Creeds and confessions throughout Christian history provide a unique vantage point from which to study the Christian faith. To this end, Donald Fairbairn and Ryan Reeves construct a story that captures both the central importance of creeds and confessions over the centuries and their unrealized potential to introduce readers to the overall sweep of church history. The book features texts of classic creeds and confessions as well as informational sidebars.

What can the early church contribute to theology today? Although introductions to Christian theology often refer to its biblical foundations, seldom is much attention paid to the key insights the early church had into the nature of Christian faith and life. Donald Fairbairn takes us back to those biblical roots and to the central convictions of the early church, showing us what we have tended to overlook, especially in our understanding of God as Trinity, the person of Christ and the nature of our salvation as sharing in the Son's relationship to the Father. This book will prove useful to beginning theology students as well as advanced theologians who want to get at the heart of the Christian gospel.

St. Fulgentius of Ruspe was perhaps the most brilliant North African theologian in the era after St. Augustine's death. He wrote widely on theological and moral issues. Between the years AD 519 and 523, Fulgentius engaged in correspondence with a group of Latin-speaking monks from Scythia, and that correspondence is translated into English-almost all of it for the first time-in this volume. The correspondence is significant because it stands at the intersection of two great theological discussions: the primarily Eastern Christological controversies between the Fourth Ecumenical Council in 451 and the Fifth in 553, and the largely Western Semi-Pelagian controversy, which ran from 427 to the Second Synod of Orange in 529. Contemporary Western scholars normally treat these controversies over Christ and grace separately, but there were noteworthy points of contact between the two discussions, and Fulgentius and the Scythian monks were the ones who drew the connections between Christology and grace most strongly. These connections suggest that we today may do well to treat Christology and grace more as two sides of the same coin than as separate theological issues. Both sets of issues deal fundamentally with the relation between God and humanity: Christological questions ask how the divine and human are related in the person of the Savior, and grace-related questions ask how the divine and human are linked in the conversion, Christian life, and final salvation of each Christian. Thus, Fulgentius's correspondence with the Scythian monks can do more than simply aid understanding of sixth-century Byzantine/Roman theology. It can also contribute to our contemporary thinking on the relation between two of the Christian faith's most central doctrines.

Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective features six highly respected scholars from schools such as Erskine Theological Seminary, Talbot School of Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. These scholars address an issue that has a significant impact on the way Christians should approach everyday evangelism but is often ignored: the fundamental fact that the Savior who died on the cross and rose from the dead is the eternal second person of the Trinity.
The Christian church has confessed this truth since the early centuries, but many modern theologies have denied or ignored its implications. To clarify the complex issue, these writers approach "post-Chalcedonian" (451 AD) Christology from a variety of disciplines--historical, philosophical, systematic, and practical--thoroughly examining the importance of keeping Jesus Christ in trinitarian perspective.
Major chapters include: "Introduction to Christology: Chalcedonian Categories for the Gospel Narrative," "The Eternal Son of God in the Social Trinity," "The One Person who is Jesus Christ: The Patristic Perspective," "Metaphysical Models of the Incarnation: Person, Nature, Mind, and Will," "The Atonement: A Work of the Trinity," and "Jesus' Example: Prototype of the Dependent, Spirit-Filled Life."
This introductory Christology book is written for advanced undergraduates and entry-level seminary students.
Endorsements:
Timothy George (Th.D., Harvard), founding Dean and Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, executive editor of Christianity Today, and author of Theology of the Reformers
"The doctrine of the Trinity, as expressed in the classiccreeds of the early church, was the necessary theological expression of two non-negotiable biblical affirmations--the Old Testament declaration, "God is One" and the New Testament confession, "Jesus is Lord."~ This superb collection of essays by evangelical scholars unpacks this great truth by giving the lie to the false dichotomy between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.~ A great primer in historical theology!"
Don Thorsen (Ph.D., Drew), Professor of Theology, Haggard Graduate School of Theology, Azusa Pacific University, author of An Invitation to Theology: Exploring the Full Christian Tradition
"The study of Jesus Christ is obviously important to all Christians. However, it is not obvious that he must be understood in light of the trinity. We must reflect upon Jesus' life and ministry in relationship to God, the Father, if we are rightly to appreciate and apply what scripture says about him. Likewise, we need to consider the person and work of the Holy Spirit throughout Jesus' life. Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective helps Christians to understand and appreciate the importance of the trinity in considering Jesus--the life he lived, the salvation he provided, and the role model for how we should live and minister. The book provides clear-cut axioms for investigating the dynamics and significance of Jesus' relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Christians will benefit greatly from the variety of ways Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective explores who Jesus is, especially in light of who he is in relationship to God the Father and the Holy Spirit."
Darrell Bock, (Ph.D., Aberdeen) Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary, authorof Jesus According to Scripture, Studying the Historical Jesus, and commentaries on Luke (2 vols) and Acts
"For a careful look at how Jesus has been understood theologically in the church, Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective is a solid walk through what is often dense terrain. There is much to ponder here. I am pleased to recommend it."
J.P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Biola University, author of Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview and Kingdom Triangle
"In recent years, intense research has been directed at christological and trinitarian themes with exciting and insightful results. Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective is on the cutting edge of this research because it is the only volume to approach these themes in a multi-disciplinary perspective. Faithful to scripture and Chalcedon yet creative and fresh, Sanders and Issler have given the church a theologically rich and devotionally practical guide to the person and work of Christ. Pastors and informed laypeople will profit greatly from this book. Moreover, it would be my first choice as a text in Christology."

In the last decade, Eastern Orthodoxy has moved from being virtually unknown to Western Christians to being a significant presence on the religious scene in North America and Great Britain. In light of Orthodoxy's growing presence, this book will introduce Western Christians to the Eastern Orthodox vision of the Christian life by examining Orthodox theology and worship and will also alert readers to the cultural and historical factors that shape any interpretation of the Christian faith.

Was there a genuine theological consensus about Christ in the early Church? Donald Fairbairn's persuasive study uses the concept of grace to clarify this question. There were two sharply divergent understandings of grace and christology. One understanding, characteristic of Theodore and Nestorius, saw grace as God's gift of co-operation to Christians and Christ as the uniquely graced man. The other understanding, characteristic of Cyril of Alexandria and John Cassian, saw grace as God the Word's personal descent to the human sphere so as to give himself to humanity. Dealing with, among others, John Chrysostom, John of Antioch, and Leo the Great, Fairbairn suggests that these two understandings were by no means equally represented in the fifth century: Cyril's view was in fact the consensus of the early Church.

How did the early Church understand the relation between grace, salvation, and the person of Christ? Donald Fairbairn's persuasive study shows that, despite intense theological controversy, there was in fact a very strong consensus in the fifth century about what salvation was and who Christ needed to be in order to save people. This consensus can serve as a standard by which to judge the varied pictures of Christ which coexist in the contemporary Church.