The ''extra calvinisticum'' is the doctrine that the eternal Son maintains his existence ''etiam extra carnem'' (also beyond the flesh) during his earthly ministry and perpetually. The term is usually used by Lutherans referring to Reformed theology, but Calvinists argue that the doctrine has been held by a wide range of Christians including church fathers.

Introduction

The

Chalcedonian Definition The Chalcedonian Definition (also called the Chalcedonian Creed or the Definition of Chalcedon) is a declaration of Christ's nature (that it is dyophysite), adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. Chalcedon was an early centre of Chris ...

(AD 451) states the following concerning the

hypostatic union ''Hypostatic union'' (from the Greek: ''hypóstasis'', "sediment, foundation, substance, subsistence") is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one h ...

of the two natures of Christ:

one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some tensions found within the definition's logic would escalate into controversies during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

and Reformed theologians set forth opposing doctrines of the person of Christ. The controversy was mainly concerning the human nature of Christ. For example, how does this inconfused, unchangeable, indivisible, inseparable union relate to the omnipresence of Christ? The Reformed understanding of the relationship between the two natures of Christ and his omnipresence is what is usually called the extra Calvinisticum. The extra Calvinisticum teaches that the eternal Son maintains his existence ''etiam extra carnem'' (also beyond the flesh) during his earthly ministry and perpetually. This theological distinction is in contrast to scholastic Lutheran Christology. In the theology of

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

omnipresent Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to descri ...

not only in his divine nature but also in his human nature, because of the communication of properties (''

communicatio idiomatum ''Communicatio idiomatum'' (Latin: ''communication of properties'') is a Christological concept about the interaction of deity and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ. It maintains that in view of the unity of Christ's person, his human and di ...

'') between those two natures. The Reformed, in contrast to the Lutherans, argued that "the Word is fully united to but never totally contained within the human nature and, therefore, even in the incarnation is to be conceived of as beyond or outside of (extra) the human nature." James R. Gordon makes a distinction between two versions of the doctrine — the weak and the strong — in the tradition. The weak version simply maintains "that (1) the Son cannot be reduced to Christ’s physical body and (2) there is some form of presence exercised by the Son beyond the Son’s incarnate life in Christ"; and it remains agnostic about the ''what'' and the ''how'' of the Son’s life ''extra carnem'', and it does not make inferences from the fact of the Son’s presence beyond Christ’s physical body to additional theological ramifications of such presence. The strong version of the doctrine makes further theological claims regarding the specifics of the ''what'' and ''how'' of Son’s presence beyond the flesh by making the "assertions that (1) the Son is not exhaustively revealed in the person of Christ, (2) the Son simpliciter does not participate in the full range of human experiences of the person of Christ, and (3) the incarnation is contingent to the Son’s life.”

History of the Doctrine

The term ''Extra Calvinisticum'' ( la, The Calvinistic beyond/outside) is a theological '' terminus technicus'' given by Lutheran scholastic theologians around 1620. The doctrine is named for and associated with John Calvin, but is commonly found in the church fathers and is prominent in

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...

's Christology. E. David Willis demonstrates the existence of this doctrine in the writings of Augustine of Hippo,

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096, Novara – 21/22 July 1160, Paris), was a scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of '' Four Books of Sentences'' which became the standard textbook of ...

, John of Damascus,

Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nazianzus ( el, Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, ''Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos''; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory N ...

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

Duns Scotus John Duns Scotus ( – 8 November 1308), commonly called Duns Scotus ( ; ; "Duns the Scot"), was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher, and theologian. He is one of the four most important ...

, Gabriel Biel, and Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples, Jacques LeFevre d'Estaples. Andrew M. McGinnis furthers the research and demonstrates evidence of the doctrine in the writings of Cyril of Alexandria.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Extra Calvinisticum Christology Calvinist theology Latin religious words and phrases

Introduction

History of the Doctrine

See also

References