Everything about Hypostatic Union totally explained
Hypostatic union (from the Greek: ὑπόστασις, "hypostasis," translated
reality or
person) is a technical term in
Christian theology employed in mainstream
Christology to describe the presence of both human and divine natures in Jesus Christ. It became official at the
Council of Chalcedon, which stated that the two natures (divine and human) are united in the one person (existence or reality, "
hypostasis") of Christ.
The Use of hypostasis
Hypostasis had come into use as a technical term prior to the Christological debates of the late fourth and fifth centuries. Before there were Christians, the word was used in
Greek philosophy, primarily in
Stoicism.
Hypostasis had some use in the
New Testament that reflect the later, technical understanding of the word; especially Hebrews 1:3. Although it can be rendered literally as "substance" this has been a cause of some confustion so it's now often translated "subsistence". It denotes an actual, concrete existence, in contrast with abstract categories such as Platonic ideals.
The
First Council of Nicaea defined the
Trinity as being three persons or
realities (
hypostases) with one essence (
ousia).
Theological development
Apollinaris of Laodicea was the first to use the term hypostasis in trying to understand the
Incarnation. Apollinaris described the union of the divine and human in Christ as being of a single nature and having a single essence - a single hypostasis.
Theodore of Mopsuestia went in the other direction, arguing that in Christ there were two natures (human and divine) and two hypostases (in the sense of "essence" or "person") that co-existed.
The
Chalcedonian Creed agreed with Theodore that there were two natures in the
Incarnation. However, the
Council of Chalcedon also insisted that hypostasis be used as it was in the Trinitarian definition: to indicate the person and not the nature as with Apollinarius.
Thus, the Council declared that in Christ there are two natures; each retaining its own properties, and together united in one subsistence and in one single person (εἰς ἓν πρόσωπον καὶ μίαν ὑπόστασιν,
eis hen prosopon kai mian hupostasin)
As the precise nature of this union is held to defy finite human comprehension, the hypostatic union is also referred to by the alternative term "mystical union."
Those who rejected the Chalcedonian Creed were known as
Monophysites because they'd only accept a definition that characterized the incarnate Son as having one nature. The
Chalcedonian acceptance of the hypostatic union was described by these persons as a
dyophysite Christology, from the Greek for "two natures."
Further Information
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