Lecture 3

3. The Suitability and Necessity of the Incarnation

Summary
This lecture addresses whether it was suitable and necessary for God to become incarnate, examining objections based on divine immutability, the infinite distance between God and creatures, and whether God could have redeemed humanity without incarnation. Berquist explores Thomas Aquinas’s responses through the lens of divine goodness, the two senses of necessity, and the theological advantages (faith, hope, charity, example, and deification) that the Incarnation provides for human salvation.

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Suitability of the Incarnation (Question 1) #

Whether it is fitting for God to become flesh, examining both objections and Thomas’s resolution through the doctrine of divine goodness.

The Necessity of the Incarnation (Question 2) #

Whether the Incarnation was necessary for human redemption, with particular attention to two distinct senses of necessity.

Key Arguments #

Objections to the Incarnation #

  1. From Divine Perfection: God could not be better than He was from eternity, so becoming incarnate would not befit Him
  2. From Infinite Distance: God (utterly simple) and flesh (composite) differ infinitely, making their union unsuitable (illustrated by the absurdity of joining a human head to a horse’s body)
  3. From Manichaean Concern: The highest spirit should not assume a body, as this suggests body is evil
  4. From Divine Governance: It seems unsuitable that He who governs the universe be confined to an infant’s body in the womb

Thomas’s Resolution on Suitability #

That which is suitable to something belongs to it by its nature. The nature of God is goodness itself. It belongs to the notion of goodness that it communicates itself to others (diffusivum sui). Therefore, it pertains to the highest good to communicate itself to creatures in the highest way, which occurs through the Incarnation—uniting created nature to the divine person.

Key Point: The Incarnation does not change God’s nature; it represents a new way the creature becomes united to God. Analogy: A point remains unchanged whether it is the beginning of one line or two lines.

Responses to Specific Objections #

To Objection 1: The Incarnation does not imply change in God’s status from eternity, but rather the creature (being changeable) comes to be united to Him in a new way. It is fitting that what can change does change by being newly united to God.

To Objection 2: Union with God in unity of person was not suitable to human flesh by its nature, but it was suitable to God according to His infinite goodness, which He freely chose for human salvation—this is an act of mercy, not justice.

To Objection 3: Whatever creature differs from the Creator is instituted by God’s wisdom and ordered to His goodness. God produced mutable, bodily creatures from His own goodness. It was suitable for Him to assume created nature that is changeable and bodily (and subject to punishment), but not the evil of guilt (sin).

To Objection 4: God is great not by size but by virtue (power). His power has no limits or contraction. Just as the word of one man can be heard simultaneously by many, so the Word of God, remaining everywhere, being incarnate does not diminish His governance of the universe.

The Necessity of the Incarnation #

Two Senses of Necessity:

  • First sense: That without which something cannot be at all (e.g., food for human life)
  • Second sense: That without which something cannot be done well or suitably (e.g., a horse for a journey)

Application: In the first sense, the Incarnation was not necessary for redemption—God could have redeemed humanity in other ways by His omnipotent power. In the second sense, it was necessary as the most suitable way to repair human nature.

Arguments for the Necessity of the Incarnation (Second Sense) #

Promoting Human Good:

  1. Faith: God Himself speaking as man makes truth more certain. Man walks more confidently to truth when Truth itself (the Son of God) has assumed human nature and founded faith.

  2. Hope: The union of divine and human nature shows how great is God’s love for us, which arouses hope. God demonstrated His love by deigning to share in our nature.

  3. Charity: Nothing arouses love more than experiencing another’s love for us. The Incarnation is the supreme manifestation of God’s love.

  4. Right Action/Example: Man needs a visible example to follow, yet God should be followed. The solution: God became man, giving us both someone visible to imitate and someone worthy of imitation.

  5. Deification: Full participation in divinity—the beatitude of man and the end of human life—is given to us through the humanity of Christ. “God became man so that man might become God” (Augustine).

Removing Evil:

  1. Against Preferring Demons: By assuming flesh, God shows flesh is not evil (refuting Manichaean error), preventing men from venerating the devil.

