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The Humility of God: Christian Meditations
Book by John Macquarrie
84 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
John MacQuarrie
97 books31 followersJohn Macquarrie FBA TD was a Scottish-born theologian and philosopher. Timothy Bradshaw has described Macquarrie as "unquestionably Anglicanism's most distinguished systematic theologian in the second half of the twentieth century."
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 7, 2015
I became enamored of John MacQuarrie's theology, partiularly in his "Principles of Christian Theology, when I was preparing to be received as an Episcopal priest. This little gem of a book, published in 1978, does not disappoint. It's a captivating & succinct reflection on the humble God acting in and through Jesus the Christ. "...God has been man's companion since the beginning. God's part in the story has been a constant self-giving. He gave himself in creation itself, he continued to give himself in covenants and promises [Chapter 1: The Sharing], he stood beside his people and placed himself at their disposal in the incarnation and the passion [Chapters 2-4: The Coming, The Teaching, The Passion], he continues to pour out his Spirit [Chapter 5: The Coming]. We have been thinking in these meditations chiefly of Godin his nearness and companionship, in his waiting upon his creatures and in the humility of his love." A simple, but exceedingly profound message! MacQuarrie has the knack of going to the heart of the ancient mysteries of faith & expressing them in a way that engenders renewed hope in the reader.
December 30, 2022
This is a little but really powerful book!
MacQuarrie in his meditations reflect on how the love and humility of God is at the center of Christian faith and God’s engagement with His human creation - an idea that contradicts the image of God we tend to have (that of power and distance).
MacQuarrie beautifully unravels the mystery of a God that loves His creation to the point of coming in their form to suffer and die for them. A God who shares His Spirit with His creation through the resurrection with the ultimate goal of bringing them fully into His life, light and perfection.
MacQuarrie in his meditations reflect on how the love and humility of God is at the center of Christian faith and God’s engagement with His human creation - an idea that contradicts the image of God we tend to have (that of power and distance).
MacQuarrie beautifully unravels the mystery of a God that loves His creation to the point of coming in their form to suffer and die for them. A God who shares His Spirit with His creation through the resurrection with the ultimate goal of bringing them fully into His life, light and perfection.
August 30, 2026
About nine and half years ago, I came across John Macquarrie for the first time in an anthology of theological writings called 'Theology: The Basic Readings' edited by Alister McGrath. McGrath had it arranged by theme, and Macquarrie was there as a representative of 'existential theology'. I don't remember the exact content of what I read there but I was taken by it.
I locked the name 'John Macquarrie' firmly into my thoughts with a tick beside it, and over the years since have actively sought out and purchased four of his books (secondhand - they're mainly out of print). But this one - 'The Humility of God' - which I purchased for $6 in 2018 - is the first of them to arrive at the top of my reading pile. It's been a long prelude, in other words.
John Macquarrie (1919-2007) was a Scottish-born theologian and philosopher who started out as a Presbyterian minister and studied at Glasgow University, but eventually (in the 1960s) became an Anglican priest during his time as Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York. He went on to be the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, and has been described as "unquestionably Anglicanism's most distinguished systematic theologian in the second half of the 20th century." Has he been forgotten?
'The Humility of God' is a little 96-page book of expository meditations that was published in 1978 exploring the Christian faith. Here are the chapter divisions and subheadings, because they're a tantalising little treat... 1. 'The Sharing': Creation, Original Sin and Original Righteousness, Hope, Calling; 2. 'The Coming': Revolution, Incarnation, Jesus Christ: True Man, Jesus Christ: True God; 3. 'The Teaching': Providence, Prayer, Liberation, Reconciliation; 4. 'The Passion': The Passion in Prospect, The Passion and the Spirit, The Passion and the Son, The Passion and the Father; 5. 'The Overcoming': Resurrection, Ascension, The Life of the Spirit, Consummation.
It's great stuff, majoring, as the title suggests on God as self-emptying and engaged with humanity - of God "speaking through the human reality".
