The doctrine of the Incarnation isn’t a hot topic in the circles I run in. I’ve seen little ink spilled over it. The mission of the church, the place of penal substitution, the role of women in ministry, and the legitimacy of multi-site? Sure. But not the Incarnation and two natures of Jesus.
That’s why June 3, 2011 was such a wake-up call for me. I was traveling the Middle East with seminarians and laypersons from around the United States, few of whom could be described as conservative evangelicals. Not the sort who’d be caught scribbling “Frequent The Gospel Coalition” site on a New Year’s resolution list, in other words. On this particular day, I was chatting with one of my new friends, a successful 57-year-old businessman from Atlanta. This gentleman—we’ll call him Bill—loosely identifies as a Christian. For him, Christianity is more about global philanthropy and mystical connection with the divine than it is about historical
events. Bill views the Incarnation as a beautiful Christian symbol—culturally and spiritually meaningful, to be sure, but historically necessary? He’s not convinced. Read more
See also
J.I.Packer: The Vital Question God in the manger: why the incarnation matters
No comments:
Post a Comment