212. Christ on other planets?
212. CHRIST ON OTHER PLANETS?
If other planets contain rational but non-human creatures, could Christ have assumed their nature as well as human nature, whether to redeem them if they fell or for any other reason?
Could Christ have become incarnate on earth more than once? If two species of rational animals had evolved on earth, rather than just one, could Christ have become incarnate in both? Would He then have three natures rather than two, viz. divine, human, and the other rational species? (Such concrete, pointed questions are those that an imaginative, thoughtful child would ask, and they are more typical of medieval theologians than modern theologians, who tend to think in safe abstractions.)
Whether one divine person can assume two human natures?
Whatever the Father can do, that also can the Son do. But after the Incarnation the Father can still assume a human nature distinct from that which the Son has assumed, for in nothing is the power of the Father or the Son lessened by the Incarnation of the Son. Therefore it seems that after the Incarnation the Son can assume another human nature distinct from the one He has assumed. . . .
The power of the divine person is infinite, nor can it be limited by any created thing. Hence it may not be said that a divine person so assumed one human nature as to be unable to assume another (III,3,7).
The short answer is yes, because the power of God is unlimited. God can do anything that is intrinsically possible, i.e., anything that is meaningful, anything that is not self-contradictory. (A self-contradiction is not anything at all. The omnipotent God cannot make a rock bigger than He can lift because those words “a rock bigger than omnipotence can lift” mean nothing; they are like “a round square”. Only one who is weak can make a rock bigger than he can lift, just as only one who is weak can die.)
The Incarnation did not lessen the divine power. Divinity and its attributes, including omnipotence, was not subtracted from the divine nature, but humanity was added to it, by the Incarnation. And the divine nature, with all its powers, is present in all three of the divine Persons. What was set aside in the Incarnation was some of the operations of the divine powers by the Second Divine Person. Thus Christ “learned obedience”, like any child (Heb 5:8), and He said that even He did not know (while He was on earth) the time the Father has set for the end of the world (Mt 24:36). Yet He performed miracles and said He could call down twelve legions of angels (Mt 26:53).
St. Thomas explains why he does not give a simple “no” answer to the question. It is because “with God all things are possible” (Mt 19:26).
An extraordinarily practical application of this principle of the divine omnipotence is the total trust preached by St. Paul in Romans 8:18-30. If God is (a) all powerful as well as (b) all-good, all-loving and (c) all-wise, then it logically and necessarily follows that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Rom 8:28).
Meditate often on the divine omnipotence, especially when you deeply feel the pain of the many evils that God wisely and lovingly allows to enter your life. His reason is always love. And He always wins. And He makes no mistakes. We do not see this. Of course not: we are not infinite wisdom. (Stop the presses!)