The style and approach invites consideration and there were a few instances where it felt necessary to critique his line of thought. I'll record some here, because I took the trouble to write about them as I was reading, and it would feel like a waste of energy otherwise (haha)...
When he criticises an unnamed feminist writer of Catholic background for her position that the Virgin Mary has been used to impose the ideals of domesticity and submissiveness, or criticises an unnamed South American liberation theologian for setting up a dichotomy of good guys (the oppressed) and bad guys (the oppressors), he's doing it from the comfort of his position as a white middle class male sitting in his chair in Oxford. He's not properly taking into account the lived realities of the thinkers he's criticising. So his existentialism isn't extending far enough in these instances. Despite all that though, his writing continues to be highly nuanced. He also says that "Perhaps Christians ought to feel anger oftener than they do, in the face of tyranny, injustice, hypocrisy and many other evils" (p51). He just doesn't seem to want to accede that this is the position of the feminist writer and liberation theologian.
That possible misstep aside, the ultimate point of his argument in the context is very important: the struggle shouldn't ultimately leave a state of division, but reconciliation. Not glib, surface or sentimental reconciliation, but reconciliation achieved through real and sometimes painful work. This, he asserts, is the Christian position.
In discussing how aware Jesus was of his destiny in real time as he went about his ministry (ie how aware he was that he would die in Jerusalem as part of his role as Messiah acting for the redemption of humanity), by emphasising Christ's humanity, I think Macquarrie overlooks the trait found in some humans of second-sight - the ability of the prophet or seer. It seems to me that Jesus, even if taken as a mere human, could have had a lot more awareness than Macquarrie allows.
He also seems to soft-peddle the particular physicality, the embodiedness, of the resurrection and ascension. He paints straightforward readings of the resurrection as the 'resuscitation of a corpse' and of Jesus shooting up to heaven above the clouds as naive (though he doesn't labour the point). He's clearly seeking to cater for the modern mind, and both those simple readings are not nuanced enough or adequate anyway. But he seems to want to err too heavily (for my liking) on the side of reading these events as metaphor or mythos. That said, he definitely retains the key and vital importance of the events, and in many ways paints an expansive vision for them.
He leaves space for variance of belief on the specifics of form, while operating within the scope of Christian credal fields. Remember, this book is expressed as a series of meditations - they are exploratory.
I felt the need to convey these 'disagreements' but in giving them the space I have, I haven't adequately conveyed how much I like this book. I've given too much airtime to my misgivings. The book is great, and I enjoyed it a lot, with lots of yes moments and marks in the margin. Like this passage on spirit (male gendered pronouns acknowledged):
"What then is this distinctive kind of behaviour that we call spirit? Could we say that it is man's capacity to go out of himself and beyond himself and above himself? ... He goes out from himself in a great many ways, extending himself beyond himself. This happens in his pursuit of knowledge, in his acceptance of responsibility, in his quest of the good, in his creation of beauty in the work of art, in the outreach of love, in the building of community, in the communion of the soul with God, and in whatever else belongs to the richness of the life of the spirit.
"And here we strike on a fundamental paradox of human life. The more a human being goes out from himself or beyond himself, the more his spirit is deepened and strengthened, the more he becomes truly a man and a person, the more he grows in likeness to God who is also spirit. On the other hand, the more a human being turns inwards and encloses himself in self-interest, the more he lets himself, in Luther's language, become incurved upon himself, then the less spiritual and the less human he becomes." (p81)
By coincidence I recently read another presentation of the Christian message (or, you might say, the gospel): 'Mere Christianity' by C.S. Lewis. They both have things about them. But of the two, give me Macquarrie's. It's lovely stuff, and I'll treasure my copy. (I'm not the only one if the other reviews on Goodreads are anything to go by.)
I think my hunch about Macquarrie was right, those nine and a half years ago. And I've now ordered another two of his books (second hand, about seven and eight bucks a piece!) to add to my collection.
