The Person of Christ

The Person of Christ

Introduction

Donald Macleod's “The Person of Christ” (a volume in InterVarsity's Contours of Christian Theology series) is an excellent introduction to the biblical and creedal Jesus. The author balances his treatment of the doctrine of Christ by first considering the primary source documents (the Bible) and then the church's Christological creedal statements. For, every doctrine considered he provides the reader with some historical background that led to the particular doctrinal discussion, sets forth the orthodox position defined by the Church, and interacts with modern theories as they touch that doctrine.

Discussion

The outline of “The Person of Christ” (hereafter TPOC) structured into two parts. Part one summarizes the development and refinement of the doctrine of Christ's divine nature as it unfolded historically from the Gospels to the Nicene Creed. There are chapters on the virgin birth, the preexistence of Christ, Christ as the Son of God, the Jesus of History, and the Christ of Faith (“Very God of Very God”). Part two, in a similar fashion, summarizes the discussion of Christ's human nature from the Council of Chalcedon up to the present day. Chapter treatments include the incarnation, the Chalcedonian formula of “perfect in Godhead, perfect in Manhood”, kenosis, the sinlessness of Christ, and finally the uniqueness of Christ in modern theology.

He goes on the argue that Christ's sinlessness and the virgin birth find their connected significance as a miraculous sign of the birth of a new man who not beget by Adam. “Christ is not to the seed of Adam [emphasis on flesh], but to the seed of Abraham [emphasis on faith]”. Perhaps the author reacts too strongly against the critics of the miraculous virgin birth and the sinlessness of Christ, for he seems to distance Christ from all connections to the Adamic race. Christ may not be to the seed of Adam, but he is certainly to the seed of the woman. Macleod seems to be guilty at this point of succumbing to the theologian's trap of being strong in affirmations but weak in denials.

His chapter on the preexistence of Christ is a strong argument that sets forth the biblical evidence from John, Hebrews, the epistles of Paul, and the synoptic gospels. He concludes with a discussion on the meaning of preexistence as it touches Jesus the man. Here, Macleod interacts with modern reinterpretations of preexistence, specifically those of John A. T. Robinson, Anthony Tyrrell Hanson, and John Knox. In clear apologetic fashion, Macleod demonstrates the logical, biblical, and historical inconsistencies of their objections. Finally, he addresses the sophisticated theological objections of G. W. H. Lampe, and concludes his response by setting forth the theological evidence in support of the preexistence of Christ, namely the post-existence and the deity of Christ.

Chapter three on Christ as the Son of God outlined much the same was as the previous chapter, by presenting the biblical evidence from John, Hebrews, Paul, and the synoptics. Included are discussions on John's term “only begotten” (monogenes), subordinationism, hypostasis in Hebrews, adoptionism, Jesus ...