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The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ
Liberal attacks on the doctrine of the divinity of Christ have led evangelicals to rightly affirm the centrality of Jesus’s divine nature for his person and work. At times, however, this defense of orthodoxy has led some to neglect Christ’s full humanity. To counteract this oversight, theologian Bruce Ware takes readers back to the biblical text, where we meet a profoundly human Jesus who struggled with many of the same difficulties and limitations we face today. Like us, he grew in faith and wisdom, tested by every temptation common to man. And like us, he too received power for godliness through the Holy Spirit, and thus serves not only as the divine Lord to be worshiped, but also the supreme Human to be followed.
162 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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582 people want to read
About the author
Bruce A. Ware
34 books52 followersBruce A. Ware (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is professor of Christian theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has written numerous journal articles, book chapters, book reviews, and has authored God's Lesser Glory, God's Greater Glory, and Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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December 31, 2012
When reviewing books I almost never read others reviews before writing my own so that I’m not influenced by what has already been written. However, I read Nathaniel Claiborne’s review of The Man Jesus Christ and I’m glad I did. He points out, in his opinion, one critical flaw with Ware’s book. I will examine the book and Nathaniel’s point and make my own recommendation.
Summary
Ware says, “Could it be that even though Jesus was fully God, he lived his life fundamentally as a man?” (p. 12). He argues throughout the book that a proper understanding of the humanity of Jesus is sorely neglected in the church today (p. 32). We are familiar with the points of his deity, he says, but many of us are not familiar with the importance of his humanity. Fundamentally the book is framed by Philippians 2:5-8 (Paul’s address on Jesus’s kenosis or self-emptying). Ware explains,
In brief, what this must mean is this: Christ Jesus, existing and remaining fully who he is as God, accepts his divine calling to come to earth and carry out the mission assigned him from the Father. As the eternal Son of God, who is himself the form (morphē, i.e., very nature) of God, he must come in the form (morphēn, i.e., very nature) of a servant. That is, he must come fully as a man, and as a man he must live his life and give his life as one of us. In so doing, Christ pours himself out (all of who he is) as he takes on, in addition to his full divine nature, a full human nature. Again, it is crucial to see that in the self-emptying (ekenōsen) of the eternal Son, Paul does not say that he poured something “out of” himself. No, absolutely not! Rather, he poured out himself. All of who he is as the eternal Son of the Father, as the one who is the form (morphē) of the Father, is poured out fully. Here, then, is no subtraction, strictly speaking. It is a “subtraction” (i.e., a pouring out, an emptying) by adding human nature to his divine nature. He came, then, to become the God-man—the one whose very divine nature took on fully the existence of a created human nature. He poured himself out by adding to himself the nature of a man, indeed, the nature of a servant par excellence who would give his life in obedience on the cross to fulfill the will of his Father. (p. 20)
There’s a lot that can be said in the summary but I wanted to plant on chapter one because it’s so important for understanding the rest of the book. I believe it was Phil Johnson, founder of the Team Pyro blog and sidekick to John MacArthur, that said the miracle of Christ’s two natures was a miracle of addition not subtraction and Ware echoes this point above. So if I understand Ware correctly what he’s saying is that while Christ’s divinity is never separated from his humanity, Jesus himself chooses not to expresses the fully glory of his divinity (i.e., omnipresence [always just in one place in the Gospels testimonies], omniscience [Mark 13:32, Luke 2:52 see p. 49], etc). Ware explains this balance in terms of Christ’s nature expressed and possessed. So both natures are possessed but both are not fully expressed at any given point (pp. 21-24).
What I Loved
First, Ware is humble in this pursuit,
I know only too well my own inadequacies in conveying the depth and breadth and height and length of his greatness, but my hope is that the pages of this book will point, at least, to some of the ways and reasons he should be praised and thanked and honored and obeyed (p. 14)
This kind of attitude drips from every page of The Man Christ Jesus.
Second, Ware conveys these doctrinal truths doxological. He ends each chapter with application which often starts with praise for the truths that he unpacked in the chapter. Ware also stops to praise God through the book. It reminded me of Paul at the end of Romans 11.
Third, Ware makes the truth of Christ’s humanity extremely practical. For instance, Ware spends considerable time discussing how Jesus lived his life. Ware argues,
Now, one must ask this question: Why did Jesus need the Spirit of God to indwell and empower his life? After all, he was fully God, and being fully God, certainly nothing could be added to him, for as God, he possessed already, infinitely and eternally, every quality or perfection that there is. Yet, Jesus was indwelt with the Spirit and ministered in the power of the Spirit. So, we ask: What could the Spirit of God contribute to the deity of Christ? And the answer we must give is: Nothing! As God he possesses every quality infinitely, and nothing can be added to him. So then we ask instead this question: What could the Spirit of God contribute to the humanity of Christ? The answer is: Everything of supernatural power and enablement that he, in his human nature, would lack. The only way to make sense, then, of the fact that Jesus came in the power of the Spirit is to understand that he lived his life fundamentally as a man, and as such, he relied on the Spirit to provide the power, grace, knowledge, wisdom, direction, and enablement he needed, moment by moment and day by day, to fulfill the mission the Father sent him to accomplish. (p. 34)
This point must not be missed. It might be easy to explain away Jesus’s obedience in life but he lived in a way which mirrors how we must live. He shows us just how much power is ours through the Spirit, the same Spirit which raised us from death to life.
His identity, then, as the Spirit-anointed Messiah is fundamentally that of a man empowered by the Spirit to carry out what he was called upon to do. (p. 43)
In close connection with this, Ware points out that the growth that the Gospels talk about in connection with Jesus came about because the Spirit “illuminated the Word of God to Jesus’s mind and cultivated that Word in his heart as Jesus read, studied, heard, and was taught” (p. 52). You also see this in the temptation of Jesus where instead of speaking a divine word, Jesus uses Scripture. His mind was soaked in Scripture for our benefit.
The Point
I mentioned at the beginning that I had read Nathaniel Claiborne’s review at Marturo. He says that there’s a “Nestorian flavor” to Ware’s emphasis on Jesus’s humanity. After reading his review, I echoed Nathaniel’s rustiness in “Chalcedonian Christology” (here’s a brief review of Nestorian theology and here) I read a few summaries from books and theological dictionaries to freshen my mind and then dove into Ware’s book to see if I could pick out the same issue. I will readily admit that I may be wrong. I didn’t find the same problem as Nathaniel. Nestorianism is, as I understand it, teaches that Christ’s divine nature were “loosely connected” or completely separate in its worst form. Alan Cairns in his Dictionary of Theological Terms says Nestorius taught Mary “gave birth to a man who was accompanied by the Logos” (p. 301). I read the entire book in light of Ware’s robust explanation of Philippians 2. There is no loose connection or separation. Ware’s structure is possessed (unity) and expressed (day to day living).
Nathaniel uses these examples to show the “Nestorian flavor,”
[W]hile Christ was (and is) fully God and fully man, how do we best account for the way in which he lived his life and fulfilled his calling – by seeing him carrying this out as God, or as man, or as God-man? (32)
and
I would argue that the most responsible answer biblically and theologically is the last, as the God-man but that the emphasis must be placed on the humanity of Christ as the primary reality he expressed in his day-by-day life, ministry, and work.
and
Jesus’s obedience was not automatic, as though his divine nature simply eliminated any real struggle to believe or effort to obey. No, in his human nature, Jesus fought for faith and struggled to obey; otherwise the reality that Hebrews 5:7 describes is turned into theatrics and rendered disingenuous. (65)
and
Some activities are tied, strictly speaking, only to one or the other of his two natures, and it is important that we discern this in order not to misunderstand either Christ’s deity or his humanity. (124)
I’m not sure in any of these passages and in light of what Ware has previously said that he is separating the divine natures. Rather he’s emphasizing the humanity--the point of the book. Nathaniel does rightly point out that “the emphasis does not have to be on his humanity because that sets up the potential for inadvertently dissolving the unity of the person” (here). In the end Ware does emphasis the humanity of Christ but he doesn’t “dissolve the unity” or separate the two. Do any of my readers read a lot of historical theology from this time period and are you able to provide more light? What say you?
The End
In the end, I recommend The Man Christ Jesus. Read carefully (as always) and take special note of the first couple chapters in the book. They set the stage for the points which came later.
