Christology: A Guide for the Perplexed

Guides for the Perplexed

by Alan Spence

Today Christology is of concern to both New Testament scholars and theologians alike and continues to provoke debate within the Church. A Guide for the Perplexed examines the key debates and defining moments in the early Church and the Reformation. After a brief introduction providing a basic definition of Christology, this historical background provides an essential foundation on which to outline later developments in Christology. Alan Spence then considers the Quest for the Historical Jesus, the work of the major theologians in this area including Barth and Schleiermacher, and from the present day, N.T. Wright and Pannenberg, and explores the contemporary arguments within the field of Christology.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Christian

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2009

About the author

Alan Spence (born 1947) is a Scottish writer and is Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Aberdeen, where he is also artistic director of the annual WORD Festival. He was born in Glasgow, and much of his work is set in the city.

Spence is an award-winning poet and playwright, novelist and short-story writer. His first work was the collection of short stories Its Colours They are Fine, first published in 1977. This was followed by two plays, Sailmaker in 1982 and Space Invaders in 1983. The novel The Magic Flute appeared in 1990 along with his first book of poetry, Glasgow Zen. In 1991, another of his plays, Changed Days, was published before a brief hiatus. He returned in 1996 with Stone Garden, another collection of short stories. In 2006, The Pure Land, a historical novel set in Japan, was published by Canongate Books, and is based on the life of Thomas Blake Glover who is immortalised in the story of Madame Butterfly.

Reviews

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I defy anyone, after having read this book, to be un-perplexed (dis-perplexed? de-perplexed?), after all Christology may only be two-thirds as perplexing as the Trinity but that still makes it very perplexing.

But in fairness, Alan Spence does a good job in setting out the essentials of classical and modern Christology. As a teacher of early church doctrine, I would have liked the balance to be weighted a little more towards Patristics, but understand why the book is structured as it is. More depressing was the realisation that it has been less than ten years since I read all the way through Pannenberg's Jesus: God and Man, and remember nothing of it and probably understood even less at the time. Hey ho.

[Ryan Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction and overview of Christology. Spence does a great “flyover” view of Classic and Modern Christology (which is surprising robust) and proposes a way forward which holds true to Scripture, classic creeds, and modern approaches. Having studied under many of the modern approaches previously, I appreciated his critiques and generally agreed on all counts. I especially appreciated his conclusion and requirement to hold a Christology that enlivens the Church and our relationship to Jesus. Recommended for a great, brief survey of the topic.

[Stefan Grieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book far more complicated then it first appears. due to it's content and vocabulary. I never the less was informed of useful differences of the ideas about Christ that have become useful in my life in hindsight as I have traversed the many different people with different ideas from there own religions and denomination.
It says it's for the perplexed yet I found it perplexing and headache inducing. Useful though and helping to my knowledge, hence the score.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

This is a helpful and fairly accessible survey of historical Christology. I recommend if you are looking for an overview and some vocabulary for some differing views as well as the theologically orthodox view most protestants have held throughout history and some high level arguments to support.

[Jenny Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introductory overview to the subject.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spence's introductory text on Christology is divided evenly into two main sections namely Classical Christology and Modern Christology. Classical Christology began with the Early Church Fathers while Modern Christology “originated with the emergence of Socinian ideas in the early years of the Protestant Reformation”. In this book, Spence highlights some of the major players in the flowering of both christologies and how they have been developed upon subsequently by others.

Overall, Spence has written an admirable introductory guide to Christology. His ability to pinpoint various concepts succinctly is excellent although certain parts of the Modern Christology section can be quite inaccessible at times due to the complexity of the ideas discussed. However, his clearcut treatment of Classical Christology places his book amongst the best for the discussion on Christology.

[Graham Hoppstock · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a Christology for Protestants and its attempt at an eccumenical Christology in its conclusion can only be understood as a eccumenism of Protestants. Further, much of Spence's evaluation of modern Christology is already provided given his rigid decisions on what Chalcedon and Nicaea actually mean. Of course, historians would beg to differ on much of his account. Thus, most of this book is petitio principii when it comes to critical engagement. I cannot really recommend this work and would actually suggest looking elsewhere.