Product Description

Throughout the history of the church the doctrine of the person of Christ has been a centerpiece of theological reflection. In The Person of Christ Donald Macleod rearticulates this multifaceted doctrine. He begins with the New Testament and recent attempts to understand its Christology. Macleod then turns his attention to Christ in the history of Christian theology, examining the principal issues extending from Arianism in the fourth century to kenotic Christology in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to the current debate over the uniqueness of Christ.The Person of Christ is a valuable point of entrance and a biblical assessment of the full panorama of issues that have shaped orthodox confessions of Christ through the centuries. The pathway of Christian revelation and tradition is clearly charted, with hazards new and old carefully marked.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #387436 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 303 pages

Customer Reviews

An extensive overview of Christological issues
This work is an extensive overview of christological issues and positions in the modern church while providing historical understandings, formulations and heresies. Donald Macleod then provides an evangelical response or critique to those positions that are not compatable with mainstream evangelical thought and argues for those positions that are associated with evangelicalism. Macleod takes opposing positions seriously and accurately portrays their concerns and central tenets. He is also willing to face the harshest critiques of his own positions. He answers those crituques when he can and acknoldeges the roles of presuppositions in every party's arguments. A very good introduction to the issues that in his own words is "but the mere beginning of a pilgrimage."

The standard evangelical Christology
The Person of Christ by Donald MacLeod is a towering treatment of one of the most fascinating theological disciplines. Christology, the study of the person and work of Christ, is not a neglected field. As the central figure of the greatest religious movement in world history, Jesus draws interest from a wide range of inquirers and scholars. Because of the uniqueness of Christ as a person and because of the unique role he played in human history -- there never seems to be any shortage of works written about him, or of topics to pursue concerning him. Of course, we know from church history how easy it is to drift from the orthodox line on this subject. Here again it is probably Christ's uniqueness that almost invites speculation. Speculation about his human nature, his divine nature, his self-understanding, his pre-existence, his relationship to God, his psychology, his self-appointed messianic titles, his birth, and his incarnation -- to name just a few issues. Defending the biblical and historic Protestant position (which are usually synonymous, in my view) on the person of Christ, MacLeod's volume on the same name installs itself as the premier installment on Christology from an evangelical perspective.

The first thing we recognize is MacLeod's two-fold division. Part One, subtitled "Very God of Very God" -- From the Gospels to Nicea, deals with issues concerning his Deity. While Part Two, subtitled "Very God, Very Man" -- To Chalcedon and Beyond, deals with Christological issues revolving around his person. Rounding out the book is a short epilogue, the author's endnotes, a list of resources for further reading, and three indexes for faster access and more detailed study.

In Part One MacLeod begins by surveying the issue of the Virgin Birth. Evangelicals are familiar with Machen's volume, long considered the standard work on the subject even to this very day. MacLeod interacts with sympathetic theologians such as Machen but even moreso with those espousing views antagonistic to orthodoxy. Next he explores the evidence for the pre-existence of Christ. He concludes that this issue has been neglected in Christological studies probably because it is subsumed under the greater issue of Christ's Deity. Scholars that affirm Christ's Deity would necessarily affirm his pre-existence. In chapter three MacLeod looks at Christ as the Son of God. With his characteristic sweep of the biblical witness, MacLeod looks into evidence for Christ the Son of God in John, then in Hebrews, then in Paul's writings, finally in the Synoptics. The last two chapters go together: The Jesus of History (ch. 4) and The Christ of Faith (ch. 5). These two terms represent the liberal dichotomy often presented by scholars who don't believe that the Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus of history. But MacLeod, in examining the evidence, both from the Bible and from church history, concludes that the Jesus of history is the same as the Christ of faith.

Part Two begins with a bang: its first exploration is into the Incarnation. MacLeod answers the heresies of Docetism and Apollinarianism, allowing these discussions to lead into his treatments of Christ having a true body, a reasonable soul, and exercising truly human emotions. Chapter seven, which is concerned with Christ's dual natures, is equally weighty: on the first page it begins its evaluation of the Nestorian heresy, with Eutychianism close behind. But I guess here's about as good a place as any to note that MacLeod doesn't simply wave away the heretical Christologies but actually takes the time to answer them from Scripture and from the arguments of those in church history who have also answered them from Scripture. The hypostatic union is given prime placement in this chapter, as it should. Perhaps the most illuminating discussion is over the communication of attributes. MacLeod's conclusion, as well as mine, is that Calvin and his heirs got it right over Luther and his. Chapter eight goes in search of what it meant for Christ to make himself nothing. In chapter ten MacLeod investigates the sinlessness of Christ. Can we hold to the idea of Christ's full humanity if he is without sin? The last chapter, chapter ten, which is on Christ in modern theology, is probably the least interesting chapter in the book in my estimation. It largely deals with liberal theology and what it has to say concerning the person of Christ. But liberal theology is a joke to me, and the joke is on anybody who takes it seriously.

In this volume MacLeod ably presents the biblical, orthodox, and historic Protestant view of the person of Christ. He soundly deals with the views of those from other camps: both inside and outside the fold. I wouldn't call MacLeod the most accessible writer ever, but he presents his views with enough clarity that any student of theology can follow his train of thought. This is probably seminary-level reading. The Person of Christ is a vast volume whose insights will inform those interested in the biblical, orthodox, and Protestant conception of Jesus for years to come.

Perfect in Godhood, Kenosis- Perfect in Manhood
This book is an excellent argument that Jesus is very much God and very much man. What does it mean to be one of three persons in the Godhead, yet be one in essence? There is one God. Donald Macleod defends that Jesus always existed from eternity past (the preexistence of Jesus), the virgin birth, to be begotten- not made, the miracles of Jesus as recorded in the Bible, the redeeming nature of Jesus death, the redeeming nature of the resurrection, the importance of God becoming man, Jesus always stayed God, What does it mean that Jesus emptied himself, the Sinlessness of Jesus and its importance in redemption.

Donald Macleod compares and debunks many false concepts of Jesus by other theologians. He uses theological terms and defines the words well. One need not be an academic to understand this book. I am trying to say the book is not a difficult read but neither would I recommend the book as introduction to these concepts, but as one who wants to get a fuller grasp. Anyone who presumes to train adults or teenagers should be able to understand this work and not find it to daunting to read. It is important to able to make arguments for the supernatural nature of God in the whole Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This book is an excellent argument against today's Postmodern Heresies. The author makes many arguments about past heresies in Church history about the nature of Jesus. An excellant argument about who Jesus is and what Jesus is not.