Summary
Ware says, “Could it be that even though Jesus was fully God, he lived his life fundamentally as a man?” (p. 12). He argues throughout the book that a proper understanding of the humanity of Jesus is sorely neglected in the church today (p. 32). We are familiar with the points of his deity, he says, but many of us are not familiar with the importance of his humanity. Fundamentally the book is framed by Philippians 2:5-8 (Paul’s address on Jesus’s kenosis or self-emptying). Ware explains,
In brief, what this must mean is this: Christ Jesus, existing and remaining fully who he is as God, accepts his divine calling to come to earth and carry out the mission assigned him from the Father. As the eternal Son of God, who is himself the form (morphē, i.e., very nature) of God, he must come in the form (morphēn, i.e., very nature) of a servant. That is, he must come fully as a man, and as a man he must live his life and give his life as one of us. In so doing, Christ pours himself out (all of who he is) as he takes on, in addition to his full divine nature, a full human nature. Again, it is crucial to see that in the self-emptying (ekenōsen) of the eternal Son, Paul does not say that he poured something “out of” himself. No, absolutely not! Rather, he poured out himself. All of who he is as the eternal Son of the Father, as the one who is the form (morphē) of the Father, is poured out fully. Here, then, is no subtraction, strictly speaking. It is a “subtraction” (i.e., a pouring out, an emptying) by adding human nature to his divine nature. He came, then, to become the God-man—the one whose very divine nature took on fully the existence of a created human nature. He poured himself out by adding to himself the nature of a man, indeed, the nature of a servant par excellence who would give his life in obedience on the cross to fulfill the will of his Father. (p. 20)
There’s a lot that can be said in the summary but I wanted to plant on chapter one because it’s so important for understanding the rest of the book. I believe it was Phil Johnson, founder of the Team Pyro blog and sidekick to John MacArthur, that said the miracle of Christ’s two natures was a miracle of addition not subtraction and Ware echoes this point above. So if I understand Ware correctly what he’s saying is that while Christ’s divinity is never separated from his humanity, Jesus himself chooses not to expresses the fully glory of his divinity (i.e., omnipresence [always just in one place in the Gospels testimonies], omniscience [Mark 13:32, Luke 2:52 see p. 49], etc). Ware explains this balance in terms of Christ’s nature expressed and possessed. So both natures are possessed but both are not fully expressed at any given point (pp. 21-24).
What I Loved
First, Ware is humble in this pursuit,
I know only too well my own inadequacies in conveying the depth and breadth and height and length of his greatness, but my hope is that the pages of this book will point, at least, to some of the ways and reasons he should be praised and thanked and honored and obeyed (p. 14)
This kind of attitude drips from every page of The Man Christ Jesus.
Second, Ware conveys these doctrinal truths doxological. He ends each chapter with application which often starts with praise for the truths that he unpacked in the chapter. Ware also stops to praise God through the book. It reminded me of Paul at the end of Romans 11.
Third, Ware makes the truth of Christ’s humanity extremely practical. For instance, Ware spends considerable time discussing how Jesus lived his life. Ware argues,
Now, one must ask this question: Why did Jesus need the Spirit of God to indwell and empower his life? After all, he was fully God, and being fully God, certainly nothing could be added to him, for as God, he possessed already, infinitely and eternally, every quality or perfection that there is. Yet, Jesus was indwelt with the Spirit and ministered in the power of the Spirit. So, we ask: What could the Spirit of God contribute to the deity of Christ? And the answer we must give is: Nothing! As God he possesses every quality infinitely, and nothing can be added to him. So then we ask instead this question: What could the Spirit of God contribute to the humanity of Christ? The answer is: Everything of supernatural power and enablement that he, in his human nature, would lack. The only way to make sense, then, of the fact that Jesus came in the power of the Spirit is to understand that he lived his life fundamentally as a man, and as such, he relied on the Spirit to provide the power, grace, knowledge, wisdom, direction, and enablement he needed, moment by moment and day by day, to fulfill the mission the Father sent him to accomplish. (p. 34)
This point must not be missed. It might be easy to explain away Jesus’s obedience in life but he lived in a way which mirrors how we must live. He shows us just how much power is ours through the Spirit, the same Spirit which raised us from death to life.
His identity, then, as the Spirit-anointed Messiah is fundamentally that of a man empowered by the Spirit to carry out what he was called upon to do. (p. 43)
In close connection with this, Ware points out that the growth that the Gospels talk about in connection with Jesus came about because the Spirit “illuminated the Word of God to Jesus’s mind and cultivated that Word in his heart as Jesus read, studied, heard, and was taught” (p. 52). You also see this in the temptation of Jesus where instead of speaking a divine word, Jesus uses Scripture. His mind was soaked in Scripture for our benefit.
The Point
I mentioned at the beginning that I had read Nathaniel Claiborne’s review at Marturo. He says that there’s a “Nestorian flavor” to Ware’s emphasis on Jesus’s humanity. After reading his review, I echoed Nathaniel’s rustiness in “Chalcedonian Christology” (here’s a brief review of Nestorian theology and here) I read a few summaries from books and theological dictionaries to freshen my mind and then dove into Ware’s book to see if I could pick out the same issue. I will readily admit that I may be wrong. I didn’t find the same problem as Nathaniel. Nestorianism is, as I understand it, teaches that Christ’s divine nature were “loosely connected” or completely separate in its worst form. Alan Cairns in his Dictionary of Theological Terms says Nestorius taught Mary “gave birth to a man who was accompanied by the Logos” (p. 301). I read the entire book in light of Ware’s robust explanation of Philippians 2. There is no loose connection or separation. Ware’s structure is possessed (unity) and expressed (day to day living).
Nathaniel uses these examples to show the “Nestorian flavor,”
[W]hile Christ was (and is) fully God and fully man, how do we best account for the way in which he lived his life and fulfilled his calling – by seeing him carrying this out as God, or as man, or as God-man? (32)
and
I would argue that the most responsible answer biblically and theologically is the last, as the God-man but that the emphasis must be placed on the humanity of Christ as the primary reality he expressed in his day-by-day life, ministry, and work.
and
Jesus’s obedience was not automatic, as though his divine nature simply eliminated any real struggle to believe or effort to obey. No, in his human nature, Jesus fought for faith and struggled to obey; otherwise the reality that Hebrews 5:7 describes is turned into theatrics and rendered disingenuous. (65)
and
Some activities are tied, strictly speaking, only to one or the other of his two natures, and it is important that we discern this in order not to misunderstand either Christ’s deity or his humanity. (124)
I’m not sure in any of these passages and in light of what Ware has previously said that he is separating the divine natures. Rather he’s emphasizing the humanity--the point of the book. Nathaniel does rightly point out that “the emphasis does not have to be on his humanity because that sets up the potential for inadvertently dissolving the unity of the person” (here). In the end Ware does emphasis the humanity of Christ but he doesn’t “dissolve the unity” or separate the two. Do any of my readers read a lot of historical theology from this time period and are you able to provide more light? What say you?
The End
In the end, I recommend The Man Christ Jesus. Read carefully (as always) and take special note of the first couple chapters in the book. They set the stage for the points which came later.
Read
July 27, 2013Appreciated Bruce Ware's work which got me thinking about the humanity of Jesus Christ more deeply than before. I have always been more amazed at the deity of Jesus Christ more than His humanity until about a year ago when I started realized how much the book of Hebrews has to say about the implication of Jesus' humanity. The book is an excellent treatment of the topic. I'm convinced by Ware's argument in chapter two that much of Jesus' life and ministry was Christ's humanity empowered by the Holy Spirit rather than Jesus invoking or utilizing His Divinity. Of course there are exception such as Jesus' ability to forgive sin, which only God can do. It was moving to read this book and see the humility of Jesus, who though in being very nature God became incarnate as a man and had to increase in wisdom and even grow in his faith just like everybody else. Chapter four powerfully demonstrated that Jesus also needed to grow in His humanity spiritually to be ready to face the cross for our sins. The chapter on Jesus' temptation was worth buying the book alone: entering into the classic debate about Jesus impeccability, Ware argues that there is a distinction between Jesus "could not sin" versus Jesus "did not sin." He gives a wonderful illustration of a swimmer who could not drown because his friends were in a boat behind him while the reason why he did not drown was really because he did the work of swimming! The book also had a chapter focusing on why Jesus had to be a man, that is a response to some egalitarians and Evangelical feminists who see Jesus' masculinity is accidental to Him being the Messiah. Overall, an excellent book to read. I appreciated how each chapter ended with an application section and questions for discussion. I was worshiping God as I read the book!
February 10, 2017
Loved this book. Ware says everything I've never been able to articulate.
July 28, 2015
This excellent little book covers an often neglected topic that has significant implications for our understanding of Jesus & what it means to follow him. What does it mean for God to take on human nature? What was the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus? What did it mean for Jesus to grow from infant to boy to adult? Etc. etc.
This book makes difficult theological concepts clear. It also finishes each chapter with application points and discussion questions.
I highly recommend it.
This book makes difficult theological concepts clear. It also finishes each chapter with application points and discussion questions.
I highly recommend it.
