The Communication of Attributes Chart – Free Download
I thought it was time to pull out the old “Communication of Attributes” chart, or as Professor Kurt Marquart liked to call it, the “fishbone chart,” that he liked to use to help us work our way through the absolutely profound presentation on the Communication of Attributes in the second volume of Francis Pieper’s Christian Dogmatics.
I prepared the attached chart, based on his lectures, during the class on Christology I took with him and he liked it so much he kept asking me for copies through the years to share with him. I’m glad it has been helpful.
So, in the solemn season of Lent, when our hearts are drawn to meditate and ponder on the suffering and death of the God-man, Jesus Christ, I offer this as a little gift to you. You may download the PDF version, or just click on the image below and do a “save as” of it on your computer. PDF version: Communication-of-Attributes
Oh Man, could have used this back in the day! Thanks for posting this is marvelous!
Thanks for posting, Paul. I have been using this in my Christology class for a number of years now (giving proper attribution, of course!). It does help us get a handle on the genera.
Great to hear it is helpful, Ed. God bless.
I have heard some Lutherans (LCMS) claim that in Jesus’ Crucifixion, God died; my understanding is that they meant that in some sense the Divine Nature of the Son died. I do not see how this is possible or how it squares with Patristic theology. Is this an authentic Lutheran understanding?
Robert, yes, absolutely. Truly, God did die in the crucifixion. If He did not, that death would have availed nothing. Similarly, Mary is the Mother of God.
This is why the Son of God took on a real and actual human nature.
What does it mean for God to die? Does he cease being God? In the case of a human being’s death, it doesn’t mean that they cease to exist; it means that spirit and body are separated, and the person exists in an interim state about which I think we have a degree of uncertainty. Now I understand that the human nature of Jesus Christ, which he assumed at the hypostatic union, died, meaning that his human body was separated from his human spirit; but what was his divine nature separated from, since God cannot be separated into different parts? The human body, or spirit, or both? In that case, the Incarnation would have been undone, at least until the Resurrection? Isn’t that so? What am I missing?
It’s all about the communication of attributes.
Fr. Paul
That chart is excellent! My Tuesday evening Bible study consists of my theological freaks – always bugging me for more stuff. They WILL get your chart this coming Tuesday.
Getting it all into laymen’s terms might be a tad tough . . . then again, they might step up and see it from “theologian’s” point of view. Here’s hoping!
But thanks!
Pax – jb
JB, would you kindly identify yourself? Thanks!
Rev. Jeff Baxter, hence the “jb” which I have been called for so long by so many it’s automatic, sorry.
Thanks, Jeff. I’ll try to remember.
Thanks for the chart! This is a great reminder of what we learned!