What is Christian life? Although we often use this phrase, we rarely take the time to understand its theological basis. In this volume in Zondervan Academic's New Studies in Dogmatics series, theologian Kelly M. Kapic reflects on Christian life: its foundation, its nourishment, and its goal.
Kapic contends that Christian life is, first and foremost, one that is lived in response to the love of God. But to properly frame this love, Kapic contends we need to consider divine and human agency. What we discover is that not only did the triune God first love us, but the incarnate Son also first loved God for us. And now we respond to God’s love as those who have been united to Christ and his people by the Spirit. Shaped by the community of faith, especially through corporate worship, Christians thus participate in this love of God and neighbor. What is true of the whole discipline of theology is thus reflected in Christian life: Christ is its foundation, Christ is its source of nourishment, and Christ is its goal.
Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King's College, University of London) is Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College. He is the author of numerous books, including You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News, Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering, and A Little Book for New Theologians, and the co-author of Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty is Not the American Dream and The God Who Gives: How the Trinity Shapes the Christian Story.
Michael Allen (PhD, Wheaton College) is the John Dyer Trimble Professor of Systematic Theology and Academic Dean at Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL.
Scott Swain is Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He is author of several books, including The God of the Gospel: The Trinitarian Theology of Robert Jenson, and Trinity, Revelation, and Reading: A Theological Introduction to the Bible and its Interpretation. He serves as general editor (with Michael Allen) for T&T Clark’s International Theological Commentary and Zondervan’s New Studies in Dogmatics series.