  2. Recognizing Human Dignity: The Incarnation shows how exalted human nature is among creatures. “Recognize, as a Christian, your dignity, and being made a sharer of the divine nature, do not return to your old vileness” (Leo the Great).

  3. Against Presumption: Grace of Christ is shown with no preceding merits—God’s grace is pure gift.

  4. Against Pride: God’s humility in the Incarnation heals human pride, the greatest impediment to union with God. Christ’s example of washing the apostles’ feet demonstrates humility and love as foundations for virtue.

  5. Liberating from Slavery: The devil overstepped his authority when attacking Christ, who was not subject to sin. Through justice (not mere power), Christ’s death and resurrection deprived the devil of his tyranny over mankind.

The Necessity of Being Both God and Man #

A pure man could not satisfy for the whole human race. God cannot sin. Therefore, Christ must be both God and man: as man, to satisfy for human sin; as God, to make that satisfaction efficacious and of infinite worth. Only thus can infirmity receive power and majesty receive humility.

Important Definitions #

  • Diffusivum sui: “Diffusive of itself”—the principle that goodness naturally communicates itself to others
  • Synecdoche: A figure of speech using a part to signify the whole (e.g., “flesh” referring to complete human nature)
  • Two Senses of Necessity: Distinguished carefully to avoid confusion between absolute metaphysical necessity and suitability/fittingness

Examples & Illustrations #

  1. Geometric Analogy: A point serves as the beginning of both a vertical and horizontal line without itself changing. Similarly, the divine Person subsists in two natures (divine and human) without any change to the divine nature.

  2. Journey Analogy: Food is absolutely necessary for life; a horse is necessary for a good journey but not absolutely necessary. The Incarnation is necessary in the second sense—the most suitable way.

  3. Logic and Philosophy: Logic is not absolutely necessary to philosophize (one could philosophize without it), but it is necessary to philosophize well. Similarly, the Incarnation was not absolutely necessary for redemption but necessary for redemption in the most suitable way.

  4. Shakespeare’s “All’s Well That Ends Well”: A commoner marrying the son of a duke represents the gap between different stations, yet this is nothing compared to the infinite distance between God and creature—yet the Incarnation shows such union is possible.

  5. Spatial Imagination: Greek philosophers believed “whatever is must be somewhere,” binding their thinking to bodies. God, however, is great by virtue (power), not size, so He is not confined by incarnation.

Notable Quotes #

“To the notion of the highest good, it pertains that in the highest way he communicates himself to creatures.” - Thomas Aquinas

“God became man so that man might become God.” - Augustine

“Man should not be followed although he can be seen; God should be followed but he could not be seen. Therefore, that there might be shown to man both someone who can be seen and whom man should follow, God became man.” - Augustine

“Nothing was so necessary to arousing our hope than to be shown how much God loved us. What greater indication of this is there than that the Son of God would deign to undergo a consortium of our nature?” - Augustine

“Recognize, as a Christian, your dignity, and being made a sharer of the divine nature, do not return to your old vileness.” - Leo the Great

“A more suitable way of healing our misery, there was not.” - Augustine (on whether God could have redeemed us otherwise)

Questions Addressed #

  1. Was it suitable for God to become flesh? Yes, because it belongs to the notion of God’s goodness (which is His very nature) to communicate itself to creatures in the highest way possible.

  2. Did the Incarnation change God’s eternal nature? No. The Incarnation represents a new way the creature is united to God, not a change in the divine nature itself.

  3. Is the infinite distance between God and creatures bridged? Yes, not by negating the distance but by God’s free act of love uniting human nature to His person.

  4. Was the Incarnation absolutely necessary for redemption? No. God could have redeemed humanity in other ways by His omnipotent power.

  5. Was the Incarnation necessary in a secondary sense? Yes. It was the most suitable way to repair human nature and provide the greatest goods to humanity (faith, hope, charity, example, deification).

  6. How does Christ’s incarnate state preserve His divine governance? God’s greatness consists in virtue (power), not spatial extent, so His incarnation in a human body does not diminish His universal governance.