Tag: union with Christ

Union with Our Atoning Christ: a book review

Many recent treatments of the atonement questions the dominance of forensic model in evangelicalism. There are few cranky Reformed folks that are piping out the centrality of penal substitution, but many are hunting for other models (i.e. Christus Victor, or Moral Influence, non-violent models, etc) or proposing a multi-metaphor, mosaic approach (see, for example, Scot Mcknight’s A Community Called Atonement).  Andrew Purves also questions the dominance of legal models, but he does so through a sustained engagement with three major theological voices from the Scottish Reformed tradition: John McLeod Campbell, Hugh Ross Mackintosh and T.F. Torrance.In Exploring Christology & Atonement, Purves examines each thinker’s contribution to atonement theology and Christology. While these theologians are not exactly the same in approach (Torrance and Mackintosh had their criticisms of Campbell, and Mackintosh had been Torrance’s teacher), they represent a common trajectory. Each theologian sets the atonement within the context of the relations between Jesus, the incarnate Son, with the Father. The result is that union with Christ becomes the guiding idea for properly understanding God’s purpose for the Cross and its result.

9780830840779Purves is  one of my favorite pastoral theologians. His Reconstructing Pastoral Theology: A Christological Foundation and the shorter, more accessible The Crucifixion of Ministry explored ministry in the image of Christ, allowing the cruciform nature of ministry and what it means to minister in his name. Purves teaches Historical Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary [Edit: Purves is now Emeritus Faculty at Pittsburgh]. In his earlier volumes he showed the practical fruit of engaging biblical, historical and patristic theology. That goal is not far off in this volume either. Campbell, MacKintosh and Torrance were first-rate theologians (Campbell was not a professional theologian but a pastor). They were also men-of-faith mindful of the implications of their theology for ordinary believers.

In seven chapters, Purves walks through the thought of these theologians. His first three chapters explore Christology, setting the atonement within the context of Christ’s Union with God and his representative union with humanity, “The Magnificent exchange is to be thought of as Jesus Christ as he unfolds himself out in saving ministry by which he joins us to himself in his human nature and us to him. Union with Christ is embedded as one work within the magnificent exchange as by the Holy Spirit he binds us to himself in his human nature to share his benefits” (124).

In the next three chapters, Purves examines Campbell, MacKintosh and Torrance in turn, exploring how each move away from Jesus being merely a satisfaction for God’s wrath but the cross being the way in which God in his love unites us with Himself.  These chapters are sympathetic-critical. Purves acknowledges aspects of their theology that are underdeveloped (such as, for example, Campbell’s pneumatology) but also gives them the benefit of the doubt, following the trajectory of where their theology leads.

Campbell’s emphasis is on how the incarnation in the atonement affects our union with God, “The atonement is not punishment for sin but rather a spiritual and moral access to the Father through Christ’s confession our sin and through union with Christ, having adopted us as ‘sons’ of God” (145).  While Christ’s atonement is vicarious, and in some sense substitutionary (in our stead), this is not conceived as a primarily legal exchange but ‘morally’ or ‘spiritually’ (152-53).  MacKintosh also moves us beyond the legal metaphors as he explores the nature of divine forgiveness. For MacKintosh, “The death of Jesus has significance for reconciliation only when considered in the light, and as expression, of His life” (183). The cross is the culmination of how he lived, Jesus already made our sins his own in his baptism and bore our transgressions throughout his earthly ministry. Jesus death reveals both God’s condemnation of sin and “God’s absolute revelation of love toward sinful people” (183-184).

Torrance’s chapter shows how clearly he stands in the tradition  of Campbell and MacKintosh and reveals that he is more than simply Barth’s acolyte. Torrance explores the interconnection of Christology and atonement, expoloring the kingly, priestly and prophetic nature of Christ’s redemption (208). He grounds Jesus’ priestly ministry in the ontological relationship between Father and Son and Christ’s hypostatic union (216).  In  Christ’s atonement, God is the primarily actor in the atonement, both in the human and Divine dimensions of his person, (220-221). “The divine Logos united himself with our human nature, revealing himself within our humanity, but also within our humanity enabled us to receive his revelation personally in love and faith and understanding” (230).

