Studies in Historical and Systematic Theology – serie

Did God decide to save before he decided to create? Though this question is often considered abstract, its answer informs both the purpose and nature of the incarnation.In The Justification of the Sinless, Brendan Case argues that God the Son would have become incarnate even if humanity had never sinned. The incarnation benefits creation in many ways besides redemption. Indeed, it is the ultimate reason for the creation of the cosmos itself.Case develops his argument primarily by drawing on the work of Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1168-1253). Though neglected today, this brilliant medieval theologian drove the thirteenth-century debates over the incarnation. Building on Grosseteste, Case provides a compelling set of exegetical and theological arguments for the supralapsarian thesis. If the incarnation is logically prior to the fall, then God always planned to endow creation with a glory beyond estimation.

A myth-busting work on fundamentalists and cultureThe Scopes Trial of 1925 is often regarded as a turning point in the history of American fundamentalism and evangelicalism. It is claimed that Scopes was a public relations defeat that sent fundamentalism into retreat from mainstream culture. In Fundamentalists in the Public Square: Evolution, Alcohol, and the Culture Wars after the Scopes Trial, Madison Trammel argues that such a characterization is misguided. Using documentary evidence from newspapers in the 1920s and 1930s, Trammel shows that fundamentalists remained fully active in seeking to transform the culture for Christ, and they remained so through the rise of Billy Graham's ministry. Grounded in historical evidence, Fundamentalists in the Public Square offers a fresh take on the relationship between fundamentalism, evangelicalism, and the public square.

Jesus defines what it means to be human.What are we as human beings? That question might seem simple and obvious, until you start trying to answer it. The church has always had a default teaching on human ontology, but not an orthodox confession. And the current debate regarding the "what" of human being seems to be locked in a stalemate between dualist and physicalist perspectives on body and soul, which is unable to provide a foundation to address the deeply anthropological issues of our day.In Crowned with Glory and Honor: A Chalcedonian Anthropology, Michael A. Wilkinson departs from the current debate and argues that our human being is defined by the incarnation of the divine Son as the man Jesus Christ. While there is a growing recognition that Christology should inform anthropology, the key to Wilkinson's argument is the analogical extension of Christ's person-nature constitution as confessed in the Chalcedonian Definition.Christ alone is fully God and fully man. Yet a fundamental analogy exists between him and each of us because Christ is the paradigm for all things universally human. Wilkinson demonstrates that we have biblical, epistemological, and historical warrant for defining human being in Christ. Scripture gives us good reason to expect a constitutional correspondence between the man and mere man. A robust Christological method helps us explore that correspondence with care. And Chalcedon gives us the terms and concepts that we should extend from Christ's human ontology to ours.Such a "Chalcedonian anthropology" offers a foundation and framework for an orthodox anthropology. Defining human being in Christ would allow the church to answer the anthropological questions of our day with the help of a rich Christological tradition. And formulating a biblical-theological correspondence between Christ's human ontology and ours holds promise for greater consistency and cogency at the intersection of Christology, anthropology, and soteriology.

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."--John 17:3In Your Light We See Light argues that the doctrine of illumination is Trinitarian and participatory. We cannot know God apart from God. The Triune God transfers us from darkness to light, so we may see him, ourselves, and the world anew. Illumination is not merely cognitive; it turns a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. It involves life with God--hearing and being transformed by God's Word. Paul C. Uyen begins with Scripture before retrieving the doctrine of illumination from Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Reformed traditions and revealing their areas of tension. Uyen articulates a Reformed perspective in conversation with other traditions.

Conscience from creation to new creation.The God who created conscience is Father, Son, and Spirit. Thus, conscience is properly understood in relation to our Triune God and his work in the world―the Father's creation, the Son's redemption, and the Spirit's perfection.In The Fall and Redemption of Conscience, Andrea Ferrari explores conscience in Trinitarian and redemptive-historical contexts. Ferrari draws from Scripture and theologians of the past―particularly John Calvin and John Webster―to build a comprehensive theology of the human experience in relation to God. Conscience is a covenantal awareness and vocational responsiveness. As such, conscience is how we recognize our lives and responsibilities as created and redeemed beings in covenant with God. The book includes a foreword by Paul T. Nimmo.