In **Luke 6:12**, Jesus spends an entire night in solitary prayer before choosing his twelve apostles. This is not an isolated incident; the Synoptics and John describe a consistent pattern of Jesus withdrawing from both the crowds and his own disciples to pray in total solitude (**Matt 14:23, Mark 6:46, John 6:15, Luke 5:16**). For Trinitarians holding the **Chalcedonian** and **Thomistic** view—that Jesus, in his divinity, remained omniscient and possessed the "fullness of understanding of the eternal plans" (CCC 474)— it should be noted that this "fullness of understanding of the eternal plans" is not a "limited area." In Catholic theology, the "eternal plans" encompass the entire economy of salvation—past, present, and future. this frequency of solitary prayer presents a theological tension. CCC 473 says: > This human knowledge could not in itself be unlimited... But at the same time, this truly human knowledge of God's Son expressed the divine life of his person. The human nature of God's Son, not by itself but by its union with the Word, knew and showed forth in itself everything that pertains to God. While in trinitarian understanding, it is correct that Christ's human nature was finite and thus his human brain/soul had a "limited" capacity in itself, the "Orthodox" (Chalcedonian) view is that the Person of Christ is the eternal Word of God, and because the two natures are united "without change," the divine attribute of omniscience remains fully present in that one Person. To corroborate this, here are a few quotes: > "We say, therefore, that Christ knew all things, having all knowledge > in His divine nature... for the Word, being God, was not ignorant of > anything." > > **St. John of Damascus (c. 675–749 AD)** according to An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book III, Chapter 21 > Now some of these [all things] are in the Divine power alone, and not all of these does the soul of Christ know in the Word... Therefore the soul of Christ knows all things that God knows in Himself by the knowledge of vision [i.e., all that is, was, or will be]. > > St. Thomas Aquinas - Summa Theologiae, Part III, Question 10, Article 2 > …one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; **the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather *the property of each nature being preserved***, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ… > > Chalcedonian Creed - The Definition of Chalcedon (CCEL) If omniscience is a property of the divine nature, and that property is "preserved" without change, then the Person of the Word must be omniscient. If he were not, the divine nature would have changed (suffered a loss of attribute), which Chalcedon forbids. ##### 1. The Critique of the "Pedagogical Example" A common explanation is that Jesus prayed to "set an example" for his followers. However, the text frequently emphasizes his **solitude** and **secrecy**: * He "withdrew" to "desolate places" (Luke 5:16). * He dismissed the crowds and went up the mountain "by himself" (Matt 14:23). * He fled to the mountain "alone" to avoid being made king (John 6:15). If the primary purpose was pedagogy, the "lesson" is lost if no one is there to attend the class. While these events were later recorded, the immediate act was one of private communion. ##### 2. The Problem of Omniscient Deliberation If Jesus' divine nature provided him with the certain knowledge of who would be chosen (and who would betray him), what is the function of "all-night" prayer in the context of the **Hypostatic Union**? ### My Question: Within a Christology that affirms Christ’s omniscience during the Incarnation: * **What was the internal necessity of these sessions?** If there was no "information gap" to bridge between the Father and the Son, why the duration and frequency of the petition? * **How does this interact with Dyothelitism?** Does the human will of Christ need to "process" divine omniscience through the temporal act of prayer? * **Why the solitude?** If the act was intended as a "model for the Church," why did Jesus consistently ensure no one was there to see the model in action?