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The Ordinatio of John Duns Scotus
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Ordinatio. Book 3. Distinctions 1 - 17.
Book 3. Distinctions 1 - 17
Eleventh Distinction.
Question One. Whether Christ is a Creature
I. To the Question
A. The Solution of Others
1. First Solution

1. First Solution

11. One statement is [Bonaventure] that the proposition ‘Christ is a creature’ is to be denied because there is no sharing of attributes where the property of one nature is repugnant to the other nature [cf. III d.7 n.54], as is the case here, because ‘creature’ includes the idea of a beginning of existence and so it is repugnant to the eternity that is an attribute of the Son of God.

12. On the contrary:

It is no more repugnant to the person of the Son that he is or begins to be after not being than that he is not after being or that he ceases to be, for both are repugnant to eternity; but Christ is admitted to have died, even though ‘to be dead’ states a not-being after being because it states not being alive after being alive; for ‘to be alive is what it is for living things to be’ (Aristotle On the Soul 2.4.425b13); therefore etc.

13. Further, mortal and immortal are as opposed as created and uncreated, and yet both of the former are said of Christ; therefore etc.

14. Further, it is as formally repugnant to a created nature that it be creator or eternal as it is formally repugnant to something eternal that it begin to be; therefore Christ’s being Creator will be as much denied because of repugnance to one nature as his being a creature will be denied because of repugnance to the other nature.