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Martin Luther

The conflict between Catholics and Protestants leads Catholics, who are a small extremist minority in the US [less than 25%, compared to 93% who claim to be Christians, leaving 68% who are Protestants], to proclaim that Protestants are “mindless bigots”, “agnostics”, “racists”, “heretics”, and even “blasphemers” whose level of blasphemy rises to the level of blasphemy of the NAME of the Lord, requiring the death penalty:

And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death. Leviticus 24:16

Of course Protestants make the counter-claim that Catholics are “goddess worshipers” [the “mother” Mary], “cannibals” [drinking the literal blood of Jesus],

Martin Luther

Disputation

On the Divinity and Humanity of Christ

February 27, 1540

conducted by Dr. Martin Luther, 1483-1546

translated from the Latin text

WA 39/2,.92-121

by Christopher B. Brown

The Theses

Theological Disputation

1. This is the catholic faith, that we confess one Lord Jesus

Christ, true God and man.

2. From this truth of the double substance and the unity of the

person follows the communication of attributes [communicatio idiomatum], as

it is called.

3. So that those things which pertain to man are rightly said of

God, and, on the other hand, those things which pertain to God are said of

man.

4. It is true to say: This man created the world, and this God

suffered, died, was buried, etc.

5. But these are not correct in the abstract (as it is said) of

human nature [in abstractis humanae naturae].

6. For it cannot be said, Christ is thirsty, a servant, dead;

therefore he is thirst, servitude, death.

7. Wherefore this [statement] too is condemned: Christ is

humanity, even though it is said: Christ is divinity.

8. Even though man and humanity are otherwise synonyms, as are God

and divinity.

9. In the divine predicates or attributes there is not a difference

of this kind between the concrete and the abstract.

10. Even though both the scriptures and many fathers do not

distinguish between the concrete and the abstract in many predicates of human

nature.

11. The Symbol [the _Te Deum_ ] proclaims, "When thou tookest man

upon thee to deliver him" [Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem], and

Augustine often does the same.

12. Although the normal way of speaking (as it seems) would be:

"When thou tookest humanity, or human nature upon thee to deliver it."

13. Thus some are not afraid to say: Christ is a creature, since a

errantly it is said that Christ was created.

14. And John 1 says: "The Word was made flesh," when in our

judgment it would have been better said, "The Word was incarnate," or "made

fleshly."

15. It is rightly taught, that in this matter the manner of

speaking preserved in the scriptures and in the orthodox fathers should

prevail.

16. Or rather, many things are allowed even to the fathers who are

agreed to be orthodox, which we should not imitate.

17. Wherefore in this matter we should beware of etymology,

analogy, [logical] consequence, and examples.

18. Just as in grammar certain heteroclite nouns and irregular

verbs are not subject to etymology, analogy, or example.

19. And generally, in every sort of subject and art, practice often

dictates against the rule.

20. Nonetheless it is certain that with regard to Christ [in

Christo] all words receive a new signification, though the thing signified is

the same [in eadem re significata].

21. For "creature" in the old usage of language [veteris linguae

usu] and in other subjects signifies a thing separated from divinity by

infinite degrees [infinitis modis].

22. In the new use of language it signifies a thing inseparably

joined with divinity in the same person in an ineffable way [ineffabilibus

modis].

23. Thus it must be that the words man, humanity, suffered, etc.,

and everything that is said of Christ, are new words.

24. Not that it signifies a new or different thing, but that it

signifies in a new and different way [nove et aliter], unless you want to

call this too a new thing.

25. Schwenkfeld and his frog-and-mouse warriors [batarchomyomachis]

foolishly scoff [when we say] that Christ according to his humanity is called

a creature.

26. A man without learning [or] training, and moreover without

common sense, does not know how to distinguish between words with more than

one meaning [vocabula aequivoca].

27. For those who say that Christ is a creature according to the

old use of language, that is, by himself [separatam], were never Christians.

28. But rather everyone vehemently denies that Christ is a creature

in this way, which the Arians taught.

29. It is clear, therefore, that Schwenkfeld is barking into an

empty darkness [in vacuum chaos] against his own dreams of the creature in

Christ.

30. And forgetting himself, the man concedes that God was made

flesh, though he has not yet dared to deny that flesh is a creature.

31. But Eutyches dwells hidden in such heretics, ready someday to

deny that the Word was made flesh.

32. They make a show of conceding that the Word was made flesh,

ready someday to deny it, when the theater is darkened, after it is denied

that there is a creature in Christ.

33. In these ineffable matters, therefore, this [rule] must be

kept, that we interpret the teachings of the fathers (as is necessary) in a

suitable way [commode].

34. It is wicked, when you know that the sense of someone's

teaching is Christian [pium] and sound, to make up an error out of words

ineptly spoken.

35. For there were never any fathers or doctors who never spoke in

an improper way, if you want to scoff at their teachings.

36. [Coelius] Sedulius, the very Christian poet, writes: "The

blessed author of the world / Put on a lowly servant's form" [Beatus auctor

seculi servile corpus induit], and so through the entire church.