December 10, 2017
Ware sets out to write a practical, accessible, and devotional reflection on the importance of the truth of Christ's humanity to ordinary Christians. It is certainly readable and generally clear. He ends each chapter with application thoughts, which essentially flesh out why the emphasis of a particular chapter matters. And he firmly maintains Christ's fully divinity alongside his full humanity. All these are commendable things about the book.
That said, I don't think I would recommend it, even for it's intended audience. The two biggest reasons are as follows:
A- The 'hook' he uses to introduce the importance of Christ's humanity is the question, 'how can it be right for the biblical authors to command us to live holy lives like Jesus (eg 1 Pet. 2:21), when he has the advantage of being God?' I would argue that this is a flawed question because 1) Whether or not Jesus had an advantage because of his divinity, it is still right that we are held to God's standard of holiness. What we ought to do is not constrained by what we can do, but by what is right to do. 2) Even if Jesus did not live his life accessing his divine nature, but simply as a Spirit-empowered man, he still had the unfair advantage of having no indwelling sin. So the initial question isn't even really resolved by the presented solution. This kind of question seems like a really unhelpful way to think about our duty to follow Christ's example.
B- In trying to explain how it can be that Jesus is fully God and fully man, but only living as a Spirit-empowered man, Ware's descriptions make Jesus sound very divided. He provides hungering as an exercise of Jesus' human nature, and his forgiveness of sins as an exercise of his divine nature. But how can a nature forgive sin? Isn't it rather that his divine nature (identity) is what gives Jesus the person the authority to forgive sin? Don't persons forgive, not natures? In these kinds of explanations, Jesus sounds less like one person, and more like two (something Ware does not intend to communicate). Again, this kind of thinking is a really unhelpful way to think about Christ's person, as it not only distinguishes but divides Christ's two natures from one another. One side affect of that is that even the unity of the Trinity is also strained (if Jesus lived as a Spirit empowered man, not in his divine nature as the Son, what does that say about how the Spirit and the Son work in the lives of Christians now? Do we only live in dependence on the Spirit, and not the Son? In eternity past, do the Father, Son and Spirit carry out activities independently?).
Practically, this matters because; A- It is important to believe rightly about Jesus and who he is. The mystery of the incarnation should drive us to marvel and worship, as Ware wants--but we must worship rightly.
B- Jesus' perfect life is a model to us because he lived as we ought to live, in perfect obedience to the Father. But his perfection is not an unfair advantage, but an encouragement to us as we work to obey. Someone who has done it is working in us, through his indwelling Spirit! Praise the Lord for his 'unfair advantage', which is now ours, through his death and resurrection.
The humanity of Christ is an important doctrine, and I'm thankful for Ware's effort to make the doctrine more accessible. But for these concerns, I can't commend this book as a useful tool on its own for considering that doctrine.
That said, I don't think I would recommend it, even for it's intended audience. The two biggest reasons are as follows:
A- The 'hook' he uses to introduce the importance of Christ's humanity is the question, 'how can it be right for the biblical authors to command us to live holy lives like Jesus (eg 1 Pet. 2:21), when he has the advantage of being God?' I would argue that this is a flawed question because 1) Whether or not Jesus had an advantage because of his divinity, it is still right that we are held to God's standard of holiness. What we ought to do is not constrained by what we can do, but by what is right to do. 2) Even if Jesus did not live his life accessing his divine nature, but simply as a Spirit-empowered man, he still had the unfair advantage of having no indwelling sin. So the initial question isn't even really resolved by the presented solution. This kind of question seems like a really unhelpful way to think about our duty to follow Christ's example.
B- In trying to explain how it can be that Jesus is fully God and fully man, but only living as a Spirit-empowered man, Ware's descriptions make Jesus sound very divided. He provides hungering as an exercise of Jesus' human nature, and his forgiveness of sins as an exercise of his divine nature. But how can a nature forgive sin? Isn't it rather that his divine nature (identity) is what gives Jesus the person the authority to forgive sin? Don't persons forgive, not natures? In these kinds of explanations, Jesus sounds less like one person, and more like two (something Ware does not intend to communicate). Again, this kind of thinking is a really unhelpful way to think about Christ's person, as it not only distinguishes but divides Christ's two natures from one another. One side affect of that is that even the unity of the Trinity is also strained (if Jesus lived as a Spirit empowered man, not in his divine nature as the Son, what does that say about how the Spirit and the Son work in the lives of Christians now? Do we only live in dependence on the Spirit, and not the Son? In eternity past, do the Father, Son and Spirit carry out activities independently?).
Practically, this matters because; A- It is important to believe rightly about Jesus and who he is. The mystery of the incarnation should drive us to marvel and worship, as Ware wants--but we must worship rightly.
B- Jesus' perfect life is a model to us because he lived as we ought to live, in perfect obedience to the Father. But his perfection is not an unfair advantage, but an encouragement to us as we work to obey. Someone who has done it is working in us, through his indwelling Spirit! Praise the Lord for his 'unfair advantage', which is now ours, through his death and resurrection.
The humanity of Christ is an important doctrine, and I'm thankful for Ware's effort to make the doctrine more accessible. But for these concerns, I can't commend this book as a useful tool on its own for considering that doctrine.
October 8, 2017
Because the writer of this book has accepted the dualistic premises of Greek Platonism as givens this book is one long list of irreconcilable contradictions.
Ware is onto something about every meaningful accomplishment of Jesus being 100% predicated on his being a human person, a man. But the “orthodox” traditions that he accepts compel him to make countless parenthetical statements about the “divine second person” or Jesus’s “divine nature,” a concept that really has no foundation in the Bible.
His views on the three instances of imputation in the Bible seem also to be problematic because of Adam’s handing over dominion in the Garden, certain explanations of righteousness as explained in Justification by Wright, and Jesus not having personally committed any sins which was the reason death could not hold him—even though he bore the sins of the world (others).
For those in search of Christological information that is historically informed, theologically sound, and philosophically agreeable to Biblical categories, I suggest readers of this book see “What Is The Trinity” by Dale Tuggy, or “The God of Jesus In Light of Christian Dogma” by Kegan Chandler.
In short, my experience of this book was like sitting down to a meal of fish and finding nothing but bones and a few specs of sinew—those being the Bible verses Ware quotes for his eisegetical arguments.
Ware is onto something about every meaningful accomplishment of Jesus being 100% predicated on his being a human person, a man. But the “orthodox” traditions that he accepts compel him to make countless parenthetical statements about the “divine second person” or Jesus’s “divine nature,” a concept that really has no foundation in the Bible.
His views on the three instances of imputation in the Bible seem also to be problematic because of Adam’s handing over dominion in the Garden, certain explanations of righteousness as explained in Justification by Wright, and Jesus not having personally committed any sins which was the reason death could not hold him—even though he bore the sins of the world (others).
For those in search of Christological information that is historically informed, theologically sound, and philosophically agreeable to Biblical categories, I suggest readers of this book see “What Is The Trinity” by Dale Tuggy, or “The God of Jesus In Light of Christian Dogma” by Kegan Chandler.
In short, my experience of this book was like sitting down to a meal of fish and finding nothing but bones and a few specs of sinew—those being the Bible verses Ware quotes for his eisegetical arguments.
March 12, 2023
This book was so helpful in answering, as Dr. Ware put it, “Given that the divine nature in Jesus was eternal and infinite while the human nature in Jesus was created and finite, one of the questions we ponder is just how these two natures could coexist in the one person.
Could Jesus as both fully divine and fully human be, for example, simultancously omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent- qualities of his eternal, divine nature-while also possessing a limited and finite human power, a limited yet growing knowledge and wisdom, and a restricted ability to be only in one place at one time- quali ties of finite, human nature?”
Easy to read, accessible for understanding and so helpful in thinking through who Jesus is!
Could Jesus as both fully divine and fully human be, for example, simultancously omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent- qualities of his eternal, divine nature-while also possessing a limited and finite human power, a limited yet growing knowledge and wisdom, and a restricted ability to be only in one place at one time- quali ties of finite, human nature?”
Easy to read, accessible for understanding and so helpful in thinking through who Jesus is!
August 5, 2018
This was a great book. The author writes in an understandable manner but brings out deep truths.
How is it that Jesus was both and man? As a man, could Jesus have sinned? Was significance does being a man have upon the death and resurrection of Jesus? And on His present and future reign? And was it necessary for Jesus to be male, not only human, but a male human?
Ware answers all these questions and more. Lots in this book to get your mind stirred up in just the right way.
How is it that Jesus was both and man? As a man, could Jesus have sinned? Was significance does being a man have upon the death and resurrection of Jesus? And on His present and future reign? And was it necessary for Jesus to be male, not only human, but a male human?
Ware answers all these questions and more. Lots in this book to get your mind stirred up in just the right way.
