■^i.V>fKXX'!'-,XX ;"'*^^'i'*--^?*i>j-"''-'"^'*V'- CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Alfred C. Barnew' CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 092 365 018 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092365018 THE DOCTRINE OF THE INCARNATION THE DOCTRINE OF THE INCARNATION BY ROBERT L. OTTLEY, M.A. FELLOW OF S. M. MAGDALEN COLLEGE AND PRINCIPAL OF THE PUSEY HOUSE, OXFORD Vol. I TO THE COUNCIL OF NIC^A LONDON METHUEN & CO. NEW YORK: MACMILLAN & CO. 1896 s 3,11 PREFACE This book is primarily intended for theological students. The writer's aira has been to meet a want which he believes to exist : the want of a compendious and plain introduction to the doctrine of the Incarnation, giving a connected outline of the theology and doctrinal history which may be studied separately, and more minutely, in larger books. The different elements which are com- bined in the work may be gathered from the following account of its general plan. In the introductory part a general survey is given of the fact of the Incarnation : its nature, different aspects, and relation to various provinces of thought and inquiry. Another section (Part II.) is devoted to the scriptural presentation of the doctrine. The writer believes that this division of the subject strictly belongs to the history of dogma. It seems indeed to be reasonable, both on historical and critical grounds, to assume that the New Testament lies behind the dogma of the Church, as its presupposition, and a determining factor in its develop- ment. The theory that the theology of the Church is vi PREFACE merely a product of Greek metaphysics would seem to be largely based on the deliberate exclusion of the evidence of the New Testament ; ^ and it is accordingly very important to estimate fairly the strictly dogmatic element in Scripture, if the subsequent process of ecclesiastical definition is to be correctly understood. There is ample ground for the conclusion that a far more considerable element in the development of dogma than " Hellenism," has been the influence of Scripture and the religious experience of Christians. The third and largest portion of the work (Parts III.-IX.) consists of an historical sketch covering the period between the Apostolic Fathers and the close of the sixteenth century. The last section (Part X.) may be best described as a connected series of notes on the actual " content " of the doctrine, comprising a brief discussion both of theological points and of the technical terms most frequently employed by ecclesiastical writers. In dealing with a subject which has been the theme of a literature so vast, the writer has been largely dependent on the labours of others. With a general acknowledgment of indebtedness he must be content; but in particular he feels himself under obligation to the well-known works of Dorner, Harnack, Weiss, Seeberg, 1 The value of such works as Dr. Hatch's Bibbert Lectures, or Dr. Harnaok's Dogmengesehiclite, is considerably impaired by this preconcep- tion. See a valuable chapter on "Hellenism" in Dr. Bigg's recent work on Neoplatonism (chap. viii.). PREFACE vii Hagenbach, Liddon, and Bruce. He is deeply conscious of the many shortcomings of a book written amid frequent interruptions, and necessarily limited in scale. If to any the exact study of dogma seems in days like ours a profitless labour, it may be sufficient to reply in the words of a mediceval writer : quam frustra timemus circa illam materiam studiorum nostrorum moras impendere, quam semper oporferet, si fieri posset, prce oculis habere, et in ejus admirationem jugi occupatione animos suspendere} The writer trusts that his work will do nothing to wound or hinder, but rather something to stimulate and encourage, the spirit of practical devotion to Him whom to know is life, whom to serve is freedom. ' Ric. de S. Vict, de Emman. ii. 20. CONTENTS PAET I INTEODUCTOEY § I. The fact of the Incarnation : its nature (S. Jo. i. 1-14) § II. The purpose of the Incarnation 1. The climax of history . 2. The climax of creation ; miracle 3. The restoration of Humanity 4. The revelation of God . III. Evidence of the Incarnation summarised ; Apostolic belief ; the History of the Church ; the spiritual experience of Christians ; the early New Testament literature . 7 7 11 19 22 29 PAET II SCEIPTUEAL PEESENTATION I. Witness of the Old Testament 39 1. Doctrine of Man 40 2. Doctrine of the Divine Immanence ... 41 The Theophanies 42 3. Intimation of plurality of Persons in the Godhead . 43 4. Doctrine of the Messiah, in the Old Testament and in later literature 47 CONTENTS PAGE § II. The New Testament presentation 65 1. The development of Apostolic faith ; the Gospel account of the person and claims of Christ . . 65 2. The early preaching of Christ (Acts of the Apostles) 84 3. Christology of S. James 88 4. Christology of S. Peter's first Epistle and S. Jude . 91 § III. Christology of S. Paul 94 1. Implicit teaching of earlier Epistles ... 94 2. Explicit teaching of the later Epistles as to — (a) The Method of redemption (PhU. ii. 5-11) . 102 (5) The Kedeemer's person (Col. i. 15-20) . . 107 (c) The extension of the Incarnate life (Eph. i. 3-14) 110 General survey 113 § IV. The Epistle to the Hebrews 121 § V. The Theology of S. John 129 The Apocalypse 131 The Epistles 134 The Gospel 136 § VI, General review of the Apostolic teaching . . . . 146 PART III THE AGE OF APOLOGETICS § I. The Apostolic Fathers 155 § II. Heresies as to Christ's person in the first and second centuries 165 1. Ebionism 167 2. Gnosticism 172 Marcion 179 CONTENTS XI § III. The Defence of the Faith ; general characteristics of Kastern and Western theology . § IV. The Greek theology . Epistle to Diognetus . The Apologists in general Justin Martyr Clement of Alexandria . § V. Western theology ; general survey Irenseus .... IS? 186 186 189 194 201 206 20» PAET IV THE BEGINNING OF POLEMICS § I. The Monarohian controversies .... Adoptianism Modalism or Patripassianism § II. Anti-Monarchian theology Christology of Origen . § III. Tertullian ... Novatian ... Hippolytus § IV. The close of third century Christology The two Dionysii ..... Later writers of the school of Origen 1. Close of third century theology ; the Antioch (269) .... 2. Confusions in ante-Nicene tenninology 3. Anticipations of Nioene doctrine . 4. Concluding survey Council of 225 228 233. 237 238 253 267 269 273 27* 278 280 285 29(X 294 :xii CONTENTS PAGE :§ V. Arianism 299 1. The doctrine of Arius 300 2. The methods of Arius and his school . . . 303 3. Dogmatic consequences of Arianism . . . 309 4. Repudiation by the Church 310 5. The Council of Nicaea 313 6. The word Homo-ousios 315 APPENDIX "Note A. Images of the Gennesis ....... 323 Note B. The Principles of Conoiliar Authority .... 323 Note C. The Christian fact as guarded by the Definitions of the Church 326 PART I VOL. I.- § I. The Fact of the Incarnation : its Nature (S. Jo. i. 1-14) § II. The Purpose of the Incarnation. 