Required reading
Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge (Vol 2) (Available from Amazon or free here) - Continue Chapter 3 (Person of Christ) by reading up to the heading '8. Modern forms of the doctrine'.
My summary
Now Hodge presents later forms of the doctrine of the person of Christ.
We learn about the teaching of:
(i) Socinus;
(ii) Swedenborg;
(iii) Isaac Watts.
Both Swedenborg and Watts believed in the preexistence of Christ's humanity.
What grabbed me
I appreciated Hodge's objection to the belief of Watts: 'The doctrine that Christ's human soul was the first and most exalted of created spirits, raises Him beyond the reach of human sympathies. He is, as man, farther from us than the angel Gabriel. We need, and the Bible reveals to us a, so to speak, more circumscribed Saviour, one who, although true God, is nevertheless a man like unto his brethren, whom we can embrace in the arms of our faith and love.'
Christ's humanity must be the same as ours or he is not our Saviour.
Next week's reading
Continue Chapter 3 (Person of Christ) by reading up to the heading 'Schleiermacher'.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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