hypostatic union
- noun
- /ˌhaɪpəˈstætɪk ˈjunɪən/
- Formal
:
unión hipostática
- Christ's human mind and knowledge were maintained and not made superhuman through the hypostatic union.
- natures of the hypostatic union
Examples
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Since there was only one person, the divine, in the hypostatic union, there was only one energeia and one governing will.
Academic text (1991) -
And it's the same with this mystery of the hypostatic union.
Blog text (8) -
The doctrine of the hypostatic union is that in the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth we have to distinguish two natures, a human and a divine nature; but those two natures belong to a single person, and that person is wholly divine...
Blog text (8) -
In the hypostatic union, the agent does not have its esse and actuality through the human nature alone, for the human nature acts in the power (through the grace) of the divine agent itself, which (as Logos) supplies the esse of the person of Christ.
Academic text (1991) -
The hypostatic union refers to how Christ's divine and human natures exist together in one person.
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The concept of the hypostatic union is essential in understanding how Christ is both fully God and fully man.
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Many theologians study the hypostatic union to explain the relationship between Christ's two distinct natures.
Synonyms
The union of God's nature and human nature in the one person of Jesus Christ
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'hypostatic' (relating to hypostasis/substance) and 'union' (joining) transparently indicate a union concerning hypostasis, so part of the meaning is compositional. However, the specific theological doctrine that this names—the unique union of Christ's divine and human natures—is highly specialized and not predictable from the parts for a typical B1 learner without subject knowledge.
Etymology
Hypostatic union uses hypostatic (from a Greek word for 'person' or 'underlying reality') and union (joining). Imagine two natures—'divine' and 'human'—joined in one person, like gold and silver melted into one coin, and that picture explains why the phrase means Christ is fully 'divine' and fully 'human' at the same time.
