85. Christ's Birth: Relations, Manifestation, and Divine Wisdom

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Relations: Real and Relations of Reason #

• Aristotle first clearly distinguished that some relations are real while others are not real
• Relations must be understood not only from how we understand things toward them, but also in their proper metaphysical status
• A relation is real on one extreme but not real (merely a relation of reason) on the other extreme
• Example: God’s relation to creatures is real in creatures but not in God (God is immutable and simple)
• In one of the extremes a relation is a being; in another it is only a thought

The Two Sonships of Christ: One or Two? #

• Question: Can Christ have one sonship (to the Father eternally) and another (to the Mother temporally) without contradiction?
• Resolution: Relations are multiplied by the diversity of their causes, not their terms
• The two births have diverse causes: eternal generation from the Father; temporal generation from the Mother
• There are two sonships in definition (secundum rationem) but only one real sonship (the eternal one)
• The temporal sonship to the Mother is a relation of reason in Christ, though real in Mary
• Analogy with parents: On the part of parents, there are two distinct relations (fatherhood and motherhood) differing in species; on the part of offspring, there is one real sonship but twofold according to reason in so far as it corresponds to the two parents
• Similarly in Christ: one real sonship regards the eternal Father; another respect (temporal) regards his temporal Mother

The Painless Birth of the Virgin Mary #

• Question (Article 6): Was Christ born without pain to his mother?
• Objection: As death follows from sin (Genesis 2), so pain in childbirth follows from sin (Genesis 3, “in pain you shall bear children”)
• Resolution: Pain of childbirth is caused by the opening of the muscles through which the offspring comes forth
• Christ came forth from the closed womb of his mother, like his post-resurrection passage through walls
• Therefore there was no opening of the muscles and no pain
• There was instead the greatest joy, as “a man, God” was born into the world (Isaiah 35)
• First reply: The pain of birth follows from the commixture with the male; the Virgin received Christ without male mixture and without sin, so without pain and without detriment to virginity
• Second reply: Christ undertook death by free will to satisfy for sin; the Virgin was not in debt to the penalty of sin, so the pain of childbirth did not pertain to her
• Third reply: The apocryphal text mentioning obstetricians lacks authenticity; Luke 2:7 shows the Virgin herself wrapped the child in swaddling clothes

The Place of Birth: Bethlehem #

• Question (Article 7): Why was Christ born in Bethlehem rather than Jerusalem or Rome?
• Objections:
  • Isaiah 2:3 says the law comes from Zion/Jerusalem
  • Matthew 2:23 says “he shall be called a Nazarene” (Isaiah 11:1, “a flower from the root”)
  • Someone is usually named from the place of nativity; Christ grew up in Nazareth
  • Christ came to announce truth; Rome then dominated the whole world and could have spread his message more easily
• Thomas’s two-fold reason:
  1. Christ was made from the seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3); the promise was made to David; therefore Christ wished to be born in Bethlehem, from which David was born, so the promise would be fulfilled from the very place of his birth
  2. Bethlehem means “house of bread”; Christ said “I am the living bread that comes down from heaven”
• Why not Jerusalem: Jerusalem was chosen for his kingdom and passion (priestly and royal city); David also chose it as his royal seat
• Why not Rome: Christ chose to confound human glory, which glories in noble cities. He was born in an ignoble city (Bethlehem) and suffered in a noble city (Jerusalem). He established Peter in Rome afterward as the seat of his Church, showing his power can transform any place
• Why growth in Nazareth: “Nazareth” means “flower”; he grew there “in wisdom and strength” (Luke 2:40). He needed diverse places: Bethlehem for his nativity (as a wonder, born in alien nature), Nazareth for growth, Jerusalem for passion
• Theodorus and the Council of Ephesus: If Christ had chosen Rome, it would have seemed he attributed the transformation of the world to imperial power; instead he chose a poor mother and poor native country. God chose the weak to confound the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27)

