Christ Condemned: On the Incarnation and the Trinity

A philosophical explanation of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, based on the work of Immanuel Kant, and defended from Scripture.

Preface

This book arose from my reading of Immanuel Kant. The imprint of that philosopher may be found throughout. Much of the book is an original exposition of his three critiques. However, the premise of the work is to apply the critical philosophy to theology, in particular, to the doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity. Kant argues that the existence of God is a necessary postulate of practical reason. Man must believe in God to be happy in doing his duty. In this book I argue that, on the supposition, man has sinned, the Incarnation and the Trinity are necessary postulates of practical reason, not for man to continue in his duty, but to repent of his sin. These doctrines are therefore established on the same basis that Kant established the existence of God.

Julian Gress, 2019

Introduction

    Doctrines through which salvation is possible are fundamental; actual, historical; necessary, derivative. The moral law teaches man how to persevere in original righteousness. The fundamentals of the law are the immortality of the soul, the freedom of the will, and the existence of God. But the wrath of God is upon fallen man. How is it possible for God, who does not change, through the very same law that destroys sinners, also to save them? The end of grace is that of the law: charity, charity alone. Grace remedies the fall; grace brings man out of sin and death, into righteousness and life. Salvation must therefore be lawful, and lawfully conceived, to be lawfully received by fallen man.

    The purpose of this work is to prove that Jesus Christ is both God and man, and that in the unity of the divine nature there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that the Incarnation and the Trinity are fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, conditions of the possibility of salvation, without which no man can be saved.

    Theology is the knowledge of God. The Incarnation is the constitutive principle of theology, the condition for intuiting the divine nature; the Trinity is the regulative principle of theology, the condition for thinking the divine nature intuited. Each principle divides into two headings, formal and material, and each heading forms three moments, thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. There are therefore twelve fundamental doctrines of revealed religion, to be proven in the work itself.

    What has hitherto been called systematic theology is not truly systematic, but organized, bringing certain doctrines under headings without explicating them according to the unity of the whole. Fundamental doctrine pertains to the Father; this is the foundation of the system of theology. Historical doctrine pertains to the manifestation of the Son of God in history; derivative doctrine to the application of Christ’s work to the church by the Holy Spirit. I reserve their exposition to two future works, if the Lord wills it.

Part I�"The Incarnation

Section 1�"The Nature of God

Definition

    God is an inwardly lawful being. An inwardly lawful being is one whose righteousness and blessedness are identical. Righteousness is lawfulness, blessedness is the union of lawfulness and happiness, and their identity is holiness.

    Man is an outwardly lawful being of sensible intuition; an angel, of intellectual intuition. An outwardly lawful being is one whose righteousness and blessedness are distinct.

Proposition

There is a God.

Proof

    Man is an outwardly lawful being; his blessedness is distinct from his righteousness. Therefore, the blessedness of his righteousness depends upon a being for whom these are the same, in whom man wills his own happiness lawfully. This being is God. Therefore, God exists.

Scripture Proof

Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord. Jeremiah 22:15-16

To do one’s duty, and be happy for it, this is the knowledge of God.

Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. Psalm 34:11-16

Scripture proves God's perfect righteousness from his necessary work.

Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:25

Therefore hearken unto me, ye men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. Job 34:10-12

Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world? Romans 3:5-6

    See also Deut. 30:11-16; Ps. 1, 37, 58, 125; Prov. 8:32-36, 24:19-20; Jer. 9:6, 23-24; Hos. 6:6; Mal. 3:13-18; Col. 1:9-10; Is. 1:19-20, 3:10-11, 35; Rom. 1:18-21, 2:12-17; Eph. 6:1-8; Heb. 11:1-6; Jas. 1:22-25.

Comment

    The moral law is a concept that contains within itself the ground of an intuition; the universal concept of the moral law is the concept of the ground of an intuition. The moral law is the conceptualization of grounds, or groundedness in concepts. It commands through its form, without the matter, unconditionally.

    Man desires happiness. Happiness is the agreement of the will with its object. If man wills an object, he wills pleasure in the actuality of the object willed. The law is the universal form of the will; happiness, the particular, is its matter.

    Man ought to obey the law, and he also desires happiness; therefore, the end of man is the union of lawfulness and happiness. This is blessedness. The concept of this union is singular, and the singular is the form of an intuition.

