Incarnation

Incarnation is from the Latin incarnatio, formed from in (into) and caro/carnis (flesh)[1]. The literal sense is the act or state of becoming flesh. The Christian theological term names the doctrine that the eternal Son of God became human in Jesus Christ. The Greek New Testament term that often underlies this is sarx egeneto (he became flesh, John 1:14)[2] and related phrases.

incarnation is more specific than divine appearance because it concerns the union of divinity and humanity in Christ.

Incarnation is one of the central doctrines of Christianity. The classical formulation, developed especially through the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE, holds that Jesus Christ is one person in two natures, fully divine and fully human, without confusion, change, division, or separation[3]. The natures are distinct yet united in a single person. This doctrine is the answer Christianity gave to the question of who Jesus was: not merely a human teacher, not merely a divine appearance, but the eternal Son of God truly born of Mary and truly human[4].

Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and most Protestant Christianity affirm the Chalcedonian formulation. Some traditions (notably Oriental Orthodox communions including the Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, and Syriac Orthodox churches) prefer a different formulation (sometimes called Miaphysite), emphasizing the unity of Christ's nature while still affirming both divinity and humanity[4]. The historical division between Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian traditions is ancient; modern ecumenical conversation has clarified that the underlying Christology is closer than the original polemics suggested.

The implications of Incarnation are vast. Catholic and Orthodox theology often emphasizes that the Incarnation makes possible the divinization (theosis) of humanity: God became human so that humans could share in divine life[5]. Protestant theology has often emphasized the Incarnation as the necessary condition for atonement: God enters fully into the human condition to accomplish salvation from within. The Incarnation also grounds Christian sacramental theology, ethical commitments to the body and to the material world, and the worship of Christ as God.

Christological scholarship is one of the most extensively developed areas of Christian theology. The patristic debates that led to Nicaea (325) and Chalcedon (451) are studied through major works by Aloys Grillmeier[4], John Behr, Khaled Anatolios, and many others. Modern Christology continues through figures from Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar to contemporary theologians including Sarah Coakley and Kathryn Tanner.

• Christ in Christian Tradition (multiple volumes)by Aloys Grillmeier
  book
• On the Incarnationby Athanasius of Alexandria
  primary source