Part Four Chapter Four
The Incarnation: The Fullness of Time
1. We must hold these truths about the time of the Incarnation:
that, though God could have been incarnate from the beginning, He was unwilling to do so
except at the end of ages, after the law of nature and the law of prophecy had gone
before, after patriarchs and prophets to whom and through whom the Incarnation was
promised. After these it was proper for Him to become incarnate in the end of time and the
fullness thereof, as the Apostle says: "But when the fullness of time was come, God
sent His Son made of a woman, made under the law: that He might redeem them who were under
the law." (Galatians 4:4).
The work of God is accomplished in an orderly and fashionable
manner. It is not set upon the dictates of man, nor is it within the same sort time frame
as man holds to. Although God has entered into the manifestation of time, and although the
power and grace of God is exercised over events within time in a fashion known as
Providence, nonetheless, God is Himself outside of time. As such, what might seem
inappropriate, within the limited scale of understanding, an understanding bound by the
dictates of time, there is nonetheless, on the grand scheme of creation, some sort of
order and design fashioned by God. Immediately after the fall of man, it might seem most
appropriate for God to bring about the complete redemption of man. For then, it would
seem, if man was once again restored immediately to grace, and the outcome of the fall
averted, the history of man would not have been in sorrow but in joy and grace. However,
we as men do not understand our own selves too well, and in our own ignorance, we are
liable to misunderstand the ways of God, and to judge harshly and wrongly God's work. In
our ignorance, it seems appropriate and best for the fall to be immediately averted by
God, however, in reality the result, we must believe, would have been far worse than it is
now. We can see, for example, that sometimes if a wound, or a disease, is too early on
treated, rather then healing the patient, the wound will only become much worse, much
graver, and gain in power. "This reasoning corresponds to the example of a physician
who allows a boil to mature until it can be lanced." (Hans Urs Van Balthasar, Dare
We Hope "That All Men Be Saved?" with a short discourse on Hell, Trans. Dr.
David Kipp and Rev. Lothar Krauth, Ignatius Press, San Fancisco, 1988, p. 244). Sometimes,
like with a boil, medicine can only be applied after the disease or wound has fully
matured. In this fashion, there is the need for the evil to be fully matured for it to be
fully removed. Because of this need, it can thus be seen why at the end of time and
not at the beginning that God became Incarnate..
Though God could have been incarnate from the beginning, He was
unwilling to do so. Why would He be unwilling to do so, unless there was some form of
need to wait, for some reason why the Incarnation, if, found at the beginning, would be
less effective and less able to carry out the desired effects. And what are the desired
effects? The freely-willed salvation of humanity. God could force salvation upon people,
but this would override free-will. God created man with free will, because God made man to
be in the image of Himself, and God has free will. Because man has been granted free will,
man is able to do good and to follow God, but man is also able to ignore God and follow
what is illusionary, that is, evil. Man, after his fall, entered into the sensual world,
and was blinded by it; he who was rich in knowledge and graces became ignorant. The
Incarnation, if it was found at the beginning of time, instead of at the end, would not
have allowed for the education of man, an education which would allow for mankind to grow
in grace, and to slowly be made ready for the final healing by God. If he was given the
remedy at the beginning, the disease which had entered into man could, out of the
ignorance and unreadiness of man, have come back once again, and found to be worse than
before: for it is worse to fall a second time, than it is to fall once. Hence, instead of
an immediate Incarnation, the Lord saw the need for the education of man, and provided the
ages of the law of nature and the law of prophecy. They were a part of the progress
and evolution of man, where mankind as a whole was made ready for the promises of
redemption. After the proper preparation had been achieved, it was proper for Him to
become incarnate in the end of time and the fullness thereof, as the Apostle says:
"But when the fullness of time was come, God sent His Son made of a woman, made under
the law: that He might redeem them who were under the law." (Galatians 4:4). Thus,
history seems to be shown to have an end, that is, a goal which is set up by God, and the
means of reaching that goal God had also been set out.
