In Christian theology communicatio idiomatum is a term from the theology of the Incarnation, attempting to define the relationship between two natures in one person. The theory is that the properties of the Divine Word can be ascribed to the man Jesus, and that the properties of the man Jesus Christ can predicated of the Divine Word - a "Communication of Idioms" or mutual interchange of attributes.

The assumption behind the theory, based on Scripture and the Church Fathers, is that God the Father and the Holy Spirit have the same rights and interest in all things created except in the human nature of Jesus Christ. His person is a result of the personal union between the two natures, God and man; in other words the human being has divine attributes and the divine being is the subject of human properties. It is this theory which makes it possible for Christians to say "Christ is God" or "God is man" — two otherwise mutually exclusive concepts have been united through the mutual exchange between the two natures.

External links

• communicatio idiomatum from the Catholic Encyclopedia