Essential Truths of the Christian Faith

The word inspirationalso calls attention to the process by which the Holy Spirit superintendedthe production of Scripture. The Holy Spirit guided the human authors so that their words would be nothing less than the word of God.

Although Scripture came to us from the pens of human authors, the ultimatesource of Scripture is God.

More important than the controversy surrounding transubstantiation was the issue concerning the human nature of Jesus. Body and blood belong to the humanity of Jesus, not to His deity. Since the Mass is celebrated in different parts of the world at the same time, the question is, how can the human nature of Jesus (body and blood) be at more than one place at the same time? The power to be omnipresent, of being equally present everywhere, is an attribute of deity, not humanity. For the human nature of Jesus to be spread over the world would require the deification of the human nature. Both Luther and Roman Catholics taught that the divine nature of Christ (which does have the attribute of omnipresence) communicates this power to the human nature so that the human nature, though normally localized, can be present at more than one place at the same time.