The Doctrine of the Incarnation Opened: An Abridgement with Introduction and Response

Edward Irving’s Christological thought was at the center of a theological storm in the early nineteenth century. For Irving, that God the Son assumed a fallen human nature was of the upmost importance. Without this, he believed, the reality of salvation was questioned, the trinitarian grammar of the work of God was neglected, and the basis of Christian discipleship in the power of the Spirit was emptied of its power. Irving’s views on this matter went on to inform the thought of John McLeod Campbell, Thomas F. Torrance, and Karl Barth.
This abridgement presents Irving’s distinctive views regarding the person of Jesus Christ in an accessible format. Readers will be further assisted in engaging with Irving’s views with an introduction and a critical response.

Edward Irving (1792-1834) was a dynamic and controversial Scottish preacher. After serving as assistant to Thomas Chalmers in Glasgow (1819-22), Irving was called to the Caledonian Church, London, where his speaking brought him much attention. As his preaching began to emphasize the supernatural and the imminence of the second coming of Christ, criticism arose, especially over his views on the human nature of Christ. In 1832 he was debarred from the Regent Square Church; in 1833 he was deposed from the ministry of the Church of Scotland.

Irving had, from 1826, been meeting with a group gathered together by Henry Drummond to study the prophecies of the Scriptures. From this "school of the prophets" was developed the Catholic Apostolic Church, of which Irving was a bishop.

Alexander Irving is Lecturer and Tutor in Theology, St Mellitus College, and serves as curate at St. Stephen's Norwich. He is the author of T. F. Torrance's Reconstruction of Natural Theology: Christ and Cognition (2019).

Graham McFarlane is Lecturer in Systematic Theology at London Bible College. He is author of Christ and the Spirit: The Doctrine of Incarnation according to Edward Irving, and in the same series as this title, Why Do You Believe What You Believe About the Holy Spirit?

Daniel J. Cameron earned his BA in Theology from The Moody Bible Institute and his MA in Systematic Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Aberdeen studying the ecclesiology of T.F. Torrance. He serves as an adjunct instructor of theology at The Moody Bible Institute (Chicago, IL). He is a full-time high school Bible teacher and Bible department head at Chicago Hope Academy on the West Side of Chicago and serves as the Pastor of English ministry and Youth ministry at Promise and Fulfillment Community Church in Wheeling, Il. Daniel's desire is to use his passion for theology to help people grow in maturity and intimacy in their relationship with God. Daniel and his wife Sarah currently live on the west side of Chicago.