The Theandric Mystery of Christ: A study of the principle of theandricity in Byzantine Christology

Abstract

This study seeks to explore what can be considered as the greatest contribution made to Christian religious thought by the Byzantine theological tradition, namely, the principle of theandricity. More precisely, the Byzantines articulated the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinitarian Godhead, the Incarnate Son and Word of God, as theandric, that is, the fullness of divinity and the fullness of humanity have been united in the one person or hypostasis of Jesus Christ. The theandric principle, however, does not simply indicate the unity of two natures, the divine and the human, resulting in the one hypostasis or person; rather it signifies a new mode of existence, that is, the manner of Christ’s new existence as the God-man, as a consequence of the union of the two natures effected by the one hypostasis. Indeed, this union occurs at the level of hypostasis, given that is it the hypostasis of the Logos and Son of God, who assumes human nature and all its natural attributes, in a union which is ‘without confusion,’ ‘without separation’ and ‘without division,’ according to the Council of Chalcedon in 451. In this new mode of existence inaugurated by the hypostatic union, the person of Christ is one, since he is the one hypostasis before and after the incarnation but his manner or way of life is theandric or divine-human. In this light, theandricity therefore preserves and articulates two paradoxical aspects that fundamentally constitute the essence and core of the Christological mystery, namely, the oneness of the person of Jesus Christ, and the distinct integrity of the two natures, divine and human, united within the one person of Christ. This essentially signifies not only the unity of Christ’s person, whereby the divine and human natures and their natural attributes mutually co-exist in the one hypostasis of Christ, but furthermore, it emphatically illustrates that Christ who is one person, one subject, one reality, exists, wills and acts theandrically or divine-humanly at once and inseparably. This thesis will therefore explore how the theandric mystery of Christ was formulated in Patristic Byzantine Christology. More precisely, it will examine and analyse the main Christological concepts and formulae articulated by primary Patristic and Byzantine Fathers in light of the understanding of what constitutes the theandric principle. This thesis will attempt to demonstrate that the principle of theandricity, that is, the articulation of the unique hypostatic mode of Christ’s single existence as theandric, constituted the essence and the guiding principle of theological contemplation through which the Christological doctrine was dogmatically formulated by the Church.