Whether the Godhead Was Separated from the Flesh When Christ Died?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Godhead was separated from the
flesh when Christ died. For as Matthew relates (27:46), when our Lord
was hanging upon the cross He cried out: "My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?" which words Ambrose, commenting on Luke 23:46,
explains as follows: "The man cried out when about to expire by being
severed from the Godhead; for since the Godhead is immune from death,
assuredly death could not be there, except life departed, for the
Godhead is life." And so it seems that when Christ died, the Godhead
was separated from His flesh.
Obj. 2: Further, extremes are severed when the mean is removed. But
the soul was the mean through which the Godhead was united with the
flesh, as stated above (Q. 6, A. 1). Therefore since the soul was
severed from the flesh by death, it seems that, in consequence, His
Godhead was also separated from it.
Obj. 3: Further, God's life-giving power is greater than that of the
soul. But the body could not die unless the soul quitted it.
Therefore, much less could it die unless the Godhead departed.
_On the contrary,_ As stated above (Q. 16, AA. 4, 5), the attributes
of human nature are predicated of the Son of God only by reason of
the union. But what belongs to the body of Christ after death is
predicated of the Son of God--namely, being buried: as is evident
from the Creed, in which it is said that the Son of God "was
conceived and born of a Virgin, suffered, died, and was buried."
Therefore Christ's Godhead was not separated from the flesh when He
died.
_I answer that,_ What is bestowed through God's grace is never
withdrawn except through fault. Hence it is written (Rom. 11:29):
"The gifts and the calling of God are without repentance." But the
grace of union whereby the Godhead was united to the flesh in
Christ's Person, is greater than the grace of adoption whereby others
are sanctified: also it is more enduring of itself, because this
grace is ordained for personal union, whereas the grace of adoption
is referred to a certain affective union. And yet we see that the
grace of adoption is never lost without fault. Since, then there was
no sin in Christ, it was impossible for the union of the Godhead with
the flesh to be dissolved. Consequently, as before death Christ's
flesh was united personally and hypostatically with the Word of God,
it remained so after His death, so that the hypostasis of the Word of
God was not different from that of Christ's flesh after death, as
Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii).
Reply Obj. 1: Such forsaking is not to be referred to the dissolving
of the personal union, but to this, that God the Father gave Him up
to the Passion: hence there "to forsake" means simply not to protect
from persecutors. Or else He says there that He is forsaken, with
reference to the prayer He had made: "Father, if it be possible, let
this chalice pass away from Me," as Augustine explains it (De Gratia
Novi Test.).
Reply Obj. 2: The Word of God is said to be united with the flesh
through the medium of the soul, inasmuch as it is through the soul
that the flesh belongs to human nature, which the Son of God intended
to assume; but not as though the soul were the medium linking them
together. But it is due to the soul that the flesh is human even
after the soul has been separated from it--namely, inasmuch as by
God's ordinance there remains in the dead flesh a certain relation to
the resurrection. And therefore the union of the Godhead with the
flesh is not taken away.
Reply Obj. 3: The soul formally possesses the life-giving
energy, and therefore, while it is present, and united formally, the
body must necessarily be a living one, whereas the Godhead has not the
life-giving energy formally, but effectively; because It cannot be the
form of the body: and therefore it is not necessary for the flesh to
be living while the union of the Godhead with the flesh remains, since
God does not act of necessity, but of His own will.
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