Christian Doctrine In Historical Perspective – serie

Stephen Holmes has been described as one of the bright lights of the new generation of evangelical theologians. In this book he offers an accessible and enlightening account of the way the saving work of Jesus is presented in the Bible, and has been understood throughout Christian history. In particular, the book offers background to the current debates about penal substitutionary atonement by looking at that idea in biblical and historical perspective. Holmes argues that we can, and should, continue to talk of the cross in penal substitutionary terms, if we understand this as one of many complimentary descriptions of the salvation we find in Christ.

Taking the late twentieth-century revival of the doctrine of the Trinity as a context, this book examines the development of that doctrine from the biblical text to the present day. The book traces and evaluates the exegetical and philosophical debates that led to the settling of the ecumenical doctrine of the Trinity in the fourth century, and then explores how this doctrine was developed, questioned and received through history.