1. The Climax of History. 2. The Climax of Creation ; Miracle. 3. The Restoration of Humanity. 4. The Revelation of God. § III. Evidence for the Incarnation summarised ; Apostolic belief ; the History of the Church ; the spiritual experience of Christians; the early New Testament literature. THE INCAENATION § I. The Fact of the Incaenation To the question, What is Christianity ? the simple answer is that in its essence it is not an idea, nor a particular view of life, nor a speculation, but a fact, a unique phenomenon. Of this fact we must consider at the outset the nature, the method, and, in outline at least, the purpose. 1. In its nature or essence what is the Incarnation ? It is a movement of Divine compassion and sympathy towards man ; the assumption of human nature by the eternal Son of God, in order that He might restore and consummate it by uniting it to His own person. It is an act of grace whereby God actually brings man into fellowship with Himself. This is the account of S. John in his first Epistle : That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us : yea, and our fellowship is luith the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ} Being then an action which originates in the Divine love, we are prepared to find that redemption is a work beyond our power to com- pletely analyse or comprehend.^ It must ever be 1 1 s. Jo. i. 3. ^ Cp. W. H. Mill, Five sermons on the nature of Christianity, Nos. i. and ii. 4 THE INCARNATION borne in mind that the Incarnation is a mystery of godliTiess} 2. The Method by which the fact has been accom- plished mnst next be considered. It has been summarily described by Bernard, Modus quidem Dei exinanitio est? By a continuous act of self-limitation and self- sacrifice, the Son of God condescended to aid humanity from withia ; taking our nature ia its entirety as the robe or vesture of His own personality, and as the medium of His self -revelation ; passing through the different phases of a human life, so as to share, not by Divine intuition merely, but by actual fellowship, the reality of our human experience ; enabling our nature to achieve that of which in its native strength it was incapable ; consecrating it to God in a life of obedience and suffering; perfecting it by submission to the law of mortality ; carrying it through and beyond the state of death into the glory of the resurrection life ; exalting it to the throne of God, and winning for it acceptance by the merit of His Divine person ; finally, re-creating it by the grace and power of His glorified manhood, and henceforth using it as the organ of universal sovereignty. We shall best begin our study of the doctrine by examining the authoritative statement contained in S. John's prologue (S. Jo. i. 1—18). That great passage may be somewhat expanded, and its teaching expressed in six propositions : — i. As regards the Divine Being, S. John intimates a plurality of Persons in the Godhead. He states the exist- ence, and; summarises the work of the Word, who is the eternal self-expression or utterance of God ; the revealer of His character and mind ; personally distinct from God, yet living in eternal fellowship and communion with Him ; in essence coequal with Him : the Word was God. 1 I Tim. iii. 16. 2 Bern, in Ccmt. xi. 3. THE FACT OF THE INCARNATION 5 ii. A doctrine of creation follows. The cosmos is called into being by a fiat of the Divine will, but God acts through the agency of His Word. The Word im- presses on the universe its visible order and rationality, upholds it in existence, and is Himself its predestined end or climax. Two other points may be noticed. The act of creation seems to be a prophecy of the Incarnation in so far as it is a first step in Divine self -limitation — an act whereby God calls into existence beings other than Himself, sets them over against Himself, and enters into relationship with them. Thus a self-imparting move- ment of love is seen to be the first cause of the creation. Further, S. John is careful to teach the doctrine of Divine immanence. God indwells His own world " absolutely separate from the creature, yet in every part of the creation at every moment ; above all things, yet under all things." '^ He is the sustaining cause, the persistent energy, of all that exists. iii. Humanity is next introduced, — the rational, self- conscious life in which created being culminates. The Logos has ever been the light of men. He lighteth every man, coming into the world ; being present in the dictates of conscience, in the faculties of invention or discovery, in the organisation and development of social life, in the energies of thought ; imparting at once to objects their truth, and to man his faculty to know. As all objects of human thought — all laws scientific, moral, social, artistic — are ideas of the Logos, so all right exercise of human faculties depends upon His enabling presence. He is immanent in His entire creation ; but His highest and most distinctive operation is the illumination of the reason and conscience of man.^ ' Newman, Idea of a University, p. 63. "Bern, in Oant. iv. 4: "Tali proinde dignatur modo ilia maiestas suis esse creaturis, omnibus quidem quod sunt, animantibus autem quod et 6 THE INCARNATION iv. S. John's doctrine presupposes a fall from light. Under the abstract term " darkness " he includes the varied forms of moral evil. The fall is described by Athanasius as " the aversion " ; by Gregory of Nyssa as " the withdrawal of the soul from moral good." ^ Just as a planet on its averted side is dark, so man, in turning away from the true centre of his being, became " darkened," and fell under the power of evil. Thenceforth the uni- verse became a scene of conflict between the darkness and the light, which did not forsake men, nor was itself utterly quenched. S. John's Gospel describes, in its main outlines, the historic conflict thus indicated in the prologue. V. In due time occurred the self-manifestation of the Logos. He had ever given tokens in the works of creation of His indwelling power and Godhead ; throughout the course of history He had ever visited men in providence and ia judgment. Further, His coming had been heralded by prophecy. John the Baptist is mentioned as the type or crowning example of the whole chain of prophets u'hich have been since the world hegan. In different ages there had been those whom the Divine wisdom inspired in varied degrees and manners ; here and there speaking to chosen souls among the heathen, intensifying their thirst for light and truth, and preparing the way for a fuller self- manifestation. For history and prophecy alike pointed to a climax which was reached in the Incarnation. The Logos finally manifests Himself personally and specially to an elect people; but the manifestation has a twofold issue, and acts as a principle of judgment or severance. On the one hand, the incarnate Word meets with national rejection ; on the other, with individual acceptance, — the vivunt, pon-o ratione utentibus lux, recte vero utentibus virtus, vincen- tibus gloria." ^ Ath. c. Oent. v. : ^ t&v Kpeirrhvav d,vo was that He was the second Person of the Trinity.