God in a Box

...That's the Chalcedonian box.

Christianity is such a rich religion, feeding the soul and mind.  The early centuries of Christianity marked profound theological thinking.  Studying this has been some of the most enriching lessons of my Christian life.  It breaks my heart that doctrine is so poorly considered these days that many Christians never draw from the wisdom and great thinking that has gone before us, and are subject to repeating mistakes already solved.  What could be better than learning more about Jesus?

Fred Sanders offers this succinct explanation of the Council of Chalcedon that defined the boundaries of orthodoxy concerning Jesus' natures, human and divine.  This hypostatic union is such a deep mystery, the council didn't claim to write the last word on it but did lay out the limits of what can be considered Biblical and Christian.  Fred is just great at bringing these treasures to our attention in a readable way.

And let me point out that God put Himself in this box by His revelation of who Jesus is.  God's revelation provides us the guide to understand Jesus more profoundly.

Chaldedon means classic christology. Of course Chalcedon was a city near Constantinople, but the theological meeting held there in 451 was so important and influential that for the rest of Christian history the name “Chalcedon” has been a pointer to the right doctrine about Jesus Christ in distinction from errors....

With Chalcedon, not only are the full scope of true divinity and true humanity in place, but also two opposite errors for how they can be related to each other in the hypostatic union are also on the table. Through the first four councils, the fathers have faced all the hard questions and seen instances of most major mistakes that can be made. That hard-won clarity is part of what gives the Chalcedonian Definition its classic status as a balanced and far-sighted document....

In Christ, God and man neither merge nor diverge. In Christ, God and man are hypostatically united, and one of the Trinity dies our death on the cross, to rise again for us and our salvation. This is the way the Chalcedonian categories serve the gospel story.

Comments

[JGV]

Good reasons!