God-man (Christianity)

God-man (Koine 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

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

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

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

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

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

[5] Back to citation Question 54

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