The Forgotten Christ 01

The first session on the first day of the Affinity Study Conference followed lunch and was chaired by the currently ubiquitous Bob Letham, newly recruited to ETCW. The speaker was Andrew McGowan, Principal of Highland Theological College. His brief was to set the scene with a largely historical paper on Chalcedon and beyond.

His paper covered the Christology of Chalcedon, beginning before Nicaea and bringing us down to the Council of Chalcedon in 451, followed by biblical teaching showing Chalcedon to be sound. He then looked at 'Post-enlightenment Christology' looking at Liberal theology (Christology from below) and Barthianism (Christology from above). 'The theological significance of Chalcedon', looking at the person of the logos, the communio (and communicatio) idiomatum and the Last Adam. He concluded that we should accept Chalcedon but say why we do. Perhaps we can find better ways of expressing these truths.
Our group was given the question of what are the most effective ways of affirming Christ’s uniqueness as God and man in a pluralistic society. We found it difficult to resolve the need to take a stand on important issues yet keep the teaching about Christ central.
Other groups reported back on Chalcedon's significance for setting out parameters and showing we're not ‘Johnny come latelys’. Chalcedon is part of our narrative. It is true to the Bible but inevitably bound by its context. The need for an evangelical doctrine of ‘tradition’ was accepted. Liberalism is still alive in many ‘churches’ though less so in Affinity ones. We can learn from men like Barth (as suggested) but need to take care. The hypostatic union has relevance to theology (no Mediator otherwise) pastoralia (Nestorianism still exists) and evangelism.