Scholastic Lutheran Christology
Encyclopedia
Scholastic Lutheran Christology is the orthodox Lutheran
theology of Jesus Christ, developed using the methodology of Lutheran scholasticism
.
On the general basis of the Chalcedonian christology
, and following the
indications of the Scriptures
as the only rule of faith, the Protestant, especially the Lutheran, scholastics, at the close of the sixteenth, and during the seventeenth, century, built some additional features, and developed new aspects of Christ's person. The propelling cause was the Lutheran doctrine of the real presence
or omnipresence
of Christ's body in the Lord's Supper
, and the controversies growing out of it with the Zwinglians and Calvinists, and among the Lutherans themselves. These new features relate to the communion of the two natures
, and to the states and the offices of Christ
. The first was the production of the Lutheran Church, and was never adopted, but partly rejected, by the Reformed; the second and third were the joint doctrines of both, but with a very material difference in the understanding of the second.
means the communication of attributes or properties (Gk. idiomata, Lat. proprietates) of one nature to the other, or to the whole person. It is derived from the unio personalis and the communio naturarum. The Lutheran theologians distinguish three kinds or genera:
(1) genus idiomaticum (or idiopoietikon), whereby the properties of one nature are transferred and applied to the whole person, for which are quoted such passages as Rom. i. 3 ; I Pet. iii. 18, iv. 1.
(2) The genus apotelesmaticum (koinopoietikon), whereby the redemptory functions and actions which belong to the whole person (the apotelesmata) are predicated only of one or the other nature ( I Tim. ii. 5–6 ; Heb. i. 2 3 ).
(3) The genus auchematicum, or majestaticum, whereby the human nature is clothed with and magnified by the attributes of the divine nature
(John iii. 13, v. 27 ; Matt. xxviii. 18, 20 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; Phil. ii. 10 ).
Under this head the Lutheran Church claims a certain ubiquity
or omnipresence
for the body of Christ, on the ground of the personal union of the two natures; but as to the extent of this omnipresence there were two distinct schools which are both represented in Formula of Concord
(1577). Brenz and the Swabia
n Lutherans maintained an absolute ubiquity of Christ's humanity from his very infancy, thus making the incarnation
not only an assumption of the human nature, but also a deification of it, although the divine attributes were admitted to have been concealed during the state of
humiliation. Martin Chemnitz
and the Saxon
divines called this view a monstrosity, and taught only a relative ubiquity, depending on Christ's will (hence called volipraesentia, or multivolipraesentia), who may be present with his whole person wherever he pleases to be or has promised to be.
(4) A fourth kind would be the genus kenoticum (from kenosis
), or tapeinoticum (from tapeinosis), Phil. ii. 7, 8 ; i.e., a communication of the properties of the human nature to the divine nature. But this is decidedly rejected by the old Lutherans as inconsistent with the unchangeableness of the divine nature, and as a "horrible and blasphemous" doctrine (Formula of Concord
, p. 612), but is asserted by the modern Kenoticists.
The Reformed divines never committed themselves to the communicatio idiomatum
as a whole (although they might approve the first two kinds, at least by way of what Zwingli termed allaiosis, or a rhetoric
al exchange of one part for another); and they decidedly rejected the third kind, because omnipresence
, whether absolute or relative, is inconsistent with the necessary limitation of a human body, as well as with the Scripture facts of Christ's ascension to heaven, and promised return (see Black Rubric
). The third genus can never be fully carried out, unless the humanity of Christ is also eternalized. The attributes, moreover, are not an outside appendix, but inherent qualities of the substance to which they belong, and inseparable from it. Hence a communication of attributes would imply a communication or mixture of natures. The divine and human natures can indeed hold free and intimate intercourse with each other; but the divine nature can never be transformed into the human, nor the human nature into the divine. Christ possessed all the attributes of both natures; but the natures, nevertheless, remain separate and distinct.
, education, earthly life, passion, death, and burial of Christ; the state of exaltation includes the resurrection
, ascension, and the sitting at the right hand of God.
