(March 8, 2019 at 10:51 am)Gae Bolga Wrote: If jesus were incapable of sinning then the temptation of christ, a narrative that the authors saw important enough to include in matthew, mark, and luke, would be reduced to contrived drama. In a similar vein, if jesus were not fully human his sacrificial value would be diminished. He had to suffer.
OFC any paradox can be conceptually resolved by simply affirming one side or the other..but in the case of christology the issue becomes the theological equivalent of a hydra. You chop off one head, two more appear. This intractability is why the proto-christian authorities punted on the issue and decided to include two contradictory camps, declaring it a "mystery".
You're not supposed to be able to resolve it, and any attempt -to- resolve it erodes some other christological concept.
It's not a paradox, they are not contradictory features or properties as you both state. I was attempting to explain it in a way you understood that. I did not say I believed he were incapable of sinning, just that it required mental gymnastics to get to that point. My point was the two natures of God and Man are not paradoxical. Even early Christians realized this, hence the Chalcedonean Creed which is accepted by most modern denominations, even if most can't clearly explain it.
To clear it up, I believe Jesus was a sinless man that was tempted but didn't have a sinful nature.
tempted to sin- Hebrews 4- understands weakness and was tempted, yet without sin. To be tempted you must have volition and choice. He was tempted, but didn't. You can be tempted and not sin, and be 100% flesh (man). This is the goal of the average Christian, although none attain.
The Chalcedonean Creed can be summarized pretty simply in that Jesus is not a God brain in a flesh suit.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari