Two Natures in Christ (Arch Books) [Hardcover]

Martin Chemnitz (Author), J. A. Preus (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1970 | ISBN-10: 0570032105 | ISBN-13: 978-0570032106

This is a translation of Chemnitz's De Duabus Naturis in Christo, written in 1578. This book concerns the two natures of Christ (the divine and the human), their hypostatic union and the communication of their attributes and related questions. It shows that the Christology of the Lutheran reformers is that of Scripture, the ancient church fathers, and the creeds.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Concordia Publishing House (June 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0570032105
• ISBN-13: 978-0570032106
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,074,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Standard In Lutheran Orthodoxy, December 27, 2002

By 

matt (the reading room) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Natures in Christ (Arch Books) (Hardcover)

It has been said that if the second Martin had not lived, systematizing Luther, the first Martin would not have been as successful. It is easy to see why such a claim was made when one reads The Two Natures In Christ. Chemnitz's magnum opus set the stage early on as a standard defense and reference work on the two natures of Jesus Christ. The title page reads: "A monograph concerning the two natures in Christ, their hypostatic union, the communication of their attributes, and related questions, recently revised and prepared on the basis of Scripture and the witness of the ancient church by Dr. Martin Chemnitz..." No library of dogmatics can be complete without this excellent reference work of 542 pages.

Consisting of 33 chapters, this book exhaustively examines what the council of Chalcedon declared to be true orthodoxy in the year 451.

Other books of interest may include: God In Patristic THought by Prestige, Christ in Eastern Christian Thought by Meyendorff, Trinity and Incarnation by Basil Studer, Incarnation-Myth or Fact? by Skarsaune, Christology by Gerald O'Collins, On the Person of Christ by Wesche, the 3 volume work by Grillmeier (Christ in Christian Tradition), Raymond Brown's An Introduction to New Testament Christology, The Gospel Image of Christ by Kesich, The Cruelty of Heresey by Allison. Each of these books deals explicitly with Christology in an orthodox manner, outlining clearly the salvific relevance of the doctrine of the two natures in Christ. Enjoy!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Finest Work on Christology, August 1, 2006

By 

James Huffman "Jim Huffman" (Burlington, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Two Natures in Christ (Arch Books) (Hardcover)

This book was recommended to me in 1989. I bought it in 1990, and have read it a number of times since then, with greater insights coming from it with each read.

If I had to grab a handful of books because a flood was coming, this is one I'd take. This is the finest Christology book I've ever read, and there is no competition. I would argue that in a real sense, it is one of the top 5 theology books I've ever read at all.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Get a good copy. I'm all for buying used books from Amazon, but this might be one where you'd want to get it new, just because you will -- I hope -- be reading it over and over. And you'll very likely never sell it, because this book is so good that you'll feel like hogging it to yourself.

2. Read it slowly. I'm not a fan of devotional books (they're often junk) but this book teaches you about theology, while nurturing your spiritual life. When I'm reading it, I read 2-4 pages a day. Of course, that means it might take a year to get through, but what's the problem with that? When you're finished, you'll feel like starting over.

3. Most errors in Christian theology stem from one of 2 areas. People get messed up on either the PERSON of Christ (who He is) or the WORK of Christ (what He does). This book will inoculate you against both errors.

4. This is NOT a book "just for pastors." Any thoughtful layperson can read and learn from this. A few terms are in Latin, Greek, or Hebrew; most of those terms are translated.

Martin Chemnitz is a master. Get this book (and anything by him) and learn from it. You will be a better Christian for it, and your church will benefit, too.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Apex of Lutheran Christology, June 18, 2002

By 

John D. White "camsterdad" (Cayce, South Carolina United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Two Natures in Christ (Arch Books) (Hardcover)

Chemnitz, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther, and in particular the early church fathers, like John of Damascus, composes a well-balanced treatise on the person of Jesus Christ. Chemnitz is concerned to show how the two natures (God and man) co-inhere so that there is in Jesus Christ, only one person (thus staying within the framework established by the Council of Chalcedon in the 5th century). Working within the philosophical framework of Reformation Aristotelianism, Chemnitz nonetheless provides solid and serious work on which to chew. Worthwhile also is Chemnitz' discussion of the communication of attributes, that is, the divine attributes of Christ and their effect upon the human nature (and us). This is perhaps the greatest dogmatic treatise on Christology that a pastor/ theologian in the Reformation produced. The Two Natures laid the foundation for all Lutheran thinkers who followed. There is nothing comparable until one reaches the fourth volume of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics. Well worth the time spent reading!