Communicatio idiomatum

Communicatio idiomatum ( " exchange of properties " ) is in Christian theology, an aspect of the doctrine of the two natures of Christ in one person.

The two- nature doctrine was formulated at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and states that Jesus Christ is true man and true God is at the same time - " unmixed " ( ἀσυγχύτως, asygchytos ) and " without change " ( ἀτρέπτως, atreptos ), but also " unseparated " ( ἀδιαιρέτως, adiairetos ) and" cut in pieces " ( ἀχωρίστως, achoristos ). According to the doctrine of the Communicatio idiomatum have both natures share of the properties of the other nature. the doctrine was first described by Leo the Great in his teaching letter to the Council of Ephesus 449 formulated later developed primarily by John of Damascus, and represented in the Middle Ages among others by Thomas Aquinas.

However, their greatest significance she attained the Upper disputes of the Reformation period. Martin Luther held - in contrast to the Swiss reformer Zwingli - to believe firmly that Jesus Christ in the Holy Supper is bodily present ( real presence ). But this is only possible if the human nature of Christ, the divine attribute of omnipresence has ( ubiquity ). That's why Martin Luther was a committed advocate of Communicatio idiomatum.

The philosopher Johann Georg Hamann (1730-1780) used the term communicatio idiomatum not only for Christ, but for him elsewhere discovered interaction between the divine and the human.

• Christian theology