ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses two questions regarding the Incarnation, which is God the Son assuming a human nature as Jesus Christ. The first is: Couldn’t He have saved humanity simply by willing that humanity be saved? Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas (AAA) argue, for a number of reasons, that the Incarnation was the most effective way to achieve the salvation of humanity. Anselm goes so far as to claim to prove that the Incarnation was necessary. The second question is: How can a single person be both divine and human? The properties associated with divinity seem opposed to those associated with humanity. For example, God is omniscient, human knowledge is limited. God is omnipotent, human abilities are limited. AAA adopt the “qua” move: Jesus Christ has divine properties qua God and human properties qua human. This is not easy to imagine, but it is coherent.
