1. The Emergence of Christ's Human Nature Through the Action of the Holy Spirit.
the Holy Spirit. * While all men since Adam and Eve receive their human nature by natural descent from a pair of parents, father and mother,
propheticam denominationem, Dan. 7:13. Ut ex Daniele sumta fuit usitata tunc appellatio Messiae, ita ex eodem propheta vulgari consuetudine Messias dictus fuit Filius hominis, ille scilicet, quem Daniel in visione prophetica describit. (De pers., § 80.) Christ does not descend from a pair of parents, namely not from Joseph and Mary, but only from Mary, and Mary the Virgin. Sacred Scripture explicitly ascribes to the Holy Spirit the effect according to which Mary, the Virgin, received the Son of God according to human nature, Matthew 1:18: evpéan (Mary) ev yaotpt syovoa Ek TvEedLATOS cy1OV; Vv. 20: 76 Ev AUTH yevvniEV Ek TvEebpatds éottv aytov. While the ex in v. 16, namely in the words: ¢€ 1c (Mapiac) éyevetd éyevetO Inootc, denotes the materia, in the words ex Tvevpatoc &yiov denotes the cansa efficiens.!° According to this, the Holy Spirit miraculously acted on the Virgin Mary in such a way that she, the Virgin, became the Mother of the Son of God according to human nature. Conceptio miraculosa. Luke 1:35 describes the miraculous process like this: IIvebpa aylov émeAevostat ext Exi GE KOL VYNOTOV ETLOKIhOE1 SUVALLIC. Therefore Christ is called Gen. 3:15 ay71-[HEBREW], you, the wife, seed, and of Mary it is called Isaiah 7:14: 499 74993 [HEBREW], and in the quotation in the New Testament, Matt. 1:23: n_aapS€évoc ev yaotpt Eéét. From the very beginning (contrary to the Ebionites) the Christian church has believed and confessed the conception of the Holy Spirit and the birth from Mary, the Virgin. Apostle’s Creed: Conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria virgine. [He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary]!°) Christianity holds fast to this confession even in the face of modern opposition (Harnack, Crapsey etc.). If, on the other hand, one invokes the "laws of nature", the answer to this is Luke 1:34-37 once and for all: odk GdvvaTHOE1 Tapa TOD O<od aav Pra, with which
existence of Christ, through whose activity, which only occurred in this unique case, the creation of the embryo in the womb of Mary is causally produced in contrast to human production, so that this is excluded. Also the locked position in V. 20: ex MVEVDLATOs EoTLV tylov sets the tone on avEvdLATOG in contrast to a natural-human origin. Gerhard: Cum dicimus de Maria, est de materiale; cum dicimus de Spiritu Sancto, est de potentiale. [When we say ‘of Mary,’ the ‘of’ denotes the substance; when we say ‘of the Holy Ghost,’ the ‘of denotes the operative power] (De pers., § 107.)
Chalcedonense: ex Mapiac tio nopSévov. (Mansi VII, 116.) The same applies to the earliest writings from the post-apostolic period; cf. Schmid-Hauck, Dogmengesch., pp. 14 ff. Leo (Serm. 2. de nativ. Salv.): Origo in Salvatore nostro dissimilis, sed natura consimilis. Si veritatem quaeris humanae naturae, cognosce materiam. Si rationem scrutaris originis, virtutem confidere divinam. [Google] (In Gerhard, 1. c., § 90.) 73] every Christian is actually content, as Mary (v. 38) was, and every reasonable person who believes an almighty God and has correct concepts of "natural laws" should be content.!°