God-man (Christianity)

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God-man (Koinē Greek: θεάνθρωπος, romanized: theánthropos; Latin: deus homo[1]) is a term which refers to the incarnation and the hypostatic union of Christ, which are two of mainstream Christianity's most widely accepted and revered christological doctrines.

Origins[edit]

The first usage of the term "God-man" as a theological concept appears in the writing of the 3rd-century Church Father Origen:[2]

This substance of a soul, then, being intermediate between God and the flesh – it being impossible for the nature of God to intermingle with a body without an intermediate instrument – the God-man is born.[3]

Posterity[edit]

The term is also used by the medieval philosopher and theologian Anselm of Canterbury (11th century) in his treatise on the atonement, Cur Deus Homo ("Why God Became Man").[4]

The term is used in the Westminster Larger Catechism, where it says:

Christ is exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God, in that as God-man he is advanced to the highest favour with God the Father[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Origenes "De Principiis", in Latin translation by Rufinus. Book II, Chap 7, sec 3, p. 196
  2. ^ Baldwin, James, Dictionary Of Philosophy And Psychology, 1901
  3. ^ Origen, De Principiis, Book II, Chapter VI. On the Incarnation of the Christ, between the years 220 and 230
  4. ^ Anselm of Canterbury, Cur Deus Homo, Book Two, chapter VI & chapter VII
  5. ^ Question 54