Did Christ assume a fallen human nature? "What is not assumed is not healed." So goes the Chalcedonian maxim articulated by Gregory of Nazianzus regarding the nature and extent of Christ's work in assuming a human nature. But what is the nature of that assumption? If Christ is to stand in solidarity with us, must he have assumed not merely a human nature, but specifically a fallen human nature? In Sinless Flesh: A Critique of Karl Barth's Fallen Christ, Rafael Bello argues against the assertion made by Karl Barth, T. F. Torrance, and those who follow them that Christ assumed a fallen nature. Through retrieval of patristic, medieval, and Reformed orthodox theologians, Bello argues that a proper understanding of human nature, trinitarian inseparable operations, and the habitual grace-grace of union distinction leads to the conclusion that the assertion that Christ assumed a fallen human nature is at odds with faithful theological and historical understandings of the incarnation. Readers interested in theological retrieval for issues in contemporary theology will find a faithful model and way forward for a thorny issue in modern dogmatics.

Did Christ assume a fallen human nature? "What is not assumed is not healed." So goes the Chalcedonian maxim articulated by Gregory of Nazianzus regarding the nature and extent of Christ's work in assuming a human nature. But what is the nature of that assumption? If Christ is to stand in solidarity with us, must he have assumed not merely a human nature, but specifically a fallen human nature? In Sinless Flesh: A Critique of Karl Barth's Fallen Christ, Rafael Bello argues against the assertion made by Karl Barth, T. F. Torrance, and those who follow them that Christ assumed a fallen nature. Through retrieval of patristic, medieval, and Reformed orthodox theologians, Bello argues that a proper understanding of human nature, trinitarian inseparable operations, and the habitual grace-grace of union distinction leads to the conclusion that the assertion that Christ assumed a fallen human nature is at odds with faithful theological and historical understandings of the incarnation. Readers interested in theological retrieval for issues in contemporary theology will find a faithful model and way forward for a thorny issue in modern dogmatics.

This monograph argues that the doctrine of atonement may be presented more coherently by recognizing judgement as the principle metaphor of the reconciling work of Christ. Judgement, understood not only as condemnation but as the whole process of bringing about justice, provides the pattern to which victory, redemption, and sacrifice may be compared and to which they should be related. The first section is a study of twentieth-century British atonement theology to understand the assumptions that give rise to the difficulties in proclaiming the atonement. The second section examines Karl Barth's account of reconciliation in terms of the judgement of Jesus Christ, and its relationship to victory, redemption, and sacrifice. The proposal is made that judgement is the paradigmatic metaphor of the doctrine of atonement. The implications of this claim are then considered for the response to the work of Christ, and how repentance, baptism, Eucharist, and holiness are related to judgement.

In 1962, the Reformation scholar Hans Hillerbrand said the following of Menno Simons: For the past four hundred years he (has been) a man with a bad presscriticized not only by all of his foes outside his tradition, but also by many of his friends within. Outsiders accused him of, at the very least, sympathizing if not actively supporting the revolutionaries involved in the notorious Mnster uprising of 15341535, the jihadists of the sixteenth century. Many insiders, at first fearful that this might indeed be the case, sought early to distance themselves from him, calling themselves Doopsgezinde rather than Mennists. Later, other insiders, having moved beyond Menno theologically under the influence of the Enlightenment and Rationalism, criticized him for being overly dogmatic and narrow-minded. Only a few pietists like Jung Stilling and pietistically influenced Dutch Mennonites like Johannes Deknatel, together with the occasional Baptist scholar like J. Newton Brown, spoke highly of him. Indeed, the latter said of Menno: But there stood one among them (the great reformers) whom they knew not; who was greater than theymore truly eminent in the likeness of their common Lord. In a first section, this study begins with a chapter on the problem of reform in the sixteenth century. A second section on the 15341535 Mnster uprising that has so bedeviled Menno historiography follows. Both sections seek to recreate, at least to a degree, the larger context of Mennos life and activity and free him from the prejudices of the past. It does so by making the casenot made heretoforethat Menno was powerfully influenced, not by the revolutionaries, but by the two intellectual giants of the age: Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus. But the study also takes seriously Mennos repeated assertion that he had experienced a life-transforming conversion through the power of the Holy Spirit in early 1535. With this as background, the study then investigatesin a chronological sequencethe key problem areas of Menno scholarship that have arisen over the years. It concludes with a brief assessment of his legacy.

Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 1. Jesus Christ, Our Life (John 1:1-4) 2. We Must Be Born of God (John 1:12-18) 3. The Love of God Revealed through Jesus, the Only Begotten Son (John 1:15-18) 4. The Truth That John the Baptist Testified (John 1:19-28) 5. The Biblical Evidence That Jesus Bore All the Sins of the World (John 1:29-39) 6. The Faith of Believing Only in the Word of God (John 1:1-8) 7. We Couldn’t Be Happier than This (John 1:29-31) 8. With What Kind of Look Did Our Creator Visit Us? (John 1:1-13) 9. Who Is John the Baptist? (John 1:19-42) CHAPTER 2 1. We Are Happy If We Accept Jesus into Our Hearts (John 2:1-11) 2. We Can Taste the Blessings from God Only If We Obey the Word of God (John 2:5) CHAPTER 3 1. We Have to Be Born Again by Knowing and Believing in This Way (John 3:1-6) 2. Do You Believe in the God-given Gospel of the Water and the Spirit? (John 3:1-8) 3. What Makes It Possible for Us to Be Born Again? (John 3:1-15) 4. Do You Really Know God’s Love? (John 3:16) 5. Let Us Do Spiritual Work by Faith (John 3:16-17) The Love of God Revealed Through Jesus Christ. It is written, "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (John 1:18). How perfectly did Jesus reveal the love of God to us! How perfectly did Jesus deliver us! What perfect Truth of salvation is the gospel of the water and the Spirit! We have never regretted receiving our salvation through our faith in Jesus, who came by water and blood (1 John 5:6). I hope that all of you believe in Jesus Christ who has revealed the love of God, keep the faith in His love in your hearts, and live daily for the sake of spreading that love. I hope that you will acquire the blessing of the remission of sin by meeting with God through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The New Life Mission https://www.bjnewlife.org

Table of Contents CHAPTER 3 1. We Must Be Born Again by Believing in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit (John 3:1-15) 2. Our Lord Came to This World to Save Us from the Sins of the World (John 3:14-21) 3. In What Must We Believe before God? (John 3:21) 4. Our God Is the Lord Who Has Given Us True, Everlasting Life (John 3:35-36) CHAPTER 4 1. The Lord Who Solves All Our Problems (John 4:3-19) 2. In What Do Our Hearts Find Satisfaction? (John 4:10-24) 3. The Living Water That Makes One Never Thirst (John 4:13-26, John 4:39-42) 4. What Kind of Faith Do We Need for Our Spiritual Revival? (John 4:19-26) 5. The Word of Jesus Is the Word of God (John 4:46-54) CHAPTER 5 1. We Must Never Revert to Judaism (John 5:10-29) 2. The Lord Visits the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9) CHAPTER 6 1. Labor for the Food That Endures to Everlasting Life (John 6:16-40) The Love of God Revealed Through Jesus Christ. It is written, "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (John 1:18). How perfectly did Jesus reveal the love of God to us! How perfectly did Jesus deliver us! What perfect Truth of salvation is the gospel of the water and the Spirit! We have never regretted receiving our salvation through our faith in Jesus, who came by water and blood (1 John 5:6). I hope that all of you believe in Jesus Christ who has revealed the love of God, keep the faith in His love in your hearts, and live daily for the sake of spreading that love. I hope that you will acquire the blessing of the remission of sin by meeting with God through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The New Life Mission https://www.bjnewlife.org