2. The explanation of this is as follows: Because the Incarnation is
the work of the first principle in reparation, it is fitting that it happen in accord with
freedom of the will, with the sublimity of the remedy, and with the integrity of the
universe, for the most wise Artificer saw to these in accomplishing all. Because freedom
of the will requires that the will be drawn into nothing unwillingly, it was thus fitting
that God should so redeem mankind that he who wished to seek the Savior should find
salvation, and he who was unwilling to seek the Savior would find no salvation. No one
seeks a doctor unless he is aware of sickness, and no one seeks a teacher unless he is
aware he is ignorant, and no one seeks aid unless is aware of his impotence. Because man
before his fall was well equipped with knowledge and power, God promised a time of the law
of nature in which he should be conquered by ignorance. Afterwards man knew of his
ignorance but as to his power there remained a pride about which it is said that he who
acts does not lack power, but he who orders lacks it. Then, God added a law, teaching with
moral precepts and prescripting ceremonials so that man came to knowledge and knew his
impotency, man fled to divine mercy and sought grace which was given to use before the
coming of Christ. Hence after the law of nature and of Scripture the incarnation of the
Word ought to follow.
For the Incarnation to draw the cosmos together as one, as was the
purpose of the Incarnation, there was the need for the full effects of the cosmic fall to
be established, before the work of the Lord would be perfectly beneficial. The benefit of
salvation must be given so that once it is offered, it could be willingly accepted, and
not that it should be something which is forced to be accomplished against the freedom of
will . Because the Artificer of creation created a great and noble creation, He created it
so that those within that creation would have free will. God did this, so that those who
shared in His image could share the same freedom of will which He had within Himself, and
because it is something which is found within God, it must be considered something which
is in and of itself good. Thus, because the Incarnation is the work of the first
principle in reparation, it is fitting that it happen in accord with freedom of the will,
the sublimity of the remedy, and with the integrity of the universe, for the freedom
of will was given by the first principle as a means for creation to share in a quality
which He had within Himself. Thus the restoration which is given by the first principle is
one which will follow through with the initial and original plan of creation, and not go
against it-- that is, for the continuation of free will, and not its abandonment. Since
this integrity is to be kept, and the will is required to act in accord with salvation,
salvation requires that the one who is being saved should be willing to accept the
salvation or healing which is being offered. For one to be willing to accept regeneration,
for one to accept the need for healing, one first must be made aware of one's illness,
hence, as St. Bonaventure pointed out: No one seeks a doctor unless he is aware of
sickness, and no one seeks a teacher unless he is aware he is ignorant, and no one seeks
aid unless is aware of his impotence.
The process by which the world was made ready for the Incarnation,
for the means of its salvation, that is, of its healing, was one where there was first the
need for the full ramification of the cosmic fall to be established, and then from there,
the slow progression of preparation where the results of the fall were understood, and the
need for a universal remedy to be established. St. Bonaventure's own understanding of this
history led him to believe in a four-fold historical process which led for the time to be
ripe for the Incarnation: first a law of nature, where man's fall led to ignorance;
second, from this ignorance, man was led to impotence; third, in ignorance and impotence,
man was then made ready for the time of the law, that is, a time which is ruled from the
advent of lawmakers and laws which reflect moral absolutes; the last was the time of
revelation or Scripture, which presented to man the knowledge which would lead him to
believe that his ignorance and impotence could be and would be healed. The first two
stages are related together and are called the law of nature, and the last two are
related together as Scripture.
Because man before his fall was well equipped with knowledge and power, God
promised a time of the law of nature in which he should be conquered by ignorance. Since
man originally was gifted by God with extraordinary abilities, and he abused these
abilities, the results was that the abuse would result in the internal weakening of
mankind. Sin, that is, turning away from God, has as the result self-destruction; once one
engages in sin, it seeks to bind the person who followed its ways in its in own ignorance
and impotence. Sin uses its vehicle until it is utterly destroyed, and then the sinner and
the sin is then are both wiped out or destroyed together. This is true both individually
as well as universally. The first result of the fall, according to St. Bonaventure, is
that this led man into ignorance. Since it had already been established that ignorance is
the source of evil, and produces sin, St. Bonaventure then established that by the willful
fall of man, man has entered into the slavery of ignorance. This slavery did not destroy
man's innate power, and hence, the species is said to have propagated the earth, with its
innate power still in effect (but slowly declining), while enslaved in ignorance: with the
combination of power with sin, the end result was quite destructive. Man, however, slowly
realized his own ignorance while he still possessed great power, which St. Bonaventure saw
produced great pride: Afterwards man knew of his ignorance but as to his power there
remained a pride about which it is said that he who acts does not lack power, but he who
orders lacks it.
