Encyclopedia of Comparative Theology
In this lecture, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III answers mocking or skeptical questions such as: Does God cry? Does He hunger or thirst? Does He die? Did He nurse from Mary?
The Pope explains that all these refer to Christ’s human nature, not His divine nature. Christ is the incarnate God who took a real human body like ours to redeem humanity; therefore, He experienced all aspects of humanity except sin.
Hunger, thirst, sorrow, growth, and even death belong to the human nature (the flesh) which the Word (the Son of God) assumed, not to the divine nature, which is unchanging, eternal, and impassible.
The Pope stresses that those who mock such truths misunderstand the mystery of the Incarnation. The union of divinity and humanity in Christ does not mean that the divinity suffered, but that God united Himself with human nature and redeemed it through His body. The one who suffered and died was the body united with the divine Word—not the divinity itself.
✝️ Spiritual Lessons:
We must distinguish between Christ’s divine and human natures.
God did not change through the Incarnation; He became man to save us.
All human attributes of Christ refer to His humanity, not His divinity.
The Incarnation reveals God’s deep love—He shared our weakness to grant us His glory.
True faith responds to mockery with understanding, not argument.
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