^ The lowest view, perhaps, requires that we should believe there was in Him at least a special presence of God.^ Augustine insists that the theophanies were self-manifestations of God through a created being; in this finite spirit God personally presents Himself: Jehovah is in him. Oehler notes that the same expressions are used in speaking of the representation of God by the Mal'akh as in describing the Divine indwelling in the sanctuary ; in both is the Divine " name " and the Divine " countenance." If the Shekinah be a real presence of God, " a sinking of the Divine into the sphere of the creature," so also is the Mal'akh* All these manifestations point — (a) To the possibility of personal converse between God and man. This impression is strengthened by a free use of anthropomorphisms in describing God's dealings with man.' (6) To the possibility of God revealing Himself through and in a created form. God was " training His people .... at length to recognise and to worship Him when hidden under and indissolubly one with a created nature." ® They are, as Bull says, " a prelude of the Incarnation." ^ Tert. adv. Prax. xiii. ' See testimonies in Bull, Def. fid. Nic. lib. i. ' Liddon, Bampton Lectures, pp. 53-59. * Oehler, Theol. of the O.T. §§ 59, 60. ^ Oehler, op. eit. § 46. " Cp. Novatian, de Trin. xviii. WITNESS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 43 (c) To a twofold relation of God to man : on the one hand God is hidden, on the other revealed. In His essen- tial nature He is invisible (Ex. xxxiii. 20). The gradual development of the idea of the Divine holiness implies a constantly increasing sense of the transcendence of God, — His separateness from creation. Thus later prophecy (Isai. xl. 25) connects the conception of moral holiness with that of a spiritual being who cannot be represented in material form.^ Yet the tendency to anthropo- morphic expressions in relation to the Divine Being seems to be heightened in the later stages of Israel's history. We have to account for the strange fact that in those books of the Old Testament in which the strongest protest is made against material modes of con- ceiving the Divine Being, we have the most frequent use of anthropomorphisms.^ ui. Intimations of a plurality of persons in God. 1. The names Elohim and Jehovah (Jahveh). The name Elohim cannot nowadays be pressed in the same way as formerly.^ The plural is perhaps intensive — the general notion being " fulness of might." * But in any case the form of the word combats the notion of a sterile monotheism by implying that all Divine powers and functions, which the heathen distributed among many deities, are concentrated in one being (cp. 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6). The name Jahveh, too, as designating a spiritual being who is identified with other Divine powers and attributes, ' OeUer, § 46. " Novatian, dt Trin. vi. , makes some interesting remarks on the mean- ing of anthropomorphic expressions in the Old Testament. ^ See, e.g., Liddon, Bwmpton Lectures, pp. 49 ff.; Oehler, § 36. * Cp. 0^65*11? in Prov. ix. 10, xxx. 3, as an equivalent of niH''. Some would regard the word as a remnant of primitive polytheistic ideas. See Robertson, Early Religion of Israel, pp. 172 and 502 ; Robertson Smith, Seligion of the Semites, pp. 150 f., 426. 44 THE INCARNATION and so reveals Himself under a variety of names, shows that the idea of God in Jewish monotheism is not a bare unit. "His nature can only be apprehended as that which involves diversity as well as unity." ^ 2. The Old Testament doctrine, both of the Angel and of the Spirit, prepares the way for a doctrine of the Trinity. In the Spirit, as in the Angel, is a special presence and special action of Jehovah.^ 3. Glimpses of intercommunion between persons in the Deity, e.g., in Gen. i. 26, "Let us make man." Cp. ui 22, xi. 7, where we seem to have a colloquy within the Godhead. 4. Triplication of the Divine Name — beyond any point we can call accidental, e.g., the priestly blessing (Num. vi. 23 f.). 5. The doctrine of the Divine Wisdom. In the book of Proverbs {e.g., viii. 22) Wisdom is introduced as a quasi-personal being distinct from God. She is personified, but never perhaps actually hyposta- tised.' She is no mere attribute of Deity, but the creating, energising, all-subduing, and ordering Thought {vow) of God — the Divine plan of the universe, the summary of the ideas embodied in creation. In the Wisdom-doctrine of the Old Testament we can discern progressive stages. Thus in Prov. viii. and Job xxvui. Wisdom is personified as a being distinct from God. In later books she is represented as at once emanating from God (Wisd. vii. 23—25) and immanent in nature (i&. vui. 1 f.). The ascription to her of personality is more clearly marked. Finally, in the Philonic doctrine of the Logos, which is the true complement of the Wisdom-doctrine, and is almost anticipated in such a passage as Wisd. xviii. 15, 1 Caird, PhU. of Religion, p. 312. = OeUer, § 65. ' This is a controverted point, and not easy to determine. Doubtless the language used about Wisdom reacted on the conception. WITNESS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 45 we seem to stand on the very verge of the New Testa- ment doctrine. Indeed, these personifications of Wisdom " mark the highest point to which Hebrew thought on the world rose." ^ It is a difficult question to decide how far the Wisdom-doctrine in its later form betrays the intrusion of Hellenic thought, but it may be fairly main- tained that the tendency to regard Wisdom as the highest moral principle in the universe is characteristically Jewish. It culminates in the lofty Philonic conception of the Logos as " second God," " servant," " archangel," etc., of the Most High. Much has been written about Philo's doctrine of the Divine Logos. His theology is a blending of Stoic, Platonistic, and Judaistic elements ; and his Logos-doctrine is based on the transcendental conception of God which he iaherited from his reUgion. In His self-existence. His absolute essence, God is incomprehensible; He is without attributes ; we know only that He is. The Logos, on the other hand, is the operative reason of God, the power through which the Deity comes into contact with the universe. Philo, however, appears to alternate between two conceptions of the Logos. On the one hand, He is immanent in the universe — scarcely distinguishable from the cosmos of which He is the inward principle ; on the other, as the ideal of the universe, and as comprehending in Himself the different forces which produce it. He is transcendent, and has His abode within the Divine essence.