Did Christ assume a fallen human nature? "What is not assumed is not healed." So goes the Chalcedonian maxim articulated by Gregory of Nazianzus regarding the nature and extent of Christ's work in assuming a human nature. But what is the nature of that assumption? If Christ is to stand in solidarity with us, must he have assumed not merely a human nature, but specifically a fallen human nature? In Sinless Flesh: A Critique of Karl Barth's Fallen Christ, Rafael Bello argues against the assertion made by Karl Barth, T. F. Torrance, and those who follow them that Christ assumed a fallen nature. Through retrieval of patristic, medieval, and Reformed orthodox theologians, Bello argues that a proper understanding of human nature, trinitarian inseparable operations, and the habitual grace-grace of union distinction leads to the conclusion that the assertion that Christ assumed a fallen human nature is at odds with faithful theological and historical understandings of the incarnation. Readers interested in theological retrieval for issues in contemporary theology will find a faithful model and way forward for a thorny issue in modern dogmatics.

This book claims that John Calvin developed “Greek” doctrines of the interim state of souls, resurrection, and beatific vision through his reading of ancient Christian sources like Irenaeus of Lyons. “Greek” had been a technical term in Western theology since at least the 12th century to denote heterodox eschatology. Thomas Aquinas had employed it in that sense, and early modern Catholics like Robert Bellarmine and Pierre Coton in turn applied it to Calvin. The book demonstrates that, in this respect at least, Calvin's opponents were correct: he was a “Greek.” However, it questions whether that fact should lead modern theologians to dismiss him as a resource for contemporary reflection. Calvin's deep respect for and continuity with early Christian voices may serve as a positive model for theologians today, particularly in the Reformed tradition. By the same token, Reformed thinkers who seek inspiration from medieval scholasticism may find their relationship to Calvin complicated by the case presented here.

During the sixteenth-century reformations, Caspar Schwenckfeld was one of the mavericks and creative thinkers who made up the amorphous grouping of radicals. At the time, and since, much has been made of the number of women who were attracted to his theology. Various reasons for this have been suggested, ranging from the attractions of a well spoken nobleman through to the pull of a more domestic religion. This study argues that the attraction lay in the theology that Schwenckfeld explored and offered, and the ways in which it destabilized the accepted social and biological definitions of gender identity.

The Importance Of The Church: God’s Kingdom Among Men! There is no need more urgent on our planet than that apostolic Christianity should be restored. Considering the desperate conditions that exist on this planet, that is a bold statement indeed! Can the establishment of a “religious organization” really be more important than the resolution of the world’s desperate problems? Properly understood, the answer is a resounding “yes!” You see, if the churches were to enter into the Biblical teaching and obedience described in the fol-lowing chapters, she would provide a form of human society within which none of those wretched conditions mentioned above would ever need exist again! Hear this, Christian: Christ in His church is God’s solution to all human needs and problems, not just its supposedly “religious” ones! The thesis of this book is that within the society of the Church of Christ (and only within that divine society) there is such a solution: a solution that actually used to exist, and a solution that God intends to restore! When the Kingdom of God is manifested on the earth, a visible society is created. As created by God, the church is that society of regenerated humans who have accepted Jesus as the divinely appointed ruler of the entire race of man. Her charter includes a demonstration of how the entire race of humans could function if they yielded to the authority and the Spirit of Jesus. His church is the sphere where God’s plans for the “total man” and for every aspect of human society are accomplished. Indeed, His church is the true form of human society! - such is her call; such is what is necessarily implied in being “Christ’s body”, “a chosen race, ... a holy nation, ... the people of God.”

A scholarly and analytical exposition of the text of Romans that is both practical and devotional.

The late Thomas F. Torrance has been called "the greatest Reformed theologian since Karl Barth" and "the greatest British theologian of the twentieth century" by prominent voices in the academy. His work has profoundly shaped contemporary theology in the English-speaking world. This first of two volumes comprises Thomas Torrance's lectures delivered to students in Christian Dogmatics on Christology at New College, Edinburgh, from 1952 to 1978 and amounts to the most comprehensive presentation of Torrance's understanding of the incarnation ever published. In eight chapters these expertly edited lectures highlight Torrance's distinctive belief that the object of our theological study—Jesus Christ—actively gives himself to us in order that we may know him. They also unpack Torrance's well-developed understanding of our union with Christ and how it impacts the Christian life, as well as his reflections on the in-breaking of Christ's kingdom and its intense conflict with and victory over evil. Decidedly readable and filled with some of Torrence's most influential thought, this will be an important volume for scholars, professors and students of Christian theology for decades to come.