    The moral law contains within itself the ground of an intuition in agreement with its concept. The concept of the law is righteousness, and its intuition is blessedness. Righteousness is to be the ground of blessedness, and blessedness must be willed righteously, and must itself be righteous; but being not righteous in itself, there is one in whom it is, who is holy. This union is a concept with its intuition, a being, and this being is God.

    God is happy in righteousness, and therefore perfectly righteous, and being perfectly happy in his perfect righteousness, whatsoever God wills necessarily comes to pass. In willing God's will, man wills his own happiness lawfully, and receives the reward of his obedience from a holy lawgiver and judge.

Proposition 1

There is one God.

Proof

    The blessedness of the divine nature is identical to its righteousness. The blessedness of God is his intuition, his righteousness is his concept, and the intuition of God is identical to his concept. The concept of the divine nature is one, therefore the intuition of God is also one, and the being of God, the intuition in agreement with the concept, is one, that is, there is one God.

Scripture Proof

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:1-2, cf. Deut. 5:6-7

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, then follows the commandment, Thou shalt have no other gods before me, for that he is holy, he is one.

There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. James 4:12

He is not a doer of the law, as though bound by it, but a judge (Jas. 4:11).

and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Isaiah 45:21

 

    See also Ex. 15:11; Deut. 4:6-8, 32-40, 6:4-5, 32:4, 12; 1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Sam. 7:18-29; 1 Kings 8:23-24; 1 Chron. 17:16-27; 2 Chron. 6:14-15; Is. 42:8, 43:10-13, 44:6-8, 45:1-8, 18, 22, 46:4-5; Eph. 4:1-6; 1 Cor. 8:1-6; 1 Tim. 6:13-16; John 17:3-4.

Comment

    A concept is a universal presentation common to several other representations; these other representations are particular. A singular concept is the particular thought of as universal. The particular is thought through the universal, in distinction therefrom, therefore, the particular is thought, as a concept, in the singular, wherein the universal and the particular are identified. This union, distinguished from the universal through the particular, is the form of an intuition.

    An object whose intuition is identical to its concept is a thing in itself, or noumenon. An object whose intuition is distinct from its intuition is an appearance, or phenomenon.

    Angels identify the universal and the singular. This is intellectual intuition. An angel intuits a being through its concept, therefore angels see God. Angels are unities, rulers of concepts.

    Man distinguishes the singular from the universal. This is called sensible intuition. The universal and the singular are identical in form, distinct in matter. If, then, an intuition is given, its matter, or particularity, is thought through sensation, its form, which is its universality, is thought through concepts, and the concepts applied to the intuition yield concepts of an object, distinct from the subject and its thought. The quantity of concepts is universal, particular, and singular. An intuition universal is unity; an intuition particular is plurality; an intuition singular, the identity of the former, is totality.

    The unity of intuition is either conceptual or intuitive. The conceptual unity is pure. It refers neither to the singular, nor to the particular, but to the universal; therefore, this unity negates all plurality. Space is the form of outer intuition, and is one; there is one universal space, and all particular spaces are contained within it. Time is likewise one, and the world itself.

    The intuitive unity is empirical. Sensible intuition distinguishes the singular from the universal, therefore also the particular in the singular. The universal concept is the common unity of diverse particulars, which are distinguished from one another through their common distinction from the universal concept. Thus, empirical unity affirms the universal concept in the plurality of intuition. There are many particular spaces, and of many a common measure.

    Is then the unity of God pure, or empirical?

    The blessedness of God is identical to his righteousness. Righteousness is the concept of the divine nature; blessedness is its intuition; therefore, the intuition of God is identical to his concept, and God is as his concept, one.

    God is an inwardly lawful being. In any judgment of quantity, I am aware of the same presentation as belonging to a multitude of other presentations. When I count my fingers, I think in each what is common to all, and each one outside the others, but God is an inwardly lawful being. The divine nature cannot be intuited outside of itself, in another, but only within itself and its concept. Therefore, God is one.

Proposition 2

God is invisible.

Proof

    Plurality is particularity thought through unity. Sensible intuition distinguishes intuitions from concepts. It conceives of intuitions as particular in relation to concepts, whereby the particular is thought through the unity of intuition. God is an inwardly lawful being. The intuition of the divine nature is identical to its concept, a conception that excludes all particularity and therefore also all plurality from the divine nature. Therefore, God cannot be represented as a plurality, or as an object of sensible intuition. God is invisible.

