This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Incarnation and inspiration : John Owen and the coherence of christology. Spence, Alan John The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 08. Oct. 2021 1 INCARNATION AND INSPIRATION JOHN OWEN AND THE COHERENCE OF CHRISTOLOGY by Alan John Spence A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy KING' S (X)LLB3E LONDON UNIVERSITY OF LONDON March 1989 To Sheila 3 ABS[RAC Incarnation and inspiration are concepts which can be used to characterise two different ways of thinking about Christ. Although the history of doctrine suggests they are mutually exclusive, the argument of this thesis is that John Owen successfully integrated them into one coherent christology. The underlying structure of his exposition was that of the incarnation, understood as the Son's act of condescension whereby he willingly assumed human nature into personal subsistence with himself. This assumed humanity maintained its integrity in all its operations experiencing God always as man. To the question, 'How did the divine Son act on his own human nature?' Owen answered that he did so indirectly and by means of the Holy Spirit. The distinctive work of the Spirit is the establishment of the Church by the restoration to it of the image of God. The prototype or foundation of this work of renewal was laid in the humanity of Christ, which the Spirit formed, sanctified, empowered, comforted and glorified. Owen thus affirmed an inspirational christology within the framework of an Alexandrian interpretation of the incarnation. The coherence of this account is tested with respect to four areas of concern. Firstly, can a christology which affirms the distinct operation of Christ's two natures successfully maintain the unity of his personal action? Secondly, is nature or ontological language too static to model the dynamic reality of Christ? Thirdly, is Owen justified in arguing that, other than in its assumption, the divine Son acts on his own human nature only indirectly and by means of the Spirit? Fourthly, does Owen's interpretation of the distinct action of the Trinitarian persons undermine the doctrine of the indivisibility of their external operations? Finally the significance of Owen's christology is considered in relation to the Definition of Chalcedon and to modern theology. 4 XJNTENIS Abbreviations 7 Preface 8 I ThO WAYS OF ThINKING ABOUT CHRIST 10 Inspiration or Incarnation 1. Why did Jesus pray? 10 2. Incarnational christology 11 3. Inspirational christology 12 4. Compatibility and the witness of the tradition 14 a) Spirit Christology 15 b) Basil of Caesarea 16 c) Adoptionism 17 d) Irenaeus 18 e) The Antiochenes 19 f) The Alexandrians 23 g) Chalecedon 24 5. John Owen 26 Notes to Chapter One 28 I' INCARNATION 30 The Son assumes human nature 1. The writing of Christologia 30 Christ as the way of our knowing 31 2. 3. The context in which Christ is known 34 wisdom of God and the person of Christ 35 4. The 5. The appropriateness of the incarnation 39 6. The pre-existent Son 41 7. God's eternal counsels 44 8. The agent of the incarnation 46 9. The Word became flesh 48 10.The assumption of human nature 51 11 .Anhypostasia 52 12.The hypostatic union 54 13.The natures distinguished 56 14.Interaction between the natures 58 Notes to Chapter Two 60 III Inspiration 63 The Spirit renews God's image in Christ s human nature 1. Quakers and Soc inians. 63 2. The Spirit in the Christian life 66 3. The Spirit in Nature and in Grace 70 4. Christ as the foundation and goal of the Spirit's work 71 5 5. Firstborn among many brothers 73 6. The Spirit's work in Jesus 76 7. Inspiration and incarnation 82 8. Master-stories 86 9. Integrity of the Person 88 Notes to Chapter Three 89 Iv THE MEDIATOR 92 C½e person acting in two natures 1. Athanasius - The Incarnation of the Word of God 92 2. Anse im - Why was God made Man? 95 3. Calvin - Incorporating both perspectives 97 4. The office of Mediator 99 5. The person of the Mediator 101 a. a human nature 102 b. a divine nature 103 6. From Logos to Mediator 105 7. The Mediator as agent 108 8. Evaluation 109 Notes to Chapter Four 115 V THE SON AND THE FATHER 117 Of the same being 1. Introduction of the homoousion 118 2. Arian christology 118 3. The Athanasian alternative 121 a. The new difficulties it introduced 123 b. The Son as servant 124 c. The Son as divine 124 4. The Socinians 125 a. Challenge to the Trinity 126 b. Son by adoption 128 c. Dependent on the Father 130 5. Owen's response 131 a. The eternal Son 132 b. The Son as Mediator 136 6. Conclusion 138 Notes to Chapter Five 142 Vi THE SON AND THE CHILDREN 144 An 'autokinetic' human nature 1. The relation between the natures 144 2. The Apollinarian solution 146 3. An alternative account 150 4. The nature of Christ's humanity 152 a. Jesus as our prototype 153 6 b. Jesus as willing priest 155 c. Jesus as God's revelation 158 5. The self-consciousness of Jesus 163 6. Conclusion 166 Notes to Chapter Six VII ThINITARIAN AGENCY 171 The Son and Spirit as distinct agents 1. Our knowledge of God as triune 171 2. The essence of the doctrine 173 3. Opera Trini tatis ad extra sunt indivisa 176 4. Distinct principles of operation 177 a. The Spirit as a distinct person 177 b. The Son assumes human nature 178 5. Resolution 178 6. Consistent? 180 7. Strictures on the tradition 181 8. New possibilities 184 Notes to Chapter Seven 187 VIII CONCLUSION 189 The problem of christology 189 1. 2. Owen and the coherence of Chalcedon 197 3. Coherence and modern christology 203 Notes to Chapter Eight 212 Bibi iography 214 7 ABBREVIATIS ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers, reprinted by William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985ff. AV Authorised Version Ed. Edited E.T. English Translation Hebrews John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 7 volumes (vols. XVIII-XXIV of 1855 edition of The Works of John Owen), Ed. by William H Goold, reprinted by Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1980). NIV New International Version NPNF Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, reprinted by Willian B Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1975ff.) Works The Works of John Owen, 16 volumes (vols. I-XVI of 1850-53 edition), Ed. by William H Goold, reprinted by The Banner of Truth Trust (London, 1965-8). 8 PIEFACE Professor C.F.D.Moule gave the title 'Inspiration and Incarnation' to one of the chapters of his book The Holy Spirit. In his discussion of the theme of prophetic inspiration he was concerned that some sort of distinction be maintained between a consideration of Christ as one who was fully inspired by the Spirit in the manner of the prophets and as God incarnate in an abso1ute and unique sense. Faced with the theological difficulties involved in understanding and explaining the difference between these concepts as they are applied to the same person, he made the following suggestive comment: • . although it may be impossible to work these observations into a coherent system, it is more realistic to hold them together in a paradoxical statement than to force sense upon them by overlooking some of the phemomena.(p.59) Moule betrays a certain pessimism about the possibility of bringing these ideas together into a coherent structure. If they do, however, signify two equally valid perspectives in understanding the person of Christ, does not our commitment to rationality compel us to carefully examine whether some level of theological integration is in fact possible? I believe that it does and the basic intention of this thesis is to examine how the coherent integration of these concepts might be accomplished. It is to Professor Cohn Gunton that I owe the insight that a doctrine of the Spirit is essential to an adequate christology and it was he who guided me to read the work of the controversial nineteenth century theologian Edward Irving. It was with some surprise that I discovered that a number of Irving's ideas concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in the person of Christ were remarkably similar to certain aspects of the theology of the leading Puritan divine, John Owen, who had written some one hundred and fifty years before him.