Balancing Tradition, Culture, and Experience in Christ's Character Study
The character of Christ is understood through a combination of biblical revelation, theological tradition, and the lived experience of faith. The Scriptures present Christ as having two distinct natures—divine and human—united in one person, a concept known as the hypostatic union [2, 6]. This union means that while Christ's human nature remained intact, and his divine nature remained divine, they were not merely co-existing but personally united [2]. This understanding is crucial for grasping Christ's character, as it means his actions and attributes flow from both his full humanity and his full divinity.
Theological traditions have sought to articulate this complex reality. Scholastic theology, for instance, explored how Christ's knowledge, though connatural to a human soul, was distinguished by various habits, allowing him to know different specific natures through different intelligible species [4]. This suggests a human intellect that, while fully human, was also uniquely endowed. The concept of Christ sharing in a spiritual priesthood, where the faithful are likened to him by sharing a spiritual power regarding the sacraments, further illustrates how his character is foundational to Christian understanding of worship and spiritual life [1].
Experience also plays a role in understanding Christ's character, though it must be carefully discerned. One theological perspective emphasizes an "inward guide" or the "inward teachings of the Spirit" as a source of truth, second only to the Word of God [3]. This suggests that personal spiritual experience can deepen one's apprehension of Christ, provided it is not allowed to contradict scriptural revelation or lead to conclusions based solely on philosophical principles or moral axioms [3]. The practical application of Christ's teachings, such as the Beatitudes, to the lives of believers, as seen in the Sermon on the Mount, highlights how Christ's character is not just an abstract theological concept but a model for Christian living [7].
The balance between these elements is vital. While tradition provides a framework for understanding, and experience offers personal engagement, the ultimate authority remains the Word of God [3]. The "strong meat" of deeper theological understanding belongs to those who are "of full age" in their faith, indicating a progression in comprehending Christ's character that moves beyond basic principles [5]. Early Christian philosophy also emphasized the "excellence of the Christian philosophy" in forming manners and revealing truths about God, with an "efficient cause" as the originator of all existence, pointing to Christ's foundational role [8].
Sources
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Third Part (Tertia Pars), Of the Other Effect of the Sacraments, Which Is a Character, Art. 5: Article: Whether a character can be blotted out from the soul? I answer that, As stated above (Article [3]), in a sacramental character Christ's faithful have a share in His Priesthood; in the sense that as Christ has the full power of a spiritual priesthood, so His faithful are likened to Him by sharing a certain spiritual power with regard to the sacraments and to things pertaining to the Divine worship. For this reason it is unbecoming that Christ should have a character”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 79: The Scriptures teach that the human nature of Christ remained in its integrity after the incarnation; and that the divine nature remained divine. The Bible never requires us to receive as true anything which the constitution of our nature given to us by God himself, forces us to believe to be false or impossible. The Union is a Personal Union. Thc union of the two natures in Christ is a personal or hypostatic union. By this is meant, in the first place, that it is not a mere indwelling of the divine nature analogous to the indwelling of t”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 103: guide to the knowledge of the truth. It has an authority second only to that of the Word of God. One great source of error in theology has always been the neglect of this inward guide. Men have formed their opinions, or framed their doctrines on philosophical principles, or moral axioms, and thus have been led to adopt conclusions which contradict the inward teachings of the Spirit, and even their own religious consciousness. The only question is, How can we distinguish the human from the divine? How can we determine what in our experien”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Third Part (Tertia Pars), Of the Knowledge Imprinted or Infused on the Soul of Christ, Art. 6: Article: Whether this knowledge was distinguished by divers habits? I answer that, As stated above (Articles [4],5), the knowledge imprinted on Christ's soul has a mode connatural to a human soul. Now it is connatural to a human soul to receive species of a lesser universality than the angels receive; so that it knows different specific natures by different intelligible species. But it so happens that we have different habits of knowledge, because there are different classe”
- Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 5:13: But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,.... Or perfect; see Co1 2:6. This does not intend a perfection of justification; for though some have a greater degree of faith than others, and a clearer discovery of their justification, yet babes in Christ are as perfectly justified as more grown and experienced believers; nor a perfection of sanctification, for there is no perfection of holiness but in Christ; and though the work of sanctification may be in greater perfection in one saint than in another, yet all are imperfect in this life; and as to a perfe”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 79: fact of its wide and long continued prevalence may be taken as a proof that it does not involve any palpable contradiction. Human nature, therefore, although endowed with intelligence and will, may be, and in fact is, in the person of Christ impersonal. That it is so is the plain doctrine of Scripture, for the Son of God, a divine person, assumed a perfect human nature, and, nevertheless, remains one person. The facts, therefore, revealed in Scripture concerning Christ constrain us to believe, (1.) That in his person two natures, the divi”
- Matthew (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Matthew 5:13: We have here the practical application of the foregoing principles to those disciples who sat listening to them, and to their successors in all time. Our Lord, though He began by pronouncing certain characters to be blessed--without express reference to any of His hearers--does not close the beatitudes without intimating that such characters were in existence, and that already they were before Him. Accordingly, from characters He comes to persons possessing them, saying, "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you," &c. (Mat 5:11). And now, continuing t”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 6: Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius, Julius Africanus, Methodius, Arnobius — CHAP. I.--THE EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY; THE ORIGIN OF HERESIES AMONGST CHRISTIANS.: THE philosophy of the Christians is termed simple. But it bestows very great attention to the formation of manners, enigmatically insinuating words of more certain truth respecting God; the principal of which, so far as any earnest serious purpose in those matters is concerned, all will have received when they assume an efficient cause, very noble and very ancient, as the originator of all things that have existenc”