37. Although nothing more heretical could be said than that human

nature is the clothing of divinity.

38. For clothing and a body do not constitute one person, as God

and man constitute one person.

39. And yet Sedulius' thought was very Christian [piissime], as his

other hymns abundantly prove.

40. For the same reason that common saying would be heretical: The

whole Trinity worked the incarnation of the Son, as two girls dress a third,

while she at the same time dresses herself.

41. Thus certain scholastics, who think that the union

[habitudinem] of divinity and humanity is like the union [unioni] of form

with matter, could not be defended.

42. Others on the other hand [who think that] the union

[habitudinem] is similar to [the union of] matter to form, speak much more

ineptly, if they are strictly judged.

43. Nor could that [image] be maintained, in which the divinity is

compared to fire and the humanity to iron, even though it is a very beautiful

image.

44. Nor could that [image] be tolerated which Athanasius puts

forward: "As the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one

Christ."

45. For all deny that Christ is "composed" [of two natures] though

they affirm that he is "constituted."

46. But none have spoken more awkwardly [insulsius] than the

Nominalists [Moderni], as they are called, who of all men wish to seem to

speak most subtly and properly.

47. These say that the human nature was sustained or "supposited"

by the divine nature, or by a divine supposite.

48. This is said monstrously and nearly forces God as it were to

carry or bear the humanity.

49. But all of them think [sapiunt] in a correct and catholic way,

so that they are to be pardoned their inept way of speaking.

50. For they wished to utter something ineffable, and then every

image limps and never (as they say) runs on all four feet.

51. If [anyone] is not pleased by this or does not understand it,

that Christ according as he is a man is a creature [Christus secundum quod

homo est creatura], the grammarian consoles him.

52. Let him who has learned to discuss the same matter in various

ways be commanded to speak as simply as possible.

53. As the Ethiopian is white according to [secundum] his teeth,

the grammarian could speak otherwise thus: The Ethiopian is white with

respect to his teeth [albus dentibus], or "white of tooth" [alborum dentium].

54. But if this is unpleasing, let him say: The Ethiopian has

white teeth, or the teeth in the Ethiopian are white, or, most simply, the

Ethiopian's teeth are white.

55. Since in all these forms of speech the author wishes to signify

the same thing, it is useless to seek an argument over words.

56. Thus since these forms of speech--Christ according as he is a

man [secundum quod homo], or according to his humanity [secundum

humanitatem], or with respect to his humanity [humanitate], or by his

humanity [per humanitatem], or in his humanity [in humanitate]--mean nothing

else than that he has a creature or has assumed a human creature, or, what is

simplest, the humanity of Christ is a creature, the false logicians

[pravilogicales] are to be condemned, who give different meanings to

different grammatical forms of expression of the same matter.

57. Therefore heresy lies in meaning [sensu], and not in words, as

St. Jerome rightly said when he was provoked by his calumniators.

58. Otherwise Moses would be the greatest of heretics, for he

recounts the Decalogue itself in different forms in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy

59. On the other hand, anyone with a wicked meaning, even if he

shall speak aptly and brandish the Scripture itself, is not to be tolerated.

60. For Christ did not permit the demons to speak when they

testified that he was the Son of God, as if they were transfiguring

themselves into angels of light.

61. Such is the simplicity and the goodness of the Holy Spirit,

that his agents [homines sui], when they speak falsely according to grammar,

speak the truth according to the sense.

62. Such is the craftiness and the wickedness of Satan, that his

agents [homines sui], while they speak truly according to grammar, that is,

as to the words, speak lies according to theology, that is, according to the

sense.

63. Here it may be said: If you are lying, even in what you say

truly, you lie; on the other hand, if you are speaking the truth, even in

what you say falsely, you speak the truth.

64. This is what it means to be a heretic: one who understands the

Scriptures otherwise than the Holy Spirit demands.

The Disputation

Disputation of the Reverend Father Herr Doctor Martin Luther concerning the

divinity and humanity of Christ. In the year 1540, the 28th day of February.

Preface

The reason for this disputation is this, that I desired you should be

supplied and fortified against the future snares of the devil, for a certain

man has put forth a mockery against the Church. I am not so much troubled

that an unlearned, unskilled, and altogether ignorant man seeks praise and a

name for himself, as that the men of Lower Germany are troubled by his inept,

foolish, ignorant, unlearned, and ridiculous mocking. May you preserve this

article in its simplicity, that in Christ there is a divine and a human

nature, and these two natures in one person, so that they are joined together

like no other thing, and yet so that the humanity is not divinity, nor the

divinity humanity, because that distinction in no way hinders but rather

confirms the union! That article of faith shall remain, that Christ is true

God and true man, and thus you shall be safe from all heretics, and even from

Schwenkfeld, who says that Christ is [not] a creature, and that others teach

falsely, though he does not name those who teach wrongly. This is the malice

of the devil: he implicates us as well as the papists, but he names no one.