There was the need of a deterrent, that is, a restraint placed upon
man, in order to limit his abuse of the earth, as well as his abuse of fellow man. This
produced the introduction of the time of law. Then, God added a law, teaching with
moral precepts and prescripting ceremonials so that man came to knowledge and knew his
impotency, for man saw that he was unable to follow perfectly the moral precepts of
the law. This time of the law was more than with Israel, but rather was a universal
phenomenon which developed both in other cultures at the same time as with Israel's
development of the law, as well as in other cultures in other times, who developed their
own laws at a much later time. The great lawgiver, Moses, gave and wrote the laws
specifically meant for Israel, and Israel was specifically chosen to have the most
representative law, not because its laws were necessarily greater than other nations, but
rather, because Israel had been chosen for the specific task of producing the Incarnation:
it had a special role in the Drama of History. Thus, while we revere the laws as given by
Moses, we will find in other cultures other great lawgivers: for example Manu in India and
Solon in Greece. The lawmaker is said not to only produce the moral precepts of society,
showing how humans should treat each other and their environment, but they also regulated
through rituals humanity's relationship with God, and provided a means for humanity to
understand a way it could pay its debts to God, and to receive grace from God when needed.
This can be seen as a way for man to demonstrate, universally, the innate knowledge of
man's dependence upon God, and some notion of the way that man's relationship with God
would be best fulfilled through the establishment of sacrifices. It can be said of this
time of the law, and specifically through the ritualistic sacrifices which were
established, man fled to divine mercy and sought grace which was given to use before
the coming of Christ.
Hence, in the stages of man, man fell from grace, and from his fall,
was led into ignorance, then pride, then impotence, then law, then understanding of his
need for God. The last of these was found in revelation, and that revelation was of laws,
hence the lawmakers are great revealers of the way of God. However there were other forms
of revelation, which can be said to be the rest of that which can be considered Scripture:
prophecy, natural philosophy (cf. Romans 1:20), psalms of praise or remorse, and the like
could all be considered, in some ways, revelation and Scripture, which, when combined with
the laws, allowed for mankind to be ripe for the Incarnation: Hence after the law of
nature and of Scripture the incarnation of the Word ought to follow, that is, after
the fall, after the advent of ignorance, and after establishment of law by which man was
led to understand his ignorance and impotence, it is time for the Incarnation to occur.
3. Again, because of the sublimity of the remedy required that the
Incarnation, a mystery most secret and most salutary, should be believed with most firm
faith and should be loved with most ardent charity, it was most fitting that many
testimonials of prophets should precede the coming of Christ, as explicit in words as it
was implicit in figures, that what was secret should become certain and unquestionable for
belief by many convicing testimonails. It was fitting that many promises and most ardent
desires should precede the Incarnation so that the promised benefit should be expected,
what was expected should be deferred, what was deferred should be sought more intensely,
and what was long desired should be loved more fervently and be undetaken more fervently
and accomplished more solicitously.
Before the Incarnation took place, God needed to work within
humanity to produce the common expectation for the Incarnation. This required from God
proper instruction given to all of humanity, so that, even before the Incarnation took
place, there could be believed with most firm faith and should be loved with most
ardent charity,a belief and love for God, and a belief and love for some sort of
Incarnation. But how did this take place? As has been established, God prepared man by
allowing the disease of sin to be established with its full strength; but He did more than
that, He also provided hints and prophecies of a time when this disease shall find a
doctor, one who would be most capable of healing this universal malady. That is, there was
in history many testimonials of prophets which preceded the coming of Christ. These
prophets were explicit in words of the coming of a great messiah, a great leader
and healer for mankind.
