Sect. 187Christ as Creature; His Subordination to GodChrist as Creature; His Subordination to God
I. The words of Christ, “I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to My God and to your God” (John 20:17), imply a relation between Him and God analogous to the subordination of creatures to their Creator. The Man Christ is an external work of God, Who “created Him” (Is. 45:8), and “made Him (ποιήσαντι)” (Heb. 3:2). He is, however, a creature only as to His human nature. And even in this respect He stands out above all other created beings: in His created nature subsists a Person increated, eternally begotten from and like to the Father.
II. The human nature of Christ being created, Christ as man is inferior and subject to God like other creatures. St. Thomas (3, q. 20, a. 1) distinguishes in His human nature a threefold inferiority to God, forming the counterpart to the threefold equality which belongs to His Divine nature: (1) Christ as man is inferior to God in substantial and accidental perfection; (2) He is subject to the ruling Power of God; and (3) bound to adore and serve God as His principle and final Object. Even when co-operating with the Divine Power, the human nature acts but as an instrument. Yet this threefold inferiority differs from the inferiority of mere creatures. The infinity of perfection, which is denied to Christ’s humanity, is possessed by His Divine Personality; His subjection is not a subjection to an alien power, but to a Power which is His own as God; His service and ministry are given, not to a stranger, but to the Godhead of which He is a Person and whose supereminent dignity is His own. St. Paul beautifully describes this relation (1 Cor. 11:3) as the subordination of a member to the head of a family: “The head of every man is Christ, … and the head of Christ is God.”
III. With those who possess correct notions of the nature and origin of Christ, the question in how far He can be styled “servant of God,” is but a question of words. The term “servant” (slave, servus, δοῦλος), used without restriction, implies exclusion from the position, dignity, and possessions of the Master: it would be heresy to apply it, in this sense, to Christ, Who is at the same time Servant of the Lord and Lord Himself. True, the Latin Vulgate in the Old Testament often calls the Messias servus Dei. But the Hebrew does not convey the idea of servitude implied by the Latin servus; it means a minister, one of the household of God, οἰκέτης: a true worshipper of God and executor of the Divine will. In a similar sense we call saints “servants of God.”
I. The words of Christ, “I ascend to My Father and to your Father, to My God and to your God” (John 20:17), imply a relation between Him and God analogous to the subordination of creatures to their Creator. The Man Christ is an external work of God, Who “created Him” (Is. 45:8), and “made Him (ποιήσαντι)” (Heb. 3:2). He is, however, a creature only as to His human nature. And even in this respect He stands out above all other created beings: in His created nature subsists a Person increated, eternally begotten from and like to the Father.
II. The human nature of Christ being created, Christ as man is inferior and subject to God like other creatures. St. Thomas (3, q. 20, a. 1) distinguishes in His human nature a threefold inferiority to God, forming the counterpart to the threefold equality which belongs to His Divine nature: (1) Christ as man is inferior to God in substantial and accidental perfection; (2) He is subject to the ruling Power of God; and (3) bound to adore and serve God as His principle and final Object. Even when co-operating with the Divine Power, the human nature acts but as an instrument. Yet this threefold inferiority differs from the inferiority of mere creatures. The infinity of perfection, which is denied to Christ’s humanity, is possessed by His Divine Personality; His subjection is not a subjection to an alien power, but to a Power which is His own as God; His service and ministry are given, not to a stranger, but to the Godhead of which He is a Person and whose supereminent dignity is His own. St. Paul beautifully describes this relation (1 Cor. 11:3) as the subordination of a member to the head of a family: “The head of every man is Christ, … and the head of Christ is God.”
III. With those who possess correct notions of the nature and origin of Christ, the question in how far He can be styled “servant of God,” is but a question of words. The term “servant” (slave, servus, δοῦλος), used without restriction, implies exclusion from the position, dignity, and possessions of the Master: it would be heresy to apply it, in this sense, to Christ, Who is at the same time Servant of the Lord and Lord Himself. True, the Latin Vulgate in the Old Testament often calls the Messias servus Dei. But the Hebrew does not convey the idea of servitude implied by the Latin servus; it means a minister, one of the household of God, οἰκέτης: a true worshipper of God and executor of the Divine will. In a similar sense we call saints “servants of God.”
Seção 63% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.