If he were to say such things to me, I would answer: You are lying, [when

you imply that] we say that Christ is not the Lord God. For our writings cry

out in answer [to your charge]. That wicked man perceives that he cannot

survive if he comes into the light, therefore he works secretly among women

under secret names [tectis nominibus]. But I am not troubled that he thus

seeks to make a name for himself and works secretly, but more by the fact

that better theologians are not moved by these frivolous calumnies to say to

him: "You, wicked man, are a liar! We do not say that Christ is merely a

creature, but that he is God and man in one person. The natures are joined

personally in the unity of the person. There are not two sons, not two

judges, not two persons, not two Jesuses, but because of the undivided union

[unitam coniunctionem] and the unity of the two natures there is a

communication of attributes, so that, what is attributed to one nature is

attributed to the other as well, because they are one person." If these

[articles] are held fast, Arius falls along with all heretics, but

Schwenkfeld works secretly like the tooth of the serpent, who bites secretly

so that he cannot be accused. Therefore we are now holding this disputation

so that you may learn the substance and manner of speaking [res et phrases]

of Scripture and the Fathers. It is an incomprehensible thing, such as not

even the angels can grasp and comprehend, that two natures should be united

in one person. Therefore, so that we may grasp this in some small measure,

God has given us patterns of speech [formulas loquendi]: that Christ is God

and man in one person, and there are not two persons, but two natures are

united in one person, so that what is done by the human nature is said also

to be done by the divine nature, and vice versa. Thus the Son of God died

and was buried in the dust like everyone else, and the son of Mary ascended

into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, etc. We are content

with these models [formulis].

Finally, we must observe the manner of speaking [phrases] of the

holy Fathers. But if they have sometimes spoken ineptly [incommode], it is

to be rightly interpreted, not abused, as the papists do, who, having twisted

the words of the Fathers, abuse and allege them in defense of their

idolatries, purgatory, and good works, whereas [the Fathers] thought

correctly concerning these things, as many of their sayings testify with

clearer and more apt expression. St. Augustine indeed teaches much

concerning good works in many places and praises both good works and those

who perform them. But in his Commentary on the Psalms, he says, "Have mercy

on me; that is, 'I shall be troubled, but not troubled greatly, for I have

trusted in the Lord.'" Here he pleads none of those good works before God.

And again in another place he says, "Woe to man, however praiseworthy he may

be, etc." Such is the sinful and sacrilegious man who twists the correct

sayings of the Fathers. But we learn to agree with the sayings of the

Fathers; or if we cannot agree with them, we forgive them, for no man can be

so wise that he does not sometimes stumble and fall, especially in speaking,

where it is easy to slip. Schwenkfeld does not see this, and so when he

hears the Fathers say that Christ according to his humanity is a creature, at

once he seizes on the saying and twists it and abuses it for his own

purposes. Even if the Fathers say that Christ according to his humanity is a

creature, this could in any event be tolerated; but Schwenkfeld wickedly

twists it: "Therefore Christ is simply a creature." Why, wicked man, do you

not add that Christ according to his divinity is the Creator? Therefore he

was created! But he does not add this, because he says, "I can let my

conscience be deluded in this way. Therefore I have omitted it"--that is, I

have done wickedly! He employs a fallacy of composition and division. This

is the hidden tooth of the serpent and the true sacrifice of the devil among

the papists as well. For they too work secretly, twist the words of the

Fathers, and omit those things which seem to weaken their own cause, as

Schwenkfeld also does. Before the learned he deals deceitfully and seeks

glory, but among his own he says: "Oh, what wickedness of the papists, what

blasphemies of the Lutherans! They say that Christ is a creature, even

though he was not created." This is [sheer] wickedness rather than force or

power [of argument]. He should have added, that we say that Christ is a

creature according to his humanity, and the creator according to his

divinity.

Schwenkfeld is to be refuted thus: Humanity is a creature.

Therefore Christ is a man and a creature. And then he says that the redeemer

of the human race cannot be a creature, sit at the right hand of the Father,

etc., be the seed of Abraham; but the consequence is to be denied.

Disputation

of Dr. Martin Luther against Schwenkfeld

Argument: A human person is one thing, a divine person another. But in

Christ there are both divinity and humanity. Therefore there are two persons

in Christ.

Response: This is the fallacy of composition and division. In the major

premise you divide the human nature and the divine; in the minor premise you

join them. This is a philosophical solution; but we are speaking

theologically. I deny the consequence, for this reason, that in Christ the

humanity and the divinity constitute one person. But these two natures are

distinct in theology, with respect, that is, to the natures, but not with

respect to [secundum] the person. For then they are undivided

[indistinctae], but two distinct natures, yet belonging to an undivided

person [indistinctae personae]. There are not two distinct persons, but what

is distinct is undivided [sed sunt distinctae indistinctae], that is, there

are distinct natures, but an undivided person.

II.

Argument: Christ was not a man before the creation of the world. Therefore

it is not rightly said that the man Christ created the world. Or thus: When

the world was created, Christ did not create it as a man [tamquam homo].

Therefore it is not rightly said that a man created the world.

