Is God Incarnate Immutable?
A correspondent has asked: “What bearing does the hypostatic union have upon the immutability of God? How are they reconciled?” First of all, a word of explanation. In theology, the hypostatic union is the union of the divine and human natures in Christ. The word “hypostatic” is from a Greek word that has come to mean “person” in theology, and refers here to the fact that the two natures of Christ are united in one Person. The word “immutability,” as most will know, refers to God’s unchangeableness (Mal. 3:6; James 1:17). The question, then, is this: How can God remain unchangeable if He in time unites Himself to our human natures in Christ? Is that not a change in God? And, also, the question is, if we understand it rightly: How can God be united in Christ to our changeable human nature without Himself becoming changeable? This is a question that the church dealt with early on in her history. After defending her faith both in the true and complete divinity of Christ and in His true an