Now it must be asked, were these prophets only given to Israel, was the
preparation for the Incarnation only established for descendants of Abraham? If that was
the case, then there would not have been a universal preparation for the Incarnation,
there would have been no belief among men that could be found that showed forth their love
and desire for this great healer. Rather, it must be said that God has in various ways
spoken to all men, in various shadows and forms, and not only did He provide prophets to
those outside of Israel, but he also established rational means, that is, philosophy,
which could and did establish a rational groundwork which prepared man for the coming of
Christ, who is both the healer and the enlightener of the cosmos. We can find the early
Church Fathers, when reflecting upon the way God had revealed Himself and His plan in
other nations outside of Israel, reflect upon the way God inspired philosophy, but also
the way God had even inspired prophets within the lands of the pagans-- for example, the
Sibyline Oracles. We can also reflect upon the story of the Magi who, through the oracles
and signs of which they saw in the sky, were able to believe that a great man had been
born, and traveled to pay homage to him, that is, through astrology they had been given
wisdom to find Christ. This demonstrates that, not only in the words of prophets, and in
the wisdom of philosophers, but the Incarnation was even implicit in figures, so
that those who examined these figures, like the stars, were led to have faith and him.
The wait between the coming of the Incarnation, and the beginning of
the age of prophecies, or even the beginning of the age of philosophy which is said to be
outside of a few examples of prophets in gentile lands God's major way to prepare the
gentiles, there was a tremendous wait. This wait provided a deepened desire within
humanity for the eventual coming of Christ. For prolonged desire often increases the
benefit one receives from something long desired. The Incarnation not only was given in
signs and prophecies, but there was the needed, in addition, that these prophecies took
root within the psyche of man, and the longing to be there so that, once the Incarnation
had taken place, man was most ready and desirous of the gifts which God was offering.
Indeed, if one easily gets something they want, they often feel what they wanted was in
reality not too important. However, if ones has to wait and struggle before one gets what
one desires, this often increases the significance of what is achieved. Thus, it was
fitting that many promises and most ardent desires should precede the Incarnation so that
the promised benefit should be expected, what was expected should be deferred, what was
deferred should be sought more intensely, and what was long desired should be loved more
fervently and be undetaken more fervently and accomplished more solicitously.
Since it can be said that Christ is the most worthy prize to be
won, there was nonetheless the need to make sure, within the psyche of man, the
significance of this prize was fully realized. There was the need to make within mankind
an increased desire for the gift which Christ was to bring: salvation through Himself, so
that once He had come, and once the world also understood that He was that which the world
had been waiting for (which was in itself another process), the world would look no
further for anything more precious: the whole process was to make sure that Christ Himself
would be a precious treasure, or a precious pearl, that would not be quickly thrown aside
and left to be trampled by swine.
4. Lastly, because integrity and perfection of the universe requires
that all things should be ordered as to places and times, and the work of the Incarnation
was the most perfect among all the divine works, and the procession ought to be from the
imperfect to the perfect and not the converse, it follows that the Incarnation ought to
occur at the end of time so that just as the first man, who was the sensitive ornament of
the whole world, was created last, namely, on the sixth day, for the completion of the
whole world, so the second man, the complement of the whole world redeemed, in whom the
first principle is joined with the last, namely, "God with clay," should come
into existence in the end of ages, and this is the sixth age proper for the exercise of
wisdom, the suppression of concupiscence, and the transition from the state of unrest to
rest. All these things belong to the sixth age of the world because of the incarnation of
the Son of God.
Another way to understand the method God chose the time of the
Incarnation can be said to be evolutionarily, with the process of creation being said to
have begun in primordial chaos, led to the development of man, and from man to the
Incarnation as the crowning glory of the evolutionary process. The evolutionary process
can be said to be the manifestation and establishment of the higher, superior forms into
the material universe. It can also be said to be the process by which man is said to be
brought forth from man, that is, from the rational principle of man, man is brought into
material existence through evolutionary processes. Within the metaphysical realm, since
man is superior to lower forms of creation, man is prior to lower forms of creation;
however, in the physical realm of existence, the superior form only comes after inferior
forms. Thus, it can be said that the procession of creation on the earth is like a parade,
where each participant which follows has an ontological place closer to the height of
creation, man, than the one preceding.
