Christian Dogmatics, Vol. 2

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Christian Dogmatics by Francis Pieper
Volume 2, Section II: The Doctrine of Christ

Importance and Division of the Doctrine

"The supreme importance of this article rests on the fact that the saving grace of God is not absolute, founded on God's power, but has been gained by Christ.... We are justified by grace, without the deeds of the Law, but that only 'through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 3:24), only because Christ paid the ransom for us, Christ, who is nothing less than the Son of God. Scripture stresses that particularly: 'We are reconciled to God by the death of His Son' (Rom. 5:10). Faith which justifies is not any kind of belief, nor is its object Christ as teacher of the Law, the model of virtue, the prophet 'of the universal fatherhood of God,' etc., but justifying faith accepts Jesus as 'the Son of the Living God' (Matt. 16:16), 'who gave Himself a ransom for all' (1 Tim. 2:6)." (p. 55)

Division of the Doctrine

"The full presentation of the Scriptural doctrine of Christ, over against multiform error, is best served by retaining the old division into three sections. We treat (I) of the theanthropic Person of Christ, (II) of the states of Christ, since Scripture teaches that Christ in His human nature appeared in a twofold state, the morphe doulou and morphoi theou (Phil. 2:6 ff.; Luke 24:26), and (III) of the office of Christ, since it is necessary to show again and again that Christ not only taught the Law and exemplified it in His life, but also became the Redeemer of man by taking upon Himself both man's obligation to keep the Law (Gal. 4:4-5) and man's punishment for his transgression of the Law (Gal. 3:13)." (pp. 55-56)

I. The Doctrine of the Person of Christ

Short Summary of the Doctrine

"All that our Confessions teach concerning the Person of Christ every Christian knows and believes because it is found clearly revealed in the Word of the Prophets and Apostles." (p. 57)

Pages 57-58:

"The eternal Son of God became man through the Virgin Mary."

Gal. 4:4-5; John 1:1-2, 14

The unity of the Person: "one and the same Jesus presents Himself as the Son of Man and the Son of the living God."

Matt. 16:13-17

"...the real communion of natures: ...the fullness of the Godhead dwells not beside, but in the human nature of Christ as in its body."

Col. 2:9

"The Lord of Glory was crucified...this gives to the suffering and death of Christ its value. (First genus of the communication of attributes.)"

1 Cor. 2:8 with Rom. 5:10 and 1 John 1:7

"...to Christ was given, here in time, according to his human nature, omnipotence, omniscence, etc.... And when Christ promises His Church that He will be with her always even to the end of the world (Matt. 28:20), [the Christian] cannot but think of this theanthropic Savior as being present, not without and outside his human nature, but with and within it, i. e., he ascribes to Christ also according to His human nature omnipotence, omniscience, and equally so, omnipresence. (Second genus of the communication of attributes.)"

Matt. 28:18; Matt. 11:27; John 3:34-35

"...when Scripture states that the Son of God appeared in the flesh to destroy through His activity in the assumed flesh and through the assumed flesh the works of the devil and to save mankind...the Christian understands this to mean exactly that Christ performs His official acts as Prophet, Priest, and King not beside, but in and through the assumed human nature, i. e., according to both natures. He believes the una acta theandrikee {'an action of the Christ is only one action of the God-Man' - Scaer}, even though the term may be unfamiliar to him. (Third genus.)

1 John 3:8; Heb. 2:14-15

"...if one grants the personal union of God and man in Christ, he will necessarily have to teach the most intimate communion of the natures and the communication of attributes." (p. 58)

1. The True Deity of Christ

"Scripture lays great stress on the nature of the Person of Christ, and particularly, His deity." (p. 59)

2. The True Humanity of Christ

Peculiarities of Christ's Human Nature

The Human Nature of Christ Came into Existence Through the Operation of the Holy Ghost

The Sinlessness of the Human Nature of Christ

The Impersonality of the Human Nature of Christ

3. The Personal Union

The Personal Union and the Christological Theories of Modern Theology

4. The Communion of Natures

The Reason for the Special Discussion of the Communion of Natures

Critique of the Denial of the Communion of Natures

The Communion of Natures More Completely Described

5. The Communion of Attributes

The Three Genera of the Communication of Attributes

The First Genus of the Communication of Attributes

Critique of the Denial of the First Genus

Abstract Terms in the First Genus

The Second Genus of the Communication of Attributes

Communicated Omnipotence

Communicated Omniscience

Communicated Omnipresence

Communicated Divine Honor

In the Second Genus the Divine Attributes are Not Separated from the Divine Essence

The Abstract Terms of the Genus Maiestaticum

No Reciprocity of the Second Genus

All Divine Attributes are Communicated to the Human Nature

The Third Genus of the Communication of Attributes

The Importance of the Genus Apotelesmaticum

The Genus Apotelesmaticum and the Ancient Church

Lutherans and Reformed Use the Same Term of the Third Genus but in a Different Sense

Eutychianism and Nestorianism Repudiated in the Third Genus

Summary Critique of Reformed Christology

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