January 8, 2025
This book draws out the reader’s concept of Jesus as a man and the result ends with a fuller, richer, and more relatable picture of what our Savior most likely was similar to. This is one of my favorite reads and was incredibly thought provoking in how I think of the Son of God. Instead of brushing complex situations in Jesus’ life as “well, Jesus was fully God so of course he knew what to do” or the common “what would Jesus do” enigma where we are supposed to act like Jesus but imagine he utilized his divine attributes such as omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and omniscience frequently. If we believe that Jesus so to speak “tapped into” his divine nature every time he performed a miracle, healed a paralytic, or simple resisted extreme temptation, how could we ever truly be like him in any meaningful way? Bruce A. Ware helps to offer a firmly biblical argument with a plethora of supportive scriptural passages to the arguments he is making. Again, we don’t fully know everything about Jesus in all that he did or what he practiced each moment of the day, but the Bible offers more information about how Jesus cultivated the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities than we may think after having gone to Sunday school all our life.
April 8, 2019
Highly recommend
Very good book that delves into the often misunderstood humanity of Christ and why it is so important that Christ was 100% God AND 100% Man
Very good book that delves into the often misunderstood humanity of Christ and why it is so important that Christ was 100% God AND 100% Man
October 21, 2020
An excellent introduction to the doctrine of the humanity of Christ. Need to take it slow and really thin about but such an amazing truth that God came down to earth as a human!
June 24, 2025
A very encouraging read. Short, dense, yet easy to read. I don’t think I agreed with everything Ware said, but nevertheless his explanations are biblical, coherent and very pastoral.
February 12, 2025
I enjoyed this book! Would be a good read leading up to Easter.
Did not find ALL the chapters compelling - the beginning of the book was stronger than the ending, in my opinion! Nevertheless, I still would recommend others read. Good dive into the necessity of Jesus’ humanity!
Did not find ALL the chapters compelling - the beginning of the book was stronger than the ending, in my opinion! Nevertheless, I still would recommend others read. Good dive into the necessity of Jesus’ humanity!
June 14, 2013
Sometimes when we think of Christ in his Humanity and his Diety, we can assume that what
Christ went thru to redeem us sinners was easy, however, Mr. Ware assures you that Christ humanity was anything but easy, it was difficult and beautiful. We often assume much with Christ and not think deeply of these truths. Some parts of the book was redundant, however, it has a purpose and the purpose shows the love of Christ that we don't realize fully.
The chapters different aspects of Christ humanity such as Christ being a man and why he came as a man. Mr. Ware asks questions that I don't really think about so in doing so causes me to think more deeply. Mr. Ware also brings you to the answer or an understanding as well. It is important to realize that Jesus fought for faith and struggled to obey in his humanaity.
This quote summarizes the humanity of Christ. "The relation of Christ's death for our sin to his humanity should be clear. Because he bore our sin in his humanity, it was the humanity of Jesus, in particular, that was subject to death. After all God cannot die. God is eternal and self-existent and possesses life in himself. So, it is impossible strictly speaking, for God as God to die. It goes on to say it was the humanity of Jesus that was reaised from the dead, and it is in the humanity of JEsus that is exalted to the Father's right hand to reign over all, and it will be in his humanity that he returns to earth.
Mr. Ware in great depth in the temptation of Christ with Satan showing the truth in that Satan offered Christ what he had- the nations of the world which was what Christ came to secure. But God's plan was the Cross and Satan's was to worship him. This is a powerful statement. What pathway do I take? What do I worship? Do I drop my arms of rebellion and my way to run to Christ and his humanity? I invite you to think on these things. The humanity of Christ is a beautiful, lovely, and his mercy is great. Drop your arms and run to him.
Christ went thru to redeem us sinners was easy, however, Mr. Ware assures you that Christ humanity was anything but easy, it was difficult and beautiful. We often assume much with Christ and not think deeply of these truths. Some parts of the book was redundant, however, it has a purpose and the purpose shows the love of Christ that we don't realize fully.
The chapters different aspects of Christ humanity such as Christ being a man and why he came as a man. Mr. Ware asks questions that I don't really think about so in doing so causes me to think more deeply. Mr. Ware also brings you to the answer or an understanding as well. It is important to realize that Jesus fought for faith and struggled to obey in his humanaity.
This quote summarizes the humanity of Christ. "The relation of Christ's death for our sin to his humanity should be clear. Because he bore our sin in his humanity, it was the humanity of Jesus, in particular, that was subject to death. After all God cannot die. God is eternal and self-existent and possesses life in himself. So, it is impossible strictly speaking, for God as God to die. It goes on to say it was the humanity of Jesus that was reaised from the dead, and it is in the humanity of JEsus that is exalted to the Father's right hand to reign over all, and it will be in his humanity that he returns to earth.
Mr. Ware in great depth in the temptation of Christ with Satan showing the truth in that Satan offered Christ what he had- the nations of the world which was what Christ came to secure. But God's plan was the Cross and Satan's was to worship him. This is a powerful statement. What pathway do I take? What do I worship? Do I drop my arms of rebellion and my way to run to Christ and his humanity? I invite you to think on these things. The humanity of Christ is a beautiful, lovely, and his mercy is great. Drop your arms and run to him.
November 5, 2014
The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ is a great beginning resource for anyone wanting to study the man Jesus Christ. Ware pushes the reader to really think through how Jesus lived his life on earth. He refuses to allow the reader to give overly-simplistic, knee-jerk responses to how Jesus resisted temptation, how Jesus bore the sins of all those who believe in him, how he obeyed the Father, and many other aspects of his time on earth. Ware makes a compelling argument that Jesus lived his life, obeyed, and served with the same tools available to us as humans: the Holy Spirit, prayer, Scripture, and community.
After reading this book, I am no longer satisfied with our typical "because he is God" answer to the difficult questions of Jesus' life. This kind of response is natural in the Evangelical community. It's simple and it allows us to avoid dealing with tough Scriptures. By holding tight to this response, though, we are failing to understand and celebrate the human side of the God-man. The Lord was intentional when he sent Christ not only as deity, but as fully God, fully man. After reading this book, I will hopefully never undersell Jesus' humanity again as I have in the past.
That said, be aware that this book is short and accessible. It could be read and understood by nearly every level of reader. It is therefore not exhaustive on its topic. Much more can be said on the humanity of Christ. This book does not answer every question nor does it try to. But as I mentioned before, this is a great resource for beginners. I know that I learned a lot as an amateur theologian. I think it is also worth mentioning that I did not agree with all the arguments that Ware made. Some of them lacked what I thought to be adequate Scriptural backing. But this book is worth reading nonetheless! It is challenging and you really will walk away with new insight as to how Jesus, the fully god fully man, lived his life on earth. This book is worth picking up just for the chapter on Jesus' temptation, if nothing else! It is a valuable resource!
After reading this book, I am no longer satisfied with our typical "because he is God" answer to the difficult questions of Jesus' life. This kind of response is natural in the Evangelical community. It's simple and it allows us to avoid dealing with tough Scriptures. By holding tight to this response, though, we are failing to understand and celebrate the human side of the God-man. The Lord was intentional when he sent Christ not only as deity, but as fully God, fully man. After reading this book, I will hopefully never undersell Jesus' humanity again as I have in the past.
That said, be aware that this book is short and accessible. It could be read and understood by nearly every level of reader. It is therefore not exhaustive on its topic. Much more can be said on the humanity of Christ. This book does not answer every question nor does it try to. But as I mentioned before, this is a great resource for beginners. I know that I learned a lot as an amateur theologian. I think it is also worth mentioning that I did not agree with all the arguments that Ware made. Some of them lacked what I thought to be adequate Scriptural backing. But this book is worth reading nonetheless! It is challenging and you really will walk away with new insight as to how Jesus, the fully god fully man, lived his life on earth. This book is worth picking up just for the chapter on Jesus' temptation, if nothing else! It is a valuable resource!
March 1, 2013
This is an excerpt from the full review at my blog, which you can read here:
http://mydigitalseminary.com/the-man-...
...Those issues aside, for such a short work Ware has given a number of weighty concepts to ponder. Topics such as impeccability and hypostatic union could easily overwhelm many readers, but Ware’s clear writing, personal tone and constant devotional application ably navigate the reader through these issues. There are no unimportant discussions here. Each chapter ends with application and discussion questions, calling the reader to praise and response.
This is probably the most impacting book I read in 2012 (how can Christ not impact you?). In proportion to what I received from this book, my concerns are small. The depiction of Christ’s human experience and obedience was truly powerful and devotionally effective. I admit to overlooking Christ’s humanity, so this helpful corrective kept me in awe of Jesus’ life, it encouraged in my reliance upon the Spirit, and contributed to my eagerness to focus on the Gospels this year and seek how to follow His example of obedience.
