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Did God die when Christ, Who is God, died on the cross? Does God Himself have blood, and did He suffer pain when Christ shed His blood for the expiation of the sins of His elect?
After the decision of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D., explains Berkhof in his book The History of Christian Doctrines (Eerdmans, 1959 ed., pp. 111-13), there was "a lengthy and rather unseemly struggle between the different parties…. They were divided into several sects, of which the names alone, says Dr. Orr, ‘are enough to give one a cold shiver.’ There were the Theopaschitists, who emphasized the fact that God suffered; the Phthartolatrists, who…were said to worship that which is corruptible; and the Aphthartodocetists, who represented…the view…that the human nature of Christ…was endowed with divine attributes and was therefore…incorruptible."