^ But, speaking generally, the Logos in the system of Philo occupies a ministerial, mediating position; ' Davidson, Book of Job, Introd. p. Ixii. For a sketch of the Wisdom- doctrine, see Farrar, Introd. to " Book of Wisdom " in Speaker's Oom- mentary; Corner, Doc. of the Person of Christ, div. i. vol. i. pp. 16 f.; Liddon, Bamptm Lectures, pp. 60-63 ; Oehler, §§ 235-242. ' Cp. Harnaok, Dogmengeschichte, i. pp. 95-99 ; Domer, div. i. vol. i. p. 27 ; Martineau, Seal of Authority, etc. pp. 405 ff.; Pfleiderer, Phil, and Devel. of Religion, vol. i, p. 123. 46 THE INCARNATION He is a creative and administrative instrument, trans- lating the Divine idea of which He is the expression into concrete facts and laws. It cannot be said that the Logos is anywhere regarded by Philo as strictly personal, but perhaps the simple reason is, as Dr. Martineau points out, that " the con- ception of personality as now held is a later acquisition of the Western European mind, and has no equivalent in the philosophy which threw itself into the old Greek moulds of thought." ^ It may be confidently maintained, however, that in closely connecting the idea of creation with the idea of the activity of the Logos, Philo recognises at least a distinct furvction, if not a distinct 'personality, and thus a path is opened towards a fuller recognition of distinctions within the Divine Being. In view of His lofty functions, the relation of the Logos to God cannot be that of a mere attribute to a substance. Some of the terms which Philo appHes to the Logos anticipate to a certain extent the Logos-doctrine of S. John. Though S. John does not seem to be dependent on the Philonic idea of the Logos, it was through the influence of PhUo's system that the thought of mediation between God and creation became fixed in a form from which it could never again be disconnected. " As the mediator of the creation, the Logos is also the mediator of all religious revelation. He is therefore called, on the one hand, the Servant, Ambassador, Substitute, Interpreter, Angel of God, and, on the other, the Eepresentative, High- Priest, Intercessor, and Advocate (Paraclete) of men." ^ "This shadowy form of the Philonic Logos which wavers between conceptual abstraction and personality could naturally not suffice to satisfy the religious need of a real historical revelation of God ; but its great historical ' Seat of Authority, etc. p. 419. " Pfleiderer, Phil, and Devel. of Jieligion, vol. ii. p. 227. WITNESS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 47 significance consisted in this, that it prepared the con- ceptual form for the theological apprehension and expres- sion of the new revelation in Jesus Christ." ^ Beyond this point the influence of Philo's system cannot be said to extend. There is no trace of it in the teaching of S. Paul, and the central thought of S. John, the identifica- tion of the Divine Logos with the historical Messiah, seems to have been remote from Philo's mind. Further, in so intellectual a system as his, the function of faith appears relatively insignificant; while the Christian ideas of atonement, forgiveness, sacrifice, priesthood seem to have little or no meaning. Indeed, we see in the case of such a Platonist as Clement how alien are these ideas from the general tone of his thought.^ iv. Doctrine of Messiah. The yearning for Messiah was at its root an anticipa- tion of the union of Divine and human attributes in a single personality. ^ Pfleiderer, Phil, and Devel, »f Beligion, vol. i. p. 123. A typical passage of Philo describing the functions of the Logos is found in Quis rer. dim. hceres, i. 42. [Franokf. 1691, p. 509 B & C] TCfi di ipxo.yyi^

9a,pToy, Tpeff^evriii 5^ TOV ify^fiovos irpos to inriiKoov. diydXherai Si irl t'q Sujp^i}, Kal ffefjLvvvi^yos aiVjjj/ iKSttjyetTat ^ifficwV " K&yi> el(!i\Kea> &va, fiiaov Kvpiov Kal ifiwD, otfre ay^vvrfTo^ its o 6e6s &v, olhe y^vTfros ds ifieis, dXXd lUaoi twv &KpuVj AfitpOT^poLS ofi-Tjpeiuyj iraph. [iiv tQ VTeiffavTi irposl iridTLV tov fii] aTvfiirav d.tpa.vl(yai Trore Kal iiroo-TTJyat to y4voi dKOavepu6ivTos,Wet. i.20. 2 See generally Weiss, Bibl. Theol. of N.T. §§ 49, 50. * The so-called second Epistle is of unknown authorship and uncertain date. It represents our Lord as an object of knowledge (irlyvaait, 2 Pet. i. 8, ii. 20 ; cp. chap. iii. 18), and this knowledge is the end of the life of grace. Here again by implication is given the most exalted view of Christ's person. To Him belong /ji,eya\ei6nis (i. 16), 56fo khI iper-t) (i. 3), 94 THE INCARNATION S. Jude speaks of himself as the slave of Christ (v. 1). His main thought is the finality of the faith of Christ, as One in whom we have union with God. His gift is eternal life; His mercy the object of hope; He whom heretics deny is o /movo'; Bea-iroTTj? koX Kvpi,o<;. § III. The Christology of S. Paul^ The form of S. Paul's Christological doctrine is largely determined by the moral and practical aim which the apostle had in view at different epochs of his life, and by the spiritual experiences of his own career. In his earlier letters he exhibits Jesus Christ in His relation chiefly to the fundamental need of humanity, justification before God; and in relation on the other hand to the expectations and claims of the Jewish people. Christ is at once the Messiah, the promised seed of Abraham, and the source of the righteousness in virtue of which man finds acceptance with God. In later Epistles we find a more comprehensive view of Christ's person. The his- torical and cosmic significance of the Incarnation is insisted on ; the fact that it is at once the consummation of an age-long purpose of God for man and for the universe ; and the revelation of a mystery of godliness hitherto hidden from mankind. I. In the two earlier groups of Epistles (ranging in To know Christ is to be a partaker of the Divine nature (i. 4). "The author, in teaching such a participation, shows that he has passed beyond the Jewish separation between God and the world ; that a mighty revolu- tion of Jewish conceptions has been brought about by the knowledge that in Christ the union of God and man had been accomplished " (Domer, div. i. vol. i. note X. p. 353). On the question of the genuineness of 2 Peter, see Sanday, Bampton Lectures, vii. note B. ^ See generally Liddon, Bampton Lectures, pp. 331-337 ; Pfleiderer, Paulinismus, esp. c. 3 ; Pressens^ Early Years of Christianity, vol. i. pp. 264 ff. (E.T.). THE CHRISTOLOGY OF S. PAUL 95 date from 52 to 59 A.D.) teaching as to our Lord's person is mainly implicit. A position is assigned to Christ which seems inevitably to imply His divinity. Thus, in respect to His nature and rank ia the scale of being, Christ is invested with Divine attributes. He is co-ordinated with God in greetings and farewells (e.g., 2 Thess. i. 2 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 14). He is the source of S. Paul's own apostolate (Gal. i 1). He is represented as a pre-existent Being (Eom. i. 4, Trvev/ia ; ^ 1 Cor. xv. 47 ; 2 Cor. viii. 9) ; as the agent in creation (1 Cor. viii. 6), as exercising a mediatorial function (1 Cor. x. 4). Finally, He is called Lord (Kvpio<}), and in a great climactic passage, God over all, Messed for evermore.