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immediately but mediately,” to use the language of scholastic theology; they consider this
nature not absolutely and in itself, but in the person of the Son of God. The result of the
incarnation was that the divine Saviour could be ignorant and weak, could be tempted, and
could suffer and die, not in His divine nature, but derivatively, by virtue of His possession of a
human nature.
2. A THREEFOLD COMMUNICATION RESULTED FROM THE INCARNATION.
a. A communicatio idiomatum, or communication of properties. This means that the properties
of both, the human and the divine natures, are now the properties of the person, and are
therefore ascribed to the person. The person can be said to be almighty, omniscient,
omnipresent, and so on, but can also be called a man of sorrows, of limited knowledge and
power, and subject to human want and miseries. We must be careful not to understand the
term to mean that anything peculiar to the divine nature was communicated to the human
nature, or vice versa; or that there is an interpenetration of the two natures, as a result of
which the divine is humanized, and the human is deified (Rome). The deity cannot share in
human weaknesses; neither can man participate in any of the essential perfections of the
Godhead.
b. A communicatio apotelesmatum or operationum. This means that the redemptive work of
Christ, and particularly the final result of that work, the apotelesma, bears a divine-human
character. Analyzing this, we can say that it means: (1) that the efficient cause of the
redemptive work of Christ is the one undivided personal subject in Christ; (2) that it is brought
about by the co-operation of both natures; (3) that each of these natures works with its own
special energeia; and (4) that, notwithstanding this, the result forms an undivided unity,
because it is the work of a single person.
c. A communicatio charismatum or gratiarum. This means that the human nature of Christ,
from the very first moment of its existence, was adorned with all kinds of rich and glorious gifts,
as for instance, (1) the gratia unionis cum persona tou Logou, that is, the grace and glory of
being united to the divine Logos, also called the gratia eminentiae, by which the human nature
is elevated high above all creatures, and even becomes the object of adoration; and (2) the
gratia habitualis, consisting of those gifts of the Spirit, particularly of the intellect, of the will,
and of power, by which the human nature of Christ was exalted high above all intelligent
creatures. His impeccability, the non posse peccare, especially should be mentioned here.
3. THE GOD-MAN IS THE OBJECT OF PRAYER. Another effect of the union is, that the Mediator
just as He now exists, that is, in both natures, is the object of our prayer. It should be borne in
mind that the honor adorationis does not belong to the human nature as such, but belongs to it