Can we say that 'God died on the cross'?
Following up on prior correspondence, Robert addresses the question of whether it is correct to say that God died on the cross.
Answer
I fought vigorously against that idea and I am still of the same opinion: I do not think we can say God died on the cross. The reason some want to say it is that they hold a weaker view of the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union is the union between the divinity and the humanity of Christ, and I believe the word 'static' is used deliberately, because there is no crossover between the divinity and the humanity; they are two separate natures that do not mix. Christ is not a mixture of divine and human, as if they melded together; it is called static precisely because they do not move into one another, and hypostatic because at no point ever will they, since they are two separate natures. Those who think they can say God died on the cross have a lesser view of the union that lets you overlap or join the one with the other enough to say the divinity was involved in the death. I would say no; that would be heretical, because the councils tell us there can be no mixture or confusion between the divine and human natures of Christ. The divine cannot die; only the human nature of Christ can die, and in no way does the death of the human involve the divine. The only way to say God died on the cross is to hold a weak view of the hypostatic union.