But if man should at any time be said to have one
nature, the word “nature” is here used instead of
“species,” as when we say that man does not differ from man
in any difference of nature. But since all men are fashioned in
the same way, and are composed of soul and body, and each has two
distinct natures, they are all brought under one definition. And
this is not unreasonable, for the holy Athanasius spake of all created
things as having one nature forasmuch as they were all produced,
expressing himself thus in his Oration against those who blasphemed the
Holy Spirit: “That the Holy Spirit is above all creation,
and different from the nature of things produced and peculiar to
divinity, we may again perceive. For whatever is seen to be
common to many things, and not more in one and less in another, is
called essence
Epist. 2 ad Serap., towards the end;
Collect., as above, c. 19..
Since, then, every man is composed of soul and body, accordingly we
speak of man as having one nature. But we cannot speak of our
Lord’s subsistence as one nature: for each nature
preserves, even after the union, its natural properties, nor can we
find a class of Christs. For no other Christ was born both of
divinity and of humanity to be at once God and man.”