Communicatio idiomatum

Cyril is the first person to

really use this idea called the communication of properties.

When you think of property, of course, don't think of land.

Think of a attributes.

Some people use the word idioms, but that word means something different to us.

So attributes might be the best way of thinking about it.

The communication of properties.

What does this mean? The communication of properties or the sharing of attributes was Cyril's way of helping the church think about the two natures of Christ.

And so, for example, in the Christology chapter, I have multiple sections on words that would sound like Harry Potter spells to most Christians.

Like I have a section on the Communicatio Idiomatum, which sounds like a Harry Potter spell.

So I wanted to actually do some legitimate theological lifting and yet do it in a way that regular church people could follow.

And so, um,

in the scriptures, that Jesus is one divine person with two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, very God and very man.

One other way that we see even the idea of the Chalcedonian definition and the truths there carried over into our confession is the later paragraph in chapter 8, paragraph 7, dealing with the communion of properties or communicatio idiomatum.

which again was something that's set in its framework by the Chalcedonian definition.

And so even those things show that harmony between all of those different documents rooted in the scriptures themselves.