On the Incarnation

Theodoret of Cyrrhus's On the Incarnation is a theological work that addresses the nature of Jesus Christ. Theodoret, a bishop and theologian from Antioch, was influenced by the historico-critical school of biblical interpretation. He sought to moderate the Christological disputes of the 5th century, which centered on the relationship between Jesus's divine and human natures.1

The core Christian doctrine of the Incarnation states that God became human in the person of Jesus Christ. This means Jesus is both fully divine and fully human, with these two natures united in one person without diminishing or mixing. Theodoret's work, along with his Eranistes, attributed to Christ a distinct human consciousness and psychological ego. He distinguished between nature and person to harmonize this with traditional orthodoxy. His writings opposed the Alexandrian tendency to emphasize Christ's divinity, which he considered more perilous than the Nestorian view that focused on his humanity. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 partially vindicated Theodoret, though his views were later rejected by the second Council of Constantinople in 553.2314