Dr Paul Allen

What is the incarnation? What do Christians mean by incarnation? The incarnation comes from Latin and means “in the flesh.” Put briefly, the incarnation is the doctrine that God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, became truly human without ceasing to be truly God. In Jesus Christ, we have two natures, divine and human, united in one and the same person, the Son of God. Jesus is not half-God and half-man, nor a blend of God and man, but both truly God and truly man. The importance of the hypostatic union Related to the doctrine of the incarnation is the hypostatic union. The term hypostatic union comes from the Greek word hypostasis, often translated into English as person. Thus, the “hypostatic union” refers to the union of a truly human nature and a truly divine nature in the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why does this matter?  In the fifth century, some taught that the incarnation meant a divine person taking on a human person, resulting in two persons in Christ lo...

A piece of research by McCrindle asking ordinary Aussies this very question – which special day is the most important? And, to my surprise, 30% thought Anzac Day was. You may be relieved that for 37%, it was still Christmas. But not much in it. (The clear winner, for interest, with 48% of the vote, was Mother’s Day. I was entirely unaware that a huge proportion of the Aussie volunteers who sailed to fight in WWI were Christian believers and faithful churchgoers. Robert Linder’s book The Long Tragedy: Australian Evangelical Christians and the Great War, 1914-1918, examines the curious ‘airbrushing’ out of the religious beliefs of the ‘diggers’.  Linder suggests that a disproportionate rate of enlistment by evangelical protestants points to as many as 40% of Aussie soldiers being from this one Christian tradition alone. Other historians suggest that these ‘wowsers’ (as they came to be known) made up around 50% or more of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during World War I. Austral...

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” has been seen countless times on three continents by Polish grandparents and Japanese schoolchildren. It remains evergreen and universal — just like the Saviour Linus describes in his simple recitation of the Nativity as it appears in Luke’s Gospel.  However, that citing of Scripture did not easily pass the cynicism and cowardly cultural gatekeepers of American network television when Charles Schulz and his production team offered the first of what became many Peanuts specials to CBS executives in December of 1965.  In fact, even before those suits tried to remove mentioning Christ from this Christmas show, Schulz’s two partners in the venture, Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, advised him to take the Gospel passage out of Linus’ mouth.  As one of those executives said, “The Bible thing scares us.” The Peanuts creator’s response spoke volumes: “If we don’t do it, who will?”  The fact that any mention of Jesus over the public airwaves was co...

Luke 2:  “Glory to God in the highest,  and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” (Luke 2:14–15) “And [Simeon] came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,  according to your word;  for my eyes have seen your salvation  that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,  a light for revelation to the Gentiles,  and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:27–32) Rather than bringing fear, which is the appropriate response to seeing the glory and greatness of God, the gospel (the “good news”) is described by the angels as “great joy that will be for al...

I feel like the apostle Peter at the end of his life, as he wrote his second letter. Twice, he told his readers why he was writing to them. In the first chapter, he said, “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 1:13). Then, in the last chapter, he repeated it: “I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.” (2 Pet. 3:1) What Peter really means, and what I mean, by being “awakened” or “stirred up” is to feel some measure of the joy God intends for Christmas to bring. “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Not small joy. Not modest joy. But “great joy.” If we don’t feel this when we ponder the incarnation of the Son of God, we need “awakening.” We need to be “stirred up.” I have called Christmas “the dawning of indestructible joy” because the joy Jesus brought into the world was like no other kind in history. Once we have it, it cannot be destroyed. Jesus said, “No one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22...

Christmas is just around the corner. I’m thinking of stuffed turkey, cranberry sauce, roast potatoes and Christmas pudding. Suddenly, without warning, I have a plateful of locusts and wild honey shoved under my nose. Christmas is just around the corner. Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane snow is glistening A beautiful sight, I’m happy tonight, I’m walking in a winter wonderland … … skating on an ice rink and taking my kids to see Santa with his bagful of goodies and a hearty “Ho, ho, ho.” Suddenly, without warning, the winter wonderland disappears and I hear a voice in a desert wasteland. It’s not Santa hollering, “Ho, ho, ho,” but John the Baptist shouting, “Woe, woe, woe!” Christmas is party time, but John the Baptist is the ultimate Advent party-pooper. Before he is through, our heads are pounding with images of vipers, wrath, axes, and unquenchable fire, when all we really wanted was a chance to get to the church carol service to sing, “Silent Night, Holy Night.” The...

The Christmas story clearly shows that the hope of the universe is a person. Hope was what the angels sang about. Hope lay in the manger. Hope caused Mary to wonder in her heart. It was hope the shepherds came to worship. Hope was presented with gifts from the Magi who had travelled so far. The Advent story is a hope story because it chronicles the coming to earth of the One who is hope, Jesus. For a people born in sin and for a world damaged by sin, there simply could not be any other source of hope. Good education would not solve the problem. The benevolent government had no power to solve the problem. More and better laws could not penetrate to the source of the problem. People couldn’t help one another and surely couldn’t help themselves. You see, the inescapable condition of sin infects every single human being and has scarred every aspect of the cosmos, which cried out for one thing and one thing alone: divine intervention. The only solution was a Savior, and the only suitable S...

December 25 could not have been Jesus’ birth date. Early Christians did not even celebrate Jesus’ birth. And certainly did not celebrate Christmas on December 25 until long after the pagans had created a December 25 festival. Christmas is the cultural appropriation of the pagan “Birth of the Unconquered Sun.” The Persian cult of Mithras is also celebrated on December 25. The Gospels make no mention of any commemorations of Jesus’ birth. Nothing in the Book of Acts or the rest of the New Testament. And the first generations of Christianity did not celebrate Christ’s birth. In fact, such a thing was frowned upon. The Hebrew tradition from which Christianity came celebrated the passing of Jewish heroes. Not birthdays. Encyclopedia Judaica puts it bluntly. “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual. … The only reference to a birthday in the bible is that celebrated by Pharaoh.” (Gen 40:20) In fact, early church leader Origen of Alexandria openly mocked birthday c...

As day dawned over England on December 25, 1647, the nation woke to the strangest Christmas of all: no Christmas. For the first time, Christmas had been cancelled. Christmas cancelled? Indeed, Christmas was cancelled. Noël nixed. Advent outlawed. Twelve years later, the Massachusetts Bay Colony followed suit. In place of decorations, they posted the following public notice: The observation of Christmas having been deemed a Sacrilege, the exchanging of Gifts and Greetings, dressing in Fine Clothing, Feasting and similar Satanical Practices are hereby FORBIDDEN, with the Offender liable to a Fine of Five Shillings. Had the spirit of Scrooge settled over England? Had Mount Crumpit moved to Massachusetts? Had the White Witch swept through the West on her way to conquer Narnia? Well, no, not quite. In fact, as we travel through some of the history of Christmas past, we who love the coming of Christ may feel a strange sympathy rising in our hearts for the Puritans who did this. We may not wa...

Our Savior was born in the humblest of settings, yet Heaven above was filled with the songs of angels. His birthplace was a cattle shed, yet a star brought the rich and noble from thousands of miles away to worship Him. He had no wheat fields or fisheries, yet He spread a table for 5,000 and had bread and fish to spare. His crucifixion was the penalty for the crime of crimes, yet from God’s perspective, no less a price could have made possible our redemption. When He died, few mourned His passing, yet God hung a black cape over the sun, and the earth shook. He preached the gospel for three years without a headquarters or organization to His name. Nevertheless, two thousand years later, He’s the central figure of human history, the perpetual theme of all preaching, the pivot around which the ages revolve, and the only Redeemer of the human race. In this season of celebration and gift-giving, let’s join the wise men who “fell down and worshipped Him.” Let’s remember, Christmas is about C...

Dear Friend, Two thousand years ago, the Roman world suffered many of the same challenges we encounter today – oppression, racial hatred, lies, bitter divisions, and wrongs. Into that culture stepped the most amazing thing imaginable: the Creator of the universe. If you’re unfamiliar with Christianity, the story of the baby Jesus may seem sentimental and perhaps no more real than Santa Claus. But the Gospel of John tells the story from the cosmic perspective. He calls Jesus the “Logos”, the living Word: In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him, all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, which was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light that gave light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own...