Knowing Christ In The Challenge Of Heresy

The Most Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—uses heresy. On the surface, this is a frightening statement. But through the challenge of Christological heresies, the early church was moved to the task of articulating the faith once for all handed down to the saints. As a result of these heresies, the church realized that it had to lay out biblically, with nuance and precision, who Christ is. This nuance and precision was geared toward answering these heresies with “no,” and resulted in the saints through the ages knowing Jesus better. As it was then, so it is now. The church today, in sync with the Scripture and the apostolic tradition founded upon Jesus, needs in part to articulate biblical Christology in a way that specifically addresses modern-day heresies so that we may know Christ better, more deeply. In Knowing Christ in the Challenge of Heresy, Steven Tsoukalas lays out several modern-day heretical Christologies and answers them biblically with nuance and precision. Readers will not only find a documented cataloguing of specific heresies, but also chapters on Christology found in books of the Bible.

Knowing Christ in the Challenge of Heresy responds to the modern-day challenges to the biblical understanding of the person and work of Jesus by systematically and thoroughly documenting what many cults believe about Jesus, and countering with a biblical, exegetical response. The author carefully details the nature of heresy in the quest to know Christ, patterning his response after the early Christian Church's encounters with heresy. Like the early Christians, he turns to the Bible for answers, resulting in a deeper understanding of the person of Christ. He discusses the areas of the pre-existent deity of Christ, the incarnate deity of Christ, and places special emphasis on what many cults think of Christ, and their challenge to the Church. He provides a biblical response to these questions, secondarily creating a useful sourcebook containing what many religious organizations think of Christ, as well as biblical passages that depict Jesus as fully God, fully man, and fully able to save all who call upon Him.

In Divine Truth or Human Tradition? the author critically examines the viewpoints and Scripture expositions of prominent evangelical scholars and apologistsincluding Dr. James R. White (author of The Forgotten Trinity), Dr. John MacArthur (President of The Master?s Seminary), Wayne Grudem (author of the widely-read Systematic Theology), Robert Morey (author of The Trinity, Evidence and Issues), Robert L. Reymond (author of A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith), and others According to what has long been considered mainstream Christian orthodoxy, the doctrine of the Trinity (the idea that the one God of the Bible is a singular being made up of three coequal and coeternal persons?) is not only central to the Christian faith, but even necessary for one to accept in order to be counted as a true Christian and be saved. Such a demand on a Christian?s faith has come across as strange and perplexing to many, especially so in light of the fact pointed out by one respected Trinitarian: [The Trinity] is not clearly or explicitly taught anywhere in Scripture, yet it is widely regarded as a central doctrine, indispensable to the Christian faith. In this regard, it goes contrary to what is virtually an axiom [that is, a given, a self-evident truth] of biblical doctrine, namely, that there is a direct correlation between the scriptural clarity of a doctrine and its cruciality to the faith and life of the church. (Millard J. Erickson, God in Three Persons, p. 11. Emphasis added) Understandably, this fact has raised questions in the minds of Christians and truth-seekers alike ever since the doctrine was first articulated in the late 4th century. Many Christians have wondered: How can a doctrine that is not clearly or explicitly taught in the Bible be necessary to accept in order to be a true practitioner of the Christian faith?

In Divine Truth or Human Tradition? the author examines the viewpoints and Scripture expositions of prominent evangelical scholars and apologists; including popular author and debater Dr. James R. White (author of The Forgotten Trinity), John MacArthur (President of The Master's Seminary), Wayne Grudem (author of the widely-read Systematic Theology), Robert Bowman Jr. (author of Why You Should Believe in the Trinity), Robert Morey (Founder of California Biblical University and Seminary and author of The Trinity, Evidence and Issues), R. C. Sproul (President of Ligonier Ministries), Robert L. Reymond (author of Jesus, Divine Messiah and A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith), and others. According to what has long been considered mainstream Christian "orthodoxy," the doctrine of the Trinity (the idea that the one true God is-in the ultimate sense-a divine being made up of three co-equal and co-eternal persons) is not only central to the Christian faith, but absolutely necessary for one to accept in order to be counted as a true Christian and be saved. Such a demand on a Christian's faith has come across as strange and perplexing to many, especially so in light of the fact pointed out by one respected Trinitarian: "[The Trinity] is not clearly or explicitly taught anywhere in Scripture, yet it is widely regarded as a central doctrine, indispensable to the Christian faith. In this regard, it goes contrary to what is virtually an axiom [that is, a given, a self-evident truth] of biblical doctrine, namely, that there is a direct correlation between the scriptural clarity of a doctrine and its cruciality to the faith and life of the church." (Millard J. Erickson, God in ThreePersons, p. 11. Emphasis added) Understandably, this fact has raised questions in the minds of Christians and truth-seekers alike ever since the doctrine was first decreed as mandatory to confess in the late 4th century. Many Christians have wondered: How can a doctrine that is no

This important book reassesses the classic Chalcedonian view of Jesus: "one person, two natures". It carefully rejects all forms of kenotic Christology and affirms that Jesus possessed and used all the divine attributes, in particular, that of omnipresence, arguing that evangelical scholars have abandoned this important truth. This has ramifications for our view of the Holy Spirit and of Christ's presence with his people. It challenges us to read the Scriptures again and to live in the presence of Jesus. - Publisher Commendation: "In this important study of orthodox Christology, Dr Zachariades develops an aspect of it that has generally been neglected. How should we understand the universal presence of the risen, ascended an glorified Christ? Starting with the controversies of the early church, he takes us through the questions involved in the discussion and points us to a deeper understanding of how Christ is both God and man at the same time." Gerald L. Bray, Research Professor of Divinity, History and Doctrine, Beeson Divinity School, USA

This work compares the Krsnavatara (Krsna in his avatara doctrines of Sankara and Ramanuja and the incarnation of Christ as represented by classical Christian orthodoxy, and draws out comparative theological and soteriological implications. It does so first by examining the epistemologies, theologies and world views of Sankara and Ramanuja, and the theology and world view of classical Christian orthodoxy, so that, second, an adequate foundation and subsequent thorough representation of avatara and incarnation might be accomplished, in order that, third, accurate comparisons may be drawn between avatara and incarnation. The result of this study is a demonstration that many of the popularly held similarities between avatara and incarnation are superficial, and that therefore careful consideration of epistemologies and ontologies should be undertaken when comparing theologies and soteriologies pertinent to avatara and incarnation.

The Nation of Islam promises African Americans a new identity and purpose. But can it deliver? In this intriguing study Steven Tsoukalas helps us understand the struggle, history, and theology behind black nationalism, so that we may respond with compassion and truth.

This book critically examines the claims of Oneness theology in light of biblical exegesis. Specifically, it affirms the biblical presentation of God existing as three distinct coequal, coeternal, and coexistent Persons or Selves.