Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

Today, the Doctrine of Christ, Part 7.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonable faith.org.

We've been looking at a proposed model for understanding the deity and humanity of Christ. I suggested first that we need to affirm

with the Council of Chalcedon that Christ has two complete natures, human and divine. Secondly,

I suggested last week that we can think with Apollinarius of the Logos, the second person of the Trinity, as being the soul of the human nature of Jesus Christ.

In virtue of the union of the Logos with the flesh, Christ's human nature

becomes complete so that he has a complete human nature as well as a complete divine nature.

Now before we move on to the third plank in this model, let me ask if there's any further

discussion of that second point, which is undoubtedly the most controversial feature of the

model. Any further discussion of this second postulate?

Yes, George.

Bill, not to throw you a curveball, but I asked you a couple of

months ago if you had heard of this book by Andrew Lincoln called Born of a Virgin, and he is,

as I understand it, an evangelical New Testament scholar from the UK, and in that book, he raises questions about the doctrine

of the virgin birth. He has textual issues and biological issues and so forth. And I'm not suggesting

we should abandon that doctrine, but do you think that the virgin birth is essential

to the two natures of Christ doctrine?

All right.

That's a subtle question, George.

I do affirm the truth of the virgin birth of Christ.

I think biological objections to it are just trivial because it's a miracle.

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