“If you only have time for one Christology,” says Jonathan Leeman, “start here. I commend it without reservation.”

Stephen J. Wellum. God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ. Foundations of Evangelical Theology. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016.

Here’s what Don Carson says about it:

In lucid prose, Wellum lays out the contours of a responsible Christology by tracing the arguments of the New Testament through the determinative early centuries of the Christian church, using such discussion as the jumping-off point for broader theological reflection. This is now the handbook to give to theology students and other Christians who want to understand how confessional orthodoxy regarding the doctrine of Christ developed. Highly recommended.

Carl Trueman calls it “easily the Evangelical book of the year if one is looking for a volume that both makes an important contribution and is likely still to be read with profit ten years from now.”

For a taste of how Wellum writes, see “Could Christ Have Sinned?”

I’ve spent only a few hours in this new 495-page book, but from what I can tell (and from what I know about Steve Wellum—my favorite living systematic theologian), this may be the best overall book on the doctrine of Christ.

Related: Donald Macleod reviews Wellum’s book. Macleod is author of The Person of Christ and Christ Crucified: Understanding the Atonement.