
Union with Christ in the New Testament
Grant Macaskill(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 7. November 2013
Book
Hardback
364 pages
978-0-19-968429-8 (ISBN)
Description
This book is a study of the union between God and those he has redeemed, as it is represented in the New Testament. In conversation with historical and systematic theology, Grant Macaskill argues that the union between God and his people is consistently represented by the New Testament authors as covenantal, with the participation of believers in the life of God specifically mediated by Jesus, the covenant Messiah: hence, it involves union with Christ. Christ's mediation of divine presence is grounded in the ontology of the Incarnation, the real divinity and real humanity of his person, and by the full divine personhood of the Holy Spirit, who unites believers to him in faith. His personal narrative of death and resurrection is understood in relation to the covenant by which God's dealings with humanity are ordered. In their union with him, believers are transformed both morally and noetically, so that the union has an epistemic dimension, strongly affirmed by the theological tradition but sometimes confused by scholars with Platonism.
This account is developed in close engagement with the New Testament texts, read against Jewish backgrounds, and allowed to inform one another as context. As a 'participatory' understanding of New Testament soteriology, it is advanced in distinction to other participatory approaches that are here considered to be deficient, particularly the so-called 'apocalyptic' approach that is popular in Pauline scholarship, and those attempts to read New Testament soteriology in terms of theosis, elements of which are nevertheless affirmed.
This account is developed in close engagement with the New Testament texts, read against Jewish backgrounds, and allowed to inform one another as context. As a 'participatory' understanding of New Testament soteriology, it is advanced in distinction to other participatory approaches that are here considered to be deficient, particularly the so-called 'apocalyptic' approach that is popular in Pauline scholarship, and those attempts to read New Testament soteriology in terms of theosis, elements of which are nevertheless affirmed.
Reviews / Votes
Macaskill has written an excellent work. He pays significant attention to both New Testament texts and issues but also church traditions of interpretation. His use of the motif of covenant as a uniting concept is helpful as it adds attention to background context for the NT, yet avoids a simplistic reduction. Students and scholars should give careful attention to this work and its contribution to both NT studies and biblical theology. * Timothy J. Bertolet, Reading Religion * This fascinating study is an important contribution both to New Testament studies and to dogmatic theology. * Richard J. Ounsworth OP, New Blackfriars * This is a wide-ranging and rich study, which draws insights from various strands of Christian theology and biblical scholarship. * Paul Foster, The Expository Times * Macaskill has given scholarship and the church a gift ... Union with Christ in the NT is a wonderful addition to biblical studies related to participation and theosis. I hope many will read Macaskill's work and NT union passages with new and refreshing insights ... Not only will biblical studies students find Macaskill's text refreshing, but so will pastors and students of Second Temple Judaism, patristics, and Reformed and Lutheran theology * Shawn J. Wilhite, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society * To say that I recommend the book is to put it too weakly. Instead, I recommend that students and scholars of the NT not only read it, but also take its methods to heart * Bobby Jamieson, Themelios * Macaskill's book is, quite frankly, brilliant. The payoff for the reader is enormous. * Rohintan Mody, Churchman * an engrossing read from start to finish and will richly repay a careful and close reading...Highly recommended! * Martin Williams, Vox Reformata. * Grant Macaskill's Union with Christ in the New Testament is an ambitious and rare work of New Testament scholarship. Rarely do modern scholars dare to suggest that the writings of the NT as a whole offer a cohesive vision of a topic as broad as union with Christ ... It is the rare combination of approaches so often held apart or dismissed that makes Macaskill's work so exciting and promising ... Macaskill offers insightful summaries and analyses of the major works from Deissmann up to the recent work of Constantine Campbell ... Its refreshing openness to ontological questions and boldness in bringing together approaches too often held apart are a hopeful sign of real progress in the field of theological interpretation. One hopes that such openness will inspire others to further the work of bridging the gap between biblical studies and theology. * Isaac Augustine Morales, O.P., Nova et Vetera * Grant Macaskill's Union with Christ in the New Testament is a must-read for all with scholarly interest in the topic of union with Christ. The primary value of Macaskill's study lies in the fact that he takes into account the entire NT, rather than just the Pauline corpus (as is the case with most treatments of union with Christ) or the Pauline corpus and the Fourth Gospel. While the richest and most explicit treatments of union with Christ are to be found in these two bodies of Scripture, the rest of the NT has much to say as well, offering both additional insight as well as demonstrating coherence with the writings of Paul and John. Because NT scholars tend to focus on Jewish and Graeco-Roman contexts and backgrounds and neglect examining the context provided by the wider NT, the fact that Macaskill skillfully does the latter makes this volume a valuable read that provides a good model to follow for all students and scholars of the NT. * Jennifer Guo *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
718 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-968429-8 (9780199684298)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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Grant Macaskill
Union with Christ in the New Testament
Book
02/2018
Oxford University Press
€51.36
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Grant Macaskill
Union with Christ in the New Testament
E-Book
11/2013
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€27.49
Available for download
Person
Author
Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies, University of St Andrews, Scotland.
Content
Introduction ; 1. Participation and Union with Christ in New Testament Scholarship ; 2. Participation and Union with Christ in the Patristic Tradition and Modern Orthodox Theology ; 3. Participation in Lutheran and Reformed Theology ; 4. Exploring the Backgrounds to Union with Christ ; 5. Examining the Adamic Backgrounds of Union with Christ ; 6. The Temple and the Body of the Messiah ; 7. Other Images of the Temple in the New Testament ; 8. The Sacraments and Union with Christ ; 9. Other Participatory Elements in the Pauline Corpus ; 10. Further Participatory Elements in the Johannine Literature ; 11. Grammars and Narratives of Participation in the Rest of the New Testament ; 12. Conclusions ; Bibliography