Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology

Preface: Getting Started

Book One
The Living God

Working Assumptions

Credo

Part I
The Living God

Chapter 1: The Name of God

The Joy of Studying God

Whether God is Revealed

Whether God Can Be Defined

Whether God’s Character Can Be Ascertained

Knowing God by Negation and by Analogy

Chapter 2: The Nature of God

God Is Before Time

The Divine Sufficiency

The Unity of God

The Living God

The Majesty of God

Chapter 3: The Character of God

The Constant Goodness of God

The Compassion of God

Part II
The Reality of God

Chapter 4: Whether God Exists

Whether the Existence of God Can Be Reasonably Argued

How to Reason from Order or Design

How to Reason from Human Nature: Mind, Human Nature, and General Consent

Arguments from Change, Causality, Contingency, and Degrees of Being

Arguments from Conscience, Beauty, Pragmatic Results, and Congruity

Argument from the Idea of Perfect Being

Conclusion

Chapter 5: Whether God Is Triune

Salvation History in Triune Faith

Faith’s Experience of Trinitarian Reasoning

Scriptural Roots of Trinitarian Reasoning

The Triune Structure of Christian Teaching

Part III
The Work of God

Chapter 6: God the Creator and Creation

Creator of All Things

The Biblical Perspective on God the Creator

Covenant Creation and the Covenant People of God

The Triune Creator

The God of Creatures

Chapter 7: God’s Care for the World

The Meaning of Providence

Divine Preservation and Cooperation with Natural Causality

Divine Governance of the World

Sin and Evil Viewed in the Light of Providence

God’s Care for the World

General and Special Providence

Part IV
The Study of God

Chapter 8: Whether God Can Be Studied

Is the Study of God Possible?

Revelation Requires Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason

Creedal Tradition as an Authoritative Source for the Study of God

Scripture and Tradition

Whether the Study of God Is a Science

Whether the Study of God Requires a Special Temperament

The Study of Religion and the Study of God

The Reasoning of Revelation

Reason and Certitude

How Faith Reasons

Book Two
The Word of Life

Chapter 1: Why Christ?

An Unforgettable Life

Person to Person: His Question to Us

The Subject

The Gospel

The Ascription of Lordship

Key Definitions: Person, Work, States, and Offices

Surveying the Christological Landscape in Advance

Part I
Word Made Flesh

The Map of the Road Ahead

Chapter 2: The Body Language of God

The Deity of Christ

Scriptural Reasoning About Christ’s Deity

Chapter 3: Divine Sonship

The Nature of Divine Sonship

Son of the Father, Son of Mary

The Preincarnational Life of the Son

The Humbling of God to Servanthood

Form of God, Form of a Servant

The Hidden Majesty: The Obscuration of the Divine

Chapter 4: The Incarnation

How Both Genders Were Honored Equally in the Incarnation

The Scriptural Teaching of Incarnation

The Necessity of the Incarnation

Consequent Issues of the Incarnation

His Humanity

Chapter 5: The Manner of God’s Coming

The Virginal Conception

Gospel Witness to the Virgin Birth

The Savior Was Truly Born

The New Eve

The Mother of the Savior

Chapter 6: One Person—Truly God, Truly Human

The Personal Union: Its Scriptural Basis

The Union of Two Natures in One Person

The One Person

The Logic of Intrapersonal Permeation

Defining Personal Union

Divine and Human Will in the Son

Part II
Our Lord’s Earthly Life

Chapter 7: The Proclaimer Proclaimed

The Historical Jesus

How the Quest for Jesus’ History Became Distorted

The Classic Christian Theandric Starting Point

Following the Sequence of the Transition from Proclaimer to Proclaimed

The Confession of Lordship

The Risen Lord: The Authoritative Interpreter of His Own Narrative

The Academy’s Prevailing Myth of the Myth About Jesus

Chapter 8: The Public Ministry of Jesus

Childhood Narratives: Circumcision, Flight, Obedience, Growth

Jesus’ Baptism: Its Meaning

The Temptation of Jesus

Three Archetypal Forms of Temptation of the Messianic Servant

The Sinlessness of Jesus: Classic Reasoning

The Son of Man

The Journey Toward Jerusalem

The Anointed One

Names and Titles Ascribed to the Anointed One

Chapter 9: The Work He Came to Do

Offices of the Anointed One

Defining the Prophetic Office: Christ as Prophet

He Taught with Authority

Signs, Wonders, and Demonstrations of Power and Deity

Christ as True Priest

First Phase of Christ’s Priestly Work: Sacrifice

Second Phase of Christ’s Priestly Work: Intercession

Third Phase of Christ’s Priestly Work: Blessing

PART III
He Died for Our Sins

Chapter 10: The Death of Jesus

He Suffered

The Passion Story Narrates the Humbling of the Son Even to Death

Crucified, Dead, and Buried

His Death

He Was Buried

Chapter 11: In Our Place

The Atonement Embodied in One Person

The Crossroad of Christian Reflection

The Cross Uniquely Joins Holiness and Love

The Reversal: God’s Own Sacrifice

The Finished Work: Reconciliation

Christ’s Obedience: Active and Passive

The Cross as Sacrifice

The Sacrificial Offering of Christ

The Unique Conditions Required for the Salvation of Humanity

Penalty as a Consequence of Law

Christ Died for Our Sins

Penal Substitution as Sufficient Vicarious Satisfaction

Victory by Justice, Not Power

The Value of Christ’s Death for Us

The Exemplary or Moral Influence Motif

The Orderly Governance Motif

The Exchange or Satisfaction Motif

The Victor or Dramatic Motif

Comparison and Integration of the Complementary Tendencies

The Meaning of Daily Suffering in the Light of the Cross

Suffering: Surveying the Human Predicament

How Does Christ’s Death Impinge upon Human Suffering?

