VIII. De Persona Christi
From Controversy to Christological Confession
The Lord's Supper dispute between Lutherans and Calvinists gives rise to a deeper Christological controversy over whether Christ's two natures truly share their properties, and the Formula prepares to settle this by a clear confession of faith.
Out of the earlier controversy over the Lord's Supper between sincere theologians of the Augsburg Confession and the Calvinists — who also disturbed certain other theologians — a disagreement has arisen concerning the person of Christ, the two natures in Christ, and their properties. The state of the controversy. The principal question of this disagreement was whether the divine and human natures, and the properties of each, really — that is, truly and in fact — share in one another through the personal union in the person of Christ, and how far that sharing extends. The Sacramentarians have claimed that in Christ the divine and human natures are personally united in such a way that neither nature really — that is, truly and in actual fact — shares with the other anything that properly belongs to each nature; they say only the bare names are shared. The union, they say, makes only the names common — so that God is called man, and man is called God — yet in such a way that God has nothing in common with the humanity, and conversely the humanity has nothing in common with the divinity with respect to its majesty and properties; that is, in truth and in reality, it has nothing in common. A contrary opinion to this teaching was held by D. Luther, and those who sided with him, argued against the Sacramentarians. AFFIRMATIVE. The pure teaching of the Church of God concerning the person of Christ. To explain this controversy and settle it according to the rule of faith of our Christian faith, we clearly profess our faith, doctrine, and pious confession, namely:
One Person, Two Natures: The Pure Teaching
The Formula confesses that Christ is one divine person with two distinct natures, not mixed or changed, yet joined in the highest real communion so that the properties of each nature are truly shared in the one person.
I. That the divine and human natures in Christ are personally united, so completely that there aren't two Christs, one the Son of God and the other the Son of Man, but that one and the same is the Son of God and of Man. II. We believe, teach, and confess that the divine and human natures are not mixed together into one substance, nor changed one into the other, but that each nature retains its own essential properties, so that the properties of one nature cannot become those of the other. III. The properties of the divine nature are these: to be omnipotent, eternal, and infinite, and — by its own nature and essence — to be present everywhere through itself, to have known all things, and so forth. None of these are, nor ever become, properties of human nature. IV. The properties of human nature, however, are these: to be a bodily creature, to consist of flesh and blood, to be finite and circumscribed, to suffer, to die, to ascend, to descend, to move from place to place, to be hungry, to be thirsty, to feel cold, to be distressed by heat, and whatever else is similar to these. These are not, nor do they ever become, properties of the divine nature. V. But when the divine and human natures are united personally—that is, to constitute one hypostasis—we believe, teach, and confess that this hypostatic union is not that kind of coupling or combination in which neither nature shares anything personally in common with the other; that is, because of the personal union, neither nature has anything in common with the other in the way that happens when two planks are glued together, where neither contributes anything to the other or receives anything from the other. Indeed, rather, this is the highest communion that God truly has with the assumed human being: and from the personal union, and the highest and ineffable communion that follows from it, the whole of what is said and believed about God in human terms, and about the divine in human terms concerning Christ, flows forth. And the most ancient teachers of the Church declared this union and communion of natures by the likeness of glowing iron, and likewise by the union of body and soul in a human being.
God Is Man, Man Is God: Consequences of the Union
Because of the real personal union, Mary is truly the Mother of God, Christ's suffering and exaltation belong to the one divine person, and his exalted human nature can be truly present in the Holy Supper.
