The Old Testament predicted that one would come who would be the epitome of what then existed in a partial or incomplete way.  Specifically, the Old Testament had many prophets, but there was to be a final one (Dt.18:18); it knew many priests, but there would be a final one (Ps. 110:4; Zech. 6:13); there were many kings, but there would be a final, messianic figure who would hold that office (Ps. 2:6; Is. 9:7).  At least Ps. 110:4 and Zech. 6:13 show that the same person would hold more than one of these offices. Read the rest of this entry →

The ascension of Christ was that act when on the 40^th day after his resurrection he was taken up into heaven to enter his Father’s presence, to remain there until his second coming. Immediately, we are faced with questions as myriad as our imaginations will take us. Yet, the fact that he did ascend is well attested to by Scripture, such as Luke 24:51 which says, “While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” and Acts 1:9 where Luke wrote, “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” Read the rest of this entry →

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.-1 Corinthians 15:14

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hope of Christianity. Without the literal physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, our faith is nothing more then a philosophical and moral construct in which we comfort ourselves by assigning eternal meaning to our existence.  In which case as scripture says we should be pitied. Thus we should love and cherish this cardinal doctrine. Read the rest of this entry →

While controversy over the relation of natures in the person of Christ marked the late ancient and early medieval church, we do not get off the hook as easily as we might wish.  The question of the relation of the natures in Christ bedevils several theological questions still, though the alternatives are now clearer. Read the rest of this entry →

By the end of the fourth century the church had affirmed both the full deity and full humanity of the Son and had arrived at a serviceable doctrine of the Trinity, which would be subsequently elaborated.  During the fifth century the question of the relationship of the divine and human in the person or persons of Christ would come to center stage.

Suppose someone asked you whether Mary bore God or Christ.  What would you say?  How you answer would give some indication of how you conceive of the relationship of the divine and human in Christ. Read the rest of this entry →

The belief that Jesus is completely God and completely man is a major tenet of Biblical Christianity, yet it is a doctrine which has had its opponents throughout history. Around A.D. 361 the bishop of Laodicea, whose name was Apollinaris, taught that though Jesus had a human body and a human soul, he did not possess a human mind. Instead it was replaced by the “Logos”, or “Word” as mentioned in John 1.  In short, Jesus had a human body but only a divine nature. Read the rest of this entry →

Wherever there is truth, there will be a counterfeit designed to lead people astray.  Arianism like any and every heresy is an example of this. Three hundred years after Christ death Arius, a priest from Alexandria, propagated the idea that Jesus was not God. His teaching can be followed to its modern version in the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Read the rest of this entry →

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
-Isaiah 7:14

The virgin birth of Christ is a central truth in Christology. Often in evangelical circles it is a neglected doctrine that is assumed to be understood. Its biblical roots go back to the prophet Isaiah who foretold of the virgin giving birth to the savior of the world. It stands out on the biblical landscape as an affirmation of a divine event in human history. Isaiah says, “the Lord himself will give you a sign….” The doctrine itself, simply put, is that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin mother, Mary, without the involvement of a human father. Read the rest of this entry →

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law….”–Galatians 4:4

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself….  Philippians 2:6-8 Read the rest of this entry →

In Philippians 2 Paul says that Jesus emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant when He became incarnate.  The noun form of the word he uses there (“kenosis”) has come directly into theological discussion in the last century and a half and is filled with controversy.

Originally, the idea seems to have been used by liberal thinkers to assert in effect that Jesus emptied himself of the essential attributes of deity and thus, was not truly God while he was on earth. Read the rest of this entry →