^ On the other hand, S. Paul has a clear grasp of our Lord's real humanity. His humiliation. His sinlessness, His suffer- ings (Eom. i. 3, viii. 3 ; 2 Cor. v. 21, vui. 9, xiii. 4 ; Gal. iv. 4). Pfleiderer infers from the comparative absence of reference to the details of our Lord's earthly life that S. Paul had little or no knowledge of the traditional facts, but in reply it has been urged that S. Paul's experience was of a kind peculiar to himself. By a sudden and violent transition he was called on " to believe in a glorified Lord, and not to follow a suffering teacher." The Church instinctively felt that his conversion " was to him what death was to the other saints, the entrance into a higher life."^ Henceforth ' The doctrine of the Son's pre-existence seems to be implied in this expression of S. Paul, as certainly it is in later theology. Cp. Lightfoot, j^jp. 0/ S. Clement, vol. ii. p. 230, note. ^ Rom. ix. 5. The arguments as to the application of this passage are well stated in Gifford's Commentary, add. note on ix. 5. Liddon, Bampton Lectures, pp. 316 ff. ; cp. Fairbairn, Christ in Mod. Theol. p. 308, note ; Weiss, Bibl. Theol. of N.T. vol. i. p. 393, note (E.T.). ' Westcott, iTitrod. to the Gospels, p. 220 ; cp. Weiss, Bibl. Theol. ofN. T. § 58 ; and Fairbairn, Christ in Mod. Theol. p. 305 : "The history is the very groundwork of the apostle's thought, everywhere assumed in it, in- separable from it, the element in which it lives, moves, and has its being. " 96 THE INCARNATION he knew Christ after the flesh no more.^ The Christ present to his thought was the risen and ascended Re- deemer in the splendour of His Divine glory. But S. Paul's conception of Christ's person may be gathered no less clearly from the statements which he makes respecting our Lord's office in relation to humanity. Not only is He the future Judge whose return is the Divine event towards which our universe tends (1 Thess. ii. 19, iii. 13, and iv. 6, 17 ; 2 Thess. i. 8-10, etc. ; Rom. xiv. 9 ; 2 Cor. v. 10). He is the Justifier of humanity, the one Mediator between man and His Creator (Eom. x. 4, v. 15 ; Gal. iii. 24). He is the Giver of grace, a quickening Spirit, the Head of a new humanity, the second Adam, exercising lordship in the realm of grace as in that of nature (Rom. v. 18 ff. ; 1 Cor. xv. 45 ; 2 Cor. iii 17).^ Further, the expression Image applied to Christ in both an earlier and later Epistle (2 Cor. iv. 4; Col. i. 15) im- plies that Christ is not only the representative of God, but the essential revealer of the invisible Father. On the other hand, references to Christ as sent (Rom. viii. 3 ; Gal. iv. 4) imply the subordination of the Son to the Father, — a doctrine which is implied in other passages, such as 1 Cor. iii. 23, xi. 3, xv. 28, and is indeed inseparable from the conception of Sonship. It will be clear from this brief sketch what position 5. Paul assigns to our Lord. His view of Christ is essentially (to borrow a somewhat vague modern term) pneumatic. Christ is the heavenly or spiritual man ; in His original subsistence Divine, and therefore in His incarnate Life a new creation of God, " a Being above nature, who has life and is capable of giving it " ; * a Being who assumes human nature, that He may present 1 2 Cor. V. 16. 2 Op. Liddon, Bampton Lectures, pp. 308-310. ' Fairbairn, op. cit. p. 311 (1 Cor. xv. 45 ff.); cp. Weiss, Bibl. Theol. ofN.T. § 79 (vol. i. p. 408, E.T.) ; Harnack, Dogmengeschichte, i. p. 81. THE CHRISTOLOGY OF S. PAUL 97 it, perfected by obedience, as a living sacrifice to God ; that He may indwell humanity as the source of its righteousness and the pledge of its future glory. It is thus on the whole true that the earlier Pauline Epistles " construe the Christian fact rather in the anthropological than in the Christological form." ^ S. Paul's own experi- ence taught him to regard Christianity mainly as a new way of human salvation, vouchsafed to man in the person of the Divine Kedeemer ; as a revelation of grace bestowed on mankind through the mediation of the second Adam. The leading ideas which give distinctive character to S. Paul's implicit teaching on the person of Christ seem to be the following : — 1. The conception of Christ's Lordship; to Him belongs a Divine sovereignty which He has merited by the life of creaturely service and obedience, and on the possession of which He entered at the resurrection. We preach, says the apostle, Christ Jesus as Lord? This is the distinguishing mark of the Christian profession and of apostolic preaching. The title sums up Christ's relation to the visible universe and to the Church ; Christians belong to Him ; ^ they are bound to accept His commands as decisive ; * they are under law to Christ ; '' He is the fountain-head of all grace, authority, and disciplinary power ; ^ He is to be finally looked for as judge.' Like S. Peter, S. Paul does not hesitate even to apply Old Testament Jehovah-passages to Christ;^ and he ascribes to Him that absolute sovereignty over the ^ Dorner, Perscm of Christ, div. i. vol. i. p. 50. ^ 2 Cor. iv. 5 ; op. 1 Cor. xii. 3 ; Rom. x. 9. 2 Rom. xiv. 8 ; 1 Cor. iii. 23. * 1 Cor. vii. 10, etc. ^ 1 Cor. ix. 21 ; Gal. vi. 2. " 1 Cor. v. 4 f 2 Cor. x. 8, xiii. 10. ' 2 Cor. V. 10. *Rom. X. 13 ; 1 Cor. ii. 16; cp. 1 Cor. x. 22. The absolute expression 6 Kipioi is often applied to Christ. 6 Kipiot 'Itj^oOs in 1 Cor. xvi. 23 ; 2 Cor. i. 14, xi, 31 ; op. Rom. xiv, 14. VOL. I. — 7 98 THE INCARNATION universe which belongs to Deity alone. He is Lord of all ; 1 Lord of glory ; ^ the splendour of the Diviae state belongs to Him as the exalted Messiah ; the essence of the Divine nature is His ; He is Spirit.* 2. The thought of Lordship is qualified by that of Sonship. Christ is in a unique sense the Son of God (d 'ISio': 1/W9, Eom. viii. 32 ; cp. 3), in the sacrifice of whom is displayed the transcendent greatness of Divine love. The title Son imports somethiag beyond mere Messianic dignity, — the dignity with which ia the resurrection Christ was invested, and which was then recognised as essentially His own.* The term denotes a personal relationship to God, in virtue of which the sufferings and death of Jesus acquire special significance. Further, all allusions to the sending of the Son '" imply that in His original state or nature Jesus Christ was an in- habitant of heaven ; ^ the Incarnation was a change of state in the life of a pre-existent bemg, a change which involved subjection to creaturely limitations and the law of educational discipliae {ylyvecrdai viro vo/jlov, Gal. iv. 4). It was an act of abnegation, in which an unknown measure of condescending grace was exhibited.' At the same time the term Son, while it implies a position of unique pre-existent glory and bliss, naturally conveys the further thought of subordination to the Father ; the Son, notwithstanding His Divine dignity, being sealed as the executor and Mediator of the Diviae purpose of salvation. Thus the Divine sovereignty of the Son is ultimately to be surrendered to the Father ; ^ for the essential relation ^ See Rom. x. 12, iv. 13 (as Lord of the Messianic kingdom Christ is heir of the world) ; cp. Gal. iii. 16 f. ; Acts x. 36. 