An Argument For The Incarnation

This book presents an argument for the thesis that Jesus is the incarnation of the divine Son of God. This argument is based on the philosophical arguments (1)that God would become incarnate in order to make it possible for human persons to become sons of God, (2) that God would confirm that the divine Son of God had become incarnate in a specific individual human person, (3) that God would confirm this by an appropriate manifest miracle, (4) that the human person in whom the divine Son of God has become incarnate would claim to be the divine Son of God, (5) that the teaching and character of this human person would be consistent with what it would be reasonable to believe the teaching and character of God incarnate would be and the justified historical claims that (6) Jesus claimed to be the Son of God incarnate, (7) that his teaching and character were appropriate to God incarnate, and (8) that God raised Jesus from death, and thereby confirmed (9) that Jesus was the divine Son of God incarnate.

Whether or not Jesus rose bodily from the dead is perhaps the most critical and contentious issue in the study of Christianity. Rather than depend on statements in the New Testament, Swinburne argues for a wider approach.

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 DL in creation, in redemption, and in eschatological consummation DL 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.

Cur Deus Homo ("Why God was a Man") was written from 1095 to 1098 once Anselm was already archbishop of Canterbury and discusses the Incarnation. It takes the form of a dialogue between Anselm and Boso, one of his students. Its core is a purely rational argument for the necessity of the Christian mystery of atonement, the belief that Jesus's crucifixion was necessary to atone for mankind's sin. This edition also contains a selection of his letters.

That being than which a greater cannot be conceived.' This was the way in which the living God of biblical tradition was described by the great Medieval philosophers such as Augustine, Anselm and Aquinas.Contemporary philosophers find much to question, criticise and reject in the traditional analysis of that description. Some hold that the attributes traditionally ascribed to God - simplicity, necessity, immutability, eternity, omniscience, omnipotence, creativity and goodness - are inherently incoherent individually, or mutually inconsistent. Others argue that the divinity described by philosophers cannot be the same as the providential God of revelation.In Perfect Being Theology Katherin A. Rogers defends the traditional approach, considering contemporary criticisms but concluding that the most adequate account of the nature of God should build upon the foundation laid by the Medieval philosophers.Written in a lively and accessible style and offering an important historical perspective, this book covers key areas of contention and many of the major ideas and thinkers from all sides of the debate are included.

Following a meeting held in New York at Easter 2000, this volume discusses the belief in the Incarnation, on the self-emptying that it involves, and its compatibility with divine timelessness.

Jesus and the Incarnation Reflections of Christians from Islamic Contexts In the dialogues of Christians with Muslims nothing is more fundamental than the Cross, the Incarnation and the Resurrection of Jesus. An open and honest conversation on these is a necessity as Christians all over the world meet with Muslims on a daily basis. Building on the volume on the Cross, published in 2009, this book contains voices of Christians living in various 'Islamic contexts' and reflecting on the Incarnation of Jesus. The aim of these reflections is constructive and the hope is that the papers weaved around the notion of 'the Word' will not only promote dialogue among Christians on the roles of the Person and the Book but, also, create a positive environment for their conversations with Muslim neighbors.

A collection of essays defending the Christian docrine of the Incarnation against its modern critics.