<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Comparing the union of Christ’s two natures to the body-soul union in a human being was a typical way among patristic authors to conceive the Incarnation. I argue that a novel use of the comparison emerged among Neochalcedonian theologians, esp. Leontius of Byzantium and Maximus Confessor. Their novelty lay in the concurrent refinement of the nature-hypostasis distinction required by Chalcedon. That refinement – particularly the shift from conceiving natures as self-subsistent to subsistent only in hypostases – opened unprecedented ways to make the anthropological comparison. Now there was a new, univocal tertium comparationis between Christ and the human being: in each case it’s a hypostasis alone that makes two distinct natures really one. Neochalcedonian novelty supports the broader thesis that post-Chalcedonian Christology had profound impact on philosophy (cf. Johannes Zachhuber). In this case, Neochalcedonian Christology granted far greater insight into the fundamental mystery of the human person.</p></abstract>

Comparing the union of Christ’s two natures to the body-soul union in a human being was a typical way among patristic authors to conceive the Incarnation. I argue that a novel use of the comparison emerged among Neochalcedonian theologians, esp. Leontius of Byzantium and Maximus Confessor. Their novelty lay in the concurrent refinement of the nature-hypostasis distinction required by Chalcedon. That refinement – particularly the shift from conceiving natures as self-subsistent to subsistent only in hypostases – opened unprecedented ways to make the anthropological comparison. Now there was a new, univocal tertium comparationis between Christ and the human being: in each case it’s a hypostasis alone that makes two distinct natures really one. Neochalcedonian novelty supports the broader thesis that post-Chalcedonian Christology had profound impact on philosophy (cf. Johannes Zachhuber). In this case, Neochalcedonian Christology granted far greater insight into the fundamental mystery of the human person.

A Novel Use of the Body-Soul Comparison Emerges in Neochalcedonian Christology

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu

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{"article-title":"A Novel Use of the Body-Soul Comparison Emerges in Neochalcedonian Christology"}

Comparing the union of Christ’s two natures to the body-soul union in a human being was a typical way among patristic authors to conceive the Incarnation. I...

A Novel Use of the Body-Soul Comparison Emerges in Neochalcedonian Christology

Published Online: Jan 21, 2020

Page range: 363 - 390

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ress-2019-0027

Keywords
Neochalcedonian Christology, anthropology, human person, Nestorianism, miaphysitism, Leontius of Byzantium, Maximus Confessor

© 2019 Jordan Daniel Wood, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A Novel Use of the Body-Soul Comparison Emerges in Neochalcedonian Christology

Published Online: Jan 21, 2020

Page range: 363 - 390

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ress-2019-0027

KeywordsNeochalcedonian Christology, anthropology, human person, Nestorianism, miaphysitism, Leontius of Byzantium, Maximus Confessor

© 2019 Jordan Daniel Wood, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Neochalcedonian Christology, anthropology, human person, Nestorianism, miaphysitism, Leontius of Byzantium, Maximus Confessor