But here, again, the two confessions differ very considerably. First as to the descent into Hades. The Scholastic Lutherans
(see Lutheran High orthodoxy (1600–1685) regarded it as a triumph over hell
, and made it the first stage of exaltation; while the Reformed divines viewed it as the last stage of the state of humiliation. It is properly the turning-point from the one state to the other, and thus belong to both. Secondly, the Lutheran Confessions of the Book of Concord refer the two states only to the human nature of Christ, regarding the divine as not susceptible of any humiliation or exaltation.
The Reformed divines refer them to both natures; so that Christ's human nature was in a state of humiliation as compared with its future exaltation, and his divine nature was in the state of humiliation as to its external manifestation (ratione occultationis). With them the incarnation
itself is the beginning of the state of humiliation, while the Book of Concord
excludes the incarnation
from the humiliation.
Finally, the Scholastic Lutherans regard the humiliation only as a partial concealment of the actual use (Gk. krypsis chreseos) of the divine attributes by the incarnate Logos
.
(b) The priestly office (munus sacerdotale) consists of the satisfaction made for the sins of the world by the death on the cross, and in the continued intercession of the exalted Savior for his people (redemptio et intercessio sacerdotalis).
(c) The kingly office (munus regium), whereby Christ founded his kingdom, defends his Church against all enemies, and rules all things in heaven and on earth. The old divines distinguish between the reign of nature (regnum naturae sive potentiae), which embraces all things; the reign of grace (regnum gratiae), which relates to the Church militant on earth; and the reign of glory (regnum gloriae), which belongs to the Church triumphant in heaven.
The threefold office or function of Christ was first presented by Eusebius of Caesarea
. The theologians who followed Luther
and Melanchthon down to the middle of the seventeenth century treat Christ's saving work under the two heads of king and priest. Calvin
, in the first edition of his "Institutes" (1536), did the same, and it was not till the third edition (1559) and the Genevan Catechism that he fully presented the three offices. This convenient threefold division of the office of Christ was used by the theologians of both confessions during the seventeenth century. Ernesti
opposed it, but Schleiermacher
restored it.
http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc03/htm/ii.6.8.htm#ii.6.8.1
Lutheran Orthodoxy
Lutheran orthodoxy was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the Book of Concord and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was paralleled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine Roman Catholicism after the...
theology of Jesus Christ, developed using the methodology of Lutheran scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism was a theological method that gradually developed during the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Theologians used the neo-Aristotelian form of presentation, already popular in academia, in their writings and lectures...
.
On the general basis of the Chalcedonian christology
Chalcedonian Creed
The Confession of Chalcedon , also known as the Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union or the Two-Nature Doctrine, was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor. That Council of Chalcedon is one of the first seven Ecumenical Councils accepted by Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and many...
, and following the
indications of the Scriptures
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
as the only rule of faith, the Protestant, especially the Lutheran, scholastics, at the close of the sixteenth, and during the seventeenth, century, built some additional features, and developed new aspects of Christ's person. The propelling cause was the Lutheran doctrine of the real presence
Real Presence
Real Presence is a term used in various Christian traditions to express belief that in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, a figure of speech , or by his power .Not all Christian traditions accept this dogma...
or omnipresence
Omnipresence
Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present everywhere. According to eastern theism, God is present everywhere. Divine omnipresence is thus one of the divine attributes, although in western theism it has attracted less philosophical attention than such attributes as omnipotence,...
of Christ's body in the Lord's Supper
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
, and the controversies growing out of it with the Zwinglians and Calvinists, and among the Lutherans themselves. These new features relate to the communion of the two natures
Communicatio idiomatum
In Christian theology communicatio idiomatum is a Christological term, seeking to explain the interaction of deity and humanity in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ...
, and to the states and the offices of Christ
Threefold Office
The threefold office of Jesus Christ is a Christian doctrine based upon the teachings of the Old Testament. It was described by Eusebius and more fully developed by John Calvin...
. The first was the production of the Lutheran Church, and was never adopted, but partly rejected, by the Reformed; the second and third were the joint doctrines of both, but with a very material difference in the understanding of the second.
