Augustinian Perfect Being Theology and the Incarnation

This essay examines how Augustine's perfect being theology creates conceptual challenges for understanding the incarnation, particularly regarding divine attributes like omnipotence, omniscience, and impassibility. Wierenga analyzes the tension between maintaining that God possesses maximal perfections and affirming that the second person of the Trinity became genuinely human in Jesus Christ.

The work begins by establishing Augustine's commitment to perfect being theology, wherein God necessarily possesses all perfections to the highest possible degree. This framework, inherited from Neoplatonic philosophy and adapted for Christian theology, generates specific problems when applied to the incarnation. If God is essentially omnipotent, omniscient, and impassible, how can the divine Word truly become human while retaining divine nature? Humans necessarily lack these perfections, creating an apparent contradiction.

Wierenga explores several Augustinian strategies for resolving this tension. One approach involves distinguishing between the divine nature simpliciter and the divine nature as assumed in the incarnation. Another strategy employs the communicatio idiomatum, allowing predicates of one nature to be attributed to the person possessing both natures, though not to the natures themselves. The essay critically evaluates these solutions, noting their strengths while identifying persistent philosophical difficulties.

The analysis pays particular attention to omniscience and human limitations. If Christ genuinely experienced human cognitive constraints, including gradual learning and limited knowledge, this seems incompatible with divine omniscience. Wierenga examines Augustine's attempts to preserve both genuine human experience and undiminished divinity, including appeals to the distinction between Christ's human and divine consciousnesses.

The essay situates Augustine's approach within broader patristic debates about Christology, noting influences from earlier theologians while highlighting Augustine's distinctive contributions. Wierenga demonstrates how Augustine's strong commitment to divine perfection, while philosophically motivated, creates unique challenges absent in theologians with different metaphysical commitments.

The work contributes to contemporary philosophical theology by illuminating how classical perfect being theology constrains Christological formulations. Wierenga's analysis reveals that the incarnation poses perhaps the severest test for perfect being theology, requiring either modification of divine attribute theory or sophisticated strategies for preserving apparent contradictions. The essay thus clarifies the costs and benefits of maintaining strict perfect being theology within Christian systematic theology.