Challenge to both Latin and Orthodox churches in regard to the problem of the incarnation:
1. How can the Latin Church, which emphasizes divine simplicity, immutability, and impassibility, reconcile the inherent paradox of the Incarnation,
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1. How can the Latin Church, which emphasizes divine simplicity, immutability, and impassibility, reconcile the inherent paradox of the Incarnation,
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where the divine Son assumes a mutable and passible human nature? If you argue that Christ’s divine nature remains entirely impassible and unaffected by His human suffering and death, it implies that His human nature alone experiences these things, leading to
a Nestorian separation of the two natures. This division compromises the hypostatic union by effectively making Christ's human nature suffer in isolation from His divine person. If, on the other hand, you assert that Christ’s divine nature does experience suffering,
then you undermine the very doctrines of divine immutability and impassibility, which are foundational to the Latin theological framework. Therefore, the claim that Christ can simultaneously be impassible in His divinity and passible in His humanity
leads to a rational contradiction, casting doubt on the coherence of the hypostatic union and divine simplicity.
2. Similarly, for the Eastern Orthodox Church, which emphasizes the monarchy of the Father and the distinction of persons within the Trinity while upholding the unity of essence, the Incarnation presents a comparable dilemma.
If you assert that Christ’s divine nature remains wholly impassible and immutable, it implies that His human suffering and death are confined to His human nature alone, risking a Nestorian-like division of the natures. However, if you claim that the divine nature,
through the energies, participates in the suffering of Christ, you risk blurring the distinction between the divine and human natures, potentially collapsing into Monophysitism. Even with the Orthodox distinction between essence and energies, the fundamental paradox persists:
how can the one person of Christ fully experience both divine impassibility and human suffering without compromising either the unity of His person or the distinct integrity of His two natures?
Thus, both the Latin and Eastern Orthodox models face an irresolvable theological tension in explaining the Incarnation without undermining core doctrinal principles.
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