The last chapter serves as a postscript exploring how each of these theologians were concerned with how their theology worked out practically and pastorally.

My awareness of each these theologians and their work  is minimal. I have read a little Torrance, had MacKintosh’s book unread on my shelf, and had not heard of Campbell before picking this book up. As such, I probably didn’t get as much out of this book as I could have, but appreciate the window that Purves provided into the theologies of these three churchmen. I also appreciate their joint emphasis (and Purves’s) on union with Christ in the atonement and how the cross is more than just a satisfaction of God’s wrath but his means to make both his Love visible and accessible to us. I give this four stars

Note: I received this from IVP Academic in exchange for my honest review.

Growing in Christ = Growing in Church: a book review

The Life of God in the Soul of the Church: The Root and Fruit of Spiritual Fellowship by Thabiti Anyabwile

Henry Scougal, the 17th Century Scottish theologian penned a book called The Life of God in the Soul of Man. That book was instrumental in George Whitefield’s conversion and influential on the Methodist revival in Great Britain and the First Great Awakening in America.  Scougal took union with God seriously and urged his readers to pursue union with God and forsake false notions of religion; nevertheless Scougal’s vision of union with Christ in  an explicitly Christ centered way (J.I. Packer’s critique) and his vision of union with Christ was individualistic.

In The Life of God in the Soul of the Church, Thabiti Anyabwile expands on Scougal’s theme by examining the corporate, public character of union with Christ through the lens of involvement with a local church. Anyabwile is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman (Cayman Islands). He is passionate about communicating both the nature of the church as a spiritual fellowship and what the practical implications of our shared union with Christ and one another.  The book is a collection of sermons Anyabwile preached at First Baptist which explore this theme (expository sermons, mostly from Paul’s letters but two are based in texts from 1 John).

Anyabwile’s sermons are organized into two sections. In Part 1, Anyabwile describes our union with Christ and spiritual fellowship.  Like Scougal he stresses the vital necessity of union with Christ in the Christian life, but he takes great care to make sure that the Christian life is not conceived in privatized, individualistic terms. Rather our growing up in the image of Christ necessarily takes place within the context of the Body of Christ, his church.

In part two, Anyabwile explores what this looks through sermons about how we ‘apply’ our union with one another. Loving one another forms an inclusio of all his material here. He also has sermons on fellowship and the nature of Spiritual gifts,  what it means to partner in the gospel, the ministry of restoration and encouragement, suffering with one another and offering comfort, forgiving one another, singing to one another,  giving and mutual acceptance.

I appreciate Anyabwile’s treatment of his theme and the careful exposition he offers. Anyabwile’s ecclesiology is biblically rooted and these sermons are meaty. There is a lot to chew on here. Anyabwile does not simply describe what your church should be (but probably isn’t), but gives sound, biblical advice to his readers/hearers on what it means to be the church.  It is impossible to grasp the message that Anyabwile is saying here and be a passive observer. In Christ  we have fellowship with God and with one another. In Christ we have been invited into a whole way of life which is  characterized by mutual sharing, love and sacrificial care for the church and for the world.  This book may enlarge your vision about what it means to be ‘in Christ’ and what it means to be in the church.

My biggest criticism of this book is that it should have been edited to reflect the print medium. Sermons are meant to be heard, and at times this book reads like a transcript of a Sunday sermon (I don’t know if these sermons come from Anyabwile’s manuscripts or are transcribed from his delivery).  Occasionally a sermon refers to ‘this morning’ or describes what we do ‘here at First Baptist.’  I found these  rhetoric devices a little distracting. But my critique is more for its style rather than it’s substance.  I can appreciate that these sermons came out of a context, and do like that Anyabwile isn’t just spouting timeless truth but presenting the gospel with in a context.

I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking to deepen their fellowship with other believers and to those who wonder why church matters. This is a short accessible treatment on the theme.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews and Christian Focus Publications for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for this review.