Response: There is the communication of attributes; and moreover [this is] a

philosophical argument. This stands: The natures are distinct, but after

that communication, there is a union, that is, there is one person, not two

persons. But that person is God and man, one and the same person, who was

before the creation of the world; even though he was not man born of the

Virgin Mary before the world, nonetheless he was the Son of God, who is now

man. Thus, for example, when I see a king in purple and crowned on his

throne, I say, "This king was born of a woman, naked and without a crown."

How can this be, and yet he sits on a great throne crowned and clothed in

purple? But these things he put on after he was made king, and yet

nonetheless he is one and the same person; and so too here in Christ God and

man are joined in one person and must not be distinguished. But it is true

that Christ created the world before he was made man, and yet such a strict

unity exists that it is impossible to say different things [of the divinity

and the humanity]. Therefore whatever I say of Christ as man, I also say

rightly of God, that he suffered, was crucified.

Objection: But God cannot be crucified or suffer.

Response: This is true, when he was not yet man. From eternity he has not

suffered; but when he was made man, he was passible. From eternity he was

not man; but now being conceived by the Holy Ghost, that is, born of the

Virgin, God and man are made one person, and the same things are truly said

of God and man [sunt eadem praedicata Dei et hominis]. Here the personal

union is accomplished. Here the humanity and divinity are joined [Da gehet's

ineinander humanitas et divinitas]. The union holds everything together [Die

unitas, die helt's]. I confess that there are two natures, but they cannot

be separated. This is accomplished by the union [unitas], which is a greater

and stronger union [coniunctio] than that of soul and body, because soul and

body are separated, but never the immortal and divine nature and the mortal

human nature [in Christ], but they are united in one person. That is to say,

Christ, the impassible Son of God, God and man, was crucified under Pontius

Pilate.

Objection: Again, what is immortal cannot become mortal. God is immortal.

Therefore he cannot become mortal.

Response: In philosophy, this is true.

III.

Argument: God knows all things. Christ does not know all things. Therefore

Christ is not God.

I prove the minor premise from Mark, where Christ says that he does

not know the last day.

Response: The solution is that Christ there speaks after a human manner, as

he also says: "All things have been given to me by the Father." Often he

speaks of himself as if simply of God, sometimes simply as of man. The

Father does not will that the human nature should have to bear divine

epithets [ut humana natura debeat gerere dicta divina], despite the union,

and yet sometimes [Christ] speaks of himself as of God, when he says, "The

Son of Man will be crucified." To be crucified is a property of the human

nature, but because there are two natures united in one person, it is

attributed to both natures. Again, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal

life." There he speaks of the divine nature. Or again, "They crucified the

Lord of glory," where he speaks of the property of the humanity.

IV.

Argument: A word is not a person. Christ is the Word. Therefore Christ is

not a person.

I prove the major premise, that a word and a person are different.

Response: This is a new expression, which was formerly unheard of in the

world. Christ is not a mathematical or physical word, but a divine and

uncreated word, which signifies a substance and a person, because the divine

Word is the divinity. Christ is the divine Word. Therefore he is the

divinity, that is, a substantial person [ipsa substantia et persona].

Philosophically, "word" means a sound or an utterance, but speaking

theologically, "Word" signifies the Son of God. This, Aristotle would not

admit, that "Word" signifies true God [plenum Deum].

Argument: Christ beseeches the Father to hear him. Therefore he is not God.

I prove the consequence, for he who seeks to be heard, seeks the

honor of one who is superior.

Response: This is done because of the property of the human nature.

Question: It is asked, whether this proposition is true: The Son of God,

the creator of heaven and earth, the eternal Word, cries out from the Cross

and is a man?

Response: This is true, because what the man cries, God also cries out, and

to crucify the Lord of glory is impossible according to the divinity, but it

is possible according to the humanity; but because of the unity of the

person, this being crucified is attributed to the divinity as well.

V [b].

Argument: If Christ were true God, of the same essence with the Father, the

Scripture would not teach that he received all things from the Father. But

Scripture so says. Therefore he is not true God.

I respond to the minor premise: This [pertains to] his ministry and

humanity. For in divinity he is equal in power with the Father.

VI.

Argument: Everything that is born begins to be, or, everything that is born

has a beginning. Christ was born. Therefore he began to be. He is a

creature, and is not from eternity.

Response: I concede this, with a distinction. In philosophy this is true,

but not in theology. The Son is born eternal from eternity; this is

something incomprehensible. [But] this belongs to theology. For the Holy

Spirit has prescribed models for us; let us walk in that cloud.

VII.

Argument: When we must speak carefully, there is most need of grammar. In

theology, we must speak carefully. Therefore the Holy Spirit has his own

grammar.

