Incarnation and Inspiration John Owen and the Coherence of Christology

by Spence, Alan J.

• ISBN13: 9780567045379
• ISBN10: 0567045374
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-06-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury T & T Clark

Summary

In Incarnation and Inspiration Alan Spence looks at the groundbreaking theology of John Owen. Spence examines Owen's efforts to integrate the concepts of incarnation and inspiration into one coherent Christology. Owen offers a solution to this most intractable of christological dilemmas through his idea that the divine Son acted on his own human nature indirectly and by means of the Holy Spirit. The foundation of the Spirit's distinctive work is thereby the renewal of the image of God through the humanity of Christ. Spence's study raises such questions as: can a Christology which affirms the distinct operation of Christ's two natures successfully maintain the unity of his personal action? Is nature or ontological language too static to model the dynamic reality of Christ? Can the actions of God be indivisible if the Son relates to the Father as to one who is other than himself? Finally Spence grounds the discussion in more general terms by comprehensively assessing the significance of Owen's Christology in relation to the ever-important Definition of Chalcedon and to modern theology. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Alan Spence is a United Reformed Church minister serving two churches in West London

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xv
Two Ways of Thinking about Christ: Incarnation or Inspiration	p. 1
The prayers of Jesus	p. 1
Incarnational christology	p. 2
Inspirational christology	p. 4
Compatibility and the witness of tradition	p. 5
John Owen	p. 15
Incarnation: The Son Assumes Human Nature	p. 17
The writing of Christologia	p. 17
Christ as the way of our knowing	p. 18
The context in which Christ is known	p. 20
The wisdom of God and the person of Christ	p. 21
The appropriateness of the incarnation	p. 25
The pre-existent Son	p. 26
God's eternal counsels	p. 28
The agent of the incarnation	p. 30
The Word became flesh	p. 32
The assumption of human nature	p. 34
Anhypostasia	p. 35
The hypostatic union	p. 37
The natures distinguished	p. 39
Interaction between the natures	p. 41
Inspiration: The Spirit Renews God's Image in Christ's Human Nature	p. 43
Quakers and Socinians	p. 43
The Spirit in the Christian life	p. 46
The Spirit in nature and in grace	p. 49
Christ as the foundation and goal of the Spirit's work	p. 50
Firstborn among many brothers	p. 52
The Spirit's work in Jesus	p. 54
Inspiration and incarnation	p. 59
Master-stories	p. 62
Integrity of the person	p. 64
The Mediator: One Person Acting in Two Natures	p. 65
Athanasius - The incarnation of the Word of God	p. 65
Anselm - Why was God made man?	p. 67
Calvin - Incorporating both perspectives	p. 70
The office of Mediator	p. 71
The person of the Mediator	p. 72
From Logos to Mediator	p. 76
The Mediator as subject of the incarnate life	p. 79
Evaluation	p. 80
The Son and the Father: Of the Same Being	p. 84
Introduction of the homoousion	p. 85
Arian christology	p. 85
The Athanasian alternative	p. 87
The Socinians	p. 91
Owen's response	p. 96
Conclusion	p. 101
The Son and the Children: An 'Autokinetic' Human Nature	p. 104
The relation between the natures	p. 104
The Apollinarian solution	p. 105
An alternative account	p. 109
The nature of Christ's humanity	p. 110
The self-consciousness of Jesus	p. 120
Conclusion	p. 121
Trinitarian Agency: The Son and the Spirit as Distinct Agents	p. 124
Our knowledge of God as Triune	p. 124
The essence of the doctrine	p. 126
Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa	p. 128
Distinct principles of operation	p. 129
Resolution	p. 131
Consistent?	p. 132
Strictures on the tradition	p. 133
New possibilities	p. 135
Conclusion	p. 138
The problem of christology	p. 138
Owen and the coherence of Chalcedon	p. 144
Coherence and modern christology	p. 149
Bibliography	p. 155
Index	p. 161
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