The Mystery of Human Suffering Viewed in the Light of the Cross

Part IV
Exalted Lord

Chapter 12: Christus Victor

The Exaltation of Christ

Christ Is Alive

Descent into the Nether World

The Final Phase of the Humbling of God: The Abode of the Grave

Chapter 13: The Risen Lord

The Lord Is Risen Indeed

The Hope of Resurrection

How Jesus Transformed the End-Time Expectation

Jesus’ Resurrection in the Light of Apocalyptic Hopes

Lacking Resurrection, Faith in Vain

On the Third Day

Resurrection: An Event Without Analogy

Is the Resurrection Evidence Sufficient?

Deciding Fairly About the Evidence: Why the Account Is True

The Nature of Resurrection Evidence

Resurrection: The Proof of Lordship

The Modern Mythographers: Rewriting the Texts to Fit with Reductive Naturalism

Chapter 14: Ascension and Session

The Ascended Lord

Seated at the Right Hand of the Father

Christ the King

The Kingdom of Power, Grace, and Glory

A Modest Proposal for Christological Reform

Book Three
Life in the Spirit

Introducing the Study of the Spirit

The Shortfall of Language in the Study of the Spirit

The Way Ahead

Part I
The Person of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 1: The Person of the Holy Spirit

The Deity of the Holy Spirit

The Personal Nearness of the Holy Spirit Within the Human Heart

Sin Against the Spirit

The Person of the Holy Spirit in Triune Teaching

Chapter 2: The Work of the Spirit

The Spirit’s Preparatory Work

The Work of the Spirit in Creation and Providence

Types and Symbols of the Holy Spirit in Scripture

The Work of the Spirit in the Present Age

The Spirit’s Work in Applying the Work of the Son

The Counselor

Pentecost: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

The Tongues at Pentecost and After

Holy Spirit and Holy Writ

The Spirit Works Through the Word in the Heart to Persuade

Part II
Salvation

Chapter 3: The Way of Repentanc

The Terms of Salvation

The Study of Salvation

The Elements of Personal Salvation Teaching

The Narrow Way of Repentance

Conviction of Sin

Contrition

The Resolution to Forsake All Sin

Conversion

Confession of Sin

Chapter 4: Justification by Grace Through Faith

Justification by Grace

Justification Under Grace

Elements of Saving Faith: Assent, Trust, and Decision

The Gift of Faith

Faith Working Through Love

The New Birth

Gracious Freedom

Word and Spirit in the Regenerate Life

Chapter 5: Baptism of the Spirit

The Spirit’s Indwelling

Baptism by the Washing of Water and Spirit

Water and Spirit Baptism

The Sealing of the Spirit

The Gifts of the Spirit

Adoption into the Family of God

Assurance of Salvation Through the Witness of the Spirit

Chapter 6: Union with Christ and Sanctification

Union with Christ

Sanctification

Called to Holiness

Grace and Character Formation

Birth and Growth

Yielding to the Spirit’s Guidance

Perfecting Grace and the Fullness of Salvation

Classic Consensual Teaching on Perfecting Grace

How Debates on the Holy Life Have Been Resolved by Ecumenical Consent

Life in Christ amid the Tension of Flesh and Spirit

Examining Arguments on the Intrinsic Unattainability of Perfect Love

Salvation Viewed from the Vantage Point of Its Effects

Part III
The Church

Chapter 7: The Community of Celebration

Complementary Ways of Looking at the Church

Biblical Teaching on the Church (Ekklēsia, Qahal)

The Called Community

Bath and Meal

The Spirit Builds Up the Community

Biblical Models of the Church

The Church as Body of Christ

The Spirit Enlivens the Church

Chapter 8: Marks of the Church

Word, Sacrament, and Discipline

Four Evidences of the Reality and Wholeness of the Church

The First Mark: The Church Is One

The Ecumenical Spirit

The Second Mark: The Church Is Holy

The Visibility of the Church

The Third Mark: Catholicity

Catholicity with Respect to Time and Place

Tolerance, Perpetuity, and Fallibility

The Fourth Mark: Apostolicity

Apostolicity and Succession

Ordination and Apostolicity

Questions of Petrine Leadership

Part IV
Human Destiny

Chapter 9: Last Things: Death and Personal Survival

The End of History

Death and Personal Survival

The Death of Believers

The Intermediate State of the Righteous

Chapter 10: The End of Human History

The General Resurrection of the Dead

We Shall Be Like Him

The Return of Christ

The Time of His Coming

Consummation: The End of the Age

Chapter 11: The Communion of Saints and the Life Everlasting

The Communion of Saints

The Final State of the Unjust

Satan

Life Everlasting

Amen to the Glory of the Lord

Epilogue: General Consent of the Laity as the Principle of Legitimacy

Three Conclusions on Why Historic Consensus Is Vital to Doctrinal Definition

Consensual Teachings Are Readily Identifiable Textually

Consensual Authority Is Grounded in General Lay Consent

Consensus Clarification Is Feasible

Postlude: On Theo-Comic Perception

An Invitation to Partners in Dialogue

Abbreviations and References

Contents