The Person of Christ: God with Us
- Otis Griffin
- Jul 10
- 3 min read
Book Review
Trudging through the World Wide Web’s bank of theology can leave many hyper-interested young Christians disappointed. When one hears the Trinity likened to the three forms of H2O (the Modalist heresy) ad nauseam, twenty-first century Christians can be left without deep yet also true doctrine. The Internet’s advantage over traditional media is that it often presents information in short, attention-grabbing and to-the-point packages. Mark Smith’s book answers the call for sound biblical teaching in a condensed piece of writing perfect for the modern age.
Being the third instalment of the Latimer Trust’s new Christian Doctrine series, examining the doctrine of the Church of England, and coming after the series’ work on the Christian doctrine of God, it is only natural that the doctrine of God becoming man came next. Smith divides his work into two main sections, the first of which examines Anglican christological doctrine while the second details where and how said doctrine is expressed in the Anglican Formularies. It is deserving of praise how the universal Christian doctrine of who Jesus Christ is, is framed as the Anglican doctrine. There is apathy today amongst many Evangelical Anglicans about leaning into explicit Anglican theological identity. Yet the unshaking assertion by Smith that the faith we confess is Anglican is a welcome step towards repossessing a Christian tradition grounded upon the eternal truths of God’s Word. Far from putting Anglican Christianity on a pedestal as uniquely possessing Christian truth, our fellowship with other Christian denominations is enhanced, not broken down, by asserting that the Church of England and her sister churches do believe things.
In terms of conveying the Bible’s teachings, Smith has elegantly woven detail with straightforward and simple explanations. The book certainly achieves its goal of being ‘reasonably comprehensive’ while keeping the information accessible to any scripturally-aware Christian. Each point is explained in layman’s terms, while not shying away from using theological words and phrases, sensibly bridging between the academic and the ordinary. While I could dwell further on Smith’s competence as a writer, and his position as a lecturer in Divinity ought to speak for itself as to his knowledge, I want to draw attention to two key features of the book.
First, Smith includes prayers and exhortations at the end of each chapter. Learning doctrine is not a dry and academic affair for the most part, but a means of furthering our union with Jesus Christ. I am reminded of the late Peter Toon’s words in his second appendix to The Anglican Way. Toon warns against seminarians pursuing novel (often heretical) theologies for the sake of novelty, and states that the safeguards against this include prayer. Whenever Christians engage in learning the Bible’s teachings, prayer is the way to keep us from divorcing the written Word from the living Word. Likewise, The Person of Christ’s inclusion of moments for prayer sets it apart as a book for Christians, and not simply those interested in theology.
Secondly, Smith elaborates upon why christology matters to Christians as opposed to merely stating what the correct doctrines are. While other theological treatises may stop at dotting the i’s, to Smith’s credit he brings christology to the lay level by demonstrating what it tells us about God; that the Lord is committed to what he has created; he is a God whom we trust can, by taking humanity unto himself, actually redeem humanity; He is a God who shows humanity’s true purpose in the person of Christ – to be united with God. Smith’s book is highly recommended.
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