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The God Who Became Human (Graham Cole)

In the most recent issue of Credo Magazine, “What’s the Big Story?”,  Graham Cole contributed a column called, “The God Who Became Man.” Cole is the Anglican Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School. He is the author of numerous books including, He Who Gives Life: The Doctrine Of The Holy Spirit; God the Peacemaker: How Atonement Brings Shalomand The God Who Became Human: A Biblical Theology of Incarnation.

Cole begins his column, writing:

Biblical theology as a discipline pays close attention to the unfolding biblical story from Genesis to Revelation. In so doing it particularly looks at the plotline with its Christo-centric focus as Brian Rosner suggests. My new book, The God Who Became Human: A Biblical Theology of Incarnation, belongs to this genre.

However, the result of the study may surprise. Did Isaiah expect the incarnation of Yahweh or did Jeremiah or Malachi? I think not. Instead we find two lines of expectation: the coming of God and the coming of a divine agent (e.g. a king like David, a prophet like Moses). So then how was this most stupendous divine act providentially prepared for? How could an incarnation be possibly understood truly but, of course, not exhaustively?

Reflecting on these questions led me to explore the way God is self-revealed from the very beginning of the biblical narrative, next the former and latter prophets, then in Israel’s hope. What struck me is how God comes before us as though embodied, as though incarnate. We read of the divine heart, arm, face, grief, and anger. We find the God who speaks, stands, acts and performs in ways analogous to human roles as a shepherd or king or warrior or nurse. This led me to posit three categories of such materials: anthropomorphism (human like shaped, e.g. arm), anthropopathism (human like emotion, e.g. grief) and athropopraxisms (human like roles, e.g. king). Indeed, in some of the biblical testimonies the appearance of God can best be described as “anthropomorphic theophany” (e.g. Jacob’s wrestling match in Genesis 32), to borrow from James Barr.

Read the rest of Cole’s column today!

To view the Magazine as a PDF {Click Here}

What’s the Big Idea Story?

Why Biblical Theology Should Matter to Every Bible-Believing Christian

When the sixteenth-century Reformation erupted, one of the alarming dangers that became blatantly obvious to reformers like Martin Luther was the pervasiveness of biblical illiteracy among the laity. It may be tempting to think that this problem has been solved almost five hundred years later. However, in our own day biblical illiteracy in the pew continues to present a challenge. Many Christians in our post-Christian context simply are not acquainted with the storyline of the Bible and God’s actions in redemptive history from Adam to the second Adam.

With this concern in mind, the current issue of Credo Magazine strives to take a step forward, in the right direction, by emphasizing the importance of “biblical theology.” Therefore, we have brought together some of the best and brightest minds to explain what biblical theology is, why it is so important, and how each and every Christian can become a biblical theologian. Our hope in doing so is that every Christian will return to the text of Scripture with an unquenchable appetite to not only read the Bible, but comprehend God’s unfolding plan of salvation.

Contributors include: Justin Taylor, Darian Lockett, Edwards Klink III, David Murray, Stephen Dempster, James Hamilton, T. Desmond Alexander, Stephen Wellum, Peter Gentry, G. K. Beale, Graham Cole, and many others.

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