I can provide additional theological statements from Doctors of the Church, if needed. In any case, we can reflect on Mary’s “complete indefectability in the moral order” and see that this same conclusion implies to the human nature assumed by the Son of God, though there are differences.
 
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