It would be far easier for us to argue that Jesus was only human or only God or even half and half. Yet we and most of the world’s Christians defy logic and assert the utterly incomprehensible. Jesus Wars by Philip Jenkins examines the high drama that led to the official adoption of this doctrine of the two natures of Christ at the Fourth Ecumenical Council over 1,500 years ago.
That council, held at Chalcedon (outside today’s Istanbul) in 451, is little remembered by Presbyterians, although its legacy is enormous. The outcome of decades of bitter, even violent, struggles over the person of the Savior, the council produced no creed but, instead, a Definition stating that Jesus Christ was one unified person at the same time both truly God and truly human
Jesus Wars tells a complicated story in a captivating fashion. It focuses on the theological convictions, ecclesiastical rivalries, political intrigue, and recurrent violence that culminated in Chalcedon’s answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?”(Matt. 16.13-15). It is a wild tale and, as Jenkins tells it, an utterly engrossing one.
Jenkins is examining one of the key decisions in the history of Christianity. Although the material Jenkins is working from is highly technical, his presentation of it is not. His discussions of theological issues are accessible; his description of characters, vivid. He provides ample geographical and historical context for the whole.
One outcome of an examination such as Jenkins’ is that unavoidably one confronts not only the unsavory actions of important characters but also the seeming randomness of the events. If only a few elements of the story had been different, the church might today be proclaiming that Jesus was entirely human or, far more likely, entirely divine. The events that got us to Chalcedon begin to look like a dice game, possibly a rigged one. Jenkins reminds us of the doctrine of providence, but, inevitably, the reader is left to decide.
Jenkins helps us to recognize the remarkable achievement of Chalcedon. Long before Chalcedon and throughout the centuries since, multitudes of Christians have leaned toward the conviction that Christ was only human, although indwelt by God, or only divine, although appearing to be one of us. A lesser number have insisted on two natures, only loosely related, that somehow operate in tandem. The terrible difficulty in the fifth century as well as today is to uphold simultaneously the fullness of both natures in one unified person. The struggle to express the faith, in fact, never ends.
REBECCA HARDEN WEAVER is John Q. Dickinson Professor of Church History at Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Va.
