Historical Background
Eusebius of Caesarea already described Christ's anointing in a threefold pattern, and John Calvin gave the threefold office (munus triplex) its classic systematic form in the Institutes of 1559, Book II, chapter 15. The scheme passed into the Reformed confessions and the Westminster standards, and into Lutheran dogmatics as well. Catholic theology orders Christ's work chiefly through his priesthood and sacrifice; Orthodox theology through his incarnation, victory, and deifying union; the threefold office remains most characteristic of the Reformed tradition while being widely used beyond it.
Scripture References
- Deuteronomy 18:15-18
- Psalm 110
- Hebrews 2:14-18
- Hebrews 7:23-28
- Philippians 2:5-11
The Questions
- Is the threefold office a biblical pattern or a systematic convenience? Work on this question in the Workshop
- Does Christ's priestly intercession continue his atoning work or apply it? Work on this question in the Workshop
- Is Christ's kingship present now, future only, or both in different respects? Work on this question in the Workshop
- How do the offices relate to the believer's own calling? Work on this question in the Workshop
The Positions on This Subject
Methods Brought to This Subject
The methods of theological discovery demonstrably worked on this subject, each with the reason it belongs here and the evidence of its use.
Redemptive-Historical Interpretation
The threefold office is a reading of Christ's work as the unfolding of a single redemptive history: prophet, priest, and king are offices traced through Israel's story and gathered in one person. A method that reads each text inside that unfolding history is the natural instrument for this subject.
Evidence of use: Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology (1948), reads the offices as stages of one organic history of redemption, and his earlier essay on the priestly office follows the priesthood through that history to Christ.
Objections
The threefold scheme is objected to as an artificial grid laid over the New Testament's own richer language about Christ. Critics within the Reformed tradition itself have objected to separating the offices, insisting Christ's work is one act viewed whole. Others object that the kingly office, emphasized without the others, has fed triumphalist readings of the church's place in the world.
Sources
Primary: John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book II, ch. 15 (1559); Westminster Larger Catechism, Questions 42-45 (1648); Heidelberg Catechism, Question 31 (1563).
Secondary: Richard A. Muller, Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms, 2nd ed. (Baker Academic, 2017); Robert Letham, The Work of Christ (IVP Academic, 1993).