The Catechizing of Families, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. Of the Person of Iesus Christ, the only Son of God.
Qu. 1. VVHo is Iesus Christ?
A. He is God and Man, and the Mediator between GOD and Man.k1 Tim. 2. 5. Heb. 12. 24. & 8. 6. & 9. 15.
Q. 2. When did he begin to be God?
A. He is the Eternal God that had no Tempoporal beginning?
Q. 3. When did he begin to be a Man?
A. About One thousand six hundred eighty one Years ago.lIo. 1. 1, 2, 3, &c. 1 Tim. 3. 16. Rom. 9. 5. Ti…. 2. 13.
Q. 4. If he be GOD, why is he called the Son of God? Are there more Gods than One? And how doth God beget a Son?
A. There is but One God: I before opened to you the Mystery of the Trinity in Unity, to which you must look back. Begetting is a word that we must not take carnally; and a Son in the Deity signifieth not another substance. If the Sun be said to Beget its own Light, that maketh it not another Substance.
But Christ is also as Man begotten of God in a Virgins Womb.mPh. 2. 7, 8, 9, 10.
Q. 5. Was Christ GOD in his low condition on Earth?
A. Yes, but the GODHEAD appeared not as in heavenly Glory.
Q. 6. Is Christ a Man now he is in Heaven?
A. Yes, He is still God and Man: But his Glorified Manhood is not like our corruptible Flesh, and narrow Souls.nAct. 3. 21. Io. 2. 17. & 6. 62. Eph. 4. 8, 9, 10.
Q. 7. Hath Christ a Soul besides his Godhead?
A. Yes, for he is a perfect Man, which he could not be without a Soul.
Q. 8. Then Christ hath two Parts: One part i… God, and the other Man?
A. The name of PART or WHOLE is not f… for God: God is no PART of any thing, no no… of the Universe of Being: For to be a PART i… to be less than the whole, and so to be imperfect▪ And every WHOLE consisteth of PARTS; but so doth not God.oGal 3. 20. 1 Io. 5. 7. 1 Tim. 2. 5. Eph. 4. 5, 6. Rom. 5. 17, 18.
Q. 9. Is Iesus Christ one Person or two, viz. A Divine and Humane?
A. It's dangerous laying too great a stress on words▪ that are either not in Scripture, or are applyed to God as borrowed from similitude in Man: As the word PERSON signifieth the Eternal Word, the Second in the Trinity, Christ is but One Person: And though his humane Soul and Body assumed be Substances, they are not another Person, but another Nature united to his Eternal Person, yet no… as a Part of it, but by a Union which we have no proper Words to express. Christ hath two Natures, and but one Person. But if you take the word PERSON only for a Relation (as of a King, a Judge, &c.) so Christ as MEDIATOR is a PERSON distinct from the same Christ as the Eternal Second Person in the Trinity.oGal 3. 20. 1 Io. 5. 7. 1 Tim. 2. 5. Eph. 4. 5, 6. Rom. 5. 17, 18.
Q. 10. It seems then Christ had three Natures, a Divine, a Soul, and a Body?
A. This is a Question about meer Names, He hath only the Nature of GOD and of Man. But if you go to anatomize Man, you may find in him on▪ Earth, perhaps more Natures than two, Spirit, Fire, Air, VVater and Earth: But this is a frivolous dispute.
Q. 11. In what Nature did Christ appear of Old before his Incarnation?
A. If it were not by an Angel as his Agent, it must be by some Body, Light or Voice made or assumed for that present time.
Q. 12. I hear some say, That Christ is not One God with the Father, but a kind of under-God, his first Creature, above Angels.
A. The Scriptures fully prove Christ to be God, and one God with the Father: The form of Baptism proveth it. There be some Learned Men that to reconcile this Controversie, say, That Christ hath Three Natures, 1. The Divine: 2. A Super-angelical: 3. A Humane. And that God the Eternal Word, did first of all produce the most perfect of all his Creatures, above Angels, like an Universal Soul, and the God-Head uniting it self to this, did by this produce all other Creatures; and at least did in and by this Unite it self hypostatically to the humane Nature of Christ. They think divers Texts do favour this threefold Nature; and that the Arrians erred only by noting the Superangelical Nature, and not noting the Divine united to it. But I dare not own so great a point, which I find not that the Universal Church ever owned; nor do I see any cogent Proof of it in the Scripture.pIo. 1. 1, 2. Mat. 28. 19. Col. 1. 15, 16, 17, 18. Heb. 1. 2, 3, 4. Rev. 1. 5. 8.
Q. 13. But God doth all his Works in Order: And he made Angels far Nobler than Man: And is it like then that he setteth a Man so far abo… all Angels, as Personal Union doth import?
A. It is not like, if we might judge by the co… jectures of our Reason: But Gods lower Works a… none of them perfectly known here to us: Mu… less the most Mysterious, even the Glorious Perso… of the Son of God. If God will thus glorifie h… Mercy to Man, by setting him above all the A… gels, who shall say to him, What dost thou? A… if there be in Jesus Christ, a first created Super angelical Nature; besides the Divine and Human… we shall know it when we see as Face to Face. … the mean time he will save those that truly believ… in him as GOD and Man.qHeb. 1. & 2.
Q. 14. Why is Christ called Our Lord?
A. Because he is God; and also as Mediator, A… Power in Heaven and Earth is given him, and … is made Head over all things to his Church, M… 28. 28. Eph. 1. 22, 23.
Q. 15. What do his Names [Jesus Christ] si… nifie?
A. Iesus signifieth a Saviour, and Christ, t… Anointed of God. He being Anointed by God … the Office of a Mediator, as the Great Prophe… Priest and King of the Church.