Issue 3: The Incarnation

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A Frequently Asked Questions
Christians believe that God 1. Is Jesus God?
loves his creation so much
Yes. He is the second person of the
that he chose to enter it and
Holy Trinity.
become a part of it by taking
on human flesh, being born of 2. Is Jesus a human being?
a human woman, living among Yes. He is fully human: he has a body
us, and dying an agonizing and human emotions.
death.
Christians believe that the 3. Was the Son always a human be-
ing?
second person of the Trinity,
the Son, was conceived in the No. The Son took on human nature
(was incarnated) when he was con-
womb of the Virgin Mary without the involvement of a human father.
cieved in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
He was born and named Jesus (“God saves”).
This belief is the foundation of the fundamentally positive outlook 4. Is Jesus more than one person?
on life that Chrisitians are meant to embody. Creation is such a No. He is only one person, the Son,
good thing that God wants to be involved in it as intimately as pos- the second Person of the Trinity.
sible.
5. How many natures does Jesus
have?
Two. He is both fully God and fully
Above: a detail from a Russian Orthodox church shows the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and an angel
adoring the infant Jesus. human.
Terms and

Incarnation: The second person of the Holy Trinity taking on human flesh as the
man Jesus.
Ideas

Hypostatic Union: The union of the divine and the human in Jesus: he is fully God
and fully human.

Virgin Birth: Jesus had no human father: his mother was, and remained, a virgin at
every moment of her life.

© Notre Dame Regional Secondary. Design: Carlo Reyes. Banner image: Victoria Cieslik.