VI. From this we also believe, teach, and confess that God is man and man is God — which would by no means hold in this way if the divine and human natures shared nothing at all between them in truth and in reality. For how could the man who is Mary's son truly be called God, or the Son of the Most High God, or actually be such, if his humanity were not personally united with the Son of God — and so, in that case, truly and in reality, he would have nothing at all in common with him except the bare name alone? VII. For this reason we believe, teach, and confess that the virgin Mary did not conceive and bear only a bare or mere man, but the true Son of God; and so she is rightly called and truly is the Mother of God. VIII. Furthermore, we believe, teach, and confess that the one who suffered, died, and was buried for us, descended to the dead, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and was carried up to the power of God's Majesty and almighty power, was not a mere man, but one whose human nature has so close and ineffable a union and sharing with the Son of God that with him it has been made one single person. IX. For this reason the Son of God truly suffered for us — by virtue of that human nature he took up into the unity of his own divine person and made his own — so that he could both suffer and be the supreme Pontiff, the cause of our reconciliation with God. For so it is written: They crucified the Lord of glory.✦ And: We are redeemed by the blood of God.✦ X. From this same foundation we also believe, teach, and confess that the Son of Man is exalted to the right hand of the almighty Majesty and power of God — that is, truly and in reality, according to his human nature — since that man was assumed into God as soon as he was conceived in his mother's womb by the Holy Spirit, and his humanity was already then personally united with the Son of the most high God.✦ XI. Because of his personal union with God, Christ always possessed this majesty; yet in the state of his humiliation he emptied himself, and for this reason he truly advanced in age, in wisdom, and in favor with God and with people. Therefore he did not always exercise that majesty, but only when it pleased him, until after the resurrection he fully and completely laid aside the form of a servant — though not his human nature — and was established in the full possession, manifestation, and declaration of divine majesty, and in this way entered into his glory. And so now, not only as God but also as man, he knows all things, he is able to do all things, he is present to all creatures, and he holds all things that are in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth beneath his feet and in his hand. Christ himself testifies that these things are so, saying: All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth.✦ And Paul says: He ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.✦ He is able to exercise this power of his, present everywhere, and nothing is impossible for him or unknown to him. XII. From there, he can indeed very easily distribute his true body and his blood present in the Holy Supper. This, however, doesn't happen according to the manner and property of human nature, but according to the manner and property of the right hand of God, just as Luther is accustomed to speak according to the analogy of our Christian faith comprehended in the Catechism.1 And this presence of Christ in the Holy Supper is neither physical nor earthly, nor Capernaitic; nevertheless, it is most true and indeed substantial.2 For this is how the words of Christ's Testament sound: This is, is, is my body, etc.✦
The Undivided Mystery of Christ
The Formula guards the Christological mystery against both Nestorian division and Eutychian confusion, affirming that true God and true man remain in one undivided person, the greatest mystery after the Trinity and the ground of all our salvation.
By this faith of ours, this teaching and confession, the person of Christ is not torn apart — which is what Nestorius once did. For he denied the true communication of the idiomata — that is, the distinctive properties — of each nature in Christ, and in this way he split apart the person of Christ, a matter that D. Luther made this clear in his booklet On Councils. Nor, by this faithful teaching of ours, are the two natures in Christ — and their respective properties — blended together or merged into a single essence (that was the error of Eutyches); nor is the human nature in the person of Christ denied or done away with; nor is one nature changed into the other. But Christ — true God and true man — remains in one undivided person, and will remain so for all eternity. This, after that supreme mystery of the Trinity, is the greatest mystery — as the Apostle testifies — and in this one mystery alone all our consolation, life, and salvation are placed. NEGATIVE. The rejection of teachings contrary and false concerning the person of Christ. So let us reject and condemn all the erroneous articles we are about to recite, for they are opposed to the word of God and to our sincere Christian faith, since they are clearly taught by following errors.
Rejected Voices: False Teachings About Christ
The Formula condemns twenty erroneous teachings, from Nestorian and Eutychian errors to false views on Christ's ubiquity, knowledge, and divine power, and warns that twisting Christ's words about his authority reopens the condemned road of Arianism.
