The Message of the Person of Christ by Robert Letham

This book by Robert Letham on the message and Person of Christ is in the well -received Bible Speaks Today (BST) series edited by Derek Tidball. I found the book to be pitched at just the right level for the aims of this series and helpful for Christians new and old. It was thoroughly accessible and even included a nice study guide at the end.

There’s 24 chapters in five sections entitled Christ promised, Christ incarnate, Christ crucified, Christ risen, and Christ ascended. The book begins with a quite lengthy bibliography followed by a short introduction of what the author hopes to accomplish in this book. There’s also a prologue explaining man as being in the image of God.

The section on “Christ promised” explains Christ as the offspring of the woman, and then tackles the important subjects of Jesus being of the seed of Abraham and the son of David. Further, he sees Jesus as King as related to us in the Old Testament, followed by two chapters that cover the Servant of the Lord passages in the Book of Isaiah that are about Jesus Christ.

In the next section, the author begins by describing the birth of Christ. I would have expected a lengthier section on the Virgin Birth of Christ, but what we have is very good here. Jesus is followed through His ministry and His humanity before we finally come to the deity of Christ in chapters 11 through 14. There’s much to learn here.

The balance of the book from various angles covers the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. The author relates many wonderful thoughts here. In fact, I’d call this a great overview. There is an appendix studying church history on this important doctrine.

This book is the perfect first in-depth book to study on the doctrine of Christ for any Christian. I warmly recommend it.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

The Person of Christ by Donald MacLeod

Here’s the book on the doctrine of Christ you need if you really want to dig deep, both about the doctrine itself and its historical development. Frankly, it taught me so much. It’s part of the respected Contours of Christian Theology series edited by Gerald Bray and published by IVP.

I thought the author’s approach was unique and ideal. He took most of the main concepts of the doctrine and traced the debate that formalized them in church history. In fact, he took these concepts in the order that they were debated. Along the way, he fully explained each doctrine, the viewpoints that fall short of an accurate Christology, and a wonderful definition of some of the more obscure theological terms. Though he covered concepts that are barely mentioned in many theological works, I found him easy-to-read and follow. In short, I loved this book.

He divides the book into two sections. Part one goes from the Gospels to Nicea, which he calls “very God of very God” and traces out the deity of Christ. In this section, he will cover the virgin birth, the preexistence of Christ, Christ as the Son of God, and the Jesus of history and the faith.  Those last two chapters of that section I found to be profound and so helpful to me.

Part two goes from Chalcedon on through most major theological questions on the doctrine of Christ, which he calls “very God, very man”. In this section, he discussed the Incarnation, the fact of Jesus being perfect both as God and man. He beautifully explained the Kenosis of Christ, as well as the sinlessness of Christ. I have several pages with a multitude of underlined sentences that were greatly illuminating for me.

I wouldn’t necessarily call this the first book to pick up if you were studying the doctrine of Christ, especially if it was your first time to do so; but if you really want to dig out this doctrine, you cannot pass by this great book. I’ll put it in the must-by category for sure!

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.