If Christ was Divine, How Could He Have Been Tempted? (page 6)

BurnTheShips

If Christ was Divine, How Could He Have Been Tempted?

Jesus condescended to become a man, fully a man. Jesus was fully man, while being fully God. This is the Incarnation. Jesus became fully human, with all that being human implies. The relationship between His human nature and divine nature is explained in the doctrine of the hypostatic union - 2 natures, 1 divine person. Jesus' divine nature did not subsume His human nature. His human nature could be tempted. He could suffer human agony, as in the garden of Gethsemane, or on the Cross. Jesus' human nature was tempted in these situations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypostatic_union

BTS

leavingwt

Burns -- This is known as the Chalcedonian Christology, right?

leavingwt

It must be clear by now that Jesus is what ever you want him to be. He is limited only by our imagination.

It is certainly true that this is exactly what has happened within various churches who refer to themselves as "Christian".

snowbird

You know, I'm glad it's not all spelled out for us.

Just believing that He is the Savior works for me.

I certainly sleep better at night, believing knowing that our fate lies in His capable Hands.

Syl

BurnTheShips

Burns -- This is known as the Chalcedonian Christology, right?

Not certain. Either way, it is the official teaching of both the Catholic and Orthodox. Historic Protestant churches, also.

You know, I'm glad it's not all spelled out for us.

Historically, things only get "spelled out" at Councils when they become truly contentious and threaten unity.

"God became man so that man could become god"

BTS

Ding

It was all so much easier when all we had to do was believe exactly what those men in Brooklyn told us to believe and to change with them whenever they got "new light."

Not that I want to go back to those days.

Just saying...

startingover

One thing this thread like all others that involve "christians" is highlighted by Gladiator:

It must be clear by now that Jesus is what ever you want him to be. He is limited only by our imagination

JWoods

Even the Watchtower doesn't claim Jesus was identical to US. They claim that he was identical to Adam before he sinned. They also claimed he was Michael before he was born on earth, and we certainly didn't have that type of experience.

But was Jesus really like the pre-sinning Adam? Wouldn't he obviously have had the knowledge of the "tree of knowledge" - which Adam supposedly did NOT HAVE prior to eating the fruit?

I have heard this explained (some say in a blasphemous way) by the notion that the Jesus character was actually the reformed Satan - and that the "temptation" was an excercise in meditational self-determination to reverse course and "redeem" mankind from what he had done in Eden.

I do not believe this, but it does have some elements about it that could make sense in a twisted way.

PSacramento

There is SO MUCH to Jesus, so much really...we are not even begining to fathom it all.

As a human, Jesus was all that we CAN BE in potential and all that will WILL be after the ressurection.

Jesus was the "prototype" for us all, His was the body we will have, Jesus was the first Born of all creation AND the first ressurected of the NEW World that we have to receive.

That said, we are talking about his body, for beyond that, Jesus was SO MUCH more, being of the exact form of God and being all that God was in the spirit, Jesus was truly "fully God and fully human".

Was he tempted? No. Did Satan try to tempt him? Yes.

Jesus left us with a most wonderful example to follow AND with the ability to do so, the rest is up to Us.

BurnTheShips

here is SO MUCH to Jesus, so much really...we are not evenbegiing to fathom it all.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

John 21:25

If Christ was Divine, How Could He Have Been Tempted?

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