I would wholeheartedly recommend The Man Christ Jesus to any Christian, and expect to be giving out many copies in the near future.
http://mydigitalseminary.com/the-man-...
...Those issues aside, for such a short work Ware has given a number of weighty concepts to ponder. Topics such as impeccability and hypostatic union could easily overwhelm many readers, but Ware’s clear writing, personal tone and constant devotional application ably navigate the reader through these issues. There are no unimportant discussions here. Each chapter ends with application and discussion questions, calling the reader to praise and response.
This is probably the most impacting book I read in 2012 (how can Christ not impact you?). In proportion to what I received from this book, my concerns are small. The depiction of Christ’s human experience and obedience was truly powerful and devotionally effective. I admit to overlooking Christ’s humanity, so this helpful corrective kept me in awe of Jesus’ life, it encouraged in my reliance upon the Spirit, and contributed to my eagerness to focus on the Gospels this year and seek how to follow His example of obedience.
I would wholeheartedly recommend The Man Christ Jesus to any Christian, and expect to be giving out many copies in the near future.
May 12, 2015
Does Bruce Ware really believe in the genuine man Christ Jesus??
No, of course he does not. He cannot do so and keep his academic position or publish via the evangelical publishing houses. A genuine man would be able to freely and totally function independent (just like you and I) of any incarnated deity. Bruce Ware's Jesus cannot do this for a very simply reason - the hypostatic unionist necessarily denies a genuine human person. Instead they only allow the single divine person that existed from all eternity to be the person of Jesus and that this person simply took on a human box (nature). Otherwise they would have two persons - and God forbid, we cannot be Nestorians.
Anyway, this whole discussion is pointless because Bruce won't step up to the straight forward multitude of texts that Jesus is a genuine man - and the He was created by God (Heb 2:11, 12). Instead he dances all around but ultimately simply denies the genuine man Christ Jesus.
Sad to say.
So the question is -
What about you?
No, of course he does not. He cannot do so and keep his academic position or publish via the evangelical publishing houses. A genuine man would be able to freely and totally function independent (just like you and I) of any incarnated deity. Bruce Ware's Jesus cannot do this for a very simply reason - the hypostatic unionist necessarily denies a genuine human person. Instead they only allow the single divine person that existed from all eternity to be the person of Jesus and that this person simply took on a human box (nature). Otherwise they would have two persons - and God forbid, we cannot be Nestorians.
Anyway, this whole discussion is pointless because Bruce won't step up to the straight forward multitude of texts that Jesus is a genuine man - and the He was created by God (Heb 2:11, 12). Instead he dances all around but ultimately simply denies the genuine man Christ Jesus.
Sad to say.
So the question is -
What about you?
August 31, 2012
Here is the endorsement I wrote for the soon-to-be-released book:
The evangelical Christian church has rightly and strongly focused much attention on defending the deity of Jesus Christ to those who question the doctrine. An unintentional yet tragic result of this is a lack of appreciation and understanding of the humanity of Jesus. In far too many instances, the church is functionally docetic, basically affirming that the divine Christ only seemed to be human. But as Bruce Ware skillfully and passionately explains, the gospel and its implications depend upon the full deity and true humanity of Jesus Christ. Biblically faithful, theologically solid, devotionally heartwarming, "The Man Christ Jesus" will increase your knowledge of and reverence for our wonderful Savior and Lord, the God-man Jesus Christ.
The evangelical Christian church has rightly and strongly focused much attention on defending the deity of Jesus Christ to those who question the doctrine. An unintentional yet tragic result of this is a lack of appreciation and understanding of the humanity of Jesus. In far too many instances, the church is functionally docetic, basically affirming that the divine Christ only seemed to be human. But as Bruce Ware skillfully and passionately explains, the gospel and its implications depend upon the full deity and true humanity of Jesus Christ. Biblically faithful, theologically solid, devotionally heartwarming, "The Man Christ Jesus" will increase your knowledge of and reverence for our wonderful Savior and Lord, the God-man Jesus Christ.
September 10, 2013
Dr. Bruce Ware is extremely gifted at explaining theology in ways that drive regular Christians to worship. This discussion of the human nature of Christ and its implications to us is absolutely awe-inspiring. Read it and stand in wonder at our Risen Lord!
October 26, 2023
This book certainly stretched and expanded my understanding of Jesus as the God-man. Full of rich theology, presented with a view to inspiring awe and worship.
Update: Read again in Oct 2023. Stretched in understanding and stirred in heart once again.
Update: Read again in Oct 2023. Stretched in understanding and stirred in heart once again.
June 18, 2024
We hear a lot about the divinity of Christ, but the hypostatic union demands that we pay attention to His humanity. We have a High Priest who was at once tempted just as we are, yet without sin.
April 3, 2015
Title: The Man Christ Jesus
Author: Bruce A. Ware
Publisher: Crossway
Year: 2012
Pages: 160
[Disclaimer: I was provided with a digital copy of this book via Crossway's Beyond the Page book review program. I am not required to write a positive review and I am not compensated in any way for my review. This is my way of living life to the fullest.]
I've never understood why publishers feel the compulsion to put several pages worth of praise for the book being held at the front of the book being held. I can understand praise for one book in another book, but not in the same book. Furthermore, I wonder why in the case of The Man Christ Jesus there is still a lengthy quote from Mark Driscoll. Seems kind of amusing to me. Maybe I have an old printing of it.
The Man Christ Jesus is a book designed to talk about the one thing, I assume, we rarely spend much time talking about as Christians: Jesus the man ('My sense, though, is that evangelicals understand better Christ's deity than they do his humanity, and so my focus here will be on the latter', 12). Yet, at the same time, that seems just a bit strange to me because the only things we really know about Jesus are the things he did as a man. I'm sure we have some speculation as to what he was and did before the incarnation, that's not my point. It just seems to me that we are necessarily talking about a man when we talk about Jesus. But that's not what this book is about.
Ware is hoping to split the hair between what Jesus knew as a human and as God and help you and me, 'ordinary Christians' (as if there's any other type; from D.A. Carson's praise of the book in the first few pages) understand how this affected what he did. This book reads like a psychological profile at times as Ware tries to help us understand things that it appears even Jesus did not fully understand at times. Ware works really hard to back up his thoughts with Scripture, but in the end his carefully constructed 'anthropology' of Jesus is little more than his speculation and prooftexting. In other words, Ware doesn't really add anything unique or compelling to the story of Jesus. His insights and exegesis of certain bible texts follow along the theological construct he subscribes to (Reformed) and the version of atonement he finds most compelling (penal substitution).
To be sure, I don't think Jesus happened to be walking about this earth constructing Reformed Theology and neither, for that matter, was the apostle who spent a great deal of time talking and writing about Jesus. I understand the book is published by a Reformed publishing house, but I dare say that it would have been a more interesting read if Ware had toned down his allegiance to the Reformation and simply talked about Jesus--what Jesus did, who he was, and what he accomplished. And when he did, the book was compelling and Ware was at his very best. (I'm thinking here of the chapter when he talked about Jesus in Gethsemane, resisting temptation.) Other than that, I'm not really certain what the book is hoping to accomplish--except perhaps to answer questions that began plaguing Ware when he was but ten years old and returned in his 'seminary years'--questions his theology already had answers to.
Ware states his goal thus: "I long for Jesus to be honored through the reflections upon his humanity in this book" (12). This is a worthy and noble goal and I'm sure at some level Jesus was honored. Sadly, I think that is all that is accomplished because the book did little for me as a human. There is a lot of speculation in the book, the writing style is boring (with his 'Oh for this' and 'Marvel at that' kind of language), and Ware is unable to refrain from his typical condescension to his readers. This is how he writes and it gets old; quickly. A couple of thoughts then.
First, Ware, at times, asks silly questions like, "If he lived his life out of his intrinsic divine nature as God, yet we have no such divine nature and clearly are not God, is it legitimate for biblical writers to encourage--indeed, command--us to live as he did?" (27) To me, this is a silly question no matter how well intended because it smacks of a condescending attitude towards us 'ordinary Christians.' It is questions like this that remind me of those written to in Hebrews who needed to be weened off the milk and onto solid food. Frankly, this is an unhelpful question because it borders on the absurd.
Another significant problem I see in this book is Ware's understanding of suffering. He writes that 'suffering, affliction, trials, testing--these are gifts granted to us by God for our growth, the necessary paving stones along the pathway that leads to our fullness of character and joy" (59). Suffering, affliction, trials, and testing are gifts? Seriously? It almost sounds as if there's no room in this world for sin--the cause of suffering, afflictions, trials, and testing. I mean seriously, what about all those people who suffer apart from Jesus? What's the goal of their suffering, to push them further away from Jesus? I fully grant that we can and should 'rejoice in our sufferings' and that God uses suffering as a means of discipline, correction, and rebuke. But to call these things gifts--as if we are to look forward to a package on Thursday afternoons, wrapped in a bow, with a card saying 'To Jerry, From God; best wishes" is absurd. It seems to me that suffering and affliction are among the very things that Jesus came to this earth to remove. Just because these things exist, and just because God uses them, does not mean that they are 'from God' or that God 'ordained them.'
