God-man (Christianity)

God-man (Koinē Greek: θεάνθρωπος, romanized: theánthropos; Latin: deus homo^[1]) is a term which refers to the incarnation and the hypostatic union of Christ, which are two of mainstream Christianity's most widely accepted and revered christological doctrines.

Origins

The first usage of the term "God-man" as a theological concept appears in the writing of the 3rd-century Church Father Origen:^[2]

This substance of a soul, then, being intermediate between God and the flesh – it being impossible for the nature of God to intermingle with a body without an intermediate instrument – the God-man is born.^[3]

Posterity

The term is also used by the medieval philosopher and theologian Anselm of Canterbury (11th century) in his treatise on the atonement, Cur Deus Homo ("Why God Became Man").^[4]

The term is used in the Westminster Larger Catechism, where it says:

Christ is exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God, in that as God-man he is advanced to the highest favour with God the Father^[5]

References

^ Origenes "De Principiis", in Latin translation by Rufinus. Book II, Chap 7, sec 3, p. 196
^ Baldwin, James, Dictionary Of Philosophy And Psychology, 1901
^ Origen, De Principiis, Book II, Chapter VI. On the Incarnation of the Christ, between the years 220 and 230
^ Anselm of Canterbury, Cur Deus Homo, Book Two, chapter VI & chapter VII
^ Question 54

[1] Origenes "De Principiis", in Latin translation by Rufinus. Book II, Chap 7, sec 3, p. 196

[2] Baldwin, James, Dictionary Of Philosophy And Psychology, 1901

[3] Origen, De Principiis, Book II, Chapter VI. On the Incarnation of the Christ, between the years 220 and 230

[4] Anselm of Canterbury, Cur Deus Homo, Book Two, chapter VI & chapter VII

[5] Question 54

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]