It was also true that, in the process of creation, the world had to be
made ready for man: "For not as yet had the great and precious thing, man, come into
the world of being; it was not to be looked for that the ruler should appear before the
subjects of his rule; but when his dominion was prepared, the next step was that the king
should be manifested" (St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Making of Man, II:1, Nicene and
Post Nicene Fathers Series II, Vol 5, trans. William Moore and Henry Austin Wilson,
Hendrickson, 1994 p. 390). What is said of man here, can also be said of the
Godman, who is the King of Kings, that is, the King of all creation. Thus, as the Godman,
Jesus Christ, was the perfection of nature (and not only man), so that He is the finality
and end of the process of evolution (in that respect): the preparation for the Godman
required that the realm was suitable for His coming. Since the foundation of the earth,
the process of evolution went from chaotic simplicity to the complexity of man (though
some animals were greater in stature or might, man's greatness lay not in his physical but
his spiritual attributes), so it was required that before the Incarnation, that the
process of creation had brought about at least one form of rational animal. Since man was
the perfection of the evolutionary process on the earth, because he was the final outcome
of evolution-- that is, man is the rational animal, so the outcome of man was that, when
the time was right, the creator would become one with man and perfect nature through man.
As St. Bonaventure established, because integrity and perfection of
the universe requires that all things should be ordered as to places and times, there
was with the Incarnation the perfect ordering for the time of its coming, so that mankind
would be ready to produce the next and last step, the Godman. Although the Incarnation
could have assumed any form of nature, it was of course most perfect and complementary
that the Incarnation assumed a rational nature, and waited for the advent of man, so that
the natural process of evolution could have assumed its proper and fitting end. After man
had been produced, the cosmos still cried out for its King and Maker and. After the
procession from inferior to superior natures had been brought forth on the earth, there
was at last in the world the readiness which was needed for the Godman (why here, and not
elsewhere? that is indeed a worthwhile question to explore elsewhere).
Because the procession ought to be from the imperfect to the perfect
and not the converse, we can understand why the process of evolution did not start, in
the physical realm, from the superior to the inferior, that is, from the Godman to matter,
but rather, it started from matter and moved up to the production of man, and from man to
the Godman. Thus, it follows that the Incarnation ought to occur at the end of time so
that just as the first man, who was the sensitive ornament of the whole world, was created
last, namely, on the sixth day, for the completion of the whole world, as man was the
final realization of the spiritual principles being joined with matter, so the second
man, the complement of the whole world redeemed, in whom the first principle is joined
with the last, namely, "God with clay," should come into existence in the end of
ages, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation should be seen and the final end to the
drama of history, not as the beginning process of deterioration.
And this is the sixth age proper for the exercise of wisdom, the suppression
of concupiscence, and the transition from the state of unrest to rest. For there is
said to be in history, seven stages, to represent the seven days of the week. The sixth
age, as it is near the end, is the time where the cosmos prepares itself for its eventual
and eternal rest in God. The process requires the restoration of creation to its pristine
state, the removal of all stains from sin (that is, from sin and all inclinations and end
results of sin), and finally, the cosmos will be ready to be transferred from this realm
of becoming, this realm of change, to the realm of being, the eternal realm of rest within
God. All these things, that is, these preparation for the Sabbath rest, belong
to the sixth age of the world because of the incarnation of the Son of God, that is,
because God has become one with the world.
5. Because the advent of Christ occurred in the time of the law and
grace and in the demonstration of the often promised mercy and in the beginning of the
sixth age, and all these things bespeak a fullness of time since the law of grace
fortifies the law of Scripture and the achievement of the promise of the perfects the
promise, and the sixth age by reason of the sixfold perfection resounds in fullness, it
follows that in the coming of the Son of God there is said to be a fullness of God, not
because in His advent time was ended but because the mysteries of time were achieved. Just
as Christ ought not to have come in the beginning of time, because His advent then would
have been at a less opportune time, so He ought not to have deferred it to the end of
time, because then it would be too late. It behooved the Savior to place the time of
redemption between the time of sickness and the time of judgement. The mediator ought to
precede certain of His members and to follow others. It behooved the perfect leader to
show Himself at a time when there would be opportunity of running for the prize; and this
is at the end of ages and before the termination of time and at the approach of the final
judgment, so that, moved by the fear of judgment and attracted by the hope of reward and
aroused by the perfection of an example, we must follow our leader enthusiastically and
perfectly from virtue to virtue until we arrive at the reward of eternal bliss.
