enhypostasis

en·hy·po·sta·sis
E1N1H4Y4P3O1S1T1A1S1I1S1
US, UK/ɛnˌhaɪ.pəˈsteɪ.sɪs/

A form of enhypostasia — The state of the human nature of Jesus Christ being entirely dependent on, and not existing independently of, the divine nature of God as a whole (which is the hypostasis of the Holy Trinity comprising God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), or individual persons of the Trinity such as the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Scrabble 20

Meanings

nounenhypostasis (plural enhypostases)

plural enhypostases

  1. alternativeAlternative form of enhypostasia.

    The two natures of Christ are two enhypostases but not two hypostases.

    1997, Joseph P. Farrell, “The Deconstruction of Dialectical Christology”, in God, History, and Dialectic: The Theological Foundations of the Two Europes and Their Cultural Consequences, [s.l.]: Joseph P. Farrell, →ISBN, page 235
    3 more examples

    The doctrine of the person of Christ is argued with greatest fullness, and he [John of Damascus] evinces no little ingenuity and dialectic skill in treating of the personal unity in Christ's twofold nature (which he conceived as enhypostasis, not anhypostasis, of the human nature in the Logos), […]

    1872, John M'Clintock [i.e., John McClintock]; James Strong, “John of Damascus”, in Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, volume IV (H, I, J), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers, Franklin Square, →OCLC, pages 964–965

    When, for instance, theology speaks of Jesus' anhypostasis and his enhypostasis, these ontological terms must be understood in the light of the concrete ways in which Jesus acted and spoke in the name of God, the ways in which he maintained the distinctions between himself and God through his self-abnegation, and how he left others with no impression of pedantry or dogmatism.

    1992, Wiel Logister, “In the Name of Jesus Christ: Christology and the Interreligious Dialogue”, in Catherine Cornille, Valeer Neckebrouck, editors, A Universal Faith?: Peoples, Cultures, Religions, and the Christ … Essays in Honor of Prof. Dr. Frank De Graeve (Louvain Theological & Pastoral Monographs; 9), Louvain: Peeters Press; [Grand Rapids, Mich.]: W[illiam] B. Eerdmans, →ISBN, pages 172–173

    Del Colle [Ralph del Colle] introduces the concept of the enhypostasia of the Spirit. This is analogous to the two enhypostases of the Son [Jesus Christ]. First, the Son is generated by the Father immanently, and in the economy of God the Son as a human person comes through generation (from the Virgin's womb). But there is a second enhypostasis of the Son: "The eternal Son now incarnate … in his human nature undergoes an in-personing in the Spirit."

    2006, Simon Chan, “Encountering the Triune God: Spirituality since the Azusa Street Revival”, in Harold D. Hunter, Cecil M. Robeck Jr., editors, The Azusa Street Revival and Its Legacy, Cleveland, Tenn.: Pathway Press, →ISBN; republished Eugene, Or.: Wipf and Stock, 23 October 2009, →ISBN, page 218
Cite this entry
APA

enhypostasis. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enhypostasis

MLA

“enhypostasis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enhypostasis. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enhypostasis,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enhypostasis.

Source: enhypostasis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.