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The angel of the great counsel of God and the Christology of the Scots Confession of 1560

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2002

John Michael Owen
Affiliation:
48 Rockton Road, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia

Abstract

The Scots Confession announces the incarnate Son as the ‘angel of the great counsel of God’. Derived from Isa 9:6(5) LXX, that title has come through a tradition traceable through Justin, Irenaeus, Athanasius, Augustine and Calvin. It designates Jesus in his teaching ministry and prophetic office as revealer of God's saving purpose carried out in him and expresses both connection and distinction between God's eternal Wisdom and its incarnation. Parallels in Calvin's polemic against Osiander bring out the Confession's emphasis on the saving and revelatory significance of Jesu' humanity and his being both communicator and content of the divine counsel.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd, 2002

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