Christ as Deus Absconditus in Thomas Aquinas's Theology
- Christ as Deus Absconditus in Thomas Aquinas's Theology
The relationship between the two natures in Christ is the subject of one of the greatest theological disputes. The way in which this relationship is defined determines the perception not only of Christ himself and his mission but also of the mystery of the divine nature and the Trinity and numerous other fundamental issues. For example, the statements that the Word's assumption of human nature causes changes in his divine nature and that whatever happens in Christ's human nature has an actual impact on his divine nature are obviously remote from what is called a "classical theism," known from the works by Augustine, Aquinas, Bonaventure, or Duns Scotus. Martin Luther was perfectly well aware of this when he put forward a new understanding of the communicatio idiomatum principle, making way for radical redefinitions not only in Christology but also, as a direct consequence, in the theology of the Trinity.1
This trend, timidly introduced by Luther, was strongly reinforced by nineteenth-century kenoticists and later prevailed in a number of twentieth-century Christological and Trinitarian concepts. Some [End Page 881] of the key elements of this process were: introduction of a weaker notion of the divine transcendence, negation of the incarnate Logos's immutability, and redefinition of the relationships within the Holy Trinity. Some truly "human" characteristics were assigned to the triune Creator: he "became" mutable and passible, full of passions and experiencing history in his divine being. The general direction of these changes may be briefly characterized as a radical increase in blurring the ontic boundary between the Creator and the creation, the boundary that was "heroically" defended by classical and Thomistic Christology. But this modern and contemporary process of transforming the Trinitarian theology began with reflection on the Incarnation and was an attempt to find a new answer to the question on the nature of God and its relation to the human nature assumed in the Incarnation.
I do not intend in this article to discuss or criticize these new theologies of the nature of God and of the Trinity. This has been done many a time by Thomists, and to good effect.2 I treat these contemporary trends only as a background that helps to emphasize one of the significant themes in Aquinas's Christology: the theology of the incarnated God as the God who hides himself, the Deus absconditus. This expression was derived from Isaiah 45:15: "Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior!" ("Vere tu es Deus absconditus, Deus Israel salvator"). It is worth it to note at the outset that, for Aquinas, Deus absconditus refers almost exclusively to Christ, to the incarnated Son of God. It is thought-provoking in itself that St. Thomas, who was so sensitive about accentuating divine incomprehensibilitas, very rarely uses this name in connection with the mystery of God's nature in se and limits its use mainly to the description of Jesus Christ, the God enfleshed.
The name Deus absconditus plays a significant role in Aquinas's Christology, as it defines the identity of the incarnated Son of God, who remains the "God who hides himself" despite the fact that he assumed human nature and allowed its unimaginable union with [End Page 882] himself. For, even though "per carnem Filius Dei visibilis apparuit [through flesh, the Son of God became visible],"3 still, as Aquinas states:
The divinity of Christ is covered over [occulta], and it is apart [separate] from every creature because of its excellence: "God who is over all be blessed for ever" (Rom 9:5); "Truly, you art a God who hides yourself" (Isa 45:15).4
And in another place, he writes:
For the assumption of humanity … took place in a unity of person, not in a unity of nature, which might result in our agreement with those who held that God is not exalted above all things [super omnia exaltatum], and said that God was the soul of the universe, or something of the sort.5
Therefore Jesus Christ, the incarnated God, may be called Deus absconditus because his divine...
