It is often the case that theological outsiders think of Evangelicals as having a weak doctrine of the incarnation and an over-emphasised view of the atonement and the cross. If this happens, evangelical theology is seen as an overgrown, other-worldly soteriology which is incapable of coming to terms with reality because it cannot properly account for the incarnation. This critique is not new and not confined to a specific region. In the British context, it was particularly set forth by a book of essays edited by Charles Gore and published as Lux Mundi in 1889. In this collection of writings, evangelical theology was badly caricaturised by exponents of a theological blend of late XIX century liberalism and Anglo-Catholicism. Since the charge is widely assumed even nowadays, evangelicals need to ask themselves whether their appreciation of the incarnation is adequate and whether they hold a balanced relationship between the incarnation and the cross. The Annual School of Theology held at Oak Hill College gathered a group of evangelical scholars to reflect on these important issues and this book is the outcome of this initiative.

Very helpfully, Michael Ovey surveys the historical, cultural and theological context of Lux Mundi, especially its view of Christ as the consummation of the cosmic process and its resulting natural theology which tends to isolate the incarnation from the cross. After careful evaluation, its main points are found ‘exegetically inept, historically distorted and philosophically suspect’ (42). In a second paper, Ovey explores the significance of the unique hostility borne by Christ against the background of more recent speculations about Christ dying a co-victim death (e.g. J. Moltmann and J. Sobrino).

David Peterson calls attention to the relationship between the incarnation and Christian living, drawing mainly from the letter to the Hebrews. Chris Green shows the importance of the incarnation for mission as it is also witnessed by recent missiological statements like Lausanne and Manila, while underlining the fundamental value of verbal communication of the Word of God. Timothy Ward touches on the link between the incarnation and the classical doctrine of Scripture using speech-act categories and cogently responds to objections coming mainly from Barthian theology. Finally, Carl Trueman recalls the long-standing debate within Reformed circles concerning the Lord’s Supper and, while criticising the Zwinglian tendency towards mere memorialism, suggests helpful connections between the incarnation and the Supper.

Both individually and cumulatively, these papers indicate how the incarnation itself implies the cross and how it is strategic to maintain their relationship for the whole of Christian belief and living. As Gerald Bray remarks in his foreword:

a penal substitutionary doctrine of the atonement feeds on and feeds into historic incarnational orthodoxy. One implies the other, and together they constitute the indispensable nexus of authentic Christianity (ix).

The Lux Mundi type of critique to evangelical theology is therefore totally misplaced. While being honestly self-critical and always engaged in self-reformation according to Scripture, evangelical theology needs to challenge deforming stereotypes and offer a Biblical alternative to various kinds of humanistic theologies which deny both the incarnation and the cross. This book is a good example of how the apologetic dimension of theology should be pursued.