Reformed Protestant Mark Jones wrote the following about (in his view) the problematic nature of the Christology of Lutheranism (Christology is hardly adiaphora!):
Finite human
nature
God alone is infinite, since he is
limitless or endless in space, extent, or size, and impossible to measure or calculate.
Nobody else possesses this attribute. Humans, however, are finite, since we
have limits or bounds. We have certain limitations because we are human beings.
Reformed theologians hold to a theological maxim that the finite (humanity)
cannot comprehend or attaint to the infinite (divinity).
This maxim is also true of Christ’s
two natures, even now in heaven. The human nature can never attain to the
divine nature. For that reason, Christ has limitations according to his human
nature. He developed from infancy into manhood, and experienced a growth in knowledge
(Luke 2:52) that was appropriate to his stage in life. He had to be taught by
his Father (Isa. 50:4-6). He had to content himself that not everything was
revealed to him during his time on earth: ‘But concerning that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only’
(Matt. 24:36). He ‘learned obedience’ through suffering (Heb. 5:8). He learned
of his future suffering through reading the Old Testament Scriptures (e.g.
Gen. 3:15; Psa. 22; Isa. 53). We must secure room for a purely human
development in the life of Jesus in order to do justice to the Scriptures and
Christ’s human nature.
This emphasis stands in contrast
to other theological traditions. . . . though not a monolithic tradition,
Lutheran Christology holds to the idea that in the hypostatic union the divine
attributes were communicated to Christ’s human nature. The Lutherans still
maintain a distinction between the two natures of Christ, but they claim that
many of the divine attributes were immediately and directly possessed by the
human nature at the incarnation. So, for example, omnipotence was communicated
to Christ’s human nature. Reformed theologians find this not only unacceptable,
but also nonsensical.
Omnipotence belongs to the essence
of God. In other words, to be omnipotent is to be God. Since his essence cannot
be divided, that God is omnipotent means that he possesses all other
inseparable divine attributes. Simultaneously as identical to his being.
Theologians call this the ‘simplicity of God’: that is, he is not made up of different
parts. Thus his wisdom is his power, his power is his goodness, his eternity is
his immutability. Therefore, if omnipotence were communicated to Christ’s human
nature, so would ne every other attribute, including eternity and
self-existence. The human nature would be eternal and self-existent. In other
words, the human nature would become divine. In this way, that which has always
been inseparable (the human and divine natures united) now become indistinct
(fused and mixed together as one nature).
In the end, these two traditions
[Catholicism and Lutheranism] posit qualities or attributes to the human nature
that essentially rob Jesus of his true humanity, which gets elevated above the
boundaries set for it. The finite cannot comprehend the infinite, even in the
person of Christ. (Mark Jones, Knowing Christ [Edinburgh: The Banner of
Truth Trust, 2015], 46-48)
Most theological traditions affirm
that Jesus received gifts (e.g. knowledge, love, wisdom) from the Holy
Spirit, but not all theological traditions actually know what to do with these
gifts. If Christ’s divine attributes were communicated to his human nature, as
in the Lutheran tradition, then the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of
Jesus would be superfluous. (Ibid., 53-54)
One should compare the above with William G. T. Shedd (1820-1894) who charged Lutherans with a form of Eutychianism:
William G. T. Shedd: Lutherans are Guilty of a Form of the Christological Heresy of Eutychianism
