The Bee and Its Honey

Abstract

This paper discusses the book of Richard Cross, Communicatio idiomatum: Reformation Christological Debates (Oxford University Press 2019). It basically agrees with Cross's view that Martin Luther develops a new variant of the medieval theory of suppositional union in his Christology. The paper argues that the view put forward by Cross has consequences for the soteriological role of human body. While “Christ present in faith” is a corporeal and supernatural gift, it may not be an instance of deification in the sense that human beings could sustain divine properties. Another issue concerns the sense in which Christ can be called a human “person” in Cross's view. As Christ carries a specific instance of human nature which in turn carries a particular instance of corporeality, one could claim that Christ as human being has a particular personalitas. This view resembles the trajectory of “patristic philosophy,” as recently argued by Johannes Zachhuber.