The Impeccability of Christ

Edward Kanniah

Description

Christ is not just sinless but impeccable or else he could not have been the vicarious Substitute.

The following study seeks to investigate the impeccability of Christ from a historical/theological position. Two camps emerge on either side of the debate: Those who hold to the posse non peccare view, which is to say, ability not to sin, otherwise known as the peccability view and those who hold to the non posse peccare view, which is to say inability to sin, otherwise known as the impeccability view. While both camps affirm the sinless perfection of Christ, they oppose each other in whether as fully human He could have sinned if He wanted to. It boils down to a case of ‘could have but did not’ or ‘did not because He could not have’. It is the view of this thesis that the non posse peccare view squares with both historical and biblical theology.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christology
• Christianity
• Religion
• History

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 30 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664272545
• Langue: English

Extrait

The IMPECCABILITY of CHRIST
 
A Historical overview and Theological evaluation of the Necessity of this grand Doctrine pertinent to the Incarnation
 
 
 
 
 
EDWARD KANNIAH
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Edward Kanniah.
 
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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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Scripture taken from the New King James Version® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7253-8 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7255-2 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7254-5 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022913267
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 08/30/2022
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is thus far the hardest undertaking of my life as a theologian and were it not for the Lord’s help it would not have been possible. Spiritual platitudes aside, His motivation and continuous insight through His Word has driven me daily at my desk. The task had to be completed and I had to dig deep and were it not for His resources there would be nothing to dig for. All glory to God!
Not many pastors have been blessed with the congregation that I have and I am always conscious of the fact that I do not deserve the good people of Calvary Baptist Church, Sunnyridge. I thank you for your prayers and support all the way through. Your ministry to me far exceeds that of mine to you. All glory to God for your love and care!
Notwithstanding the efforts of all concerned, my wife was the one always by my side egging me on. She sits through my grumblings and pity-parties. Many were the times that I wanted to quit but she is no quitter and would therefore not let me feed on such dissuasion. She is indeed the veritable pillar in my life. All glory to God for her!
My three children (Chloe, Chelsea and Jemuel) are not just arrows in my quiver but also the jewels in my crown. They may not be a quiver full but they certainly are a handful. I give them a shout out (as the youngsters today would say). They add spice to my life and in their own weird way added to my pressure to complete this task. I have also been awarded a son in law (Conrad) and two beautiful granddaughters (Anezka & Freya) as well. All glory to God for them!
Edward Kanniah
December 2020
FOREWORD
The following study seeks to investigate the impeccability of Christ from a theological/historical position. Two camps emerge on either side of the debate: Those who hold to the posse non peccare view, which is to say, ability not to sin, otherwise known as the peccability view and those who hold to the non posse peccare view, which is to say, inability to sin, otherwise known as the impeccability view. While both camps affirm the sinless perfection of Christ they oppose each other in whether, as fully human, He could have sinned if He wanted to. It boils down to a case of ‘could have but did not’ or ‘did not because He could not.’ It is the view of this writer that the non posse peccare view, squares with both historical and biblical theology.
• We argue in chapter one by surveying Church councils up to the present time pertinent to this theme, to prove that the history of this issue matters in that it establishes the relationship between Christology and history and, by inference, a major impact upon many outcomes in Church history. This is the sine qua non of the argument and our aim was to prove that this historical error goes a long way in distorting the gospel message. The reader may find this somewhat laborious at times and weighted with jargon but if patient, will yield rewards. If the reader does decide to skip chapter one and go directly to chapter two the flow of the argument would not have been lost.
• In chapter two, we survey and evaluate the position from a peccability viewpoint while, at the same time, entering and notarizing our points of departure. We have there highlighted the arguments peccability theologians utilize to defend their view and have criticized such from our Dispensational vantage point.
• In chapter three, we then assess and acknowledge the argument for impeccability by proving the necessity of it for the exoneration of His Person and gospel. This is the raison d’être of this volume.
• In the summit of chapter four, we have surveyed the field of Scripture to have the final say on this issue and concluded in favour of impeccability. This chapter we believe to be the coup de grâce of the argument in that Scripture gets the final say, as it should.
To Mom
for indelibly imprinting into my life the cause for which a man child was brought forth.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1The History of the Debate
1. Why the History of this Issue matters.
2. The Relationship between Christology and Anthropology.
3. Christology in Classical Church History.
4. Christology in Contemporary Church History
Chapter 2The Arguments for Peccability
1. The Empathy of Peccability
2. Peccability Based on His Humanity
3. Peccability Based on His Testimony
4. Peccability Based on His Temptability
Chapter 3Arguments for Impeccability
1. His Deity
2. His Ministry
Chapter 4The Evidence of Scripture and the interpretation of that evidence.
1. In Defence of a Scriptural Defence
2. The Synoptics
3. The Johannine Gospel
4. The Pauline Epistles
5. His High Priestly Purity
6. The General Epistles
Chapter 5Conclusion
Appendix 1: The Impeccability of Christ
Appendix 2: The Impeccability of Christ
INTRODUCTION
The message of the gospel as defined in the Scriptures is the only hope for mankind. This conviction marks everyone that enters upon the New Covenant relationship with Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:6), leave alone those who later enter still further upon the pastoral ministry. However, as one grows to understand the Saviour in a more meaningful way, one becomes aware of the differences of views regarding His Person and sinless perfection.
It is a verifiable fact that every major religion in this world has some view of Christ and, for the most part, that view would be one of respect at best (Cassidy, 2005:79). The quandary grew and intensified over the years, as it became apparent to the writer that not only were there differences of views outside Christianity regarding this most important issue but also differences became more apparent from within Christianity. These were observable not only to fellow Christians but also to non-Christians (Geisler and Rhodes, 2008: 93).
The problem in mind reached its zenith when upon research it became evident that little concern hovered over Christendom concerning this problem. 1 That is to say that most people didn’t seem concerned that Christ would have to be sinless in his humanity, as He is in His deity, in order to be our vicarious Substitute. Further, it became patently obvious that the subtlety that went beyond this was that while most agreed that He was sinless in His deity they allowed for the possibility of sin in His humanity. That if He was truly human then that humanity was susceptible to sin. This we will explain more in the next section.
To engage in a vocation that was designed for the manifestation of God’s Son as the Saviour of the world without due content and consideration for His person in all His uniqueness and sinlessness violates that work. Incumbent upon the thinking of the average Christian is the consideration of the Person of Christ. Indeed the Scriptures themselves, by virtue of our Lord’s own question, demand of us a reckoning of this very issue in every age and every generation (Matt. 22:42). Exposition of Scripture will always lead to the knowledge of Christ. That is its purpose and design. Indeed our Lord verified this in Luke 24:27. True preaching then, has Christ at its heart.
However, even true preachers have points of departure. Up until the nineteenth century there was none that would have argued against the sinless perfection of Christ (Macleod, 1998:222). There are those who hold to the “able not to sin” (posse non peccare) view. This view is called the peccability position. Then there are those who hold to the “not able to sin” (non posse peccare) view. This view is called the impeccability position. Such is the divide as clearly as we know how to state it. The former hold that the humanity of Christ, the temptability of Christ, and the free will of Christ to be conclusive, in terms of showing their position as valid while the latter hold that the Deity of Christ, the Decrees of God, and the Divine attributes of Christ as irrefut