All us Christians need a
functional knowledge of the great doctrinal truths revealed in Scripture. One such doctrine central to the Christian Faith is
The Two Natures of Christ. The huge
importance of this belief was the topic of a book I read years ago titled the Cruelty
of Heresy, by The Rt. Rev. Dr. C. Fitzsimons Allison. Bp. Allison highlighted the dangers of veering
off course by denying or minimizing either the divinity of Christ or the
humanity of Christ. The Church
understood this and addressed it in one of the early councils of the Church,
The Council of Chalcedon, in 451 A.D. Here
is an excerpt from the proceedings of that great church council:
Therefore,
following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one
and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and
complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable
soul and body; of one substance (homoousios) with the Father as regards his
Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood;
like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of
the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men
and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer (Theotokos); one and
the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without
confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the
distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the
characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one
person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and
the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the
prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself
taught us, and the creed of the Fathers has handed down to us. Father
Rob
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