1. The Communicatio Idiomatum
The Communicatio IdiomatumCommunicatio idiomatum
In Christian theology communicatio idiomatum is a Christological term, seeking to explain the interaction of deity and humanity in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ...
means the communication of attributes or properties (Gk. idiomata, Lat. proprietates) of one nature to the other, or to the whole person. It is derived from the unio personalis and the communio naturarum. The Lutheran theologians distinguish three kinds or genera:
(1) genus idiomaticum (or idiopoietikon), whereby the properties of one nature are transferred and applied to the whole person, for which are quoted such passages as Rom. i. 3 ; I Pet. iii. 18, iv. 1.
(2) The genus apotelesmaticum (koinopoietikon), whereby the redemptory functions and actions which belong to the whole person (the apotelesmata) are predicated only of one or the other nature ( I Tim. ii. 5–6 ; Heb. i. 2 3 ).
(3) The genus auchematicum, or majestaticum, whereby the human nature is clothed with and magnified by the attributes of the divine nature
(John iii. 13, v. 27 ; Matt. xxviii. 18, 20 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; Phil. ii. 10 ).
Under this head the Lutheran Church claims a certain ubiquity
Ubiquitarians
The Ubiquitarians, also called Ubiquists, were a Protestant sect started at the Lutheran synod of Stuttgart, 19 December 1559, by Johannes Brenz, a Swabian ....
or omnipresence
Omnipresence
Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present everywhere. According to eastern theism, God is present everywhere. Divine omnipresence is thus one of the divine attributes, although in western theism it has attracted less philosophical attention than such attributes as omnipotence,...
for the body of Christ, on the ground of the personal union of the two natures; but as to the extent of this omnipresence there were two distinct schools which are both represented in Formula of Concord
Formula of Concord
Formula of Concord is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith that, in its two parts , makes up the final section of the Lutheran Corpus Doctrinae or Body of Doctrine, known as...
(1577). Brenz and the Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
n Lutherans maintained an absolute ubiquity of Christ's humanity from his very infancy, thus making the incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
not only an assumption of the human nature, but also a deification of it, although the divine attributes were admitted to have been concealed during the state of
humiliation. Martin Chemnitz
Martin Chemnitz
Martin Chemnitz was an eminent second-generation Lutheran theologian, reformer, churchman, and confessor...
and the Saxon
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
divines called this view a monstrosity, and taught only a relative ubiquity, depending on Christ's will (hence called volipraesentia, or multivolipraesentia), who may be present with his whole person wherever he pleases to be or has promised to be.
(4) A fourth kind would be the genus kenoticum (from kenosis
Kenosis
In Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis In Christian theology, Kenosis (from the Greek word for emptiness (kénōsis) is the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God's divine will....
), or tapeinoticum (from tapeinosis), Phil. ii. 7, 8 ; i.e., a communication of the properties of the human nature to the divine nature. But this is decidedly rejected by the old Lutherans as inconsistent with the unchangeableness of the divine nature, and as a "horrible and blasphemous" doctrine (Formula of Concord
Formula of Concord
Formula of Concord is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith that, in its two parts , makes up the final section of the Lutheran Corpus Doctrinae or Body of Doctrine, known as...
, p. 612), but is asserted by the modern Kenoticists.
The Reformed divines never committed themselves to the communicatio idiomatum
Communicatio idiomatum
In Christian theology communicatio idiomatum is a Christological term, seeking to explain the interaction of deity and humanity in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ...
as a whole (although they might approve the first two kinds, at least by way of what Zwingli termed allaiosis, or a rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al exchange of one part for another); and they decidedly rejected the third kind, because omnipresence
Omnipresence
Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present everywhere. According to eastern theism, God is present everywhere. Divine omnipresence is thus one of the divine attributes, although in western theism it has attracted less philosophical attention than such attributes as omnipotence,...