Of all the areas of Reformation theology that I take issue with, it is this area with which I take the most issue. I simply cannot understand how anyone can think that suffering, affliction and all the rest--regardless of how well these taskmasters train us--are desirable.
Third, 'ordinary Christians' who read this book will occasionally find themselves completely and utterly ordinary when Ware brings out the big guns: "Obviously affirming the dyothelitism of the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 680 writes, 'An impeccable will is one that is so might in its self-determination to good that it cannot be conquered by any temptation to evil, however great" (64). I was thinking the same thing; obviously.
There were a few other issues I had with the book. For example, Ware expends a great deal of energy discussing whether or not Jesus could have been a female (Chapter 6). To my mind, this was a pointless chapter. Consider this, the Bible says that Jesus was born a male. If Jesus was, in fact, born a male then this question is both illogical and beside the point: "Is it necessary that the Savior be born, live, and die as a man, or could our Savior have been a woman?" (80). If Jesus was born a male then it is impossible that he could have been born a female; therefore, even to speculate about such a question is meaningless--unless, obviously, one wishes to build a theological construct or bore us with time worn arguments about what a marriage should look like--as if only one way is correct (which is not to say that all ways are righteous). Which is what Ware does. I don't think he asked this question because he wanted to think about Jesus as much as he wanted to rant about things like 'mutual submission in marriage' (88). He also wrote, "....to affirm the theological necessity of Christ's male identity entails an undergirding of male headship' (92). I'm just not sure it is logical to make the leap from Jesus necessarily being a man and a carte blanche evisceration of egalitarianism, but this is what Ware does. Fact is, we do not need 'eight reasons' why Jesus 'must be a male.' The fact is, he was a male. What else needs to be said?
The one chapter I did appreciate was the chapter in which Ware talks about the temptations that Jesus underwent as a human. Again, there's a lot of pointless speculation in this chapter because, for example, if the Bible says Jesus was without sin, it seems to me it is rather fruitless to speculate about how he managed to accomplish such a feat (was he impeccable as God or a human--really it became very difficult at times to follow Ware's reasoning). At another level, though, I found some of Ware's points rather well thought out and expressed. His emphasis on Jesus' reliance upon the indwelling word of God and his empowerment by the indwelling Holy Spirit was excellent. It truly helped me think through the way we deal with sin and temptation and the fact that Jesus' temptations--especially early in his life (after his baptism) and near the end (in Gethsemane)--are recorded for us in Scripture gives me courage in the face of my own temptations. In fact, I find these stories about Jesus to be some of the most compelling, convincing stories about who he was and what he did. I think Ware did a great job in chapter 5 ('Resisting Temptation') even if the chapter was often muddled by meaningless questions and fruitless speculation.
I wanted to enjoy this book, but in the end it wasn't what I had hoped for. There is simply too much in the book that is not conducive to helping people grow in faith in Jesus--precisely because it is rife with commitment to a theological idea and riddled with meaningless questions and speculation. I have read other of Ware's works where he did a much better job thinking through the topic (even though I still disagreed with him). This book struggles to find a genre: is it a theological treatise or a devotional or a textbook or a psychological profile or something else entirely? At least I can say that Ware did struggle (in the good sense of the word struggle) with the Bible a lot in this book. I think there are times when he was taking things out of context or laying his theological construct over top of Scripture, but at least when someone reads this book they will read something about the Bible and something about Jesus.
The application section was nice at the end of each chapter. The discussion questions were, well, discussion questions and I have no particular opinion of them one way or another. It was unhelpful there was no bibliography where we might dig a little deeper into some of the authors' works that stimulated his own thought--you know, fellas like Constantinople III from 680.
3/5 stars (on the weight of chapter 5)
Author: Bruce A. Ware
Publisher: Crossway
Year: 2012
Pages: 160
[Disclaimer: I was provided with a digital copy of this book via Crossway's Beyond the Page book review program. I am not required to write a positive review and I am not compensated in any way for my review. This is my way of living life to the fullest.]
I've never understood why publishers feel the compulsion to put several pages worth of praise for the book being held at the front of the book being held. I can understand praise for one book in another book, but not in the same book. Furthermore, I wonder why in the case of The Man Christ Jesus there is still a lengthy quote from Mark Driscoll. Seems kind of amusing to me. Maybe I have an old printing of it.
The Man Christ Jesus is a book designed to talk about the one thing, I assume, we rarely spend much time talking about as Christians: Jesus the man ('My sense, though, is that evangelicals understand better Christ's deity than they do his humanity, and so my focus here will be on the latter', 12). Yet, at the same time, that seems just a bit strange to me because the only things we really know about Jesus are the things he did as a man. I'm sure we have some speculation as to what he was and did before the incarnation, that's not my point. It just seems to me that we are necessarily talking about a man when we talk about Jesus. But that's not what this book is about.
Ware is hoping to split the hair between what Jesus knew as a human and as God and help you and me, 'ordinary Christians' (as if there's any other type; from D.A. Carson's praise of the book in the first few pages) understand how this affected what he did. This book reads like a psychological profile at times as Ware tries to help us understand things that it appears even Jesus did not fully understand at times. Ware works really hard to back up his thoughts with Scripture, but in the end his carefully constructed 'anthropology' of Jesus is little more than his speculation and prooftexting. In other words, Ware doesn't really add anything unique or compelling to the story of Jesus. His insights and exegesis of certain bible texts follow along the theological construct he subscribes to (Reformed) and the version of atonement he finds most compelling (penal substitution).
To be sure, I don't think Jesus happened to be walking about this earth constructing Reformed Theology and neither, for that matter, was the apostle who spent a great deal of time talking and writing about Jesus. I understand the book is published by a Reformed publishing house, but I dare say that it would have been a more interesting read if Ware had toned down his allegiance to the Reformation and simply talked about Jesus--what Jesus did, who he was, and what he accomplished. And when he did, the book was compelling and Ware was at his very best. (I'm thinking here of the chapter when he talked about Jesus in Gethsemane, resisting temptation.) Other than that, I'm not really certain what the book is hoping to accomplish--except perhaps to answer questions that began plaguing Ware when he was but ten years old and returned in his 'seminary years'--questions his theology already had answers to.
Ware states his goal thus: "I long for Jesus to be honored through the reflections upon his humanity in this book" (12). This is a worthy and noble goal and I'm sure at some level Jesus was honored. Sadly, I think that is all that is accomplished because the book did little for me as a human. There is a lot of speculation in the book, the writing style is boring (with his 'Oh for this' and 'Marvel at that' kind of language), and Ware is unable to refrain from his typical condescension to his readers. This is how he writes and it gets old; quickly. A couple of thoughts then.
First, Ware, at times, asks silly questions like, "If he lived his life out of his intrinsic divine nature as God, yet we have no such divine nature and clearly are not God, is it legitimate for biblical writers to encourage--indeed, command--us to live as he did?" (27) To me, this is a silly question no matter how well intended because it smacks of a condescending attitude towards us 'ordinary Christians.' It is questions like this that remind me of those written to in Hebrews who needed to be weened off the milk and onto solid food. Frankly, this is an unhelpful question because it borders on the absurd.
Another significant problem I see in this book is Ware's understanding of suffering. He writes that 'suffering, affliction, trials, testing--these are gifts granted to us by God for our growth, the necessary paving stones along the pathway that leads to our fullness of character and joy" (59). Suffering, affliction, trials, and testing are gifts? Seriously? It almost sounds as if there's no room in this world for sin--the cause of suffering, afflictions, trials, and testing. I mean seriously, what about all those people who suffer apart from Jesus? What's the goal of their suffering, to push them further away from Jesus? I fully grant that we can and should 'rejoice in our sufferings' and that God uses suffering as a means of discipline, correction, and rebuke. But to call these things gifts--as if we are to look forward to a package on Thursday afternoons, wrapped in a bow, with a card saying 'To Jerry, From God; best wishes" is absurd. It seems to me that suffering and affliction are among the very things that Jesus came to this earth to remove. Just because these things exist, and just because God uses them, does not mean that they are 'from God' or that God 'ordained them.'
Of all the areas of Reformation theology that I take issue with, it is this area with which I take the most issue. I simply cannot understand how anyone can think that suffering, affliction and all the rest--regardless of how well these taskmasters train us--are desirable.
