7.

 In what way does the textbook apply the dogma of Chalcedon to the Church?

            The Council of Chalcedon taught that the Son of God must be confessed in two natures in one Person, or Hypostasis. The textbook states the dogma of Chalcedon must be applied to the Church as well as Christ, for just as Christ, the God-Man, has a divine and human nature, so too does the Church, where there is a synergy (cooperation) between the human and the divine.

            The textbook applies the dogma to show that it is not to be forgotten that there is a human element in the Church as well as a divine. However, it goes on to explain, there is an essential difference so far as the human aspect is concerned. Where Christ in His human nature is perfect and without sin, this is not fully the case with the Church's human element, for only a part of her humanity has attained perfection — the saints in Heaven. The Church is the Body of Christ and is therefore perfect and sinless, yet its individual members often misuse their freedom and are still imperfect and sinful. The textbook describes this condition as a state of tension in which the Church exists here on earth.