Crisp's work in this book is a collection of essays in which he goes into practical issues that flow from orthodox Christological formulations. In his known analytical theological method, he takes issues such as the embryo, the election of Jesus and others to the test. Even though the book can be a slow read, it is worth a while to spend time with it.
The first chapter dealt with his theological method. Important to Crisp is to emphasize the role of the Bible as primary in Christological constructions. The surprising element comes when he adds as of second importance, the role of tradition. For a philosopher to have such respect for tradition, makes the work worth to read. After laying the method, he explains where he is coming from: high Christology, and with Christology from above.
Chapter two dealt with issues of the election of Christ. This is a debated issue that has delicate implications. While many of the Reformers seemed to have emphasize only an absolute decree, Crisp says it was not black and white. The thrust of the argument is that Barth overemphasized the role of Christ as the object of election. Something that Post-reformation theologians such as Turretin did not do. Turretin and Post-Reformation theologians used the language of object to reflect the work of Christ as basis for election of people. Barth on the other side viewed as the eternal decision of Christ to become man as the basis for Christ as the object. The distaste that Turretin seem to have to any idea of object of election seem only to be aimed to the Salmurian formulation. Therefore any negation that Turretin has a view of an object of election in Christ may be even said to be some kind of straw-man by barthians who dislike the post-reformation period. In that context and trying come up with a mediating position, Crisp formulates what he called a MRP (Moderate Reformed Position).
The Third Chapter was important to deal with eternity past and issues with the incarnation. Even though one can affirm that Christ was asarkos and ensarkos, in eternity, this does yield Jenson's conclusions of the a Christ forever incarnate, because that is metaphysically impossible, since Christ has one body and one soul. And also because Jenson takes a temporal view of the incarnation, which seems to make issues even more complicated for him. How can God be in time and enfleshed before the incarnation?
The fourth chapter is on the fittingness of the virgin Birth. Even though there is a sense in which the virgin Birth was not necessary for the incarnation, Crisp argued that it was fitting for Christ to be born of a virgin, because of issues of ensoulment of the body. The creation of the body and soul needed to be concomitant, and in so doing, the virgin Birth would avoid apollinarianism. Even though the NVB (No Virgin Birth) can make sense of this with other takes on the body of Christ, Anselm gives three reasons why is that it is fitting for the Virgin Birth, the most important being: God had not created a human being through that method yet. And in so doing, he showed that it was a divine person being born. Chapter five is an excursus on the same topic of the formation of the body of Christ – in embryological fashion.
Chapter six dealt with the impeccability of Christ. There are several confusions here. One of them has to do with the psychological make of a temptation. Is it a real temptation if you cannot sin? Yes it is; but that does not mean that Christ did not have to fight. Crisp uses a gamma of examples. The kid with allergies that cannot eat peanuts will not eat, even though he thinks it might be good. The pugilist that is so much better than the other still has to get into the ring and fight. But when applied to Christ, the divine nature would not let the human nature sin. This could get complicated because natures cannot act. And in this idea, how could the divine act prohibiting the human? Crisp does not answer. Another problem would be that the sinlessness view makes a confusion in Christ as man and as God. If Christ can sin as man and as God (because the temptation is real), God would negate himself.
The next chapters deal more with modern debates. One with material view of human nature and another with the metaphysical possibility of multiple incarnations.
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