This book raises in a new way a formerly central but recently neglected question in systematic theology: what is the divine motive for the incarnation? Throughout Christian history theologians have agreed that God's decision to become incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ was made necessary by humanity's fall from grace. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, the incarnation would not have happened. This position is known as "infralapsarian." In the 19th and 20th centuries, however, some major theological figures championed a "supralapsarian" Christology, arguing that God had always intended the incarnation, independent of "the Fall." Edwin van Driel offers the first scholarly monograph to map and analyze the full range of supralapsarian arguments. He gives a thick description of each argument and its theological consequences, and evaluates the theological gains and losses inherent in each approach. Van Driel shows that each of the three ways in which God is thought to relate to all that is not God - in creation, in redemption, and in eschatological consummation - can serve as the basis for a supralapsarian argument. He illustrates this thesis with detailed case studies of the Christologies of Schleiermacher, Dorner, and Barth. He concludes that the most fruitful supralapsarian strategy is rooted in the notion of eschatological consummation, taking interpersonal interaction with God to be the goal of the incarnation. He goes on to develop his own argument along these lines, concluding in an eschatological vision in which God is visually, audibly, and tangibly present in the midst of God's people.

About the Author
Edwin Chr. van Driel received degrees in theology and philosophy from Utrecht University (the Netherlands) and a Ph.D. in theology from Yale University. He resides in Naugatuck, Connecticut.

Reviews
This analytically and theologically rigorous work offers the best (and certainly clearest) systematic overview of modern theological arguments for supralapsarian christology I have come across. * Oliver Crisp, Journal of SJT *
Readers will quickly find that the moded of theology practised by the author is at once informed by a conversation within the Western tradition while also carried along by rigorous conceptual analysis of the doctrine...van Driel Keeps things clear and well sign-posted. * Mark McDowell, Themelios *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195369168
Author Edwin Chr Van Driel
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 431g
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 236mm * 20mm