Third, 'ordinary Christians' who read this book will occasionally find themselves completely and utterly ordinary when Ware brings out the big guns: "Obviously affirming the dyothelitism of the sixth ecumenical council, Constantinople III in 680 writes, 'An impeccable will is one that is so might in its self-determination to good that it cannot be conquered by any temptation to evil, however great" (64). I was thinking the same thing; obviously.
There were a few other issues I had with the book. For example, Ware expends a great deal of energy discussing whether or not Jesus could have been a female (Chapter 6). To my mind, this was a pointless chapter. Consider this, the Bible says that Jesus was born a male. If Jesus was, in fact, born a male then this question is both illogical and beside the point: "Is it necessary that the Savior be born, live, and die as a man, or could our Savior have been a woman?" (80). If Jesus was born a male then it is impossible that he could have been born a female; therefore, even to speculate about such a question is meaningless--unless, obviously, one wishes to build a theological construct or bore us with time worn arguments about what a marriage should look like--as if only one way is correct (which is not to say that all ways are righteous). Which is what Ware does. I don't think he asked this question because he wanted to think about Jesus as much as he wanted to rant about things like 'mutual submission in marriage' (88). He also wrote, "....to affirm the theological necessity of Christ's male identity entails an undergirding of male headship' (92). I'm just not sure it is logical to make the leap from Jesus necessarily being a man and a carte blanche evisceration of egalitarianism, but this is what Ware does. Fact is, we do not need 'eight reasons' why Jesus 'must be a male.' The fact is, he was a male. What else needs to be said?
The one chapter I did appreciate was the chapter in which Ware talks about the temptations that Jesus underwent as a human. Again, there's a lot of pointless speculation in this chapter because, for example, if the Bible says Jesus was without sin, it seems to me it is rather fruitless to speculate about how he managed to accomplish such a feat (was he impeccable as God or a human--really it became very difficult at times to follow Ware's reasoning). At another level, though, I found some of Ware's points rather well thought out and expressed. His emphasis on Jesus' reliance upon the indwelling word of God and his empowerment by the indwelling Holy Spirit was excellent. It truly helped me think through the way we deal with sin and temptation and the fact that Jesus' temptations--especially early in his life (after his baptism) and near the end (in Gethsemane)--are recorded for us in Scripture gives me courage in the face of my own temptations. In fact, I find these stories about Jesus to be some of the most compelling, convincing stories about who he was and what he did. I think Ware did a great job in chapter 5 ('Resisting Temptation') even if the chapter was often muddled by meaningless questions and fruitless speculation.
I wanted to enjoy this book, but in the end it wasn't what I had hoped for. There is simply too much in the book that is not conducive to helping people grow in faith in Jesus--precisely because it is rife with commitment to a theological idea and riddled with meaningless questions and speculation. I have read other of Ware's works where he did a much better job thinking through the topic (even though I still disagreed with him). This book struggles to find a genre: is it a theological treatise or a devotional or a textbook or a psychological profile or something else entirely? At least I can say that Ware did struggle (in the good sense of the word struggle) with the Bible a lot in this book. I think there are times when he was taking things out of context or laying his theological construct over top of Scripture, but at least when someone reads this book they will read something about the Bible and something about Jesus.
The application section was nice at the end of each chapter. The discussion questions were, well, discussion questions and I have no particular opinion of them one way or another. It was unhelpful there was no bibliography where we might dig a little deeper into some of the authors' works that stimulated his own thought--you know, fellas like Constantinople III from 680.
3/5 stars (on the weight of chapter 5)
September 11, 2018
This short little book is packed full of information about the humanity of Christ, as seen in the title. It may be short, but it certainly is edifying and very informative into the person Jesus.
The book begins with an explanation of just what the “emptying” of Christ was. This means that Dr. Ware exposits a section of Philippians 2, which says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” The implications of this are huge and some have gotten it totally wrong. The kenosis was a theory that Jesus empty the entirety of His divine nature, which must be rejected and is not what this passage is teaching. Rather, Jesus retained His divinity but in certain circumstances, He chose not to exercise it. This is crucial when understanding the humanity of Christ.
Next, the proceeding chapters speak about the humanity of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. When we think of Jesus’ divine nature, we understand that He was 100% God and 100% man. The divine nature obviously needed nothing: He didn’t need to grow in wisdom in HIs divine nature because the divine is already perfect. But the man.. this is a different story. Chapter 2 speaks on how the Holy Spirit empowered the man, Jesus Christ. Chapter 3 talks about how the Spirit empowered Him to grow in wisdom. Likewise, chapter 4 speaks on how Jesus grew in faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. You sense a theme here?
Chapter 5 is about temptation. This was a very interesting chapter. Because Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” But you may say, “Well yea, but Jesus had His divine side so He couldn’t really have been tempted because there was no possibility the divine nature would LET him sin.” You see the problem. Dr. Ware uses this illustration that is very helpful: imagine you are a swimmer who is training for a long swim. As you are training, you begin to get better and better until the day of the race. As a precaution, you ask a boat to row beside just in case the unlikely scenario of you drowning occurs. As the race begins, you swim and swim under your own power while the boat cruises along next to you, just in case anything takes a wrong direction. This is like the temptation of Christ. He grew in faith, grew in wisdom in His humanity by the Spirit. While the Spirit empowered Him, He was able to say no to temptation in His full humanity. But His divine side wouldn’t let Him sin. This erases some the tension there is in the temptation of Christ.
Chapter 6 talks about how in recent years, liberal scholars have tried to argue that Jesus could have been a woman. This argument extends from the NIV’s controversial decision to make some of the pronouns used for Jesus as neutral, which would give the possibility that Jesus could have been a man or a woman. Dr. Ware utilizes 12 arguments to say that Jesus must be a man. Chapter 7 is the substitution of Christ. One interesting point that he makes is people sometimes ask why the second Adam just couldn’t have been empowered by the Spirit to not sin and die for our sins. So, take away the divinity of the second Adam. Dr. Ware says that the punishment for sin is eternal, so only an eternal agent can be a proper substitution which is an interesting thought. Lastly, Chapter 8 focuses on the Raised, Reigning, and Return of Christ.
Like I said.. Packed with information. What is helpful about. Dr. Ware’s book too is that he includes an application section at the end of each chapter with discussion questions. This would be particularly helpful in the event you wanted to work through it as a group or in a Bible study. Great, short book that will challenge you.
The book begins with an explanation of just what the “emptying” of Christ was. This means that Dr. Ware exposits a section of Philippians 2, which says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” The implications of this are huge and some have gotten it totally wrong. The kenosis was a theory that Jesus empty the entirety of His divine nature, which must be rejected and is not what this passage is teaching. Rather, Jesus retained His divinity but in certain circumstances, He chose not to exercise it. This is crucial when understanding the humanity of Christ.
Next, the proceeding chapters speak about the humanity of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. When we think of Jesus’ divine nature, we understand that He was 100% God and 100% man. The divine nature obviously needed nothing: He didn’t need to grow in wisdom in HIs divine nature because the divine is already perfect. But the man.. this is a different story. Chapter 2 speaks on how the Holy Spirit empowered the man, Jesus Christ. Chapter 3 talks about how the Spirit empowered Him to grow in wisdom. Likewise, chapter 4 speaks on how Jesus grew in faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. You sense a theme here?
Chapter 5 is about temptation. This was a very interesting chapter. Because Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” But you may say, “Well yea, but Jesus had His divine side so He couldn’t really have been tempted because there was no possibility the divine nature would LET him sin.” You see the problem. Dr. Ware uses this illustration that is very helpful: imagine you are a swimmer who is training for a long swim. As you are training, you begin to get better and better until the day of the race. As a precaution, you ask a boat to row beside just in case the unlikely scenario of you drowning occurs. As the race begins, you swim and swim under your own power while the boat cruises along next to you, just in case anything takes a wrong direction. This is like the temptation of Christ. He grew in faith, grew in wisdom in His humanity by the Spirit. While the Spirit empowered Him, He was able to say no to temptation in His full humanity. But His divine side wouldn’t let Him sin. This erases some the tension there is in the temptation of Christ.
Chapter 6 talks about how in recent years, liberal scholars have tried to argue that Jesus could have been a woman. This argument extends from the NIV’s controversial decision to make some of the pronouns used for Jesus as neutral, which would give the possibility that Jesus could have been a man or a woman. Dr. Ware utilizes 12 arguments to say that Jesus must be a man. Chapter 7 is the substitution of Christ. One interesting point that he makes is people sometimes ask why the second Adam just couldn’t have been empowered by the Spirit to not sin and die for our sins. So, take away the divinity of the second Adam. Dr. Ware says that the punishment for sin is eternal, so only an eternal agent can be a proper substitution which is an interesting thought. Lastly, Chapter 8 focuses on the Raised, Reigning, and Return of Christ.
