Revisiting Jesus Christ's Continuing Humanity

Patrick Nasongo Ph.D.

Description

The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus presupposes the continuing humanity in heavenly abode. Jesus' continuing humanity has greater implications to Jesus and the church.
Most readers are familiar with Jesus’ deity and His humanity while He was here on the earth, but they seldom consider the fact of His continuing humanity. Dr. Nasongo investigates the insufficient treatment of this subject from the time of the Apostolic Fathers to the present, and then he presents the biblical evidence for Christ’s continuing humanity. In the process, he demonstrates its relationship to apologetics, hermeneutics, and systematic theology, with a special emphasis on eschatology.

Sujets

• Biblical Commentary
• Philosophie et théologie
• Parusía
• Resurrection
• Parousia
• Religion
• Résurrection (homonymie)
• Ascension

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 12 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664275782
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

REVISITING JESUS CHRIST’S CONTINUING HUMANITY
ITS IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS
PATRICK NASONGO, PH.D.


Copyright © 2022 Patrick Nasongo, Ph.D.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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All scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7579-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7578-2 (e)
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 09/06/2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Chapter I:Introduction
Three Major Views of the Continuing Humanity of Christ
Contemporary Views of the Kenosis
A Summary of the Discussion
Chapter II:Historical Literature on Jesus’ Continuing Humanity
The Patristic Period (A.D. 100–680)
The Fourth-Century Fathers (A.D. 300–399)
The Post-Nicene Fathers (A.D. 325 & Later)
The Early Creeds of Christendom
The Apostles’ Creed
The Nicene Creed
The Chalcedonian Creed (A.D. 451)
The Middle Ages (A.D. 500–1500)
Late Middle Ages
Reformation Teachings (1500–1600)
Modern Period Scholars
Contemporary Period
Chapter III:Biblical Teachings on Jesus’ Continuing Humanity
Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection
The Form of Jesus’ Resurrected Body
Questions and Answers to Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection
Jesus’ Bodily Ascension
Questions and Answers to Jesus’ Bodily Ascension
Jesus’ Bodily Continuing Priesthood
Functions of a Priest
Intercessor
Mediator
Benediction
Jesus’ Bodily Return
Additional Perspectives of Jesus and Paul
Jesus
Paul
Chapter IV:Implications of the Continuing Humanity of Jesus
Implications to Jesus Christ
Implications to Believers in Christ
Chapter V:Conclusion and Application: Continuing Presence
 