Response: The Holy Spirit has his own grammar. Grammar is useful

everywhere, but when the subject is greater than can be comprehended by the

rules of grammar and philosophy, it must be left behind. In grammar, analogy

works very well: Christ is created. Therefore Christ is a creature. But in

theology, nothing is more useless. Wherefore our eloquence must be

restrained, and we must remain content with the patterns prescribed by the

Holy Spirit. We do not depart [from grammar] without necessity, for the

subject is ineffable and incomprehensible. A creature, in the old use of

language, is that which the creator has created and distinguished from

himself, but this meaning has no place in Christ the creature. There the

creator and the creature are one and the same. Because there is an ambiguity

in the term and men hearing it immediately think of a creature separate from

the creator, they therefore fear to use it, but it may be sparingly used as a

new term, as once Augustine spoke, moved by the greatest joy: "Is this not a

marvelous mystery? He who is the Creator, wished to be a creature." This is

to be forgiven the holy Father, who was moved by surpassing joy to speak

thus. He speaks, however, of the unity, not of a separation, as the grammar

implies, and yet, as I have said, this kind of speech is to be used

sparingly, and our joy must be restrained, lest it give birth to errors. And

the Fathers are to be forgiven, because they spoke thus because of surpassing

joy, wondering that the Creator was a creature. It is not permissible to use

such words among the weak, because they are easily offended, but among the

learned and those firmly rooted in this article, it does not matter how you

speak, and I am not harmed if you say: Christ is thirst, humanity,

captivity, creature.

VIII.

Argument: Your fourteenth and eighteenth propositions are contradictory.

Therefore they are not to be approved.

Response: Such contradictions do not take place between equivocal terms, but

between terms of the same meaning. But "creature" has a double

signification.

IX.

Argument: No creature ought to be worshipped [adoranda]. Christ ought to be

worshipped. Therefore Christ is not a creature.

Response: Thus Schwenkfeld argues. This is indeed one of his absurdities,

and he errs with respect to the communication of attributes. The humanity

joined with the divinity is worshipped; the humanity of Christ is worshipped,

and not falsely, for it is inseparable from the divinity and the addition of

this posessive, "of Christ," answers the objection. Thus Christ speaks in

John 14. Philip asks Christ to show him the Father, because with the eyes of

the flesh he sees nothing but flesh, and Christ then responds: "Have I been

with you so long, etc.? He who sees me, sees the Father." Christ says that

[Philip] sees the Father, when he sees [Christ], because he sees the humanity

and the divinity united in one person. Therefore he says, "Do you not know,

that the Father is in me and I in the Father?" Therefore it is said that he

who touches the Son of God, touches the divine nature itself. The old

theologians went to astounding lengths [mirabiliter se cruciarunt] in

answering this question of whether the humanity is to be worshipped, and they

established three ways [species] in which the humanity may be adored: Dulia,

when Peter and Paul and all the other saints are adored; hyperdulia, when the

Virgin Mary is adored, and here they included the humanity of Christ, and

called [this worship] hyperdulia as well; and latria, when Christ is

worshipped with regard to his divinity [cum relatione et divinitate]. Christ

clearly dissolves [the distinction, for] whoever worships the humanity of

Christ here no longer adores a creature (for this is what is meant by the

union of natures), but the Creator himself, for the unity is what is

fundamental [quia fundamentum est in unitate].

Argument: Every man is corrupted by original sin and has concupiscence.

Christ had neither concupiscence nor original sin. Therefore he is not a

man.

Response: I make a distinction with regard to the major premise. Every man

is corrupted by original sin, with the exception of Christ. Every man who is

not a divine Person [personaliter Deus], as is Christ, has concupiscence, but

the man Christ has none, because he is a divine Person, and in conception the

flesh and blood of Mary were entirely purged, so that nothing of sin

remained. Therefore Isaiah says rightly, "There was no guile found in his

mouth"; otherwise, every seed except for Mary's was corrupted.

XI.

Argument: If Christ is a creature only according to his humanity, and is not

called a creature _simpliciter_, then it follows that something remains which

is not united in Christ by nature [manere quod non uniatur in Christo

natura], and that there is in Christ something which is not divine.

Response: There is an equivocation in the term "_simpliciter_." It is

impossible that Christ is merely a creature according to his humanity, for

this destroys the divinity. This is Schwenkfeld's objection. Christ is not

a creature _simpliciter_. Christians indeed say that Christ according to his

humanity is a creature, but they immediately add that Christ according to his

divinity is the Creator, etc. Therefore the human nature is not to be spoken

of apart from the divinity. The humanity is not a person, but a nature.

XI [a].

Argument: No one can dispute that flesh is a creature. Christ was made

flesh. Therefore he is a creature.

Response: With respect to his humanity [ad humanitatem] Christ was made

flesh.

XI [b].

Argument: Whatever is subject to death, is not God. Christ was subjected to

death. Therefore he is not God.

Response: Because of the communication of attributes, this thing which is

proper to the human nature is shared [commune] with the divine.

XII.

Argument: "Man" and "humanity" have the same meaning. Therefore it is

rightly said that Christ is humanity.

Response: This is not conceded, but rather that Christ is man, because this

is a concrete term with personal signification, whereas an abstract signifies

the mode of nature, or naturally, so that therefore it is false that Christ

is human nature, that is, humanity, or that Christ is humanity. Aristotle

says that abstract terms refer to nature, and concrete terms to a person.

XII [a].

Argument: Whatever belongs [inest] to something, can be predicated of it.

