Systematic Theology: Creation, Christ, Salvation
Overview
Is it all really about Christ? Yes, says Norman R. Gulley resoundingly, in this third volume of his Systematic Theology. In another sweeping and yet incisive evaluation of Christian theology, this time focusing on the doctrines of creation, Christ, and salvation, Gulley drives home his overarching theme that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8), which impacts creation and re-creation (salvation). If we give up the supernatural reality of creation, what right have we to accept the other supernatural events throughout Scripture? This focus on Christ has profound implications for our understanding of origins and our relationship to the Word of God. As Gulley notes, “The written Word of God is as unchangeable and authentic as the living Word of God. Belief in supernatural creation is as important as belief in supernatural Incarnation and supernatural salvation.” For the biblically grounded Christian, it is impossible to accept the latter two without the first. Thus, as Gulley says in the preface, this volume evaluates evolutionary theory as primarily a contemporary assumption that has led traditional theology to accept non-biblical ideas that are incompatible with the relational Trinity and with the biblical creation narrative. As creation was in a specified time, so Christ came in time and in flesh as God’s revelation to humanity. The salvation he embodies for humanity occurs in time—in his life, his death, his resurrection and ascension, and his ministry now in the heavenly sanctuary. Throughout, as in the previous volumes, Gulley engages deeply and thoughtfully with other views on all these topics, and critiques them always against his basic credo of tota, prima, and sola scriptura.
Top Highlights
“In this biblical analysis, it is important to remember the hermeneutical principle that we interpret the unknown by what is known; or interpret the less clear by that which is clearer.” (Page 33)
“The law cannot save any more than looking into a mirror can change one’s appearance. The law is like a mirror—it reveals one’s true condition.” (Page 591)
“The fall of humans—and not the fall of Satan—is responsible for all death on planet earth.” (Page 6)
“His humanity did not correspond to Adam’s humanity before the Fall, nor in every respect to Adam’s humanity after the Fall.’48 Christ was like us in every way except for sin. He ‘came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14b), that ‘holy one’ (Luke 1:35), ‘in him is no sin’ (1 John 3:5), He ‘had no sin’ (2 Cor. 5:21), and He ‘committed no sin’ (1 Pet. 2:22a).” (Page 433)
“But the foundational hermeneutic to guide us in this study is this: the truth about God, and about the Christ who came to reveal Him, is found in the written Word of God. Many of these questions arise out of a rejection of the written Word of God; once scholars give up belief in God’s divine revelation in Scripture, they are adrift like boats out to sea without a compass.” (Page 513)
- Title: Systematic Theology: Creation, Christ, Salvation
- Author: Norman R. Gulley
- Series: Gulley’s Systematic Theology
- Publisher: Andrews University Press
- Print Publication Date: 2012
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Jesus Christ › Person and offices; Creationism; Evolution; Salvation › Christianity; Theology, doctrinal
- ISBNs: 9781883925710, 9781883925376, 9781940980072, 1883925711, 1883925371, 1940980070
- Resource ID: LLS:SYTMTCTHEOGULLEY03
- Resource Type: Systematic Theology
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:16:30Z