I. That God and man in Christ do not constitute one person, but that one is the Son of God and another the Son of man, as Nestorius raved. II. That the divine and human natures were blended into a single essence, and that human nature was changed into deity, as Eutyches raved. III. That Christ is not true, natural, and eternal God: as Arius blasphemed. IV. That Christ did not have a true human nature consisting of a rational soul and a body, as Marcion fabricated. V. That a personal union produces only common names and shared titles. VI. This is just a turn of phrase, a way of speaking, when people say, "God is man, and man is God" — since divinity really has nothing in common with humanity, and humanity has nothing in common with divinity — that is, truly and in reality. VII. That the communication of properties is only verbal, without any real basis, when it is said that the Son of God died for the sins of the world, and that the Son of Man was made almighty. VIII. That the human nature in Christ, in the same way that divinity exists, has been made a certain infinite essence, and from this essential reality, having been communicated and poured out into human nature, and separated from God by virtue and property, exists in the way that divine nature is present everywhere. IX. That human nature in Christ has been made equal to the divine nature, with respect to substance and its own essence, or with respect to the essential properties of the divine nature. X. That Christ's human nature is spread out locally across all the places of heaven and earth—something that can't even be attributed to his divine nature. XI. Because of human nature, it's impossible for Christ to be in more than one place at the same time with his own body, much less everywhere.3 XII. That Christ's humanity alone suffered for us and redeemed us, and that the Son of God in his passion had no real communion with his humanity — just as if this whole affair had nothing to do with him. XIII. The Son of God is present with us on earth only through his divinity — in the Word, in the Sacraments, and in all our hardships — and this presence has absolutely nothing to do with his humanity. For Christ, after he redeemed us through his passion and death, has no further business with us on earth according to his humanity.4 XIV. That the Son of God, who assumed human nature, now that the form of a servant has been laid aside, does not perform all the works of his omnipotence in and with his humanity and through it, but only some — and indeed only in that place where human nature is locally present. XV. That in his humanity Christ is entirely incapable of the omnipotence and other properties of the divine nature — and they dare to assert this against the express testimony of Christ: 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'✦ And they contradict Paul, who says: 'In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.'✦ 16. That to Christ according to his humanity the greatest power has indeed been given in heaven and on earth, that is, greater and more ample than all the angels and creatures have received, but in such a way that he has no sharing in the omnipotence of God, nor has omnipotence been given to him. And so they fabricate a kind of middle power, between the omnipotence of God and the power of other creatures, given to Christ according to his human nature through exaltation, which is indeed less than the omnipotence of God, yet greater than the power of all other creatures. XVII. That certain limits have been set to Christ according to his human spirit, namely, how much it is necessary for him to know: and that he knows no more than is fitting for him, and than is necessarily required for the execution of his office — that is, of judge. XVIII. The objection that Christ does not even now have a perfect knowledge of God and of all his works, even though it is written of him: 'In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.'✦ XIX. That it is impossible for Christ, according to the spirit of his own humanity, to know what has been from eternity, what is now happening everywhere, and what is yet to come into all eternity. XX. We also reject and condemn the fact that Christ's words — 'All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth' — are being twisted by some people through a horrible and blasphemous interpretation, to this effect: that all power in heaven and on earth was restored again to Christ according to his divine nature in his resurrection and ascension into heaven, as though while he was in the state of humiliation he had laid aside and stripped away that very power, even according to his divinity.✦ For by this teaching not only are the words of Christ's testament twisted by a false explanation, but a road long ago condemned — the road of Arian heresy — is being paved anew, so that in the end Christ's eternal divinity is denied, and Christ in all his fullness, as great as he is, is lost together with our salvation, unless this impious teaching is steadfastly contradicted from the solid foundations of God's word and of our Catholic faith.
Read the original Latin
Ex controversia superiore de Coena Domini inter sinceros Theologos Augustanae Confessionis, et Calvinistas, qui alios etiam quosdam Theologos perturbarunt, dissensio orta est, de persona Christi, de duabus in Christo naturis, et de ipsarum proprietatibus.
Status controversiae. Principalis huius dissidii, quaestio fuit, an divina et humana natura et utriusque proprietates propter unionem personalem, REALITER, hoc est, vere et reipsa in persona Christi invicem communicent, et quousque illa communicatio extendatur?
Sacramentarii affirmarunt, divinam et humanam naturas in Christo eo modo personaliter unitas esse, ut neutra alteri quicquam realiter, hoc est, vere, et reipsa, quod cuiusque naturae proprium sit, communicet: sed nomina tantum nuda communicari. Unio (inquiunt illi) facit tantum nomina communia: ut videlicet, Deus dicatur homo, et homo Deus appelletur: ita tamen, ut Deus nihil cum humanitate commune habeat: et vicissim humanitas nihil cum divinitate, quo ad ipsius Maiestatem et proprietates, realiter, hoc est, revera et reipsa commune habeat. Contrariam vero huic dogmati sententiam D. Lutherus, et qui cum ipso faciunt, adversus Sacramentarios propugnarunt.
AFFIRMATIVA. Sincera doctrina Ecclesiae Dei de persona Christi.
Ad explicandam hanc controversiam et iuxta analogiam fidei nostrae Christianae decidendam, fidem, doctrinam et confessionem nostram piam perspicue profitemur, videlicet:
I. Quod divina et humana natura in Christo personaliter unitae sint, ita prorsus, ut non sint duo Christi, unus filius Dei, alter filius hominis: sed ut unus et idem sit Dei et hominis filius.
II. Credimus, docemus, et confitemur, divinam et humanam naturas non in unam substantiam commixtas, nec unam in alteram mutatam esse: sed utramque naturam retinere suas proprietates essentiales: ut quae alterius naturae proprietates fieri nequeant.
III. Proprietates divinae naturae sunt, esse omnipotentem, aeternam, infinitam, et secundum naturae, naturalisque suae essentiae proprietatem, per se, ubique praesentem esse, omnia novisse, etc. Haec omnia neque sunt, neque unquam fiunt humanae naturae proprietates.
IV. Humanae autem naturae proprietates sunt: corpoream esse creaturam, constare carne et sanguine, esse finitam et circumscriptam, pati, mori, ascendere, descendere, de loco ad locum moveri, esurire, sitire, algere, aestu affligi: et si quae sunt similia. Haec neque sunt, neque unquam fiunt proprietates divinae naturae.
V. Cum vero divina et humana naturae personaliter, hoc est, ad constituendum unum ὑφιστάμενον, sint unitae, credimus, docemus, et confitemur, unionem illam hypostaticam non esse talem copulationem aut combinationem, cuius ratione neutra natura cum altera personaliter, hoc est, propter unionem personalem, quicquam commune habeat: qualis combinatio fit, cum duo asseres conglutinantur: ubi neuter alteri quicquam confert, aut aliquid ab altero accipit. Quin potius hic summa communio est, quam Deus cum assumto homine vere habet: et ex personali unione, et summa ac ineffabili communione, quae inde consequitur, totum illud promanat, quicquid humani de Deo, et quicquid divini de homine Christo dicitur et creditur. Et hanc unionem atque communionem naturarum antiquissimi Ecclesiae Doctores similitudine ferri candentis, itemque unione corporis et animae in homine, declararunt.
VI. Hinc etiam credimus, docemus, atque confitemur, quod Deus sit homo, et homo sit Deus: id quod nequaquam ita se haberet, si divina et humana natura prorsus inter se nihil revera et reipsa communicarent.
Quomodo enim homo, Mariae filius, Deus aut filius Dei altissimi vere appellari posset, aut esset, si ipsius humanitas cum filio Dei non esset personaliter unita: atque ita realiter, hoc est, vere et reipsa, nihil prorsus, excepto solo nudo nomine, cum ipso commune haberet?
VII. Eam ob causam credimus, docemus, et confitemur, quod virgo Maria non nudum aut merum hominem duntaxat, sed verum Dei filium conceperit et genuerit: unde recte Mater Dei et appellatur et revera est.
VIII. Inde porro credimus, docemus, et confitemur, quod non nudus homo tantum, pro nobis passus, mortuus, et sepultus sit, ad inferos descenderit, a mortuis resurrexerit, ad coelos ascenderit, et ad Maiestatem et Omnipotentem Dei virtutem evectus fuerit: sed talis homo, cuius humana natura cum filio Dei tam arctam ineffabilemque unionem et communicationem habet, ut cum eo una sit facta persona.
IX. Quapropter vere filius Dei pro nobis est passus: sed secundum proprietatem humanae naturae, quam in unitatem divinae suae personae assumsit, sibique eam propriam fecit: ut videlicet, pati, et Pontifex noster summus, reconciliationis nostrae cum Deo causa, esse posset. Sic enim scriptum est: Dominum gloriae crucifixerunt. Et: sanguine Dei redempti sumus.
X. Ex eodem etiam fundamento credimus, docemus, et confitemur, filium hominis ad dextram omnipotentis Maiestatis, et virtutis Dei REALITER, hoc est, vere et reipsa, secundum humanam suam naturam, esse exaltatum, cum homo ille in Deum assumtus fuerit, quamprimum in utero matris a Spiritu sancto est conceptus, eiusque humanitas iam tum cum filio Dei altissimi personaliter fuerit unita.
XI. Eamque Maiestatem, ratione unionis personalis, semper Christus habuit: sed in statu suae humiliationis sese exinanivit: qua de causa revera aetate, sapientia, et gratia apud Deum atque homines PROFECIT. Quare Maiestatem illam non semper, sed quoties ipsi visum fuit, exeruit: donec formam servi, non autem naturam humanam, post resurrectionem plene et prorsus deponeret, et in plenariam usurpationem, manifestationem, et declarationem divinae maiestatis collocaretur, et hoc modo in gloriam suam ingrederetur. Itaque iam non tantum ut Deus, verum etiam, ut homo, omnia novit, omnia potest, omnibus creaturis praesens est, et omnia quae in coelis, in terris, et sub terra sunt, sub pedibus suis, et in manu sua habet. Haec ita se habere, Christus ipse testatur, inquiens: Mihi data est omnis potestas in coelo et in terra. Et Paulus ait: Ascendit super omnes coelos, ut omnia impleat. Hanc suam potestatem ubique praesens exercere potest: neque quicquam illi aut impossibile est, aut ignotum.
