The incarnation—the act of God assuming mortal flesh through Jesus Christ—reveals God's radical love for a world marked by the rebellion of the created against their creator. God becomes human to create life and restore the disrupted divine-human relationship. This doctrine is thus the theme of the Christian faith par excellence. However, the incarnation does not begin with its ultimate realization in Jesus Christ; that single event is preceded by a long history of a God who continually reunites with his people to lead them from death to life, from bondage to freedom.

God Becoming Human pursues the astonishing arc of the incarnation, chronicling the varying ways Scripture recounts the divide between God and the creatures of his likeness as well as the diverse expressions the text gives regarding the desire for reconciliation. As the expectations of an existing intermediary that can somehow bridge this gap between God and humans dwindle throughout the Old Testament, hope is increasingly placed on new forms of closeness to God. The closeness made possible by Jesus Christ receives a wide range of interpretations by New Testament witnesses and is continued by a rich chorus that culminates in the early church with the theology of the incarnation.

Reinhard Feldmeier and Hermann Spieckermann invite readers to see that the doctrine of the incarnation, the pinnacle of the scriptural saga of redemption, reveals that God's ultimate purpose in dealing with creation was to become human. As narrated in the story of the fall, if paradise was lost because humanity wanted to emulate God, the one reconciled with God through Christ is now given the opportunity—and challenge—to become a child of God. In accordance with the One who descended from the heavenly throne, one must precisely lower oneself and thus fully embrace one's created humanness. It is through the flesh that the created and their creator are joined; there is no other path to unity.

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Yes, you can access God Becoming Human by Reinhard Feldmeier,Hermann Spieckermann, Brian McNeil in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Biblical Criticism & Interpretation. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

Baylor University Press

Year

2021

ISBN

9781481313872

Topic

Theology & Religion

Subtopic

Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Cover
Endorsements, Title Page, Copyright Page, Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Translator’s Note
Abbreviations
Introduction: The Aims of This Work
A: The Prehistory of the Incarnation
I: In the Beginning: The Creator and His Problematic Image
II: Mediators of God’s Nearness
III: New Figures of God’s Nearness
IV: At the Point of Transition: From Death to Life
B: Conceptions of Incarnation
I: The Galilean Man of God: From the Jesus of Memory to the Christ of Faith
II: Kyrios Jesus Christos: Paul on the One Who Became Human
III: The Proclaimer as the Proclaimed: The Synoptic Tradition
IV: The Incarnation of the Logos: The Johannine Tradition
V: Christ and the Christians: The Early Christian Testimony
Conclusion: The God Who Became Human—and Our Becoming Human
Bibliography
Index of Subjects
Index of Ancient Sources