Incarnation (Christianity)

== Description and development of the traditional doctrine ==
Incarnation refers to the act of a [[Pre-existence of Christ|pre-existent]] divine person, the Son of God, in becoming a human being. While all Christians believed that Jesus was indeed the [[Unigenitus|Unigenite]] [[Son of God (Christianity)|Son of God]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Artermi |first=Eirini |title=The Religious Policy of the Byzantine Emperors from the 1st to 4th Ecumenical Council |url=http://www.impantokratoros.gr/thriskeftikh-politikh.el.aspx |access-date=25 March 2015}}</ref> "the divinity of Christ was a theologically charged topic for the Early Church."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/node/7393|title=What do Christians believe about the Incarnation? Was Jesus really God? - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|website=www.ccel.org|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> [[Christological controversies|Debate on this subject]] occurred during the first four centuries of Christianity, involving [[Jewish Christians]], [[Gnosticism|Gnostics]], followers of [[Arius]] of Alexandria, and adherents of [[Pope Alexander I of Alexandria|Pope Alexander of Alexandria]], among others.

[[Ignatius of Antioch]] taught that "We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.v.ii.vii.html|title=Philip Schaff: ANF01. The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|website=www.ccel.org|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> [[Justin Martyr]] argued that the incarnate Word was pre-figured in Old Testament prophecies.

The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' discusses the Incarnation in paragraphs 461{{ndash}}463 and cites several Bible passages to assert its centrality ({{bibleverse|Philippians|2:5-8}}, {{bibleverse|Hebrews|10:5-7}}, {{bibleverse|1 John|4:2}}, {{bibleverse|1 Timothy|3:16}}).<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|461-463}}</ref>

=== Nicene Creed ===
{{Main|Nicene Creed}}
The Nicene Creed is a [[Creed|statement of belief]] originating in two ecumenical councils, the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325, and the [[First Council of Constantinople]] in 381. As such, is it still relevant to most Christian churches today.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.religionfacts.com/charts/denominations-beliefs |title=Compare Christian Denominations: Belief and Theology |date=March 5, 2005 |website=Religion Facts }}</ref> The Incarnation is always professed, though different Rites use different [[English versions of the Nicene Creed|translations]]. The Roman Catholic Church's current translation is: "For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary and became man."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/credo.htm |title=THE PROFESSION OF FAITH |website=Vatican.va }}</ref>

===Apostles' Creed===
{{Main|Apostles' Creed}}
The Apostles' Creed includes the article of faith "He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/credo.htm|title=Catechism Credo|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> According to [[Pope John Paul II]], by his incarnation Jesus is a figure of and has united himself to every human being, including the [[Catholic Church and abortion|unborn]] at the moment of their life at [[conception (biology)|conception]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html|title=Evangelium Vitae (25 March 1995) &#124; John Paul II|website=www.vatican.va|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref>

===Ecumenical councils===
{{Main|Ecumenical council}}
Eventually, the teachings of Alexander, [[Athanasius of Alexandria|Athanasius]], and the other [[Nicene Fathers]] that the Son was consubstantial and coeternal with the Father, were defined as orthodox dogma. All divergent beliefs were defined as [[heresy|heresies]]. This included [[Docetism]], [[Arianism]], [[Nestorianism]], [[Monophysitism]], [[Adoptionism]], and [[Sabellianism]].<ref name="In Jesus Humanity and Divinity Unit">{{cite journal |last1=Marbaniang |first1=Domenic |title=In Jesus Humanity and Divinity United |journal=Revive |date=2011 |volume=4 |issue=5 |page=3}}</ref>

The most widely accepted definitions of the incarnation and the nature of Jesus were made by the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325, the [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus]] in 431, and the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451. These councils declared that Jesus was both fully God (begotten from, but not created by, the Father) and fully man, taking his flesh and human nature from the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]]. These two natures, human and divine, were [[hypostatic union|hypostatically]] united into the one [[Personhood#Christianity|personhood]] of Jesus Christ.<ref group="note">[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.toc.html The Seven Ecumenical Councils], from the ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'', vols. 2–14 (CCEL.org) Contains detailed statements from each of these councils. The First Council of Nicaea, Council of Ephesus and Council of Chalcedon are the "First", "Third" and "Fourth" Ecumenical Councils, respectively.</ref> According to the [[Catholic Church]], an ecumenical council's declarations are [[infallible]], making the incarnation a [[dogma in the Catholic Church]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s1c2a2.htm|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church 85–90|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref>