2 1 Cor. ii. 8. « 2 Cor. iii. 17 ; op. 1 Cor. xv. 45. * Cp. Acts xiii. 33 (Ps. ii. 7) ; Eom. i. 4. '' Eom. viii. 3 (tripj/a^) ; Gal. iv. 4 {iiairi(TTu\ev). " 1 Cor. XV. 47 : 6 Seirepos AfSpuiros i^ oipavov. ' 2 Cor. viii. 9 : iirTiixevae irKoiaios &v. ' 1 Cor. xv. 24-28, THE CHRISTOLOGY OF S. PAUL 99 of the Son to the Father is that of dependence. The cessation of Christ's kingship can only be understood as the close of a mediatorial function which will have attained its purpose. He must reign, says the apostle, till He hath put all His enemies under His feet. Here the " kingdom " is spoken of in relation to the opposition of a rival rule, authority, and power. It plainly means the sovereignty exercised by the exalted Christ for the accompUshment of a Divine purpose, the achievement of a Divine victory, the establishment in humanity of the kingdom of God, the overthrow of sin. " That kingdom must close when its purpose is accomplished. In that sense, but in that only, in which a king puts down his enemies, and has then no more opposition to contend with, there is the prospect of a time when our Lord can be no longer King.''^ The position of filial dependence involves the ultimate cession of sovereignty to Him who is the source of all rule, authority, and power. 3. As to the historical human life of Christ, S. Paul only mentions what is to him of immediate doctrinal importance.^ He speaks of His human descent and birth under the law ; His life of self-denial ; His institution of the Eucharist ; His suffertags, death, and resurrection.* He also touches upon the constraining force of Christ's example ; * but there are two points on which he lays special stress : the consubstantiality of Christ's humanity with ours ; and the sinlessness of His nature. Christ's human nature was of a piece with ours. He took to Himself flesh, with all its weakness and suscepti- ' Milligan, The Mesurrection of our Lord, Lect. iv. See Chrys. ad loc. As in the Apocalypse ^an'Kela seems to refer less to the splendour of royalty than to the Old Testament conception of sovereignty as a means of deliverance and victory over foes. 2 Cp. Weiss, BiU. TUol. ofN.T. § 78. ^ Gal. iii. 16 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; Gal. iv. 4 ; Eom. xv. 3 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, etc. " i Cor. X, 1 ; 1 Cor. xi. 1 ; 2 Cor. viii. 9, loo THE INCARNATION bility to suffering and death.^ S. Paul contrasts the flesh of Christ with a higher element in His being (Eom. i. 3, ix. 5) : the term adp^ being clearly employed to denote the totality of human nature : that which is characteristic of man as such (elsewhere comprehended in the expression fJ.op(j)rj BovXov, Phil. ii. 7). In virtue of this bodily nature, from which the life of the soul i'^^XV) is inseparable, Christ was subject to suffering, temptation, and death ; in a word, to all the ordinary affections and experiences of sinless humanity.^ For the " flesh " is not in itself necessarily sinful ; it has become the sphere and instrument of sin only through the misuse of human free will. Christ is " flesh," is " man," morally such as he originally was, but physically such as sin has left him, i.e. subject to creaturely weakness, pain, tempta- tion, and death, but sinless. The flesh in Christ is not the flesh of sin ; He Jcneiv no sin (2 Cor. v. 21) ; He came into the world only in the likeness of the flesh of sin, i.e. subject to all the outward conditions and experiences of sin- stricken humanity, subject to the pressure of temptation, and of all the vicissitudes which are the normal conse- quences of human sin.* S. Paul does not anywhere touch directly upon the subject of the supernatural birth ; he speaks of Christ as made of a woman (G-al. iv. 4) in a context where the main thought is similarity of the general con- ditions common to Christ and the race He came to redeem. Consequently we cannot appeal to him as bearing testimony to the evangelic tradition ; but as he nowhere contradicts ^ 2 Cor. xiii. 4 ; Rom. vi. 9. .^ On S. Paul's usage of crdp^, see Weiss, £ibl. Theol. of K. T. % 68 ; Liddon, JSp. to the Romans, p. 4 ; Gifford, Ep. to tlie Romans, Introd. p. 48; Pfleiderer, PmiUnismus, vol. i. SeeH. Scott Holland's serm., " Made under the Law " {On Behalf of Belief , p. 187). * On Rom. viii. 3, see Gifford's additional note ; Weiss, § 78, etc. The doctrine of Christ's sinlessness is dealt with in a later part of this book. See Orig. in loc. and esp. Tert. de Game Ohr. xvi. THE CHRISTOLOGY OF S. PAUL loi it, we may take it for granted that he would admit the virginal birth as the natural and credible account of a supernatural fact, which he evidently accepts, namely, the sinlessness of our Lord's manhood. 4. The significance assigned by S. Paul to Christ's death and resurrection may be urged as a proof of the exalted conception he had formed of His person.^ It is only necessary to point out the leading aspects of the Divine sacrifice which meet us in the earlier Epistles. It is, first, a supreme display of Divine righteousness and love : righteousness vindicating the law that sin deserves and necessarily involves penalty ; love finding a way by free self-sacrifice to reconcile holiness with mercy.^ Again, it is a vicarious self -oblation : a representative offering, a submission to the law of Diviae justice made on behalf of men by One who suffered in their stead ; ^ One who submitted, though sinless, to be the sacrifice for sin.* Again, it is a redemption, the blood of Christ being a propitiatory sacrifice by which mankind was delivered from the curse and tyranny of sin. The phrase aTrokvTpacn'i (Rom. iii. 24) implies, according to Old Testament usage, the idea of deliverance, but at a mighty cost. The self-surrender of Christ to death is described as a redemption-price {Tifirj, 1 Cor. vi. 20, vii. 23) with which mankind has been purchased, but the thought is combined with that of propitiation. Lastly, the work of Christ is regarded ultimately as a reconcilia- tion, or atonement, by which God again admits man, on his submission to the Divine will, into favour and friend- ship. In this connection it is the obedience of Christ, 1 Cp. Weiss, § 80. ^ See Kom. iii. 25, 26, iv. 25, yiii. 32 ; 1 Cor. xv. 3 ; Gal. ii. 20. ^ 2 Cor. V. 14, 15 ; irepl ijliui', 1 Thess. v. 10 ; iTip twv ajxapnCiv viMiv, 1 Cor. XV. 3 ; Siara TrapaTrriiifjiaTa T^p-oiv, Kom. iv. 25. ■* 2 Cor. V. 21. I02 THE INCARNATION exemplified both in His life and in His submission to death, that is the means of reconciliation, while the ground of it is to be found in the Divine mercy.