Hypostatic Union

In modern times, the term is most used in reference to Christian Theology , where it describes one stance on Christology , as well as the main explanation of Transubstantiation .

IN CHRISTIANITY

In Christian theology, ''the hypostatic union'' (also known as the ''personal union'' and the ''mystical union'') refers to the dual nature of Jesus Christ as being simultaneously God and Man . What is considered to be the orthodox doctrine of the hypostatic union, especially defined by the Council Of Chalcedon ( 451 ), is opposed to the doctrine that Jesus Christ has only one nature after His incarnation ( Monophysitism ), and it is opposed to Nestorianism , which posits a juncture of the two natures but is considered to leave room for believing that Jesus Christ is two persons.

Hypostatic union is a theological term used with reference to the ( 325 ), the term hypostasis was sometimes synonymous with Ousia (), and even St. Augustine (De Trin., V, 8) declared that he saw no difference between them. The distinction was in fact brought about gradually in the course of the controversies to which the Christological heresies gave rise and was definitively established by the Council Of Chalcedon ( 451 ), which declared that in the Christ there are two natures; each retaining its own properties, and together united in one subsistence and in one single person (, ''eis en prosopon kai mian hupostasin)'' ( Denzinger , ed. Bannwart, 148). The two natures are not joined in a moral or accidental union ( Nestorius ), nor commingled ( Eutyches ), but nevertheless they are substantially united. The precise nature of this union is held to defy human comprehension, hence the alternative term "mystical union."

SEE ALSO

Christology

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Hypostatic Union