Scripture Proof

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Exodus 20:4

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness, any visible representation of the divine nature; of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth below, or in the waters under the earth, all things visible, in every division of space. 

    The unity of God therefore negates plurality in God, whether internal through division of its space, external through its multiplication, or material through the filling of space. These sins are expressly condemned by Scripture. The system of idolatry imputes physical properties to the divine nature, and traverses the path of mathematics and natural science.

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god. They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Isaiah 44:6-20

He proposes to construct the form of God with compass and straightedge; the matter, through wood and precious metals; and the purpose, to warm himself and cook meat. He ought rather to represent the divine nature through obedience to his commandments.

Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him; he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him. But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:8-9

    See also Ex. 33:20; Deut. 4:15-19; Jer. 10:1-16; John 1:18; Rom. 1:18-25; Acts 17:22-29; Ex. 25:9, 30:22-38; Ps. 50:7-15; Prov. 21:3; Is. 1:10-20, 29:13, 66:1-3; Jer. 7:21-23; Amos 5:14-27; Mic. 6:6-9; Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 7:19

Comment

    Plurality is the particular thought through unity, whereby the particulars under a given unity are thought of as units mutually excluding one another. Space is an extension, a whole made of parts external to one another, mutually exclusive particulars under a common universal. Whatsoever is represented in space is a plurality. The intuition of the divine nature is identical to its concept, and its concept excludes particularity, which cannot therefore be thought in the divine nature through its unity. There is a negation of plurality in the divine nature that negates all physical representation thereof. God is an inwardly lawful being; any outward representation of his inward lawfulness is intrinsically contradictory.

    The attributes of God are particular, as are the duties of the moral law, but, as the Ten Commandments show, particular duties are applications of one law to the visible world. The unity of the law is the lawgiving form applied in each commandment: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12).

    The attributes of God are particular, formally the same, materially distinct, distinct relations of one and the same being to different things, as space, time, the world, himself, good men and evil; accordingly, he is omnipresent, eternal, omniscient, unchangeable, benevolent, just, wise.

    The combination of unity and plurality is totality, but in God plurality is negative. There is no plurality in the divine nature, therefore, neither is there a divine totality, but a logical totality or conclusion drawn from the first two commandments: “Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them…” (Exodus 20:5). Idols are false gods; worship of God through idols is not worship of God, but of idols.

    God is invisible; man does not intuit the divine nature. Man knows God, not through an intuition given, but to be produced. The question is not, how is the divine unity intuited in a plurality, but how is it thought in a plurality intuited? Plurality is the mutual exclusion of particulars under a common unity. The divine unity is universality without particularity; particularity without the divine nature, and under it, is in particular thinking subjects, the rational beings whom God has made. These are outwardly lawful beings, made in God’s image, free to do good or evil. In the multiplicity of men and the division of their works, the unity of the divine nature is thought, through the happiness or misery of which good and evil men partake.

Thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:5-6

And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these; so that the one came not near the other all the night. Exodus 14:19-20, cf. 15:19

And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. Deuteronomy 28:63

Proposition 3

God has appeared to us in Jesus Christ.

Proof

    This proposition may only be known through experience, but its necessity may be demonstrated as follows.

    The divine unity is thought in a plurality intuited: God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, for man either obeys or disobeys the moral law, and God repays every man according to his works. Therefore, the relation of God to man is thought in a disjunction: God justifies or condemns, according as men are good or evil.

Salvation is the transition from condemnation to justification, and a moment of transition combines before and after. Accordingly, neither condemnation nor justification alone suffices to save men from their sins. Sinners ought not to be justified, nor righteous men condemned. Therefore, by logical division of God’s works there is no possibility of salvation.

    The whole of God’s judgments is possible in another way, through their community and reciprocity. If salvation is not possible through the former, we may appeal to the latter. A disjunctive judgment contains the mutual exclusion of particulars under a common universal; community and reciprocity contain the mutual determination of the plurality of intuition within its unity. The plurality of judgments consists of justification and condemnation; their community and reciprocity is their union in one man, Jesus Christ; and this union is possible through the unity of the divine nature exhibited therein. Therefore, Jesus Christ reveals the divine nature through the harmony of diverse judgments executed upon himself.