^ The result of this act of grace is the acceptance, or justification, of man, and the imparting to him of the righteousness of Christ.^ The new life of Christians, however, is the self-communication of the risen Eedeemer's life and grace. If they are reconciled to God by the death of His Son, they are saved by His life? Thus the work of Christ as man's atoning sacrifice is merged in His function as the mediator of salvation. The resurrection sets as it were the seal upon the Eedeemer's work, and is the proof of its efficacy and acceptance with God. This mode of conceiving Christ's work entirely corre- sponds to the " pneumatic " view of His Person. " Theo- logy was to Paul," says Harnack, " looking forwards, the doctrine of the liberating power of the Spirit (of Christ) in all the concrete relations of human life and need. The Christ who has already overcome law, sin, and death, lives as Spirit, and through His Spirit lives in believers, who for that very reason know Him not after the flesh. He is a creative power of life to those who receive Him in faith, that is to say to those who are justified." * The pre-existent, crucified, risen, and exalted Christ is in fact the ruling principle and decisive element in the theology of S. Paul. From this brief summary of the apostle's earlier teach- ing we turn to his more explicit theological statements. II. The explicit Christological teaching of S. Paul may be best exhibited by a brief consideration of three con- spicuous passages which treat the Incarnation from different points of view. 1. The method of redemption is described in the iRom. V. 10, 11 ; 2 Cor. v. 18-20. - Rom. v. 9. ^ Rom. V. 10. ■* Harnack, Dogiiuiigeschichte-, i. p. 82. THE CHRISTOLOGY OF S. PAUL 103 earliest Epistle of the first captivity, Phil, ii 5-11. It should be observed that the whole passage is introduced with a practical moral purpose, — to illustrate the spirit of self-sacrifice, which does not insist on its rights. Our Lord is presented as the pattern of one who foregoes pre- rogatives that might be claimed, and renounces the state of pre-mundane sovereignty which by right was His. This is generally allowed to be the motive of the passage.^ The chief points to be observed ia this great passage are the following : — (a) The unity of the person whose action is described. The passage starts from the historical person Jesus Christ, and traces the continuous action of a single personal will. The Incarnation is the transition, or descent,^ from a heavenly to an earthly and human existence ; from a state of glory to one of servitude and trial. (h) The pre-existenee of Jesus : eV /^o/d^^ 6eov virdpyoiv. This phrase impKes possession of all the characteristic and essential attributes of Deity. jJ'Op^ri is not to be confounded with ovaia, but only one who was God could subsist iv fJ-opipfj 0eov. The word fJ'Opcprj in fact comprises all those qualities which convince us of the real presence of a being or object.^ In this state ^ See, e.g., Pfleiderer, Paulinis7rms, i. p. 137 (E.T.). ^ Cp. Eph. iv. 10, 6 KarajSas. ' See Lightfoot, ad loc. ; Chrys. ad loc. ; Trench, Synonyms of the N. T. § 70. //.op^ presupposes oi(Tia. and (picns, and cannot exist without them. "/iop0i} addit essentise et proprietatibus essentialibus et naturalibus alia etiam accidentia quae veram rei naturam sequuntur et quibus, quasi linea- mentis et coloribus, o^o-Ia et ^iJo-is conformantur atque depinguntur." — Zanchius (ap. Bruce, Humiliation of Christ, p. 19). Chrys,, however, says ■fl /to/)07) ToO deoO, 6eoS (pins. It would be more strict to say, perhaps, that the Son of God could part with fiopipT] 6eo0 but not with oiala or (fiiins 8eov. But, says Chrys. , ovk iariv dWris oicrlas Svra, tt)V aX\i]! fwp(f>T]ii ix^iv. "In our case," he adds, "who have a composite nature (irt/i'ffeToi), form pertains to the body. But in the case of the simple, unoompounded nature, it pertains to the essence (oOirtes)" {ad Phil. 238 D.). I04 THE INCARNATION our Lord originally subsisted, i.e. before his Incarnation. Equality in state with God (to elvat. iaa Oew), with all that it implied of glory and bliss, was His own. But He did not regard this state as a prize or dignity to be retained. He therefore ceased for a season to be equal in state to God.^ He surrendered the enjoyment of privileges which He might have claimed. (c) The Kevcoai^ is the process or method by which our Lord emptied Himself of the state of Deity. The voluntariness of the action is emphasised {ixevaia-ev eavTov). In what this self-emptying consisted it is impossible to speculate. S. Paul, however, implies that though in the abstract difficult to conceive, it was a real act of the Divine will ; ^ he does not exclude the idea that the Son of God continued in some sense to be what He was before. So Chrysostom insists, liivcov, jtrjaXv, o •qv, e\aj3ev o ovk tjv.^ The real point is the exhortation to imitate the mind of Christ ; there is no special insistance on the mystery of the act by which He became incarnate.^ ^ With iirdpxw, k.t.\., cp. S. John's iv dpxv ^v (i. 1), and the statement of S. Jo. xvii. 5. Chrysostom insists 0i5i7is 70^ iXdrruv ovk Sv divairo dpTrdfrat to elpac iv fieyd'hy olov b dvdpwiro^ ovk &.v dtjvaiTO dpirdixai to yev^crSat la-OS dyyiXip Kara t^v (picnv. Harnaok (DogmeTigesch. toI. i. Appen- dix 1) deals very fully with the Pauline (Hellenic) conception of pre- existence. S. Paul, he thinks, is the primary author of that form of Christology which was afterwards expressed as follows : — X/jicrros, 6 Kiipios 6 (Ttitras ^jttas, itiv p.h t6 irpCoTov irvevpia, iyiv^TO ffdp^ Kal oiyriijs Tjfias iKd\€vcnv, ov kuto, rrjv KaKuav).^ ' Likeness ' implies that it was not in all respects the same, e.g. as regards conception of a virgin, and sinlessness." Finally, Christ was found (appeared) in outward fashion as a man ; He passed through the external phases of ordinary human experience. The incidents of His life were such as could fall under the observation of His fellow-men.* Yet the word fashion {cxTjua) implies that this was a transitory phase, a temporary stage, in Christ's human development. (e) The essential characteristic of the nature assumed by the Divine Son was submission to the will of God. ^ Joh. Damasc. de Orth. Fide, iii. 21 : /cal Soi\r}v a,vi\a§ev (jiiaiv, KaX yap dot!i\7] icTiv ?J dvdpitjTov Cp. Eom. V. 19 ; lieb. v. 8. THE CHRISTOLOGY OF S. PAUL 107 becomes empty and flat, when it is detached from this." 1 2. The most impressive description of the Eedeemer's person is found in the Epistle to the Colossians (chap. i. 15—20). In the third group of his Epistles, to which this letter belongs, S. Paul is no longer confronting Judaistic error as to salvation, but a Judseo-Oriental con- ception of Christ's person.