, whether absolute or relative, is inconsistent with the necessary limitation of a human body, as well as with the Scripture facts of Christ's ascension to heaven, and promised return (see Black Rubric
Black Rubric
The term Black Rubric is the popular name for the declaration found at the end of the "Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper" in the Prayer Book of the Church of England which explains why the communicants should kneel and excludes possible misunderstandings of this action...
). The third genus can never be fully carried out, unless the humanity of Christ is also eternalized. The attributes, moreover, are not an outside appendix, but inherent qualities of the substance to which they belong, and inseparable from it. Hence a communication of attributes would imply a communication or mixture of natures. The divine and human natures can indeed hold free and intimate intercourse with each other; but the divine nature can never be transformed into the human, nor the human nature into the divine. Christ possessed all the attributes of both natures; but the natures, nevertheless, remain separate and distinct.
2. The doctrine of the twofold state of Christ
This is the state of humiliation and the state of exaltation. This doctrine is based upon Phil. ii. 5–9. The state of humiliation embraces the supernatural conception, birth, circumcisionCircumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
, education, earthly life, passion, death, and burial of Christ; the state of exaltation includes the resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
, ascension, and the sitting at the right hand of God.
But here, again, the two confessions differ very considerably. First as to the descent into Hades. The Scholastic Lutherans
Lutheran scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism was a theological method that gradually developed during the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Theologians used the neo-Aristotelian form of presentation, already popular in academia, in their writings and lectures...
(see Lutheran High orthodoxy (1600–1685) regarded it as a triumph over hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, and made it the first stage of exaltation; while the Reformed divines viewed it as the last stage of the state of humiliation. It is properly the turning-point from the one state to the other, and thus belong to both. Secondly, the Lutheran Confessions of the Book of Concord refer the two states only to the human nature of Christ, regarding the divine as not susceptible of any humiliation or exaltation.
The Reformed divines refer them to both natures; so that Christ's human nature was in a state of humiliation as compared with its future exaltation, and his divine nature was in the state of humiliation as to its external manifestation (ratione occultationis). With them the incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
itself is the beginning of the state of humiliation, while the Book of Concord
Book of Concord
The Book of Concord or Concordia is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century...
excludes the incarnation
Incarnation (Christianity)
The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...
from the humiliation.
Finally, the Scholastic Lutherans regard the humiliation only as a partial concealment of the actual use (Gk. krypsis chreseos) of the divine attributes by the incarnate Logos
Logos
' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...
.
3. The threefold offices of Christ
(a) The prophetical office (munus, or officium propheticum) includes teaching and the miracles of Christ.(b) The priestly office (munus sacerdotale) consists of the satisfaction made for the sins of the world by the death on the cross, and in the continued intercession of the exalted Savior for his people (redemptio et intercessio sacerdotalis).
(c) The kingly office (munus regium), whereby Christ founded his kingdom, defends his Church against all enemies, and rules all things in heaven and on earth. The old divines distinguish between the reign of nature (regnum naturae sive potentiae), which embraces all things; the reign of grace (regnum gratiae), which relates to the Church militant on earth; and the reign of glory (regnum gloriae), which belongs to the Church triumphant in heaven.
The threefold office or function of Christ was first presented by Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
. The theologians who followed Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
and Melanchthon down to the middle of the seventeenth century treat Christ's saving work under the two heads of king and priest. Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
, in the first edition of his "Institutes" (1536), did the same, and it was not till the third edition (1559) and the Genevan Catechism that he fully presented the three offices. This convenient threefold division of the office of Christ was used by the theologians of both confessions during the seventeenth century. Ernesti
Johann August Ernesti
Johann August Ernesti was a German Rationalist theologian and philologist.He was born at Bad Tennstedt in Thuringia, where his father, Johann Christoph Ernesti, was pastor, besides being superintendent of the electoral dioceses of Thuringia, Salz and Sangerhausen...
opposed it, but Schleiermacher
Schleiermacher
Schleiermacher is the name of:* Friedrich Schleiermacher - German theologian and philosopher* Ruth Schleiermacher - speedskater* Steffen Schleiermacher - composer...
restored it.
http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc03/htm/ii.6.8.htm#ii.6.8.1