Once again, here's to the explorations and discoveries.
I locked the name 'John Macquarrie' firmly into my thoughts with a tick beside it, and over the years since have actively sought out and purchased four of his books (secondhand - they're mainly out of print). But this one - 'The Humility of God' - which I purchased for $6 in 2018 - is the first of them to arrive at the top of my reading pile. It's been a long prelude, in other words.
John Macquarrie (1919-2007) was a Scottish-born theologian and philosopher who started out as a Presbyterian minister and studied at Glasgow University, but eventually (in the 1960s) became an Anglican priest during his time as Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York. He went on to be the Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity in the University of Oxford, and has been described as "unquestionably Anglicanism's most distinguished systematic theologian in the second half of the 20th century." Has he been forgotten?
'The Humility of God' is a little 96-page book of expository meditations that was published in 1978 exploring the Christian faith. Here are the chapter divisions and subheadings, because they're a tantalising little treat... 1. 'The Sharing': Creation, Original Sin and Original Righteousness, Hope, Calling; 2. 'The Coming': Revolution, Incarnation, Jesus Christ: True Man, Jesus Christ: True God; 3. 'The Teaching': Providence, Prayer, Liberation, Reconciliation; 4. 'The Passion': The Passion in Prospect, The Passion and the Spirit, The Passion and the Son, The Passion and the Father; 5. 'The Overcoming': Resurrection, Ascension, The Life of the Spirit, Consummation.
It's great stuff, majoring, as the title suggests on God as self-emptying and engaged with humanity - of God "speaking through the human reality".
The style and approach invites consideration and there were a few instances where it felt necessary to critique his line of thought. I'll record some here, because I took the trouble to write about them as I was reading, and it would feel like a waste of energy otherwise (haha)...
When he criticises an unnamed feminist writer of Catholic background for her position that the Virgin Mary has been used to impose the ideals of domesticity and submissiveness, or criticises an unnamed South American liberation theologian for setting up a dichotomy of good guys (the oppressed) and bad guys (the oppressors), he's doing it from the comfort of his position as a white middle class male sitting in his chair in Oxford. He's not properly taking into account the lived realities of the thinkers he's criticising. So his existentialism isn't extending far enough in these instances. Despite all that though, his writing continues to be highly nuanced. He also says that "Perhaps Christians ought to feel anger oftener than they do, in the face of tyranny, injustice, hypocrisy and many other evils" (p51). He just doesn't seem to want to accede that this is the position of the feminist writer and liberation theologian.
That possible misstep aside, the ultimate point of his argument in the context is very important: the struggle shouldn't ultimately leave a state of division, but reconciliation. Not glib, surface or sentimental reconciliation, but reconciliation achieved through real and sometimes painful work. This, he asserts, is the Christian position.
In discussing how aware Jesus was of his destiny in real time as he went about his ministry (ie how aware he was that he would die in Jerusalem as part of his role as Messiah acting for the redemption of humanity), by emphasising Christ's humanity, I think Macquarrie overlooks the trait found in some humans of second-sight - the ability of the prophet or seer. It seems to me that Jesus, even if taken as a mere human, could have had a lot more awareness than Macquarrie allows.
He also seems to soft-peddle the particular physicality, the embodiedness, of the resurrection and ascension. He paints straightforward readings of the resurrection as the 'resuscitation of a corpse' and of Jesus shooting up to heaven above the clouds as naive (though he doesn't labour the point). He's clearly seeking to cater for the modern mind, and both those simple readings are not nuanced enough or adequate anyway. But he seems to want to err too heavily (for my liking) on the side of reading these events as metaphor or mythos. That said, he definitely retains the key and vital importance of the events, and in many ways paints an expansive vision for them.
He leaves space for variance of belief on the specifics of form, while operating within the scope of Christian credal fields. Remember, this book is expressed as a series of meditations - they are exploratory.