Humanity belongs to Christ. Therefore Christ is humanity.

Response: To "belong" is to inhere to a subject. Whiteness inheres to John.

Therefore John is whiteness. But this does not follow in the abstract. But

I concede it in the concrete: Whiteness inheres to John, therefore he is

white. Humanity belongs to Christ, therefore he is a man.

XIII.

Argument: Paul says: Christ was made a curse. Therefore by the same

principle it could be said: Christ was made humanity.

Response: Rather than analogy, we must follow the guidance of the Holy

Spirit, and as he himself prescribes, so we must speak. That Christ was made

a curse for us, there signifies something truly concrete, that is, Christ was

made a sacrifice, a victim for us.

XIV.

Argument: The manner of speaking [idioma] used by Holy Scripture must be

used by us rather than any other. Scripture never says: This man created

the world; God suffered. Therefore we ought not to speak thus.

Response: The question is whether certain forms of speech [formae] of the

Fathers are to be retained apart from Scripture. I answer, that it is

permissible to use them, when they do not disagree with Holy Scripture in

meaning. For error lies not in the will, but in the meaning. When there are

words which produce error, they must be avoided; but if they give no occasion

for error, it does not matter if you say "a man created the world," if only

the meaning is sound.

XV.

Argument: Moses says, "The Lord your God is one God." Therefore Christ

cannot be true God.

Response: What Moses says, that God is one, in no way contradicts us. For

we too say that there is one God, and not many, but that unity of substance

and essence has three distinct persons, as the nature[s] of Christ are united

in one person. When therefore it is said that "the divinity died," then it

is implied that the Father too and the Holy Spirit have died. But this is

not true, for only one person of the divinity, the Son, is born, dies, and

suffers, etc. Therefore the divine nature, when it is take for a person, was

born, suffered, died, etc., and this is true. We must therefore make a

distinction. If you understand by "divine nature" the whole divinity or the

unity, then the assertion is false, because Christ alone is not the whole

Trinity, but only one person of the Trinity. Therefore there is only one

God. Here we preach, insofar as it is possible, that these three persons are

one God and one essence. But we believe that these things are

incomprehensible; if they could be comprehended, there would be no need to

believe them.

XVI.

Argument: Whatever consists of soul and flesh is a creature. Christ

consists of a soul and flesh. Therefore he is a creature.

I prove the major premise from the Athanasian Creed.

Response: Christ does not consist of a soul and flesh, but of humanity and

divinity. He assumed human nature, which consists of soul and flesh, and in

the Creed, man must be construed with rational soul.

XVII.

Argument: There is nothing accidental in God. To assume humanity is an

accident. Therefore Christ is not God.

Response: In philosophy this is true; but in theology we have our own rules.

When we portray the union so that the divinity in Christ is as it were a

substance, but his humanity as it were an accidental quality, like whiteness

or blackness, this is not said properly or aptly, but we speak thus so that

it can be understood in some way. But that unity of the two natures in one

person is the greatest possible, so that they are equally predicated, and

communicate their properties to the person, as if he were solely God or

solely man.

XVIII.

Argument: Only God is good. Christ does not wish to be called good.

Therefore Christ is not God.

I prove the minor premise from Matthew 19: "Why do you call me good?

No one is good, but. . .," etc.

Response: Christ speaks there according to the capacity of the man asking

the question: "You say that I am good, and yet you do not believe that I am

God. Therefore you do not rightly call me good." Or thus: Christ wished to

speak according to his humanity.

XIX.

Argument: Propositions 15 and 16 are contradictory. Therefore they cannot

be true.

Response: The Fathers sometimes erred [labantur] in judgment, and sometimes

speak correctly. Therefore we must not change them everywhere. Thus Bernard

sometimes spoke very ineptly and improperly, as if he were a heretic. But

when a serious matter was at stake, and he was speaking with God, then [as

if] he were Peter or Paul himself. Therefore the Fathers are to be imitated

where they have spoken and thought rightly, but where they have spoken or

even thought improperly, they are to be tolerated and properly interpreted,

as the papists do who force even [the Fathers] to come to their opinion.

XX.

Argument: The same thing cannot be predicated of God and man. Therefore,

etc.

Response: This is a philosophical argument. There is no relation between

the creature and the Creator, between the finite and the infinite. But we

not only establish a relation, but a union of the finite and the infinite.

Aristotle, if he had heard or read this, would never have been made a

Christian, for he would not have conceded this proposition, that the same

relation belongs to the finite and the infinite.

XXI.

Argument: If it is rightly said that Christ is thirsty and dead, it is also

rightly said that he is thirst and death, for it is said in the Psalm itself:

"I am a worm, and scorn, and despite," and not "I am scorned." Therefore by

the same principle, it seems that it should be said that Christ is death and

thirst.

Response: Analogy or etymology does not hold here. And as I have said, we

must retain the patterns prescribed by the Holy Spirit, especially among the

weak; among strong Christians, it does not matter how you speak, as before

me, since I am not still being taught such things, being already acquainted

with them. [But] among those who are to be taught, we must refrain. As long

as the heart does not err, the tongue will not err; our stammering has been a

roved by the Holy Spirit. But among those who are to be taught, we must

speak modestly, properly, and aptly.

