In what way is Jesus Christ true God and true man ?
He is true God and true man in a unique and singular way
The Catholic faith underlines with great insistence the admirable union of the divine and human nature in the one divine person, the Word of God : " The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it emply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of faith against the heresies that falsified it" (Catechism of the Catholic Church CCC,464)
The Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D) gave expression to this truth : Jesus Christ is "the solde and identical Son, our Lord Jesus Chrsit, perfect in his divinity and perfect in his humanity ; true God and true man, composed ofa rational soul and a body ; consubstantial with the Father in his divinity, consubstantial with us in his humanity, "one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin" (Heb 4,15) ; generated from the Father before all time according to this divinity and, in these last times, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, in his humanity".
The titles that are given to Jesus Christ show forth his divine and human aspects :
- Jesus means "God saves" mankind and the universe ;
- Christ = the anointed one, the Messiah whom "God has consecrated with the Holy Spirit and with power" (Acts 10,38) and "he who is to come (Lk 7,14) into the world ;
- The Son of God expresses the filial relationship, characteristic of the unique and eternal relationship Christ has with his Father ;
- The title Lord indicates his lordship, divine sovereignty over mankind and the universe (cfr. CCC 430-455)
Publication from Basilica of Saint Ambrose and Saint Charles (Rome)
To be continued...