12. Relations, Union, and Assumption in the Incarnation

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Difficulty of Understanding Relations #

• Relations in the natural world “hardly exist” (e.g., being taller or shorter than someone) and are therefore difficult to know
• The study of relations presents two causes of difficulty:
  1. Relations of minimal being: In creation and natural things, relations have very little ontological status
  2. Relations of maximum intelligibility but minimal accessibility: In theology (God and Trinity), relations are maximally knowable in themselves but minimally knowable to us due to the weakness of human intellect
• Following Aristotle’s bat metaphor: just as bat eyes are overwhelmed by daylight, human intellects are overwhelmed when contemplating divine realities

Union as a Relation of Reason in God (Article 7) #

• The union is created insofar as it is a real relation in the human nature
• The union is not real in God but only a relation of reason
  • God is said to be united to the creature from the fact that the creature is united to Him
  • No real change takes place in God
• The relation terminates in the divine person (hypostasis), but the being (esse) of the relation depends on its subject—the human nature
• Example: A teacher relates to students through the science he possesses; the reality of the relation has its foundation in the teacher’s being, not in some external reality

Assumption vs. Union (Article 8) #

• Union (unio): implies merely the joining or coming together of two natures in the one person
• Assumption (assumptio): implies both the action of the one assuming and the passion (being assumed) of what is assumed
  • From Latin: ad se sumcio = “taking to oneself”
  • Incorporates directional distinction: from another to oneself
• Three key differences:
  1. Union is a relation; assumption involves action and passion (active and passive principles)
  2. Union has already been made; assumption is coming to be (in actu)
  3. Union is indifferent regarding which nature is united to which (can say “divine united to human” or “human united to divine”); assumption always flows one direction (human nature assumed by divine person, not vice versa)
• Incarnation/Humanatio: Following Pseudo-Dionysius, these terms employ synecdoche (taking the part for the whole)—Verbo facta est caro (the Word was made flesh) uses flesh to signify the whole human nature

The Greatest of All Unions (Article 9) #

• Apparent objection: The union seems minimal because divine and human natures are infinitely distant
• Resolution: Union must be considered two ways:
  1. From the side of what is joined (the natures): The human and divine natures remain two distinct natures; they do not form one nature; union is therefore not perfect from this perspective
  2. From the side of that in which they are joined (the divine person/hypostasis): The unity of the divine person infinitely exceeds all other unities; this is the greatest of unions

The Divine Person’s Unity vs. Numerical Unity #

• The unity of a divine person exceeds the numerical unity that begins number (the monad, unit, or point)
• Numerical unity (unum numerabile):
  • Is a part of number
  • Exists by participation, not per se
  • As a point or unit, does not subsist by itself
  • Lacks the fullness of being
• Divine person’s unity:
  • Subsists per se (by itself)
  • Is complete in itself
  • Has no notion of part or partiality
  • Possesses being (esse) in its fullness
• Therefore, the hypostatic union proceeds on the numerical unity in terms of the person (which is supremely one), not in terms of the human nature alone

Connection to Being and Unity #

• As a thing has being, so it has unity: sicut res habet esse, sic habet unitatem
• The accidental being of something like “white geometer”:
  • Whiteness and geometry do not unite to form a real thing
  • A person is white and is a geometer, but this unity is only accidental
  • No real foundation makes “white geometer” a genuine unity
  • Compared to the substantial unity of body and soul in human nature
• This principle illuminates why the divine person’s unity is the greatest: it is pure subsisting being

Key Arguments #

Why the Union is Created Yet God Remains Unchanging #

• Everything beginning in time is created by God
• The union began in time (“in the fullness of time”)
• Therefore, the union is created
• However, being created means having real being as a relation in the human nature
• In God, the union is only a relation of reason (conceptual, not real)
• All real change occurs in the creature; God is absolutely immutable

Why Union and Assumption Are Distinct But Related #

• Both union and assumption have the same terminus: the divine hypostasis
• Yet they differ essentially:
  • Union denotes the relation itself (a state of being joined)
  • Assumption denotes the action and passion by which union occurs (the active taking and passive being-taken)
• Assumption presupposes union but adds the dimension of change and motion
• Because assumption involves change, it cannot apply to God (who is immutable); it applies only to what is assumed