XII. Inde adeo, et quidem facilime, corpus suum verum et sanguinem suum in sacra Coena praesens distribuere potest. Id vero non fit secundum modum et proprietatem humanae naturae: sed secundum modum et proprietatem dextrae Dei: ut Lutherus secundum analogiam fidei nostrae Christianae in Catechesi comprehensae, loqui solet. Et haec Christi in sacra Coena praesentia neque physica aut terrena est, neque Capernaitica: interim tamen verissima et quidem substantialis est. Sic enim verba Testamenti Christi sonant: Hoc est, est, est, corpus meum, etc.
Hac nostra fide, doctrina et confessione persona Christi non solvitur: quod olim Nestorius fecit. Is enim veram communicationem Idiomatum seu proprietatum utriusque naturae in Christo negavit, et hac ratione Christi personam solvit: quam rem D. Lutherus in libello suo de Conciliis perspicue declaravit. Neque hac pia nostra doctrina duae in Christo naturae, earumque proprietates confunduntur, aut in unam essentiam commiscentur: (in quo errore Eutyches fuit) neque humana natura in persona Christi negatur, aut aboletur: neque altera natura in alteram mutatur. Sed Christus verus Deus et homo in una indivisa persona est, permanetque in omnem aeternitatem. Hoc post illud Trinitatis summum est mysterium, ut Apostolus testatur: in quo solo tota nostra consolatio, vita et salus posita est.
NEGATIVA. Contrariae et falsae doctrinae de persona Christi reiectio.
Repudiamus igitur atque damnamus omnes erroneos, quos iam recitabimus, articulos: eo quod verbo Dei et sincerae fidei nostrae Christianae repugnent: cum videlicet sequentes errores docentur.
I. Quod Deus et homo in Christo non constituant unam personam: sed quod alius sit Dei filius, et alius hominis filius: ut Nestorius deliravit.
II. Quod divina et humana naturae in unam essentiam commixtae sint, et humana natura in Deitatem mutata sit, ut Eutyches furenter dixit.
III. Quod Christus non sit verus, naturalis, et aeternus Deus: ut Arius blasphemavit.
IV. Quod Christus non veram humanam naturam anima rationali et corpore constantem habuerit: ut Marcion finxit.
V. Quod unio personalis faciat tantum communia nomina, et communes titulos.
VI. Quod phrasis tantum et modus quidam loquendi sit, cum dicitur: Deus est homo, et homo est Deus: siquidem divinitas nihil cum humanitate, et humanitas nihil cum deitate REALITER, hoc est, vere et reipsa, commune habeat.
VII. Quod tantum sit VERBALIS, sine re ipsa, Idiomatum communicatio, cum dicitur: Filium Dei pro peccatis mundi mortuum esse: Filium hominis omnipotentem factum esse.
VIII. Quod humana in Christo natura, eo modo, quo est divinitas, facta sit essentia quaedam infinita: et ex hac essentiali, communicata, in humanam naturam effusa, et a Deo separata virtute et proprietate, eo modo, quo divina natura, ubique praesens sit.
IX. Quod humana natura divinae, ratione substantiae atque essentiae suae, vel proprietatum divinarum essentialium exaequata sit.
X. Quod humana natura in Christo, in omnia loca coeli et terrae localiter expansa sit: quod ne quidem divinae naturae est tribuendum.
XI. Quod Christo impossibile sit, propter humanae naturae proprietatem, ut simul in pluribus, quam in uno loco, nedum ubique, suo cum corpore esse possit.
XII. Quod sola humanitas pro nobis passa sit, nosque redemerit: et quod filius Dei in passione nullam prorsus cum humanitate (reipsa) communicationem habuerit: perinde ac si id negotium nihil ad ipsum pertinuisset.
XIII. Quod filius Dei tantummodo divinitate sua nobis in terris, in verbo, Sacramentis, in omnibus denique aerumnis nostris, praesens sit: et quod haec praesentia prorsus ad humanitatem nihil pertineat. Christo enim, postquam nos passione et morte sua redemerit, secundum humanitatem suam nihil amplius nobiscum in terris esse negotii.
XIV. Quod filius Dei, qui humanam naturam assumsit, iam post depositam servi formam, non omnia opera omnipotentiae suae, in, et cum humanitate sua, et per eam efficiat, sed tantum aliqua, et quidem in eo tantum loco, ubi humana natura est localiter.