^ In the heresy which the Colossian Church seems to have exhibited in a nascent form, it has been customary to trace the fundamental idea of the Gnostic cosmology, namely, that of the essential inherent evil of matter. It is not necessary to pursue this conception to its source. It is suf&cient to point out its practical consequences, which were mainly two. (1) If matter is evU, the question arises how God can create or otherwise come in contact with matter ? This problem was solved by the supposition that there existed a hierarchy of intermediate beings, each containing less of the Divine element than the one higher in the scale. The lowest of these beings, it was taught, would be sufficiently akin to gross matter to come into contact and relation with it. (2) But again, if matter be evil, how can the soul be liberated from its control ? In answer to this question use was made of the Christian idea of redemption, which was represented as consisting in the liberation of spirit from the trammels of matter. This result was to be achieved by a rigid asceticism, and by contempt and depreciation of the body. ' Martensen, Christian Ethics (General), % 79. - Dr. Hort {Judaistic Christianity, pp. 116 ff.) questions the current opinion that the Colossian heresy was of a speculative tjrpe, connected with Essene influences. His weighty arguments make the connection at least very doubtful. The distinctive features of the heresy seem rather to be derived from Palestinian (Pharisaic) Judaism than from Essene influence. io8 THE INCARNATION These ideas appear in their developed form in later Gnosticism ; but in germ, at any rate, they underlie the mode of thought which S. Paul combats by a direct and positive statement of the significance of Christ's person, and the effect of His work in practically abrogating the ceremonial ordinances of Judaism. In this passage the Son of God is exhibited as the iTnage, of the invisible God. The term sIkcov, which S. Paul uses in an earlier Epistle (2 Cor. iv. 4), implies a twofold function of the Son. (1) In Him is presented the adequate and essential expression of the Divine nature ; He is the visible representation of Deity, because in Him dwells the plenitude of Divine attributes. (2) He is the remaler of Deity, manifesting that which in itself is invisible. His character is a true manifestation of the Divine glory ; in Him is conveyed to man a real and perfect knowledge of God. The function here ascribed to the Image is equivalent to that of S. John's Logos (cp. S. Jo. i. 18, xiv. 9, 10). From this conception of the Son's person follows the truth of His essential relation to the natural creation and to the new creation — the Church of redeemed humanity. i. The Son is firstborn of all creation, or in relation to all creation. To Him belongs the dignity of primogeni- ture (irpaTOTOKia) ; in relation to creatipn He is prior to it (auTo? ecTTi irpo ttclvtcov), and exercises sovereignty over it. In fact, the expression TrpwroroKO';, when considered in its context, implies the Son's pre-existence ; while its Messianic associations suggest the idea of lordship and heirship.^ The mediatorial function is thus involved in the fact of Divine Sonship, and this is first exercised in the act of creation. All things were created in Rim, as their ^ See Lightfoot's exhaustive note, ad loc. ; Liddoii, Bampton Lectures, pp. 321 ff. ; and Weiss, Bihl. Theol. of N.T. § 103. THE CHRISTOLOGY OF S. PAUL 109 archetype ; hy Him as the co-operating agent ; unto Him as their final cause. All things in Him cohere, hold together (crvvecrTrjKev). The laws which by their inter- action bind the universe into a rational and ordered whole (K6crfio<;) are expressions of His mind. In Him created life eternally was (Rev. iv. 11); the universe was ever present to the thought of God. The pre-existent Word was, in the phrase of Philo, the K6tTfj,o^ vor^ro?: the ground and source of all existence.^ There is, in fact, but one link between God and the universe, between the absolute and the world of matter, namely, the person of the Son. ii. The Son also stands in an essential relation to the Church, or new creation. " The Creator," says a living writer, "is so bound to His creation that He cannot allow it to be divided from Him by evil, for this would be its ruin. And so at the touch of evil the cosmology becomes a soteriology ; for when sin enters the world, the Creator, who is good, has no choice but to become the Saviour."^ The mediatorial function which the Son exercises as Creator, He fulfils also as Eedeemer. He is the one link between God and mankind. " He absorbs in Himself the whole function of mediation. Through Him alone, without any interposing link of communica- tion, the human soul has access to the Father. He is the Head with whom all the living members of the body are in direct and immediate communication, who suggests their manifold activities to each, who directs their several functions in subordination to the healthy working of the whole, from whom they individually receive their inspira- tion and their strength." ^ It is unnecessary to dwell on the details of this •• Cp. Martensen, Christian Dogmatics, § 125. " Fairbairn, Christ in Modem Theology, p. . ■' Lightfoot, Colossians, p. 183 (ed. 1), no THE INCARNATION passage ; it will suffice to point out its leading thought, the cosmical significance of Christ's person and work. In the earlier Epistles the thought of the exaltation of Christ poiated back to that of His heavenly origin. But it is characteristic of the group of Epistles to which the Colossians belongs that the significance of the Eedeemer's person is deduced a priori from the mystery of God's creative thought, according to which the purpose of salvation was intimately connected with the plan of the universe realised in creation. The eternal purpose of love is fittingly and naturally carried into effect through the agency of God's Beloved, the Son of His Itne} who alone can endue humanity with the grace of adoptive sonship. As all things were created by the Son, so all were created for Him, (ek avrov). The ultimate goal of the universe is the restoration of all things to their natural dependence on Christ as the centre and source of their life and movement.^ This conception of Christ marks an advance in the later theology of S. Paul, as compared with that of his earlier Epistles. 3. In Ephesians i. 3—14 is described the exten- sion of the incarnate life in the kingdom of redeemed humanity. The conception of Christ's person as the source of a new life, the archetype of a new nature, leads on to the idea of a cathohc society, of which the risen and ascended Lord is the Head and life-giving principle. The Church is contemplated as perpetuating the life of the Son of God, and as uniting individual souls to Him by a process of incorporation. The quickening power of Christ's spiritualised humanity is the principle of the Church's unity, and the gift which it perpetuates. The first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians speaks 1 Eph. i. 6 ; Col. i. 13. ^ Eph. i. 10 : dca/cei/ioXoiiio'OO'fioi to vdyra iv Xpt(TT