The doctrine of the human nature of Christ : developments of the views regarding the human nature of Jesus Christ within the Seventh-day Adventist Church between 1957 and 1988

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to trace and describe the historical developments of the (three major) views regarding the human nature of Jesus Christ with the Seventh-day Adventist Church between 1957 and 1988. The subsequent purposes, which this study tries to pursue, are to identify major views, to define their main theological points, and to classify their respective proponents or advocates. This study is structured to accomplish the purposes outlined above. Chapter 1 is devoted to an introduction to the dissertation. Chapter 2 traces the developments of the views of the human nature of Jesus Christ prior to 1957. The “New Theology” View, which taught the sinless human nature of Jesus Christ, developed through certain preliminary, expansive, and decisive developments and events between 1949 and the release of Questions on Doctrine in November 1957. This period can be identified as the era of the debate between the sinful and sinless human nature views. Chapter 3 focuses on the developments of the views from 1957 (after the publication of Questions on Doctrine) to 1971 (the year of the release of Movement of Destiny). This period can be identified as the era of the debate between the Traditional (“Post-Fall”) View, as thesis, and the “New Theology” (“Pre-Fall”) View, as antithesis. Chapter 4 is devoted to the period from 1971 (after the publication of Movement of Destiny) to 1988 (the year of the publication of Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . .). This period can be identified as the era of the debate between the Alternative (“Uniqueness”) View, as thesis, and the Traditional (“Identical”) View, as antithesis. Chapter 5 summarizes the development of the views regarding the human nature of Jesus Christ and provides clarification of the three major views. This chapter presents the conclusions of the study and close with suggestions for further study.