Was the Word made flesh?

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Tom_Dion

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Hi,

I’m wondering if anyone knows the answer to this question. When we pray the Angelus, one of the statements is “And the Word was made flesh”. I’m told that Pope John Paul has said “the Word was made flesh” on many occasions. However, when we pray the Nicene Creed, we say that Jesus was “begotten, not made”. How then does the Angelus and the statements of Pope John Paul not contradict the Nicene Creed?

Tom
 
I’m not following you when you emphasize the two-words “was made” and later you emphasize the one word “made” – because I hear both of those inflections as the same thing.

Yes, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

Yes, “begotten, not made” – One in being with the Father – through Whom all things are made.

It’s a mystery about the Holy Trinity that we’ll understand better in Heaven that the Father is continually begetting the Son in the Holy Spirit – all 3 concurrently without being created, because all things (living and otherwise) created by God are themselves not God.

Hope it helps that we don’t have to intellectually understand our Faith… just choose to believe it and accept it when He gives it (faith) to us.
 
The Word became flesh by being begotten, not by being created or manufactured.
 
The Word is begotten eternally by the Father, and is one in being with the Father; but was made flesh by being born of the Virgin Mary, taking upon Himself a human nature. That is the Incarnation.
 
Tom Dion:
Hi,

I’m wondering if anyone knows the answer to this question. When we pray the Angelus, one of the statements is “And the Word was made flesh”. I’m told that Pope John Paul has said “the Word was made flesh” on many occasions. However, when we pray the Nicene Creed, we say that Jesus was “begotten, not made”. How then does the Angelus and the statements of Pope John Paul not contradict the Nicene Creed?

Tom
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Hi Tom,
When the Nicene Creed speaks of God the Son “Begotten, not made”, it is talking about His divine nature, His “Godness” if you will. God the Son, as God, has always existed with the Father who eternally begets Him (He is “eternally begotten of the Father”).

Later on the Creed describes how He "…came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man." His physical body was indeed “made”, though without the use of sexual procreation. It is a physical creation just as much as your body is. That is the wonder of the incarnation - Jesus is both creator and creature, God and man.

God bless you,
Paul
 
Thank you everyone- especially Paul! I appreciate all of the responses.
 
Tom Dion:
Hi,

I’m wondering if anyone knows the answer to this question. When we pray the Angelus, one of the statements is “And the Word was made flesh”. I’m told that Pope John Paul has said “the Word was made flesh” on many occasions. However, when we pray the Nicene Creed, we say that Jesus was “begotten, not made”. How then does the Angelus and the statements of Pope John Paul not contradict the Nicene Creed?

Tom
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Jesus is eternal. He was, is and shall be. The Word (Jesus) became human, but that doesn’t negate the creed if that’s what you’re implying.
 
These “made flesh” statements come from the Gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life, was the light of men.” These first 4 verses show that Jesus was begotten, not made. He was always there and has always been there from the beginning.

Go down to verse 14:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

This verse indicates that, at some point in human history, Jesus became flesh. Him becoming flesh was not the creation of Him for He Himself was the Creator. Rather, Him becoming flesh was an event in human history following the beginning. 2 separate points in time - the beginning (Jesus was there but not through any creation) , and the incarnation (Jesus became physically present to man).
 
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PaulDupre:
When the Nicene Creed speaks of God the Son “Begotten, not made”, it is talking about His divine nature, His “Godness” if you will. God the Son, as God, has always existed with the Father who eternally begets Him (He is “eternally begotten of the Father”).

Later on the Creed describes how He "…came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man." His physical body was indeed “made”, though without the use of sexual procreation. It is a physical creation just as much as your body is. That is the wonder of the incarnation - Jesus is both creator and creature, God and man.
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Well stated Paul 👍
 
Yes, Paul is correct.

Don’t confuse the incarnation with Jesus’ eternal existence as God.

Jesus is eternally begotten of the Father and is one in being with the Father for all eternity.

The “Word was made flesh” refers to Jesus becoming man. The term “made” refers to becoming flesh. In fact by saying the Word was made flesh, this implies that the Word eternally exists as God and that’s why it is such a wonder that He became flesh. So “the Word was made flesh” actually points to the truth of the Word being eternally begotten since that’s the whole point of how wonderful it is that God (eternally begotten) became (was made) man.
 
Tom Dion:
Hi,

I’m wondering if anyone knows the answer to this question. When we pray the Angelus, one of the statements is “And the Word was made flesh”. I’m told that Pope John Paul has said “the Word was made flesh” on many occasions. However, when we pray the Nicene Creed, we say that Jesus was “begotten, not made”. How then does the Angelus and the statements of Pope John Paul not contradict the Nicene Creed?
Tom
Click to expand...
There is no contradiction. “Made” here in the Angelus refers to His assumption of human nature, not His essential divinity. Thus, when it is said that the Word was “made” flesh, it doesn’t mean the Word itself, out of absolutely nothing, came into existence at a specific point of time. It simply means the Word, at some point “assumed” humanity to become one of us, and one with us in all things except sin.

The Angelus in effect, talks of His Incarnation as God-man, while the Nicene Creed in this sense, talks about Jesus’ eternal, beginningless divinity

Gerry 🙂
 
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