Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 18:1 (Spring 2021)
Article: “The Son Of God Appeared To Prophets And Patriarchs”: Ante-Nicene Views Of Christophanies
Author: Rex D. Butler

JBTM 18:1 (Spring 2021) p. 63

“The Son Of God Appeared To Prophets And Patriarchs”: Ante-Nicene Views Of Christophanies

Rex D. Butler

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Introduction

In searching for “Christ in All Scriptures,” some scholars look for Christ in his alleged Old Testament appearances, often called “Christophanies.” In 1978, James Borland published his dissertation under the title, Christ in the Old Testament, which he described as a “Study of Old Testament Appearances of Christ in Human Form.” In his comprehensive monograph in favor of Christophanies, Borland argued: “The thesis of this work is that all Old Testament theophanies that involved the manifestation of God in human form were appearances of the second person of the Trinity, and as such their purpose was not only to provide immediate revelation but also to prepare mankind for the incarnation of Christ.”1 Walter Kaiser registered his support of Borland in his foreword, in which he insisted that a biblical theology of Christophanies is an urgent need and more than a mere academic exercise.2

More recently, Michael Bird in his Evangelical Theology affirmed that divine appearances in the Old Testament were Christophanies, manifestations of the pre-incarnate Son of God.3 In this assertion,

JBTM 18:1 (Spring 2021) p. 64

Bird included appearances by the “Angel of the Lord,” who “speaks with immediate divine authority.”4

In counterpoint to these views, Andrew Malone stated flatly that “Michael Bird is wrong!”5 Fred Sanders just said, “No to Christophanies.”6 In 1975, William MacDonald anticipated the controversy with his essay, “Christology and the ‘Angel of the Lord,’” in which he expressed concerns that acceptance of Christophanies in the Old Testament would compromise the doctrine of Christ’s incarnation in the New Testament.7

During the early centuries of Christian thought, the Ante-Nicene fathers had much to say regarding divine appearances in the Old Testament, which they attributed to the second person of the Godhead. The apologists Justin Martyr and Theophilus of Antioch pointed to Christophanies as proof of Christ’s divinity. Later church fathers, including Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Novatian, drew from a wide selection of Chri...