XXII.

Argument: If that which is worse is said of Christ, so too must that which

is better be said. Death is better than sin. Therefore if Christ is called

sin, he is even better called death.

Response: The analogy does not hold. Those who teach are given the task of

teaching aptly, properly, and clearly, so that they may capture their

hearers, who are otherwise offended. He who knew no sin was made sin, that

is, captivity, damnation.

XXIII.

Argument: The Nicene Creed is undoubtedly [maxime] catholic. The opinion of

Schwenkfeld agrees with the Nicene Creed. Therefore it is true.

I prove the minor premise, because it is said [in the Creed] that

Christ is begotten, not made. But every creature is made. Therefore Christ

is not a creature.

Response: "Begotten" refers to the divinity, but Schwenkfeld confounds the

two natures.

XXIV.

Argument: Paul says that Christ was found in condition [habitu] as a man.

Therefore the humanity in Christ is an accident; that is, Christ is man

accidentally, and not by virtue of substance.

Response: The Greek term is _schema_, that is, figure, form, or bearing,

that is, "condition" signifies that he walked and lay down like any other

man. Paul wishes to demonstrate that he was a true man, who suffered and

spoke as a man. Propositions concerning the accidents of man and God in

Christ are immodest [non sunt castae], therefore they are to be spoken of

sparingly, and we must take our stand on the unity. This is so closely

joined that in the whole nature of things no similar example can be given.

The closest similarity is the nature of man. For as this consists of two

distinct parts, that is, soul and flesh, thus the person of Christ consists

of two natures united, although the soul is at last separated from the flesh

when man dies.

XXV.

Argument: (M. Vitus Amerbach) I ask the reason why Christ is man and not

humanity.

Response: Because "man" includes the person, and "humanity" does not.

I now argue the point thus: Man is humanity; either they are

synonyms or they are not. If they are synonyms, the seventh proposition is

false, whence the proposition that Christ is humanity is condemned, even

though it is said that Christ is divinity.

[Again:] If it is not false, then the eighth proposition is invalid:

"Though otherwise man and humanity are synonyms, like God and divinity."

Response: Synonyms are predicated interchangeably of the same substance, for

such is the nature of synonyms. If they are synonyms, they must be

predicated of the same subject. They are called synonyms becayse they

signify the same thing _simpliciter_ in all respects. Thus man and humanity

are synonyms _simpliciter_ in philosophy, but in theology they are not.

Against the solution: Synonyms are of the same nature and signification.

Man and humanity are not of the same nature. Therefore they are not

synonyms. You [vos] have said that humanity signifies only a form in matter,

not joined with a subject. But man is a subject. Therefore they are

different.

Response: In philosophy they are synonyms _simpliciter_, having the same

signification, but not in theology, for here is one man to whom no one is

similar. Here man in the concrete signifies human nature, because he is a

person, but humanity does not signify a person. Therefore [these terms]

differ in theology and philosophy. If it were said that the divine person

assumed a man, that is, a human person, it would follow that there were two

persons, but this is intolerable. Therefore it is rightly said that the Word

assumed human nature.

[Again:] "Thou tookest man upon thee to deliver him."

Response: Man is taken in an abstract sense. "Man," when it is said of

Christ, is a personal name, now that the person has assumed the person.

XXVI.

Argument: I ask whether a holy thing and holiness, or a good thing and

goodness, are the same?

Response: There is a great difference between concrete terms and abstract

ones, as between a white thing and whiteness, between substance and accident.

These are not synonyms, for a accident can either be present or absent.

On the contrary: Both a good thing and goodness are accidents, as are a man

and humanity.

Response: As far as accidents are concerned, they are not synonomous.

XXVII. Against [propositions] 11 and 12.

"Thou tookest man upon thee to deliver him." But strictly speaking [proprie],

God either assumed human nature or humanity or man. But strictly speaking he

did not assume humanity or human nature. Therefore he assumed a man, because

humanity is an abstract and signifies only a form, but human nature signifies

matter, that is, flesh and soul. But God strictly speaking did not assume

flesh and a soul, nor flesh alone or a soul alone, but a man, which is the

general and most a ropriate term in this matter. Therefore I say that he

assumed a whole man [integrum hominem], not simply humanity or a part

thereof.

Response: When humanity is used, as above, as a philosophical term, it is

the same as man, but in theology it does not signify a person, as "man"

signifies a person, that is, a particular person, [if we were to say] that

the Son of God assumed a man. If it were said that the divine person assumed

a human nature, that is, a person, then there would be two persons, which we

do not concede. For there are not two substances, etc.

"Thou tookest man upon thee to deliver him." Here everyone answers

that man is here taken abstractly, that is, as "humanity," which is not

subsistent, but assumed. "Man," however, does not signify something assumed,

but an existing person. Therefore "man" has a different signification with

regard to Christ. Christ is a man, that is, the divine person which assumed

human nature, for the person did not assume a person. In philosophy there is

no difference between man and the union of a soul and flesh, but in theology

there is a great difference. For in Christ, humanity signifies the assumed,

not subsistent, human nature. But "man" signifies a subsistent person.

