Abstract

This study focuses on the paradox of the union of two separate natures, divine and human in Jesus. Many reject this teaching on a rational basis. However, the Bohrian complementarity principle provides an example of the ‘yet-unity’ of opposites as a rational statement as well as an experience. Barbour introduced the methodological concept of critical realism to point out that science and theology share this methodology. In our research, we also keep in mind the linguistic-cultural approach of Lindbeck and the bottom-up thinking of Polkinghorne. By integrating these three with the principle of complementarity, we introduce complementarity realism, which we use as its first application to examine the words of Jesus on the cross. By evaluating Christological teachings throughout early church history using the aids of dogmatic summaries, we check their ability to interpret the seven words of Jesus within their own system. Thus, we obtain a kind of statistical measure of deviation from orthodoxy. This analysis also shows how difficult it is to formulate not only the seven words but ultimately the Christological statements of the New Testament as a whole and coherent teaching. The second half of the study, through a thorough exploration of the problem, points out that the principle of complementarity known from physics can help us to understand the rational aspect of Christ’s dual nature. Moreover, the similarity between the dual nature of Christ and the dual nature of matter can lead to important theological insights and shed light on other theological themes (such as the paradoxes of Lutheran theology) and on the relationship of theology and science.

Full Text
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