Understanding The Scriptures

In this lesson, Carson begins with an explanation of the Christological definition formulated at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. (a location which is now a part of the modern day city of Istanbul). He then speaks about the two means by which God has successively dealt with humanity. In the Old Testament, God descended (katabasis) to our human level in dealing with us, by offering us temporal goods as rewards and conceding to our sinful longings. This condescension came to a climax in the Incarnation when he took upon himself a human body and a human soul. In the New Testament, God takes on our humanity in order to lift us up out of our misery, so that we might ascend (anabasis) into the heights of his divinity. At this point, we read from the important passage Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:4 - "he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature." We