From Glory to Golgotha by Donald Macleod

From Glory to Golgotha: Controversial Issues in the Life of Christ,
by Donald Macleod, Christian Focus, 2002, 167 pp.

This little book is the product of the author's magnificent "life-time obsession with Christology". Here we find Macleod at his best, probing the mysteries of Christ with penetrating insight and a warm heart. Christ was a controversial figure during his life on earth and he remains controversial until this day. In this work, Macleod turns his attention to some of the most hotly disputed aspects of Christology. 'Did Christ have a fallen human nature?', 'Why did God sacrifice his own Son', 'Did Paul call Jesus God?'. He also discusses the reality of Christ's temptation and penal substitutionary atonement. The writer deals with these questions from the standpoint of Biblical faith and Chalcedonian orthodoxy. He interacts with the views of Barth, C.H. Dodd and Moltmann among others as he discusses some of the great themes connected with the Person and work of Christ.

Macleod is unfailingly interesting and thought provoking. But he is also deeply moving. The chapter on The Crucified God sets before us something of the depth of Christ's redemptive suffering and challenges us to live in the light of the cross.

The theological significance resurrection of Christ is often neglected in Reformed Dogmatics. But Macleod devotes a helpful chapter to Jesus and the Resurrection, where he argues that 'the resurrection is central to the New Testament'. The book closes with reflection on Paul's challenging words, "For me to live is Christ".

In Chapter 7, the endnotes break down from note 10, so that valuable references to the work of John Owen and others are lost. But this is a minor quibble over a work that helps us to survey the wondrous life, cross and resurrection of the Lord of glory. (See here for a brief extract).