59. Christ's Subjection to the Father: Nature and Person

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Christ’s Subjection to the Father #

• Three distinct modes of subjection apply to Christ according to his human nature
• The crucial distinction between subjecting the person versus subjecting the nature
• Why we must qualify statements about Christ’s subjection to avoid heretical misinterpretation
• The relationship between these three modes and Christ’s own words in Scripture

The Distinction Between Person and Nature #

• Acts belong to supposita (subsisting beings), not to natures
• Relations of lordship and servitude are properly relations of persons/hypostases, not natures
• When we speak of “Christ,” we speak of the person, which is not a creature
• But according to his human nature, Christ is a creature and subject to the Father

Christ’s Subjection to Himself #

• Whether Christ can be said to be subject to himself according to his human nature to his divine nature
• Objections from Cyril and Damascene that claim this is impossible or heretical
• Augustine’s position that the Son is less than himself according to his human nature
• The analogy with self-control: just as one part of a human can control another part, so Christ’s divine nature can dominate his human nature

Key Arguments #

Three Modes of Subjection (Article 1) #

First Mode: According to Grade of Goodness

• The divine nature is goodness itself (ipsum bonum)
• Created nature participates in divine goodness like rays participate in their source
• Christ’s human nature, being created, partakes of divine goodness and is thus subject to God in this respect
• Evidence: Christ’s words, “Why do you call me good? One is good, namely God”
• Jerome’s interpretation: Christ confessed he is holy but not good, because in comparison to God he is not good

Second Mode: According to Divine Power

• All creatures are subject to divine disposition and operation
• Everything done concerning the humanity of Christ was done by divine disposition
• This is the “subjection of servitude” (subiectio servitutis)
• Evidence: Dionysius says Christ is subject to the orderings of God the Father; creature serves its Maker
• Reference: The form of servant that Christ assumes means subjection to divine ordering

Third Mode: According to Obedience

• By his own will, Christ obeys the Father’s commands
• “Those things that please him, I do always” (John 8:29)
• “I came…not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me”
• Evidence: Philippians 2 - “He was made obedient to the Father, even unto death, death on the cross”
• This is the “subjection of obedience” (subiectio obedientiae)

Objections and Responses (Article 1) #

Objection 1: Christ cannot simply be said to be subject to the Father

• Premise: Everything subject to God the Father is a creature
• But Christ should not be said to be simply a creature
• Therefore, Christ is not simply subject to the Father
• Response: Just as Christ is not simply a creature but only according to his human nature, so he is not simply subject to the Father but only according to his human nature. The determination “according to his human nature” must be added to avoid Arian misinterpretation.

Objection 2: Servitude and lordship are relations of persons, not natures

• Nothing can properly be said to be subject unless it is a person in relation to another person
• Damascene: servitude and lordship are not names of nature but of relations to something else
• Response: Relations of servitude and dominion are founded on action and passion. Acts belong to the supposita (person/hypostasis), not to nature. A person can be lord or servant according to one nature or another nature. Thus Christ can be servant according to his human nature without implying a plurality of persons.

Objection 3: 1 Corinthians 15:27-28 shows Christ is not yet subject

• “When all things are subject to him, then the Son himself will be subject”
• Currently not all things are yet subject to Christ
• Therefore Christ is not yet subject to the Father
• Response: Augustine explains that Christ will be fully subject to the Father when the just see God as he is (face to face, not by faith). Then through full partaking of divine goodness, all things will be fully subject to Christ, and the mystical body (along with Christ as head) will be completely subject to the Father. Even now all things are subject to Christ according to his power (Matthew 28:18), but the subjection will be complete at the end.

On Christ’s Subjection to Himself (Article 2) #

Objections from the Fathers

• Cyril (Synodic epistle to the council of Ephesus): “Neither is Christ a servant to himself, nor is he Lord [to himself]. For it is foolish, rather impious, to say or think thus.”
• Damascene: “The one being Christ cannot be a servant of himself and lord of himself”
• These statements reject the idea that Christ is simply subject to himself

Augustine’s Apparent Contradiction

• Augustine says the Father is greater than the Son according to the form of the servant
• Therefore, the Son is also less than himself according to his human nature (by the same reasoning)
• If the Father is greater than the Son, and the Son is one being, then the Son must be greater than himself according to one nature (divine) and less than himself according to another (human)

Thomas’s Resolution

• The term “Christ” is a name of the person
• Cyril and Damascene deny that Christ is simply lord or servant of himself because this would imply a plurality of persons
• According to the diversity of natures in one person, however, we can say:
  • According to the divine nature: Christ is Lord, dominates, precedes
  • According to the human nature: Christ is servant, is subject, is less
• This avoids Nestorius’s heresy (which posits two persons in Christ)
• It preserves Augustine’s insight about the relation of natures within one person

The Analogy of Self-Control

• Human self-control provides an illustration: one part of the person controls another
• This is not a relation of one person to another person, but of parts within one person
• Similarly, in Christ, the divine nature dominates the human nature, not as one person dominating another, but as one nature (in the one person) relating to the other nature
• Example from John 20 commentary: When reason rules the emotions as it should, it is like a “king”; when it fails to rule completely, it is “sick” like the regulis (royal servant)

Important Definitions #

Suppositum (Plural: Supposita) #

• A subsisting being; that which acts
• “Acts are of the supposita” (a fundamental axiom Thomas uses repeatedly)
• Operations belong to supposita, not to natures
• The person or hypostasis is the suppositum in Christ

Hypostasis / Person (Persona) #

• The subject of relations and operations
• In Christ, there is one hypostasis (the person of the Word) but two natures
• Relations like “lord” and “servant” properly belong to persons, not natures

Subiectio (Subjection) #

• Not properly a relation of nature but of person/hypostasis
• Can occur in three modes according to human nature: goodness, divine power, obedience
• Must be qualified (e.g., “according to his human nature”) when speaking of Christ to avoid Arian misinterpretation

Grade of Goodness (Gradus Bonitatis) #

• The hierarchy of being in which perfect forms (like the divine nature as goodness itself) transcend participated forms (like created nature’s participation in goodness)
• The divine nature is goodness itself; created natures are good by participation

Regulus #

• A diminutive form suggesting imperfect rule or a sick ruler
• Used in Thomas’s commentary on John to describe one who has reason but imperfectly
• Analogous to how Christ’s human nature, while capable of willing the good, is subject to the perfect divine will

Examples & Illustrations #

Shakespeare and Medieval English #

• The word “pray” in Shakespeare’s time can mean “I pray you” (please), using the word transitively without a preposition
• St. Thomas More uses this construction frequently in his letters
• Modern English requires a preposition: “I pray to God,” not “I pray God”

Self-Control as Rulership #

• When reason controls the passions as it should, reason is “like a king”
• When reason fails to control passions completely, the person is “sick,” like the regulis (a servant with royal name)
• Shakespeare uses similar language: describing one who has passions under control as having kingly or queenly rule over oneself

Naming and Diminution #

• The example of “Annette” versus “Ann”: adding a diminutive suffix ("-ette" meaning “little”) changes the force of the name
• Similarly, qualifying “Christ is subject” with “according to his human nature” is not a simple denial but a specification that prevents misunderstanding
• “Charlie Boy” - a nickname that persists even when someone matures and gains authority, always qualifying the person with a determination

Human Dominion Over Animals #

• Man rules over beasts by human nature
• The beast is by its nature servant to man
• Man by his nature should rule over the beast
• This illustrates how one nature can have dominion over another nature

Notable Quotes #

“Why do you call me good? One is good, namely God” - Christ in Matthew 19:17, interpreted by Aquinas to show that according to his human nature, Christ confesses himself not to be of the grade of divine goodness

“The Father is greater than me” - John 14:28, cited as evidence for Christ’s subjection according to his human nature

“Neither is Christ a servant to himself, nor is he Lord [to himself]. For it is foolish, rather impious, to say or think thus” - Cyril, Synodic epistle (received at the Council of Ephesus)

“The one being Christ cannot be a servant of himself and lord of himself” - John of Damascus, On the Orthodox Faith, Book III

“Not my will but yours be done” - Christ in Gethsemane (alluded to), exemplifying the subjection of obedience

“Those things that please him, I do always” - John 8:29, cited to show Christ’s subjection through obedience

Questions Addressed #

Question 20, Article 1: Is Christ Subject to the Father? #

• Answer: Yes, according to his human nature in three modes:
  1. According to the grade of goodness (divine nature is goodness itself; human nature participates in it)
  2. According to divine power (all creatures subject to divine disposition)
  3. According to obedience (by his own will, he obeys the Father)
• Qualification Required: Not simply (simpliciter) is Christ subject, but only according to his human nature, to avoid Arian misinterpretation

Question 20, Article 2: Is Christ Subject to Himself? #

• Answer: Not simply, but according to the diversity of natures in one person:
  • According to the divine nature: Christ is Lord and dominates
  • According to the human nature: Christ is servant and subject
• Why Not Simply: To attribute simple subjection would imply two persons in Christ (Nestorius’s heresy)
• Patristic Authority: Augustine supports this distinction; Cyril and Damascene deny simple self-subjection precisely to avoid positing two persons

Historical & Doctrinal Context #

Heretical Errors Avoided #

• Arianism: Denies the divinity of the Son; claims the Son is less than the Father by nature. Thomas’s qualification “according to his human nature” prevents this misreading.
• Nestorianism: Posits two persons in Christ. Thomas’s insistence on one person with two natures avoids this by distinguishing natures while maintaining personal unity.
• Monophysitism: Not directly addressed in this lecture but the framework (two natures, one person) implicitly opposes it

Patristic Sources Cited #

• Cyril of Alexandria: Synodic epistle recognized at the Council of Ephesus (431)
• John of Damascus: On the Orthodox Faith (De fide orthodoxa), Book III
• Augustine: On the Trinity (De Trinitate), Book I
• Jerome: Commentary interpreting Matthew 19:17