The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology - Saint Mary ...

ought against the doctrine of our Church. That objection is this: That to
be omnipresent is an essential attribute of Godhead, and, therefore, the
humanity of Christ cannot be omnipresent; for that would be to suppose
humanity to have an essential attribute of divinity. The reply is easy: To be
omnipresent of itself, in virtue of its own essence, is an attribute of the
divine, and, therefore, the humanity of Christ is not, and cannot be
omnipresent of itself, in virtue of its own essence; but the Godhead can
render it present through the divine, with which it is one person. The one
humanity of Christ can be present in two modes: one, finite and
independent, in which mode it is present of itself, by virtue of its own
essence; the other, infinite and dependent, in which it is not present of
itself, in virtue of its own essence, for that, we admit, would be to claim for
it a divine attribute, but is rendered present by the divine. In other words,
the Godhead, which of itself is present, makes present the human, which is
one person with it. So, to be conscious in its own essence, or of its own
nature, is an essential property of soul, not of matter; therefore, the human
eye, in its own essence or nature, has no power of being conscious of light;
but when the eye is united as a part of the body, in one person with the
soul, the eye has a real sight through the soul, as the soul has its sight by
the eye; but there are not two consciousnesses. The soul does not give up
its consciousness, nor does the eye receive it. Both retain their essential
attributes. The eye does not become spirit, nor the soul become matter; nor
has the soul one consciousness, nor the eye another; but the whole person
has its one consciousness, through the soul and by the eye. There is a
common participation of the two natures in the act of the one person; and
not verbally, but really, the man sees through his soul and by his eye; the
eye itself really receiving a distinct set of powers, from its union with the
soul, and the soul exercising its own essential power, under a wholly new
set of conditions, in consequence of its union with the eye. But if some
minute philosopher persists in saying: You then attribute to matter the
consciousness which alone pertains to mind, we reply: An independent,
self-originating consciousness belongs