Denials of the Incarnation throughout History
"God has decided that for all eternity his eternal Word, his divine Son will become human, and in his glorified humanity, we will have access to God. Just as the divinity of God was made visible in the human life of Jesus Christ, so the divinity of God is also accessible in the Body of Christ, in the Church, in her sacraments and sacramentals, including the icons."
Rev. Wojciech Giertych, O.P., "On Aquinas' Vision of Christian Morality",http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/news/lecture-rev-wojciech-giertych-op-faith-reason).
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ReplyDeleteI realize that the Reformers' application of the iconoclast mentality varied more than I indicated in the video. My intent was merely to present general trends, which, though they manifested themselves in different ways in practical application, all stemmed from a misunderstanding of the fullness of the Incarnation.
ReplyDeleteIn our present time, I think the more prevalent error concerning the Incarnation is not so much rejecting the full humanity of Christ, but in rejecting his divinity. Thus, Pope Benedict spoke often against the reductionist view of the Logos Incarnate as merely the "historical Jesus".
Paradoxically, in their very effort to make God seem more Other and Divine, iconoclasts betray a hidden pride. First, there is the pride of holding that God's omnipotence does not truly allow Him to penetrate His own Creation such that His divinity can really shine through it. Second, in rejecting God's mediation through Sacred Art, iconoclasts implicitly water down other forms of mediation, such as the visible Church. If God cannot really mediate something of Himself through physical realities, then the only way he can "touch" believers is in a purely spiritual way. This view, however, leads to an overemphasis of the individual; after all, if God reveals Himself directly to my soul, then I do not need to worry about the messages He might be giving to my neighbor (or to my pastor). This individualism manifested itself tragically in the widespread fragmentation of Christian religions in the wake of the Reformation. This doctrine seems strange because, if it is true, then God has been sending contradictory messages!