I felt the need to convey these 'disagreements' but in giving them the space I have, I haven't adequately conveyed how much I like this book. I've given too much airtime to my misgivings. The book is great, and I enjoyed it a lot, with lots of yes moments and marks in the margin. Like this passage on spirit (male gendered pronouns acknowledged):
"What then is this distinctive kind of behaviour that we call spirit? Could we say that it is man's capacity to go out of himself and beyond himself and above himself? ... He goes out from himself in a great many ways, extending himself beyond himself. This happens in his pursuit of knowledge, in his acceptance of responsibility, in his quest of the good, in his creation of beauty in the work of art, in the outreach of love, in the building of community, in the communion of the soul with God, and in whatever else belongs to the richness of the life of the spirit.
"And here we strike on a fundamental paradox of human life. The more a human being goes out from himself or beyond himself, the more his spirit is deepened and strengthened, the more he becomes truly a man and a person, the more he grows in likeness to God who is also spirit. On the other hand, the more a human being turns inwards and encloses himself in self-interest, the more he lets himself, in Luther's language, become incurved upon himself, then the less spiritual and the less human he becomes." (p81)
By coincidence I recently read another presentation of the Christian message (or, you might say, the gospel): 'Mere Christianity' by C.S. Lewis. They both have things about them. But of the two, give me Macquarrie's. It's lovely stuff, and I'll treasure my copy. (I'm not the only one if the other reviews on Goodreads are anything to go by.)
I think my hunch about Macquarrie was right, those nine and a half years ago. And I've now ordered another two of his books (second hand, about seven and eight bucks a piece!) to add to my collection.
Once again, here's to the explorations and discoveries.
March 22, 2024
I've made a point of trying to read 'beautiful' literature this year and this work my John Macquarrie undoubtedly fits that character.
With incredible insight -- blending orthodoxy with modern concerns -- Macquarrie presents a work that is speaks profoundly into the human condition today.
Somehow, in the throes of history, various parts of the church left Jesus Christ behind. Pulpits were lecterns that espoused pop-psychology and ethics, pastoral offices became low budget counselling services, and theological education was replaced with MBAs and leadership colleges. Macquarrie provides the great antidote (which is always the antidote, mind you) by returning our focus to the person of Jesus Christ and the eternal implications of his life, death, and resurrection.
“We cannot think of God apart from Jesus Christ, and we cannot think of Jesus Christ apart from his passion and death.” (J Macquarrie, The Humility of God. 61) -- what a quote for our day.
Beautiful. poetic. orthodox. meaningful.
Will read again.
With incredible insight -- blending orthodoxy with modern concerns -- Macquarrie presents a work that is speaks profoundly into the human condition today.
Somehow, in the throes of history, various parts of the church left Jesus Christ behind. Pulpits were lecterns that espoused pop-psychology and ethics, pastoral offices became low budget counselling services, and theological education was replaced with MBAs and leadership colleges. Macquarrie provides the great antidote (which is always the antidote, mind you) by returning our focus to the person of Jesus Christ and the eternal implications of his life, death, and resurrection.
“We cannot think of God apart from Jesus Christ, and we cannot think of Jesus Christ apart from his passion and death.” (J Macquarrie, The Humility of God. 61) -- what a quote for our day.
Beautiful. poetic. orthodox. meaningful.
Will read again.
April 22, 2024
I discovered the book in the Glenstal Book of Readings for the Seasons, and thanks to the previous reviews on this website, immediately ordered it. I have no regrets! From page one I felt as though John Macquarrie was writing for our troubled times, yet the book was published in 1978!
There is no need to be a religious scolar to seize the message of this slim volume as the author presents the humility and love of God, his devotion to his creation and the grace offered through the life and message of Jesus Christ in clear and comprehensible terms.
I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone on a spiritual and questioning path.
There is no need to be a religious scolar to seize the message of this slim volume as the author presents the humility and love of God, his devotion to his creation and the grace offered through the life and message of Jesus Christ in clear and comprehensible terms.
I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone on a spiritual and questioning path.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews