This chapter develops a Reformed version of kenotic Christology. In the place of two discreet (substantially conceived) “natures” subsisting in one and the same “person,” this chapter posits the existence of a single composite hypostasis, constituted in time by means of what it calls the “ontological receptivity” of the eternal Son to the “act of being” proper to the human Jesus as human. It is the Son’s “ontological receptivity” that makes an eternal act of “identification” on the part of the Logos with the human Jesus to be constitutive of his identity as the second “person” of the Trinity even before the actual uniting occurs. What emerges is in the spirit of Chalcedon even if it is not according to the letter. This chapter develops this Christology, shows how it follows the spirit of Chalcedon, and defends it against possible objections.

This chapter argues that the distinction between “low” and “high” Christologies as well as the assumed incompatibility of the Synoptic Christologies and that of the Fourth Gospel both need drastic revision. Instead, this chapter argues that a discernable measure of compatibility of the Synoptic witness to the Johannine does exist, but it can only be seen and understood where a twofold condition is met: 1) the Synoptics are interpreted first and on their own terms, and 2) John is not read through the lens provided by the fifth-century Christological dogma. One of the greatest needs – if Chalcedonianism is to become more widely respected outside the circles of “orthodox” dogmaticians – is for a Christology that does not suppress the all too human character of the Jesus born witness to in the first three Gospels especially.