XV. Quod secundum humanitatem, Omnipotentiae aliarumque proprietatum divinae naturae prorsus non sit capax: Idque asserere audent contra expressum testimonium Christi: Mihi data est omnis potestas in coelo et in terra. Et contradicunt Paulo, qui ait: In ipso inhabitat tota divinitatis plenitudo corporaliter.
XVI. Quod Christo secundum humanitatem data quidem sit maxima potestas in coelo et in terra, videlicet, maior et amplior, quam omnes Angeli et creaturae acceperint: sed tamen ita, ut cum omnipotentia Dei nullam habeat communicationem: neque omnipotentia illi data sit. Itaque mediam quandam potentiam, inter omnipotentiam Dei, et inter aliarum creaturarum potentiam, fingunt, datam Christo secundum humanam eius naturam per exaltationem: quae minor quidem sit, quam Dei omnipotentia, maior tamen omnium aliarum creaturarum potestate.
XVII. Quod Christo secundum spiritum suum humanum certi limites positi sint, quantum, videlicet, ipsum scire oporteat: et quod non plus sciat, quam ipsi conveniat, et ad executionem sui officii, iudicis nimirum, necessario requiratur.
XVIII. Quod Christus ne hodie quidem perfectam habeat cognitionem Dei, et omnium ipsius operum: Cum tamen de Christo scriptum sit: In ipso omnes thesauros sapientiae et scientiae absconditos esse.
XIX. Quod Christo secundum humanitatis suae spiritum impossibile sit scire, quid ab aeterno fuerit, quid iam nunc ubique fiat, et quid in omnem aeternitatem sit futurum.
XX. Reiicimus etiam, damnamusque, quod dictum Christi (Mihi data est omnis potestas in coelo et in terra) horribili et blasphema interpretatione a quibusdam depravatur, in hanc sententiam: quod Christo secundum divinam suam naturam in resurrectione et ascensione ad coelos iterum restituta fuerit omnis potestas in coelo et in terra, perinde quasi, dum in statu humiliationis erat, eam potestatem, etiam secundum divinitatem, deposuisset et exuisset. Hac enim doctrina non modo verba Testamenti Christi falsa explicatione pervertuntur: verum etiam dudum damnatae Arianae haeresi via de novo sternitur: ut tandem aeterna Christi divinitas negetur, et Christus totus, quantus quantus est, una cum salute nostra amittatur: nisi huic impiae doctrinae ex solidis verbi Dei et fidei nostrae Catholicae fundamentis constanter contradicatur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Cor.2.8 — None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
- ↩Acts.20.28;Eph.1.7 — Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he obtained through the blood of his own. Eph.1.7 — In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
- ↩Mark.16.19;Acts.2.33;Eph.1.20-Eph.1.22 — So then, after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Acts.2.33 — Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. Eph.1.20 — which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places Eph.1.21 — far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come Eph.1.22 — And he put all things under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church.
- ↩Matt.28.18 — And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.'
- ↩Eph.4.10 — The one who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
- ↩1Cor.11.24 — and having given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'
- ↩Matt.28.18 — And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.'
- ↩Col.2.9 — For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
- ↩Col.2.3 — in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- ↩Matt.28.18 — And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.'
Notes
- 1 ↩The phrase 'dextrae Dei' (right hand of God) is a theological idiom denoting the divine majesty and omnipresence, not a physical location.
- 2 ↩'Capernaitic' refers to the crude, purely physical eating imagined by Christ's opponents in John 6:52-59, named after Capernaum.
- 3 ↩The Latin result clause (ut ... esse possit) is rendered as an indicative statement in English to preserve the logical force of the impossibility claim without unnatural subordination.
- 4 ↩The idiom 'nihil amplius nobiscum in terris esse negotii' is rendered as 'has no further business with us on earth,' capturing the sense that Christ's earthly, human activity on our behalf is complete after the work of redemption.
Formula of Concord / Book of Concord companion
Doctrine settles in daily doses, not weekend cramming
Chosen Portion pairs a short historic reading with prayer every day, including confessional texts like this one, free on iOS.
The Book of Concord was written to be read and confessed regularly in churches and courts, and Chosen Portion turns that regular confessional reading into a personal daily portion.
- A 3-minute daily reading from historic confessions and devotional works
- Cover one Concord article roughly each week alongside daily prayer
- Free iOS app plus a weekly email digging into one doctrine