The Time of Birth: The Fullness of Time #

• Question (Article 8): Was the time of Christ’s birth suitable?
• Objections:
  • Christ came to liberate us, yet was born in slavery under Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1)
  • The promises were to the Jews, yet an alien king (Herod) dominated (Matthew 2)
  • Christ is the light of the world and must accomplish his deeds while it is day (John 9); but he was born in deep winter (winter solstice), when the day is shortest
• Scripture answer: Galatians 4:4 - “When the fullness of time came, God sent his only Son, made from a woman, made under the law”
• Thomas’s response:
  • Christ as Lord and maker of all times chose for himself a time, as he chose a mother and a place
  • God does all things in wisdom and suitable order (Romans 13:1)
  • Three reasons the time was suitable:
    1. Redemptive purpose: Just as Christ assumed mortal nature to bring us back to life, so he was incarnate at the time he would be subject to the census of Caesar and to servitude. He wanted to be born as a slave to free us
    2. Peace under one prince: The whole world lived under one prince (Caesar Augustus) and there was the Pax Romana (maximum peace). This was suitable for Christ who is our peace, making both one (Ephesians 2). Jerome says in the 28th year of Augustus’s reign all wars ceased in the whole world; with the Lord being born, these wars ceased. It was suitable also that in a time when one prince dominated the world, Christ should be born who came to gather his own into one, that there might be one flock and one shepherd
    3. Light returning in winter: The winter solstice symbolizes the return of light; Christ as the light of the world was born when the days begin to lengthen
• Jerome’s observation: Looking over old histories, up to the 28th year of Caesar Augustus’s reign there was discord in the whole world; with the Lord being born, these wars ceased

Manifestation of Christ’s Birth: Introduction #

• Question (Article 1): Should Christ’s birth have been made known to all, some, or none?
• The lecture transitions to this topic but does not fully develop it before the class ends at 4:30
• Preview of objections: If Christ came to save all, his birth should have been known to all universally

Key Arguments #

On Relations Multiplied by Causes #

• Principle: Relations differ in species according to their causes, not their terms
• Application: Fatherhood and motherhood are different relations though both relate to the same offspring, because they proceed from diverse causes (father and mother as distinct sources of generation)
• In Christ: The eternal sonship (from the Father) and temporal sonship (from the Mother) are distinct relations because they arise from two diverse causes, even though Christ is the single term of both relations
• God’s immutability: God’s relation to creatures is real in creatures but not in God, because God does not change or depend on creatures

On the Painless Birth #

• Premise: Pain in childbirth follows from the opening of the womb (a necessary physiological consequence of generation in the normal human process)
• Fact: Christ passed through the closed womb of his mother, just as he later passed through closed doors after the resurrection
• Conclusion: Since there was no opening of the womb, there was no pain; instead there was joy
• Moral dimension: The Virgin was not in debt to the penalty of sin (unlike all other women due to Genesis 3:16), so she was exempt from the pain that flows from the curse

On Bethlehem as Fitting #

• Promise argument: God promised that Christ would come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem specifically (Micah 5:2). The promise is fulfilled when Christ is born in the very place David came from
• Typological argument: The name “Bethlehem” (house of bread) foreshadows Christ who is the living bread. God orders all things in wisdom, including the very names of places
• Reversed glory argument: Christ confounds human pride by being born in an ignoble place and dying in a noble place, inverting human expectations about where greatness manifests

On Augustus and the Pax Romana #

• Timing argument: The world was unified under one prince for the first time in history; wars ceased; this prefigures Christ’s gathering all into one
• Soteriological argument: Christ was born during servitude to show his power to free us from servitude, just as he voluntarily assumed death to free us from death
• Symbolic argument: The 28th year of Augustus’s reign marks the visible cessation of wars; with Christ’s birth, the deeper peace (spiritual peace) comes to the world

Important Definitions #

Relatio (Relation) #

• A being that depends on two extremes and has reality only insofar as one extreme is referred to another
• Can be real (with being in itself) on one side and merely a relation of reason (existing only in the mind or in the dependence of one extreme on the other) on the other side
• Latin: relatio; Greek: σχέσις (schesis)

Relatio rationis (Relation of Reason) #

• A relation that is not real in one of the extremes
• Exists only according to the way the mind understands or refers one thing to another
• Example: Christ’s temporal sonship to Mary is a relation of reason in Christ (though real in Mary), because Christ does not depend on Mary for his being

Plenitudo temporis (Fullness of Time) #

• The excellence or perfection of a particular time chosen by divine wisdom for the incarnation
• Not merely a point in time, but a time laden with providential significance
• Characterized by: unified imperial rule, cessation of wars, the Pax Romana, the dissemination of Latin and Greek languages

