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A more detailed account of tradition and the definition of the Church
is given in the history of dogmas and in patrology. In this treatise
we shall give a brief summary of what everyone is expected to know about
these matters.[158] We notice that considerable progress has been
made in the development of dogma in the course of combating the various
heresies.
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1) In the first three centuries, the Fathers affirm that Christ is
both God and man, because He came to save and redeem us, which He
could not have done unless He had been both God, the author of
grace, and also man.[159] Hence they reject the errors of the
Docetae, who said that Christ's body was imaginary and fantastic,
and of the Dualists, who declared that the divine and human natures in
Christ were united accidentally.[160] We find Tertullian, in
his days, asserting that the union of the two natures in Christ was
effected "in one person."[161]
2) In the fourth century, whereas the Apollinarists denied a
rational soul to Christ, meaning to say that the Word took the place
of the mind in Christ, the Fathers clearly affirm that Christ is
both perfect God and perfect man; and they also assert that what was
not assumed was not healed. If, therefore, the Word did not assume
a rational soul, the soul was not healed; and besides, Christ could
not have merited and been obedient.[162]
3) Finally, in the fifth century, the Nestorians declared that the
union of the two natures in Christ was only accidental, and the
Eutychians asserted that there was only one nature in Christ.
Against these heresies the Catholic concept of one person in Christ
and of the hypostatic union is explicitly affirmed, and these points
must be fully explained farther on.[163]
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Following are the principal definitions of the Church concerning the
divinity of Christ.[164]
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1) Christ is truly God, He is rightly called the Word, and Son
of the Father, consubstantial with the Father, equal to Him, God
of God, begotten not made, the only-begotten of the Father by
natural and not by adoptive sonship.
2) "I believe in Jesus Christ, our Savior...," which is the
most ancient formula.[165]
3) "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son [of the Father]
our Lord,"[166] which is the more ancient formula in the
Western Church.
4) The Creed of St. Epiphanius proposed to the catechumens of the
Eastern Church: "We believe in one God... and in one Lord
Jesus Christ the Son of God, begotten of God the Father, the
only-begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father, God of
God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made,
consubstantial with the Father by whom all things were made... who
for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was
incarnate."[167]
5) The First Council of Nicaea (325) defines, against the
Arians: "We believe in one God the Father almighty, Maker of all
things visible and invisible. And in our one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is, of the
substance of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of
true God, begotten not made, one in substance with the Father, by
whom all things were made, both in heaven and on earth, who for our
salvation came down, was incarnate, and was made man, suffered and
rose again the third day, ascended into heaven, and will come to judge
the living and the dead."[168] All these words of the Nicene
Council must be seriously considered farther on, when we explain the
articles of St. Thomas. The preceding testimony and definitions
suffice for establishing the fact of the Incarnation.
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