Person of Jesus
The term that means “God with us,” used in the Gospel of Matthew to signal the significance of Jesus’s coming.
What is "Emmanuel"?
The Gospel that begins by calling Jesus “the Word” (Logos) who became flesh.
What is the Gospel of John?
The heretical view that Jesus had a divine nature but only a semblance of human nature (i.e., not truly human)
What is Docetism?
The chapter suggests that in a pluralistic age where many ask “Who cares?” about doctrine, the Incarnation shows that doctrine is not abstract but this.
What is relational?
According to the chapter, when we acknowledge Christ’s true humanity and divinity, this spiritual posture is fostered.
What is worship?
The doctrine that the second person of the Trinity took on human flesh.
What is the Incarnation?
The Old Testament prophet whose “suffering servant” language is often linked to Jesus’s redemptive role.
Who is Isaiah?
The heresy that claimed Jesus had two separate persons (divine and human) rather than one person with two natures
What is Nestorianism?
One modern challenge the chapter addresses is treating Jesus merely as moral example rather than this.
What is Savior / Redeemer?
The chapter says that believers are invited to participate in Christ’s life and thus this happens in our spiritual formation.
What is union with Christ?
According to the chapter, this title emphasizes Jesus as the one anointed by God for deliverance, rooted in Hebrew tradition.
What is Messiah?
In the chapter, the authors refer to this Old Testament expectation of a king from David’s line as fulfilled in Jesus.
What is the Davidic covenant?
The chapter mentions this 4th-century theologian who stressed the fullness of Christ’s humanity and divinity.
Who is Athanasius? (or who is Cyril of Alexandria?)
The authors claim that understanding Christ as the Incarnate Messiah has implications for how the church engages this—both globally and locally.
What is mission?
The Incarnation suggests that in Christ God entered into our suffering—thus believers can trust that God is this.
What is present in suffering?
The two-natures formula (Jesus as fully God and fully human) was affirmed at this early ecumenical council.
What is the Council of Chalcedon?
The chapter highlights that Jesus’s miracles, teachings, death and resurrection show that the kingdom of God is this.
What is “already here but not yet” (or “present yet future”)?
The chapter argues that orthodox theology of Christ matters for these two things: right belief and what lived belief leads to—these are the two “relevances” in each chapter.
What are theological relevance and spiritual relevance?
The chapter links the Incarnation to the value of human life and dignity, thereby engaging issues such as this societal concern.
What is human dignity / human rights?
The authors argue that recognition of Christ’s real humanity impels Christians toward this kind of service.
What is incarnational ministry?
The chapter discusses how the Incarnation is not merely a doctrine but this kind of event that shapes all of creation and history.
What is a cosmic/redemptive/world-shaping event?
The theological point that the chapter draws from the Gospels about Jesus using ordinary human flesh to do extraordinary divine work—this speaks to what doctrine of his humanity.
What is the doctrine of the genuine humanity of Christ?
One significant historical debate concerned whether the divine nature changed in the Incarnation—this debate was settled by affirming this term (meaning “without change”).
What is immutability?
The chapter argues that Christ’s Incarnation affects our understanding of creation, matter, and the physical world—this means theology must resist this dualism.
What is mind-body / spirit-matter dualism?
The chapter closes by saying the Christian life is shaped by hope in the new creation. Because Christ came, we live in light of this—this term describes it.
What is eschatological hope?