Hypostasis/Suppositum (Hypostasis/Subsisting Subject) #

• The concrete subsisting subject, the reality that exists in itself, not in another as in a subject
• In Christ, there is one hypostasis (the divine person of the Son) with two natures
• Birth properly belongs to the hypostasis as the subject that is born

Natura (Nature) #

• What is signified in the manner of form, not that which subsists but that in which something subsists
• Birth terminates in nature as its end or term of generation
• In Christ: divine nature (eternal) and human nature (temporal)

Examples & Illustrations #

The Closed Womb and Resurrection Passages #

• Just as Christ passed through closed doors after the resurrection, so he passed through the closed womb of his mother during his nativity
• This demonstrates the miraculous nature of both the birth and the resurrection
• Neither violated the physical integrity of the womb or the doors; both were modes of divine power transcending normal physical causation

Two Parents, One Offspring #

• Parents have two distinct relations (fatherhood and motherhood) to one child
• These are really two different relations because they proceed from different causes
• Yet they terminate in one person (the child) and result in one real relation in the child (sonship), though this can be understood as twofold according to reason (corresponding to two parents)
• This illustrates how Christ can have one real sonship (to the eternal Father) while having another relation of reason to his temporal mother

Bethlehem as House of Bread #

• The name itself speaks to the reality Christ embodies
• God’s wisdom appears in his choice of places and names
• Just as Christ said “I am the living bread,” so was he born in Bethlehem (house of bread)

Reversed Glory: Bethlehem and Jerusalem #

• Churchill was born in Blenheim, a great and noble place, and is remembered for his origins
• Christ reversed this: born in ignoble Bethlehem, suffered in noble Jerusalem
• This confounds human pride which glories in origin from noble cities
• It demonstrates that true greatness comes not from earthly nobility but from divine power

The Three Suns of Spain #

• Historical account: three suns appeared and gradually came together into one at the time of Christ’s birth
• This sign prefigures the unity of the Trinity and the gathering of all nations into one under Christ
• Shakespeare alludes to this image in his history plays to symbolize the unification of kingdoms

Caesar as the North Star (Shakespeare) #

• In Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, characters describe Caesar as the North Star around which all things revolve but which itself does not move
• Parallels the divine attribute of immutability
• But Caesar’s immovability is a parody of God’s: Caesar refuses to change his mind out of pride, whereas God’s immutability flows from perfect wisdom
• Illustrates how human power mimics but fails to truly embody divine perfection

Questions Addressed #

Article 5: Does Christ Have One Sonship or Two? #

• Question: If Christ has one being and one person, how can he be the son of both the Father and the Mother?
• Objections:
  • There seem to be two sonships (eternal and temporal), which contradicts the unity of his being
  • If there are two sonships, there are two sonsesses, which seems to multiply the subject
• Resolution: Relations are multiplied by their causes, not their terms. The eternal sonship and temporal sonship arise from two diverse causes (the Father and Mother), so there are two distinct relations in definition. However, only the eternal sonship is real in Christ; the temporal sonship is a relation of reason in Christ (though real in Mary). Thus there is one real sonship but two according to the manner of understanding or defining them

Article 6: Was Christ Born Without Pain to His Mother? #

• Question: Since pain in childbirth follows from sin (Genesis 3), and Christ assumed human nature, should he not have been born with pain to his mother?
• Objections:
  • Death follows from sin; Christ accepted death; therefore pain in childbirth should follow
  • The end corresponds to the beginning; Christ’s death involved pain; so his nativity should involve pain
  • Apocryphal texts mention obstetricians, implying pain in birth
• Resolution: Pain follows from the opening of the womb. Christ came forth from a closed womb (miraculous passage). Therefore no pain occurred. Moreover, Christ voluntarily assumed death to satisfy for sin; the Virgin was not subject to the penalty of sin, so she was exempt from childbirth pain

