Jesus is both God and man : what the Bible teaches about the person of Christ

by Stuart Olyott

Read this book and recover a sense of wonder as you are drawn to gaze upon the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps you have wondered how two natures could perfectly co-exist in one the answers are here, clearly drawn from Scripture and expressed in plain English. It also exposes the fundamental errors of the cults and the liberal theologians who either deny our Lord's divinity or do not do full justice to his humanity.

Genres: Theology, Christianity

175 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Matthew Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: generally excellent content. Three sections of three chapters each. Sections on the deity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, and the one person of Christ. The first two sections proceed from the pre-incarnate, to the incarnate, to the ascended Christ, from the perspective of his deity and then his humanity. The final section looks at different errors that emerge when you deny or confuse the Chalcedonian “one person, two natures” formulation. This is exactly what I was after - a relatively succinct and simple introduction to Chalcedon and what it means.

Cons: The language feels dated (and it’s only twenty years old); Bible references are all to the AV, NKJV or NASB. I was hoping for something more generally accessible, but I’d struggle to recommend this to that many people due to style. Also he has a page near the end on 20th century Christology where he writes off a series of theologians in a sentence each. I don’t know enough about all of them to assess the accuracy, but where I did know a bit more he seemed wide of the mark, even if I’d agree they’re heterodox. It was a frustrating way to finish the book.

Summary: good theological content that needs a rewrite for style and tone.

[Dogeared Wanderer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bible emphasizes that Jesus is both fully God and fully Man. He is not one of many gods, nor a good man who attained deity, nor a good man only. Rather, His two natures co-exist perfectly in one Person, God with us.

This book does an excellent job explaining such a huge mind-boggling topic in three sections:
The Lord: His Deity (eternal God, Immanuel, God now and always)
Jesus: His Humanity (the promise of a man, behold the Man, a Man now and forever)
Christ: His Unipersonality (one Person, two distinct natures, heresies ancient and modern)

This would also make a great YA NF resource for reading challenges or Bible class. The author does a great job simplifying difficult topics (see also my review on his commentary on the book of Daniel, which is also amazing 🦁).

[Timothy Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 maybe more accurate just based on the presentation and style. A few questionably worded sentences in a doctrine that requires nuance and precision. But a layman would profit nonetheless. So 4.