Description
The early Christians saw in Jesus the focus and fulfillment of the conviction that God is with us. Over time, they learned to speak of that presence in terms of divine incarnation. That one theological affirmation raises questions for practically all other Christian beliefs. If God is incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, how does that change our understanding of God’s presence in all things? What does it mean to be human if the life of God has been so intimately joined to human life? How can we say “God is with us” when there is so much suffering and evil in the world? What do we mean by “us”? Just us Christians or all of us? Just human beings or also the whole creation? If we find life in the wider cosmos, is God with them too? Looking through the lens of the incarnation, how wide is the divine embrace?
In this volume, Anna Case-Winters demonstrates that the doctrine of the incarnation of God in Christ is not simply one belief among others; it is the cornerstone on which all other Christian convictions are built. Throughout, she carefully lays out the consequences for Christian belief and Christian life of the ancient confession that in Christ, “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
Reviews
Anna Case-Winters elucidates God’s incarnation in mind-blowing and life-enhancing ways. Starting with divine incarnation in Jesus, moving to God in the Jesus-followers, on to divine incarnation in humans outside Christian faith, and finally to all creation, Case-Winters makes a compelling – and I think convincing – case for how best to understand God with us. The implications of her views are deep and wide, theoretical and ethical. I strongly recommend this book!
Thomas Jay Oord, author of Open and Relational Theology, The Uncontrolling Love of God, and God Can’t
"Anna Case-Winters is an accomplished Reformed theologian and ecumenist who has gathered a wide range of biblical and theological resources for this accessible volume. This book is a lively, winsome exemplar." – Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology