Pantocrator Icon.  This is a common depiction of Jesus among Orthodox Christians.  Jesus is holding the scriptures, which shows that He watches over our doctrine.  Some core Christian doctrines are represented in the icon.  The three fingers on Jesus’s right hand touch to symbolize the Trinity.  Two fingers above slightly overlap; the upper finger represents Christ’s heavenly nature, the lower finger His earthly nature.  Similarly, Jesus’s right eye looks slightly up and His right slightly down.  Because this icon reminds Orthodox Christians that Jesus is watching over their doctrine, it is often found on the domed ceilings of Orthodox churches.

Today’s post is rather preliminary.  Some might consider it provocative.  For a couple years I’ve had an idea that I’ve toyed with but haven’t seriously studied out.  The idea is this: All theology can be summed up in Christology.  What do I mean?  Below are a few things that have bounced around in my head:

Theology (the study of God): Christ is God.  If we’ve seen Him we’ve seen the Father (John 14:9).

Pneumatology (the study of the Spirit): Christ is anointed with the fullness of the Spirit (John 3:34).  The Spirit testifies of Jesus and declares to us what belongs to Him (John 15:26, 16:14).  The Spirit is called the Spirit of Jesus/Christ (Acts 16:7; Rom. 16:9).

Soteriology (the study of salvation): Two words–The cross! “There is salvation in no one else” (Acts 4:12).

Ecclesiology (the study of the church): The church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him that fills all things (1 Cor. 12:27; Eph. 1:23).

Eschatology (the study of last things/end times): Christ is the beginning and *the end* (Rev. 22:13).  This age reaches its end in the revelation of the Son of Man (Luke 17:30).

What I’ve sketched out here are mere conversation starters.  If you’d like to add to the conversation, leave a comment!