The advent of Christ brought to humanity a revelation of God. In
some fashion, there is said to be seven ages of man, and then there will be the eighth,
that is, the eternal new age. The sixth age is said to have been brought forth with the
advent of the Incarnation. This age, the sixth, is said to be the time of the law and
grace, for it is the time where man has been given the knowledge of the law, but also
the grace by which the law is able to be fulfilled: since the law of grace fortifies
the law of Scripture and the achievement of the promise of the perfects the promise.
For Jesus Christ, being God and man, is the revelation of God to all of creation. God,
being invisible, had been made visible in the Incarnation: that is, God had become
manifest within creation, not in His hidden, eternal nature, but rather in a manifestation
which best represented His being so that He would be both internal in all of creation, but
also He would able to be seen as something other than creation, and thus there was a
personal revelation. In the Incarnation, there is no change within the divinity, but
rather, the divinity which is eternal assumed human nature, revealing Himself to creation
in a sensible way: in the coming of the Son of God there is said to be a fullness of
God revealed to all of creation. The Incarnation is thus the event where the
mysteries of time were achieved, with the greatest of all these mysteries being God
Himself.
The Incarnation did not occur at the beginning nor at the exact end of
time. The Incarnation did not occur at the beginning of time, because His advent then
would have been at a less opportune time, for the full manifestation of the cosmic
fall had not yet been achieved. On the other hand, He ought not to have deferred it to
the end of time, because then it would be too late, for if the Incarnation was at the
exact end of time, there would be no way for the Incarnation to bring about in the world
the way for the kingdom of God to be achieved within the physical as well as the spiritual
realm. For the Incarnation did not only seek to bring restoration to man, but sought to
bring it to man so that man could continue the process as mediators of the new covenant to
all of creation. There would be no way for man to act as mediators if the Incarnation
occurred at the end of time. Hence the Incarnation is said to be between the time of
sickness and the time of judgement, because the Incarnation occurred after the cosmic
fall, but before the eschatological judgement at the end of time.
As the Incarnation is the first, greatest mediator in the cosmos, the
mediator ought to precede certain of His members and to follow others. For, as stated
above, there was the need for the need for the mediation, for the redemption, to be made
known. But there would have to be others who followed, who set themselves fully within the
work of the great mediator, and relying upon Him, would continue His work with and within
the one Who started the work of mediation.
It behooved the perfect leader to show Himself at a time when
there would be opportunity of running for the prize, for what need is there for a
leader, if his leadership would be for naught: that is, if there is a leader without
followers, without those who seek him and obey him, what kind of leadership does he give?
And thus, there must be time for those who would follow the leader to follow him where the
leader would take him, to the prize, to the goal the leader has set forth. For if there is
a leader who leads without a goal, again, what kind of leadership would that be said to
be? Jesus Christ, Who came as a great cosmic mediator between creature and Creator, has
also come as a leader, leading us to the goal, which is eternal life within Himself.
Christ has come to lead us at this climatic time in creation between the time of the fall
and the time of the end, at the end of ages and before the termination of time and at
the approach of the final judgment. As a leader, Christ leads in several ways. There
are those who would follow Him, even if there was no other reward than that of truth
itself: they are those who are so in love with Christ, that it is for and with Christ they
live, and like St. Paul, would be able to say to live is Christ. There are others,
however, who need guidance, either to be given the promise of a reward for obedience, or
else, if they are base, at least the fear of a just punishment for one's immoral actions.
Thus if nothing else, we will be moved by the fear of judgment and attracted by the
hope of reward and aroused by the perfection of an example, so that, as at least the
lowest levels of servants, we must follow our leader enthusiastically and perfectly
from virtue to virtue until we arrive at the reward of eternal bliss. However, we
should not jealously guard this reward so that we hope those who are enemies should not
gain it: we should rather look for the goal with the hope that all shall obtain it, else
we might find that we will, instead of the loving friend of God, be an unjust servant who
will be told, "It is time for you to collect your reward", and the reward will
not be that of love but that which we would deserve in our lack of lack.