Christological Question

[-Sasha-]

Christ has a natural human will yes, but the human will in its natural (i.e. not sinful) state cannot be gnomic, since humans should only will the good.

So Christ's human will was perfectly submitted to Divine will, as ours should be, but isn't usually.

 

[ArmyMatt]

So Christ's human will was perfectly submitted to Divine will, as ours should be, but isn't usually.

correct, perfectly and freely submitted to the Divine Will.

 

[Barney2.0]

The human nature was divinized upon its conception and when it was united with the divine nature so it became sinless and perfect just as Adam was before the fall.

 

[ArmyMatt]

The human nature was divinized upon its conception and when it was united with the divine nature so it became sinless and perfect just as Adam was before the fall.

actually, not to be nitpicky, but since it was a union of natures, it was even greater than Adam before the Fall.

 

[Newtheran]

Christ did not have a gnomic will.

Never heard that term before. Only heard the word gnome applied to small garden statues.

So I looked it up and came up with ...

"With the distinction between the natural will and the mode of willing, we can now begin to understand the gnomic will. The gnomic will is “one sub-category within the much larger category of ‘the mode of willing’” which relates to “a mode of willing, but is so ‘in relation to some real or assumed good.’” Farrell’s quotation from Maximus, that the gnomic will relates to “some real or assumed good,” means that “the gnomic will is a form of actualization of the human natural will that is marked by sinfulness,” since our deliberation means we are subject to “ignorance…to mutability, to the possibility of committing evil deeds, to passions and to actual sinfulness,” all realities that pertain to fallen human hypostases.6 Thus, Christ lacks a gnomic will since his hypostasis is that of the second member of the Trinity, the Logos. While one might claim this diminishes Christ’s humanity, it does not, “for gnome does not pertain to the logos of nature (λόγος φύσεως) but is a mode of use (τρόπος χρήσεως) through which we gain experience of the ways in which the good is achieved.”7 Thus, Maximus says, “the humanity of Christ does not simply subsist [in a manner] similar to us, but divinely, for He who appeared in the flesh for our sakes was God. It is thus not possible to say that Christ had a gnomic will.”8"

The Concept of the Gnomic Will in St. Maximus the Confessor – A Rather Silly Blog

...and still not sure that I'm understanding the concept. Is this another way of describing with St .Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 2 regarding the "natural man" or some other concept entirely?

 

[ArmyMatt]

Christ having no gnomic will basically means His human will didn't deliberate since it was perfectly deified, so His human will only willed the good.

 

[Barney2.0]

actually, not to be nitpicky, but since it was a union of natures, it was even greater than Adam before the Fall.

That would be a more accurate statement.

 

[ArmyMatt]

That would be a more accurate statement.

and because of the Incarnation, even we can have greater communion with God than Adam did even before the Fall.

 

[Not David]

What about Jesus' suffering before his arrest? It sounds like Christ wanted to be delivered from the task.

 

[ArmyMatt]

it's because it's natural for the human will to want to live.