Two Natures in Christ

Rating:
Summary: The Apex of Lutheran Christology
Review: Chemnitz, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther, and in particular the early church fathers, like John of Damascus, composes a well-balanced treatise on the person of Jesus Christ. Chemnitz is concerned to show how the two natures (God and man) co-inhere so that there is in Jesus Christ, only one person (thus staying within the framework established by the Council of Chalcedon in the 5th century). Working within the philosophical framework of Reformation Aristotelianism, Chemnitz nonetheless provides solid and serious work on which to chew. Worthwhile also is Chemnitz' discussion of the communication of attributes, that is, the divine attributes of Christ and their effect upon the human nature (and us). This is perhaps the greatest dogmatic treatise on Christology that a pastor/ theologian in the Reformation produced. The Two Natures laid the foundation for all Lutheran thinkers who followed. There is nothing comparable until one reaches the fourth volume of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. Well worth the time spent reading!

Rating:
Summary: The Apex of Lutheran Christology
Review: Chemnitz, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther, and in particular the early church fathers, like John of Damascus, composes a well-balanced treatise on the person of Jesus Christ. Chemnitz is concerned to show how the two natures (God and man) co-inhere so that there is in Jesus Christ, only one person (thus staying within the framework established by the Council of Chalcedon in the 5th century). Working within the philosophical framework of Reformation Aristotelianism, Chemnitz nonetheless provides solid and serious work on which to chew. Worthwhile also is Chemnitz' discussion of the communication of attributes, that is, the divine attributes of Christ and their effect upon the human nature (and us). This is perhaps the greatest dogmatic treatise on Christology that a pastor/ theologian in the Reformation produced. The Two Natures laid the foundation for all Lutheran thinkers who followed. There is nothing comparable until one reaches the fourth volume of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. Well worth the time spent reading!

Rating:
Summary: A Comprehensive Study in Christology
Review: Dr. Chemnitz does an SUPERIOR job at discussing the nature of Christ. He documents many of the Early Church Fathers and what they taught concerning Jesus humanity and divinity. This is very deep reading but well worth the time. I would recommend this book to any serious student.

Rating:
Summary: A Standard In Lutheran Orthodoxy
Review: It has been said that if the second Martin had not lived, systematizing Luther, the first Martin would not have been as successful. It is easy to see why such a claim was made when one reads The Two Natures In Christ. Chemnitz's magnum opus set the stage early on as a standard defense and reference work on the two natures of Jesus Christ. The title page reads: "A monograph concerning the two natures in Christ, their hypostatic union, the communication of their attributes, and related questions, recently revised and prepared on the basis of Scripture and the witness of the ancient church by Dr. Martin Chemnitz..." No library of dogmatics can be complete without this excellent reference work of 542 pages.

Consisting of 33 chapters, this book exhaustively examines what the council of Chalcedon declared to be true orthodoxy in the year 451.

Other books of interest may include: God In Patristic THought by Prestige, Christ in Eastern Christian Thought by Meyendorff, Trinity and Incarnation by Basil Studer, Incarnation-Myth or Fact? by Skarsaune, Christology by Gerald O'Collins, On the Person of Christ by Wesche, the 3 volume work by Grillmeier (Christ in Christian Tradition), Raymond Brown's An Introduction to New Testament Christology, The Gospel Image of Christ by Kesich, The Cruelty of Heresey by Allison. Each of these books deals explicitly with Christology in an orthodox manner, outlining clearly the salvific relevance of the doctrine of the two natures in Christ. Enjoy!