Like I said.. Packed with information. What is helpful about. Dr. Ware’s book too is that he includes an application section at the end of each chapter with discussion questions. This would be particularly helpful in the event you wanted to work through it as a group or in a Bible study. Great, short book that will challenge you.
September 18, 2020
In "The Man Christ Jesus" Bruce Ware wrestles with the difficulties that surround the incarnation. What does it mean that Jesus "learned obedience"? How did Jesus both grow in wisdom and in knowledge as the God-man? Did the Spirit override the human nature of Jesus? Could Jesus actually sin, and if not, were his temptations real? These and many other incarnational difficulties are addressed.
All in all I found the book refreshing, challenging, and stimulating in a positive way. The best chapters are chapters 1-4 & 8 where he addresses taking on human nature (1), the empowering of the Spirit (2), increasing in wisdom (3), growing in faith (4) and Jesus raised, reigning, and returning in victory (8).
Ware has some Calvinism in him and this crops up from time to time, but there are two major issues that need to be noted beyond his Calvinism: First, Ware takes the position that it was impossible for Jesus to sin in chapter 5, and argues for the doctrine of impeccability (that sin would cause the death of God and could not therefore be possible). He illustrates his position on impeccability with an example of a long distance swimmer who swims several miles while followed by a boat that serves as a safety net. He argues that as long as the swimmer never uses the safety net he can claim to have accomplished the feat all on his own, but the boat serves as a back-up to make sure he does not drown. By analogy, Ware argues that Jesus faces all the temptations of sin as a man and never uses His safety net (His Deity) in overcoming temptation. The problem with the analogy is that in the example of the swimmer, drowning is an actual possibility, whereas in the case of the doctrine of impeccability sinning is not. The chapter was interesting, and I don't know that I could answer all of Ware's arguments at the moment, but I did not find the chapter utterly convincing (though it did introduce me to a new discussion).
Second, and most egregious, Ware takes the position that Jesus became sin (not merely a sin sacrifice) in chapter 7. The irony of Ware's position is that it argues that Jesus was connected with sin, yet in chapter 5 he argued that Jesus could not be connected with sin without destroying His deity. This seems to be an irreconcilable contradiction. Furthermore, it is quite blasphemous to argue that Christ, the sinless sacrifice, became a sinner at death.
As bad as the second half of chapter 7 was (impugning the sinless nature of Christ), ware did make present a powerful case in the same chapter for how actual forgiveness was granted in the Old Testament. Forgiveness in the Old Testament is a greatly misunderstood subject, and Ware knocked it out of the park.
In the final assessment, I cannot endorse the entire work, but there are many good portions to it. It's chicken and bones like most (all?) books and has some profitable portions for the mature Christian. Even in the areas where Ware is wrong he does a good job presenting the wrong position. :)
All in all I found the book refreshing, challenging, and stimulating in a positive way. The best chapters are chapters 1-4 & 8 where he addresses taking on human nature (1), the empowering of the Spirit (2), increasing in wisdom (3), growing in faith (4) and Jesus raised, reigning, and returning in victory (8).
Ware has some Calvinism in him and this crops up from time to time, but there are two major issues that need to be noted beyond his Calvinism: First, Ware takes the position that it was impossible for Jesus to sin in chapter 5, and argues for the doctrine of impeccability (that sin would cause the death of God and could not therefore be possible). He illustrates his position on impeccability with an example of a long distance swimmer who swims several miles while followed by a boat that serves as a safety net. He argues that as long as the swimmer never uses the safety net he can claim to have accomplished the feat all on his own, but the boat serves as a back-up to make sure he does not drown. By analogy, Ware argues that Jesus faces all the temptations of sin as a man and never uses His safety net (His Deity) in overcoming temptation. The problem with the analogy is that in the example of the swimmer, drowning is an actual possibility, whereas in the case of the doctrine of impeccability sinning is not. The chapter was interesting, and I don't know that I could answer all of Ware's arguments at the moment, but I did not find the chapter utterly convincing (though it did introduce me to a new discussion).
Second, and most egregious, Ware takes the position that Jesus became sin (not merely a sin sacrifice) in chapter 7. The irony of Ware's position is that it argues that Jesus was connected with sin, yet in chapter 5 he argued that Jesus could not be connected with sin without destroying His deity. This seems to be an irreconcilable contradiction. Furthermore, it is quite blasphemous to argue that Christ, the sinless sacrifice, became a sinner at death.
As bad as the second half of chapter 7 was (impugning the sinless nature of Christ), ware did make present a powerful case in the same chapter for how actual forgiveness was granted in the Old Testament. Forgiveness in the Old Testament is a greatly misunderstood subject, and Ware knocked it out of the park.
In the final assessment, I cannot endorse the entire work, but there are many good portions to it. It's chicken and bones like most (all?) books and has some profitable portions for the mature Christian. Even in the areas where Ware is wrong he does a good job presenting the wrong position. :)
March 29, 2019
Metaphorical genius! But, thank you, John Durfee, for this incredible recommendation. This might replace what I thought was going to be the best book of the year for me: Fergusons, "The Whole Christ." I have read O'Brien, Boyce, and Carson and a few other commentaries on Philippians 2:1-11 and none of them come close to the level of clarity, and accessibility that Ware has in describing and illustrating the nature of the Kenosis!!! Until the day I die, I will remember his explanation and probably exclusively use his illustration to explain it. Also, the way Ware explains Jesus' impeccability and the genuineness of Jesus' temptation is the best I have ever found. Ware focuses on the humanity of Jesus while simultaneously overturning our misconceptions that have been brought about by a kind of thinking that does not fully embrace Jesus' humanity. Typically in the Church, we only think of Jesus' humanity as the vehicle that God needed to use to bring about complete salvation for mankind. That's all. But, what are the implications that we can learn from in light of Jesus' humanity when we think about his faith, his dependence on the Holy Spirit, his victories over temptations, trials, and testing, and what does all that teach us? We assume sometimes that Jesus went on auto-pilot and we make an excuse to justify why Jesus was such an incredible servant because he is God, BUT he was also fully man. Phenomenal work, and poor Erikson, too. If you are going to write anything about the Trinity, or Jesus you better hope Ware is one of your editors. // Ware also brings out, perhaps intentionally or not, an important spiritual discipline. Frequently, Ware would employ the word, "marvel" all throughout the book. That word is increasingly informing me that the deepest appreciation of the cross and Jesus' work may not be fully accessed until we marvel. And then marvel again and again. It is the simple things we neglect that have the most profound impacts in our life, and one of those might be neglecting to marvel.
April 30, 2021
Christians want to love Jesus more. Reading this book has resulted in that. Bruce Ware's reflections here are wonderful in that they paint Jesus for who he is. Although the Christian will not understand him fully for who he is in this life, Ware's reflections here help very much. I found myself mind-blown from chapter 2 onwards, where Ware discussed the humility of God the Son emptying himself and taking on human flesh. Each chapter was deep and faithful to Scripture.
I recommend this to anyone and every who wants to learn more about Jesus Christ, Christian or not.
I recommend this to anyone and every who wants to learn more about Jesus Christ, Christian or not.
October 19, 2021
WOW! This book has me praising the beauty of the incarnation and the necessity that our Savior and King was obedient in becoming a man, and a servant, that was empowered by the Spirit, died in our place, resurrected, reigns, and is returning again in Glory. I have realized that my Christology is too quick in pointing to the divinity of Christ, which is important, when it was his humanity that grew in wisdom and stature before God and man, was fully tempted in every way, and fulfilled the necessity of the Scriptures. Read this book. Praise be to the Son of Man, our Savior!
September 27, 2022
I am a layperson and don’t have the educational background to make theological debates on points within the book. I can say that the book presented different aspects of Christ’s humanity clearly and understandably. I am the type of person who loves to ask why and this book helped me think through lots of questions I had. I read it slowly and reflected on chapters, paragraphs, and even sentences for days. I feel I have a better understanding and appreciation for God after reading. I would recommend this book to others.
January 13, 2018
Ware is thorough in his theological treatment of Christ's humanity while infusing the book with challenging applications. I enjoyed each chapter but his chapters entitled: Empowered by the Spirit, Increasing in Wisdom, and Growing in Faith are the best of the book. He traces the humanity of Christ throughout Scripture in such a way that reveals how I can possibly be "like" Christ. Very helpful, encouraging, and worship-inspiring.
September 15, 2024
This book helped me have a deeper, yet basic, understanding of the Humanity of Jesus Christ. Thanks to His Humanity, Jesus was able to be the propitiation of all of man’s sin. As the God-Man, Second Adam, and Lamb of God, Jesus, the Son of God was able to do what no other human could do in living a perfect sin free life, willingly died on the cross, and was raised three days later through the power of the Holy Spirit.
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