Definition
of the Union of the Divine and
Human Natures in the Person of Christ
Council of
Chalcedon, 451 A.D., Act V
Therefore,
following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to
acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once
complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man,
consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance (homoousios)
with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one
substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart
from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the
ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our
salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer (Theotokos); one and the
same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures,
without confusion, without change, without division, without separation;
the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but
rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming
together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated
into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the
Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke
of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of
the Fathers has handed down to us. |
St.
John's Episcopal Church