===Effect===
The incarnation implies three facts: (1) The divine person of Jesus Christ; (2) The human nature of Jesus Christ; (3) The [[hypostatic union]] of the human with the divine nature in the divine person of Jesus Christ. Without diminishing his divinity, he added to it all that is involved in being human.<ref name="Packer">{{Cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/march/25.72.html|title=Incarnate Forever|first=J. I.|last=Packer|website=ChristianityToday.com|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> In Christian belief it is understood that Jesus was at the same time both fully God and fully human, two natures in one person.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/speaking-and-writing/speeches/archbishop-justin-addresses-muslim-council-wales|title=Archbishop Justin addresses Muslim Council of Wales|website=The Archbishop of Canterbury|accessdate=December 22, 2021}}</ref> The body of Christ was therefore subject to all the bodily weaknesses to which human nature is universally subject; such are hunger (Matthew.4:2), thirst (John 19:28), fatigue (John 4:6), pain, and death. They were the natural results of the human nature he assumed.<ref name="Drum">[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07706b.htm Drum, Walter. "The Incarnation". ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''] Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 20 Octobrt 2016</ref> Approaches such as [[Nestorianism]], Ebonism, [[Arianism]], Appoliniarianism, and [[Eutychianism]] have attempted understanding of the two natures of Christ; some of them have been condemned traditionally as heretical.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marbaniang |first1=Domenic |title=In Jesus Humanity and Divinity United |journal=Revive |date=May 2011 |volume=4 |issue=5 |page=3}}</ref> In ''A Kryptic Model of the Incarnation'', [[Andrew Loke]] evaluates many of these attempts and suggests a possible Divine Preconscious Model (DPM) that postulates that at the Incarnation, Christ's mind included the divine conscious and the divine preconscious along with a human preconscious.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Loke |first1=Andrew |title=A Kryptic Model of the Incarnation |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxon}}</ref>

The incarnation of Jesus is also one of the key factors which, alongside humans made in the image and likeness of God, forms Christian Anthropology. Specifically, incarnation is vital for understanding the concept of [[Divinization (Christian)|Divinisation]] of the Man, most well and elaborately developed in Orthodox Christianity and most well expressed by Church Fathers, such as [[St. Athanasius of Alexandria]] ("Therefore He was not man, and then became God, but He was God, and then became man, and that to deify us"<ref>{{Citation |last=Athanasius |title=Against the Arians |chapter-url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf204.xxi.ii.i.xi.html |chapter=Discourse I, Paragraph 39 |access-date=2012-11-06 |author-link=Athanasius of Alexandria}}</ref>), [[St Cyril of Alexandria]] ("For we too are sons and gods by grace, and we have surely been brought to this wonderful and supernatural dignity since we have the Only Begotten Word of God dwelling within us."<ref>{{Cite book |last=of Alexandria |first=Cyril |title=On the Unity of Christ |publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-88141-133-1 |location=Crestwood, NY |pages=80}}</ref>) [[Divinization (Christian)#Patristic writings|and numerous others]].

===Modern Protestantism===
The link between the incarnation and the [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]] within [[systematic theology]] is complex. Within traditional models of the atonement, such as [[Substitutionary atonement|Substitution]], [[Satisfaction theory of atonement|Satisfaction]] or [[Christus Victor]], Christ must be human in order for the sacrifice of the cross to be efficacious, for human sins to be "removed" and/or "conquered". In his work ''The Trinity and the Kingdom of God'',<ref>''Trinität und Reich Gottes. Zur Gotteslehre'' 1980</ref> [[Jürgen Moltmann]] differentiated between what he called a "fortuitous" and a "necessary" incarnation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moltmann|first=Jürgen|url=https://www.bethanyipcmm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Moltmann-J-1993-The-Trinity-and-the-Kingdom-Doctrine-of-God-Fortress.pdf|title=The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God|publisher=[[Fortress Press]]|year=1993|isbn=9780060659066|location=Minneapolis, MN|pages=114|translator-last=Kohl}}</ref> The latter gives a soteriological emphasis to the incarnation: the Son of God became a man so that he could save us from our sins. The former, on the other hand, speaks of the incarnation as a fulfilment of the [[Love of God in Christianity|love of God]], of his desire to be present and living amidst humanity, to "walk in the garden" with us. Moltmann favours "fortuitous" incarnation primarily because he feels that to speak of an incarnation of "necessity" is to do an injustice to the [[Ministry of Jesus|life of Christ]].