Heidelberg Catechism
Bibliography
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Dr. Nasongo is back again and has a better song this time. But first, I want to thank my wife, Sylvia. You read early drafts and advised me on how to proceed. Your council motivated me. Above all, I thank God who enabled me to write. His sufficient grace guided me through this laborious task.
Second, I deeply appreciate the dear friends I met at Carolina University (formerly Piedmont International University) during my doctoral studies. These friends were terrific in reading, editing, and shaping my dissertation. Due to the great importance and contribution that dissertation made, I turned it into a book and is now making a lasting impact on many theologians around the globe. When this study came knocking, I could think of no other but my dear friends who carried me through the finish line during my doctoral years. These friends became part of the Scribe team, which greatly helped me. I am forever grateful.
Third, I want to acknowledge my dissertation reader, Dr. Frederick Bunts. He read through the first and final draft and pointed out errors I could not have discovered. I am so grateful to Dr. Bunts for his carefulness to detail, even pointing out my incorrect Greek grammar. He is a gifted reader. I know Dr. Bunts is a busy pastor, but he set aside his time to read through this book. May the Lord reward your time and sacrifice to his kingdom. God will reward your godliness and wisdom.
Additionally, I want to thank Dr. Gee Lowe, who birthed this idea for me. I recall Dr. Ghee saying that Jesus’ permanent humanity is a fundamental doctrine that deserves attention within the Evangelical Church. He observed, “Although this aspect is assumed true within the Evangelical Church, studies from the Apostolic Fathers to contemporary times will prove otherwise.” Simply, this issue is somehow overlooked, although there are scant discussions by scholars here and there. Furthermore, Dr. Ghee added, “If Jesus’ humanity is permanent, then what is its significance to our salvation today?” This concept is the reasoning behind this subject: The Continuing Humanity of Jesus: Its Significance. Although I didn’t follow his script, there is some resemblance. I owe all to him. Dr. Ghee not only taught me theology at International Theological Seminary, but he prepared me for a lifetime of learning God’s Word.
Last and not least, I would like to apologize to anyone I may have forgotten to mention your name. I know you played a fundamental role in the writing of this book. I pray that the Lord who sees in secret place bless and reward you abundantly. Thank you for everything. Patrick Nasongo, Ph.D.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
T HE CONCEPT OF JESUS CHRIST’S continuing humanity is not new. Evangelicals are aware that Jesus is presently a human in a glorified body in heaven. However, most of them have not thought about how Jesus continues to be a man. Their conclusions about Jesus’ post-resurrection humanity are not explicitly stated. Instead, evangelical scholars have focused on the Christology of the historical Jesus, his resurrection, ascension, and current session. These doctrines are fundamental to the Orthodox faith but seem incomplete without a detailed analysis of this aspect. Furthermore, the teaching on the continuing humanity of Jesus is plausible and biblical. Since the 1 st century, the Orthodox Church merely addressed the matter, as we shall see later. But why the continuing silence on this matter? The Church either assumes this doctrine is true or settled. This is a resolution made by church councils over the centuries, especially the Nicene and Chalcedonian Creeds (A.D. 325 & A.D. 451, respectively). I will revisit the relevant resolutions on the creeds accordingly. However, a caveat is in order: I will not speculate on the details of the life of Jesus in heaven. It is sufficient to know that Christ Jesus is in heaven, continuing as a human yet fully God.
In the rest of this chapter, I discuss three major views concerning the nature of Christ’s humanity and some contemporary views of the kenosis . After that, I summarize my discussion and describe the rest of the book’s content.
THREE MAJOR VIEWS OF THE CONTINUING HUMANITY OF CHRIST
Scholars hold several views on Jesus’ post-resurrection humanity. The first view claims that the person of Jesus is eternal, but not his humanity. Thus, Jesus’ humanity was temporal, while his divinity, which pre-existed, is eternal. Thomas Torrance writes:
The humanity of Jesus was assumed into oneness with the eternal Son and shares eternally in the glory of the only begotten Son of God which he had before the world was created. The doctrine of the hypostatic union asserts a union of the two natures in one person. It does not assert the pre-existence and in that sense the eternity of the human nature, for the human nature of Jesus was a creature of God, and in Jesus himself the human nature had no independent hypostasis prior to the incarnation. But we must assert of the humanity of Jesus that it was given hypostasis , reality, real personal being, in the eternal Word, in the eternal Son, in the eternal hypostasis of God the Son.” 1
If the above view stands, then many questions linger in my mind. For example, isn’t Jesus the God-man? If Jesus’ humanity is in oneness with the Son of God, what is the possibility that He will come again in his human nature? These are complex questions deserving a response.
The second view holds that Jesus ascended to heaven bodily and continues in his humanity but is unlikely to return to reign and judge at the end. It teaches that Jesus is presently Lord and King, thus reigning on his throne. This view is held by some covenant theologians, who emphasize the exaltation of Jesus after the ascension. Keith A. Mathison, an advocate of Ligonier Ministry, writes:
Many people believe Jesus predicted His final return to judge creation when He quoted Daniel 7:13–14 in Matthew 24:30. But as John Calvin and other scholars have noted, Daniel 7 refers not to the Son of Man’s descent from heaven but to His entrance into heaven to receive His kingdom. Matthew 24:1–31 does not predict the end of the world. It foresees events associated with Jesus’ enthronement as King of kings and Lord of lords, events that culminated in the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem. The ascension of Christ recorded in Acts 1:6–11 is one of these events, the Son of Man coming to receive His kingdom as foreseen in Daniel 7:13–14 and Matthew 24:30. 2
Similarly, Bruce Ware contends that Jesus is reigning now, not only in his divinity but also in his humanity. He writes, “If one looks carefully at biblical teaching about the current reign of C