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God With us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God

An absolutely amazing book that will enlighten (and challenge) your thinking on the Trinity, most especially God the Son.  The only reason I have given this book 2 highlighters as opposed to 3 is because it is a difficult book to get through. It is philosophically technical in parts.  But the author does a wonderful job explaining the jargon and bringing up to speed the reader who may be new to the terms.

ORGANIZATION
Introduction:  This lengthy introduction is necessary as it sets the table for the discussion.  To skip the introduction is to begin the journey through this book already lost.
Chapter 1: The reader will begin to come to grips with God's aseity.
Chapter 2: This is where the early slogging begins to pay-off.  The Eimi/Eikon distinction is the key to the rest of the book.
Chapter 3: Worth the price of the book!
Chapter 4: How do we make sense of God a se and also being slow to anger?  Spend time in this chapter.
Chapter 5: The most difficult of the book for me.  I read it twice.  Oliphint, in the introduction, even suggests to the reader who is unfamiliar with the philosophical dialogue to skip this chapter.  But it is worth the work. Read it; twice if you need to.

THOUGHTS
This is my brother, so I know the author.  Had this book been written by someone else, I may not have invested the work to read it and that would have been to my detriment.

There is no getting around it; this is a tough book to read and process for the typical college-educated Christian.  Scott swims in the deep waters of theology and philosophy, and you can't help but get wet when reading this book.  But what is so great about his familiarity with all of it is his ability to make the complex understandable.  He does that here.

If you are willing to be patient and invest yourself in reading this book, you will be grateful when you finish it. You come out on the other side astounded by the gracious condescension of your God.  Your christology will be richer and your faith encouraged.  Retire to a quiet room (or listen to instrumental music quietly) and give yourself to God with Us.  The biblical truths contained in it may change you.

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2* (out of 3) Highlighters





God with Us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of GodGod with Us: Divine Condescension and the Attributes of God by K. Scott Oliphint
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent! Well worth the difficulty. Stick with it. Stump and Morris were particularly difficult for me, but he circles around to them throughout, setting them in contexts, filling out their relevance theologically and hermenuetically. View all my reviews



*Just to be clear, the subject matter, the writing and the potential benefit of this book should demand a rating of 3 highlighters.  The ONLY reason I give it two (and I don't have the option of two and a half highlighters, what good is half a highlighter!?), is because it is a book that may not be as accessible to many Christians.  It is a difficult read.

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