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Is
Jesus a Human Being ?
The question is problematic because there is more than one definition
for the word “being.” So, it depends on what is meant.
The
Second Person of the Trinity has always been. Never was there a
time when He has not existed. He is Begotten, not made. He
is, and always will be One Divine Person with a Divine Nature. At
the Incarnation this One Person took on a human nature in addition to
His Divine nature and thus He became fully human, and we call Him Jesus. See
side bar.
Going back to the
original question, if by “being”
one means a
“person” then the answer is most definitely NO. Jesus is ONE
person who is Divine.
Humanity is part of
creation
IF we were to say
that Jesus is a Human Being, that is a Human person, we would be saying
that His Identity or who He is as a Person was created. That would be
wrong. His human nature was created, but not His Person or Being.
The identity of who
He is as a person is eternal.
To claim that He is both a human person and
a divine person is to fall into the Nestorian heresy. See below.
If by “being” one
means “nature” then we would say that Jesus has a human
being or that He took on a human being at the Incarnation. Some
people chose to define
“human being”
as a person that has a human nature,
so in that sense we would say that Jesus is a human being, that is, One
Divine Person who has both a Divine and a human nature. Since the
word
“being” has
several different definitions I prefer not to use it myself. The
new Creed we say at Mass has replaced the word “being” with the
more precise word “consubstantial.” See Side Bar.
So, I prefer not to
use the problematic terminology of “being.” Rather, I would say it this
way. Jesus is ONE
person with two natures, fully divine and fully human. He is One Divine Being, or Person, who took on a
created human nature about nine months before the Christmas event of
about two thousand years ago. He has always had a divine nature.
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