The Son Who Learned Obedience

This book offers a fresh perspective on the ongoing evangelical debate concerning whether the Son eternally submits to the Father. Beginning with the pro-Nicene account of will being a property of the single divine nature, Glenn Butner explores how language of eternal submission requires a modification of the classical theology of the divine will. This modification has problematic consequences for Christology, various atonement theories, and the doctrine of God, because as historically developed these doctrines shared the pro-Nicene assumption of a single divine will. This new angle on an old debate challenges the reader to move beyond the inaccurate characterization of views on eternal submission as ""Arian"" or ""feminist"" toward a more accurate understanding of the real theological issues at stake.

""In The Son Who Learned Obedience, Glenn Butner establishes himself as a very competent evangelical theologian. . . . Butner's grasp of historic orthodoxy and of the doctrines he discusses is impressive. I cannot recommend this book too highly.""
--Kevin Giles, author of Jesus and the Father: Modern Evangelicals Reinvent the Doctrine of the Trinity

""How shall we read Scripture well when it proclaims that the Son learned obedience? Some answers to that question take Christianity in new and misguided directions both in doctrine and ethics. Butner's rejoinder to the modern doctrine of eternal functional subordination is a biblically sound and doctrinally rich guide that shows the direction to a more faithful answer. . . . Anyone tempted by, or interested in, the theological and ethical implications of this new teaching should take this book to heart and digest it carefully.""
--D. Stephen Long, Southern Methodist University

""In The Son Who Learned Obedience Glenn Butner takes the recent controversy over eternal functional subordination and places it into an effective dialogue with the long history of trinitarian and christological doctrine. Many commentators have quoted a few church fathers and some reformers along the way. Butner's book is the best so far in rehearsing the classical lines of Christian doctrine, patiently comparing them to the terms of the recent debate. The result, especially for questions about dyotheletism and the singular will of the Trinity, is immensely clarifying.""
--Fred Sanders, Biola University


Glenn Butner is Assistant Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry at Sterling College, KS. He is published in numerous academic journals, including Modern Theology and the International Journal of Systematic Theology.