Nothing is more important than what a person believes about Jesus Christ. To understand Christ correctly is to understand the very heart of God, Scripture, and the gospel. To get to the core of this belief, this latest volume in the Foundations of Evangelical Theology series lays out a systematic summary of Christology from philosophical, biblical, and historical perspectives—concluding that Jesus Christ is God the Son incarnate, both fully divine and fully human. Readers will learn to better know, love, trust, and obey Christ—unashamed to proclaim him as the only Lord and Savior. Part of the Foundations of Evangelical Theology series.

Oliver Crisp examines the doctrine of the incarnation as one of the central and defining dogmas of the Christian faith.

"From beginning to end, Scripture unveils from shadow to reality that Jesus is God the Son incarnate." Some people think of Jesus as a great prophet or a wise philosopher; others see him as an important religious leader or even a revolutionary. In this addition to the Short Studies in Systematic Theology series, Stephen Wellum challenges these claims as he argues for the divinity of Jesus according to Scripture and in line with creedal Christianity. In this brief introduction, we are invited to rejoice in the centrality of Christ—who as both God and man reconciles us to God.

In this groundbreaking work, John Hick refutes the traditional Christian understanding of Jesus of Nazareth. According to Hick, Jesus did not teach what was to become the orthodox understanding of him: that he was God incarnate who became human to die for the sins of the world. Further, the traditional dogma of Jesus' two natures--human and divine--cannot be explained satisfactorily, and worse, it has been used to justify great human evils. Thus, the divine incarnation, he explains, is best understood metaphorically. Nevertheless, he concludes that Christians can still understand Jesus as Lord and the one who has made God real to us. This second edition includes new chapters on the Christologies of Anglican theologian John Macquarrie and Catholic theologian Roger Haight, SJ.

This book is a philosophical examination of the logical problems associated with the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was one and the same person as God the Son, the Second Person of the divine Trinity. How can a being or person who is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, etc., have become human given that humans are limited in knowledge and beset with weaknesses? Unless this belief in the incarnation is to be dismissed as pious sentimentality, a philosophical case must be made for at least the possible rationality of the idea. Tom Morris makes such an attempt in this book. Indeed, although it claims only to be arguing that the idea of God Incarnate is not impossible, The Logic of God Incarnate confronts the preponderance of modem philosophical argumentation against the incarnation and manages to put the traditional doctrine in a quite plausible light.

The descent of Jesus Christ to the dead has been a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith, as indicated by its inclusion in both the Apostles' and Athanasian Creeds. But it has also been the subject of suspicion and scrutiny, especially from evangelicals. Led by the mystery and wonder of Holy Saturday, Matthew Emerson offers an exploration of the biblical, historical, theological, and practical implications of the descent.

The so-called extra Calvinisticum-the doctrine that the incarnate Son of God continued to exist beyond the flesh-was not invented by John Calvin or Reformed theologians. If this is true, as is almost universally acknowledged today, then why do scholars continue to fixate almost exclusively on Calvin when they discuss this doctrine? The answer to the “why” of this scholarly trend, however, is not as important as correcting the trend. This volume expands our vision of the historical functions and christological significance of this doctrine by expounding its uses in Cyril of Alexandria, Thomas Aquinas, Zacharias Ursinus, and in theologians from the Reformation to the present. Despite its relative obscurity, the doctrine that came to be known as the “Calvinist extra” is a possession of the church catholic and a feature of Christology that ought to be carefully appropriated in contemporary reflection on the Incarnation.

It's the defining reality of all existence, the central fact of human history, and the heart of the Christian faith: God became a man and lived among us. More than just part of the Christmas story, the doctrine of the incarnation radically affects our understanding of God, humanity, life, death, and salvation. In The Incarnation of God, theology professors John Clark and Marcus Johnson explore this foundational Christian confession, examining its implications for the church's knowledge and worship of God. Grounded in Scripture and informed by church history, this book will help Christians rediscover the inestimable significance of the truth that the Son of God became what we are without ceasing to be the eternal God—the greatest mystery of the universe.

Although it is a foundational confession for all Christians, much of the theological significance of Jesus's identity as "the Son of God" is often overlooked or misunderstood. Moreover, this Christological concept stands at the center of today's Bible translation debates and increased ministry efforts to Muslims. New Testament scholar D. A. Carson sheds light on this important issue with his usual exegetical clarity and theological insight, first by broadly surveying Jesus's biblical name as "the Son of God, and then by focusing on two key texts that speak of Christ's sonship. The book concludes with the implications of Jesus's divine sonship for how modern Christians think and speak about Christ, especially in relation to Bible translation and missionary engagement with Muslims across the globe.