Why the Union is Greatest Despite Infinite Distance #

• Objection: Things infinitely apart cannot be truly united; their union must be minimal
• Response:
  • Union is not measured solely by proximity of the things united
  • Union is measured by what serves as the term and principle of unity
  • The divine person as the term provides infinite unity
  • Therefore, greatest distance is compatible with greatest union when unity comes from an infinite source

Important Definitions #

• Unio: The joining of two things coming together in something one; a relation
• Assumptio: The active taking-to-self and passive being-taken, involving motion and change; from ad se sumcio
• Incarnatio/Humanatio: Figures of speech (synecdoche) expressing that the Word was made flesh/human nature; differs from incarnation, which specifies the terminus (divine nature)
• Relatio rationis: A relation that exists only in the mind, though it may be based on real foundations (e.g., God’s relation to creatures)
• Relatio realis: A real relation between two actually existing things (e.g., creature’s relation to God)
• Hypostasis: The subsisting being or person; in the Incarnation, the hypostasis is the divine person (the Word)
• Per se subsistens: Subsisting by itself; existing independently, not received in or dependent on another
• Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole (e.g., flesh for human nature) or a whole for its part

Examples & Illustrations #

Relations in Nature #

• Being taller or shorter: A relation between two people that “hardly has being” yet genuinely exists
• Teacher-student relation: The teacher’s relation to the student has its foundation in the teacher’s possession of science (knowledge); the relation is real in the teacher because of this foundation; without teaching, the relation ceases

Unity of Different Orders #

• White geometer: Whiteness (an accidental quality) and geometry (a habitual science) do not unite to form anything real; there is no “thing” called white-geometry; this has minimal unity
• Body and soul: Form one nature; possess greater unity than accidental combinations
• Divine person: Possesses per se subsisting unity; exceeds all finite unities

The Assumption of Mary #

• Dormition: Eastern tradition understands Mary as having been preserved from death and put into sleep (following Pauline language of death as sleep)
• Assumption: The taking of her body to her soul (if she died)
• Ascension vs. Assumption: Christ ascended by His own power; Mary was assumed (did not ascend by her own power)
• Church teaching: Pius XII’s definition acknowledges the fact of her assumption but does not settle whether she died (a matter of theological dispute between East and West)

Aristotelian Epistemology #

• The bat and daylight: Bats fly at night because sunlight blinds them; yet light makes things visible; similarly, our minds are overwhelmed by the highest objects of knowledge (divine realities), though these are most knowable in themselves
• Cave allegory: Plato’s prisoners, freed from the cave, would be blinded by daylight; this illustrates how human intellects must gradually acclimate to higher truths

Notable Quotes #

“As the eyes of the bat are to the light of day, so is our mind knowing about God.” — Aristotle

“From words put forth disorderly, heresy arises.” — St. Hilary (on the necessity of precise theological language)

“Man is more in the Son than the Son in the Father.” — St. Augustine (qualified by Thomas: more unity of person in the Incarnation, but greater oneness in the Trinity due to identity of divine nature)

“Union implies the relation of the divine nature and the human, according as they come together in one person.” — Thomas Aquinas

Questions Addressed #

1. Is the union of divine and human natures something created?

   • Yes: the union is created insofar as it constitutes a real relation in the human nature
   • No: in God, the union is only a relation of reason; no real change occurs in God

2. What is the essential difference between union and assumption?

   • Union is a relation (state of being joined); assumption is an action-passion (the process of joining)
   • Union is indifferent in direction; assumption flows one direction (from the assuming to the assumed)
   • Union applies to both natures; assumption applies primarily to what is assumed

3. How can the union be the greatest when divine and human natures are infinitely distant?

   • Distance between the things united does not determine the greatness of union
   • What determines union’s greatness is the term in which unity is established: the divine person
   • The divine person’s unity is per se subsisting and infinite; therefore, the union is greatest

4. How do Thomas’s explanations of Aristotle and Augustine demonstrate interpretive charity?

   • When Aristotle discusses God’s knowledge, he means God knows primarily and chiefly (not that God knows only God)
   • When Augustine says man is more in the Son than the Son in the Father, he means there is greater personal unity in the Incarnation, not greater oneness than in the Trinity
   • Careful reading, frequent study, and reverent interpretation recover the true sense of great authorities