# Berkouwer: The Work of Christ.



## RamistThomist (Sep 23, 2017)

Berkouwer, G. C. _The Work of Christ_. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Berkouwer follows the movement of the Apostle’s Creed in showing forth the work (economy) of Christ. Berkouwer wants to maintain the unity of the Person and Work of Christ, so he sees the Incarnation as contingent upon man’s fall.

Message of the incarnation: not the elevatio of human nature but its deliverance and restoration by him whom the father had sent (29).

Christ’s Office

Pivotal point: Christ’s name, Anointed One, is in analogy with the office-bearers of the Old Testament (62). Contra Rome, there is no need to mediate the munus triplex to us, since Christ doesn’t need a mediator (78). Christ is fully present in all of his work, so there is no need for a vicarious representative (79). The Mass: the sacerdotal office replaces the munus triplex. Lost is the historical progression in Christ’s work from humiliation to exaltation. And for the kingly office, while Rome says Christ is head of the nations, he isn’t really king in his church (85).

Half of the book was a remarkable analysis of key Dutch Reformed positions in the modern age. The chapters on the Offices of Christ and the Sessio are outstanding. The other chapters on reconciliation are good, but nothing unique about that.


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