XXVIII.

Argument: Just as it is rightly said that Christ is created, so too it is

rightly said that Christ is a creature. "Creature" [creatura] does not

signify an action, but a thing produced by a creator, but it is nevertheless

an abstract term.

Response: We concede to the Fathers, after their fashion, that christ is

called a creature; but because among the untrained "creature" always

signifies something separated from the Creator, this is not well done. But

when we call Christ a creature, we understand the divine person which assumed

human nature. Nor is the creature in Christ the subject [suppositum], not

even according to philosophy, but something assumed. Christ, being created,

is not separated from God. Therefore he is not a creature in the old sense

of the word.

XXIX.

Argument: Two contraries cannot exist in the same subject [duo disparata non

possunt esse in eodem]. God and man are contraries. Therefore they cannot

exist in the same subject.

Response: Christ was corruptible and mortal, because he died, but not

according to his birth [secundum generationem]. Aristotle did not understand

the corruption of human nature, wherefore he attributed our corruption to the

elements, as in other created things. But the fall of Adam is the cause of

death. For Adam was composed of the elements, [and yet] intended [conditus]

for eternal life. If he had not fallen, there would have been a perpetual

harmony of the elements and no corruption.

XXX.

Argument: Athanasius says: Such as is the Father, such is the Son.

Therefore Christ is not created.

Response: He speaks of the divinity of Christ, [but] the Word, which is God,

became incarnate.

XXX [a].

Again: Contraries must be eliminated [contraria sunt e medio tollenda].

Your third and sixth propositions are clearly contrary. The third states

that those things which pertain to man are rightly said of God, and those

things which pertain to God, of man. The sixth, that it is not permissible

to say that since Christ is thirsty, a slave, dead, therefore he is thirst,

slavery, death. Therefore these propositions must be eliminated.

Response: In the third proposition we are speaking in the concrete, but in

the sixth in the abstract.

Again: This is the catholic faith, that we confess one Lord Jesus Christ,

true God and man. Therefore, neither God the Father nor the Holy Spirit,

since "one" excludes both God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Response: One God, and threefold [trinum] in Trinity, nor do we deny the

Trinity. For there is one God, but three persons, nor yet are they separated

from each other.

Again: The Word was made flesh. But flesh is a creature. Therefore the

Word, that is, God, was made a creature.

Response: John says concerning Christ that he was made flesh, that is, that

he assumed human nature, while otherwise he remained God.

Again: They think rightly who say that Christ is [not] a creature according

to his humanity, as Schwenkfeld.

Response: They are all wrong who call Christ a creature _simpliciter_.

XXXI.

Argument: God is a spirit. Christ is not a spirit. Therefore, etc.

Response: In Christ there are two natures: the divine, which is spirit, and

the human, which has flesh and bones. Christ according to his humanity is a

creature, and Christ according to his divinity is God, so closely joined

together [coniunctissime etiam] that the two natures are one person.

XXXII.

Argument: He who makes something cannot be the same as the thing which he

makes. Christ is the Creator. Therefore he cannot be a creature.

Response: We join the Creator and the creature in the unity of the person.

The worthless Schwenkfeld [reproaches] us for teaching that Christ is only a

creature. He wants to be holy when he stirs up that sect and says that

Christ in glory is not a man. Therefore neither will he be God or worthy of

worship. He means a pure creature apart from the divinity. He reproaches

good men without naming them. None say, as you claim, that Christ is purely

a creature, but a serpent is easily hidden.

XXXIII.

Argument: The divinity in Christ felt no pain. God is divinity. Therefore

he did not feel pain on the Cross, and consequently he did not suffer.

Response: [Because of] the communication of attributes, those things which

Christ suffered are attributed also to God, because they are one. Our

adversaries want to divide the unity of the person, but we will [not]

concede. We join or unite the distinct natures in one person.

XXXIII [a].

Argument: Whatever is subject to death, is not God. Christ was subjected to

death. Therefore Christ is not God.

Response: [First,] there is the communication of attributes, and the

argument is a philosophical one.

[Again:] Scripture does not say: "This man created the world; God

suffered." Therefore these expressions are not to be used.

Response: Error resides not in words, but in the sense; although Scripture

does not put forward these words, it nevertheless has the same sense.

XXXIII [b].

Argument: No creature creates. Christ is a creature.

Response: [This is true] understanding creature in a philosophical way. But

creature is said of Christ theologically. Christ is the Creator.

Again: Paul [writes] to the Galatians: God sent his Son, born of a woman.

Therefore God is a creature.

Response: The argument is true according to the humanity.

End [of the Disputation on the Divinity and Humanity of Christ]

_________________________________________________________________

This text was translated from the Latin for Project Wittenberg by

Christopher B. Brown and is in the public domain. You may freely

distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments

or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at

Concordia Theological Seminary.

E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu

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