Scripture Proof

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18

Christ suffered to save us, to bring us to God, by revealing God to us, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit. 1 Timothy 3:16

Justified in the Spirit, justified in his submission to the condemnation of the Father, and rewarded with the divine name.

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:6-11

Through the justification of his obedience under the sentence of condemnation, the divine nature appears to men in human form.

    The law divides between right and wrong, life and death.

See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them them. Deuteronomy 30:15-20, cf. chp. 27-30

The moral law suffices to condemn man, but t-he law of Moses was not given to man to condemn him, long before the day of judgment, to fan the flames of his sin, to muddy his wallows, for he says,

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 33:11, cf. Rom. 7:1-13

If God speaks to condemn, he condemns; and if he does not condemn, then he speaks not to condemn, but to save.

But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. Judges 13:23

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:17

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Romans 2:4

    What the letter of the law divides, the spirit of the law harmonizes; through the spoken word of God the opposition is transformed into agreement.

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. John 1:17

Grace distinct from truth, working together with it. Grace to condemn our sins in Christ; truth to justify Christ in bearing our sins. Grace and truth together to show the Father in the Son.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Exodus 34:5-7, cf. 33:12-34:7.

Here opposites are joined: forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. The elect, once forgiven, are no more guilty�"then they are cleared, for God requires it of Christ, and in him, of us. It is Christ, who descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord, who passed by before him, and proclaimed that God forgives sin without clearing the guilty.

Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Ps. 85:9-10

Comment

    Unity and plurality are identified in totality. They are distinct in thought, identical in intuition. Given a plurality and its unity, the totality follows�"for example, a determinate quantity�"because their synthesis is an act of the thinking subject. If either is not given, then neither is the totality; or if the totality is given instead, the remaining term is given through the other two, as the remaining part of a whole whose parts are given. If, then, either a unity or plurality is given, one without the other, the totality is an idea, a concept without an intuition, for if there is a concept of each, and only one is given, the totality is conceived, but not intuited.

    The unity of space is thought; the plurality of particular spaces, intuited. Space is therefore finite or infinite; either the unity of space is itself a particular space, or the plurality of space is itself the universal space. Both are false, neither is complete. The progress alone is given to us, from one space to another; the completeness is an idea, formed from the identification of a concept and its intuition. The totality of space is therefore only the idea of a whole in a disjunctive judgment, in which neither member is true, because the concept of space is common to both its unity and its plurality, and a logical totality is a disjunctive judgment, but the intuition required for a determination to either disjunct is lacking.

    Thus, the totality of the divine nature might perhaps comprise an intuition given, or at least a concept without an intuition, that is, an idea, but because the divine plurality is a negation thereof, a totality is not only not given, but inconceivable, and its concept is empty. All theoretical arguments for God's existence prove his non-existence to boot; such arguments assume the divine totality, a concept not in consciousness, which may therefore be freely affirmed or denied. God is, in himself, unknowable to man; the Lord is known through his works.

    If man perseveres in obedience to the moral law, then the logical division of God’s works suffices for man’s happiness; but if he sins, then the knowledge of God in man requires that he be punished, and gives no hope of salvation. Man in his innocence is free to fall, because to negate the law as a universal, he need only depart from it in one instance; but having fallen, he is unable of himself to repent, because the law requires all his actions to be in agreement with it; he has made the law no more universal and necessary, and himself a transgressor of it.

    Salvation is possible through knowledge of God other than that of his nature, through that of his persons, who are known not through the concept of God, but through intuition. The divine unity, being invisible, must therefore be intuited, indirectly, in a totality, and this totality depends upon a visible plurality, which is thought through the divine unity, and is itself a unity, and is not divine, but human. This is a plurality of judgments executed upon one man, Jesus Christ.

    Man is an outwardly lawful being of sensible intuition, under the moral law, free to do good or evil, of a visible body, a plurality of parts; man's happiness, distinct from his lawfulness, is in the objects of sense, which have their pleasurable effect on man's animal nature. Man is visible, his legal state is an appearance, and the plurality of judgments is manifested in Christ, blessed misery bespeaking divine fullness.

Author's Note

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