Article 7: Why Was Christ Born in Bethlehem? #

• Question: Why Bethlehem rather than Jerusalem (priestly city) or Nazareth (where he grew up) or Rome (center of the world)?
• Objections:
  • Isaiah 2:3 indicates the law comes from Jerusalem, not Bethlehem
  • Matthew 2:23 says Christ is called a Nazarene; Nazareth is where he was conceived, grew up, and was nourished
  • Someone is usually named from their birthplace; Christ should be born where he would be most known
  • Rome dominated the world and could have spread Christ’s message most effectively
• Resolution: Two reasons for Bethlehem:
  1. Christ was made from the seed of David; the promise to David specifies Bethlehem; thus Christ fulfills the promise by being born in Bethlehem
  2. Bethlehem means “house of bread”; Christ is the living bread
• Why not the alternatives:
  • Jerusalem: Chosen for his passion and kingdom (priestly and royal functions). He humbled human glory by being born in ignoble Bethlehem and dying in noble Jerusalem
  • Nazareth: Chosen for his nourishment and growth (in wisdom and strength). He needed diverse places for diverse purposes
  • Rome: Rome’s power would have seemed to effect the transformation of the world. By choosing a poor mother and poor country, and later establishing his Church in Rome through Peter, Christ demonstrates that divine power, not earthly power, transforms the world

Article 8: Was the Time of Christ’s Birth Suitable? #

• Question: Why was Christ born during slavery under Augustus (Pax Romana) rather than in a time of freedom? Why in winter rather than a time of longer daylight?
• Objections:
  • Christ came to liberate us; he should have been born in freedom, not slavery
  • The promises were made to the Jews, yet an alien king ruled
  • Winter has the shortest day; Christ is the light and should be born when day is longest
• Resolution: The fullness of time (Galatians 4:4) refers to a time of providential significance:
  1. Christ was born subject to Caesar to show his power to free us from servitude (as he voluntarily assumed death to free us from death)
  2. One prince ruling the whole world prefigures Christ gathering all into one. The 28th year of Augustus saw the cessation of wars, prefiguring the peace Christ brings
  3. Winter solstice symbolizes the return of light; Christ as light of the world was fittingly born then

Notable Quotes #

“Things which are from God are ordered.” - Thomas Aquinas (citing Romans 13:1 and Aristotle) Emphasis: God does all things in wisdom and suitable order, including the time, place, and manner of Christ’s birth

“Just as David was born in Bethlehem, so also he chose Jerusalem, that in it he might constitute the seat of his kingdom, and he might build the temple of God there.” - Thomas Aquinas Emphasis: Divine wisdom uses geographical and historical places for purposeful fulfillment of promises

“By this, he refuted, you might say, confounded the glory of men, right? Who glory from this that they are from noble cities. They draw their origin from noble cities.” - Duane Berquist (glossing Thomas) Emphasis: Christ inverts human expectations by being born humbly and dying nobly

“The whole world lived under one prince, Maxime Pax Fulimundo, Pax Romana.” - Duane Berquist (citing Jerome via Thomas) Historical context for the suitable time of Christ’s incarnation

“Up to the 28th year of the reign of Caesar Augustus, in the whole world there was discord; but the Lord being born, all these wars ceased.” - Jerome (cited via Thomas) Historical claim about the significance of the Pax Romana for Christ’s birth

Theological Principles #

Divine Wisdom Operates Through Created Causes #

• God’s wisdom is manifest not in violating the order of nature but in working through and perfecting it
• The closed womb birth (miraculous) prefigures but does not contradict the normal human birth process
• God chooses times, places, and persons that manifest his power while respecting the integrity of creation

Relations and Immutability #

• God’s simplicity means God has no real relation to creatures, though creatures have real relations to God
• Applied to Christ: his temporal sonship to Mary is a relation of reason in him (he does not depend on Mary for his being) though real in her (she truly generates him)
• This preserves Christ’s immutability as God while affirming the true motherhood of Mary

The Principle of Reversed Glory #

• Christ consistently inverts worldly expectations: born humbly (Bethlehem), died nobly (Jerusalem); born in obscurity, established his Church in Rome (center of power)
• This confounds human pride and demonstrates that true power and glory come from God, not from earthly circumstances

The Redemptive Principle #

• Just as Christ voluntarily assumed death to free us from death, so he was born in servitude to free us from servitude
• The Virgin’s exemption from childbirth pain (due to exemption from sin) does not negate Christ’s assumption of human nature; rather it illustrates that Christ’s assumption is redemptive, not penal