Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Two natures (dyophysitism)

After the incarnation Christ is 'in two natures', divine and human, unmixed and undivided in one person.

Greek physis, 'nature'; dyo, 'two'.

Passages where Christ hungers, sleeps, dies, and is ignorant 'as man' while creating, forgiving, and receiving worship 'as God'.

Chalcedon's 'made known in two natures'. Constantinople III (680) added that a complete human nature includes a human will.

Predicates of either nature are truly said of the one person, each grounded in the nature that bears it (the 'communication of properties').

The Oriental Orthodox prefer 'one united nature', not a fusion; Chalcedonians hold this risks confusing the natures.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.