Related Papers
‘On Getting First Things First: Assessing Claims for the Primacy of Christ.’ New Blackfriars 90 no.1027 (2009), 343-364.
Myk Habets
Adopting modal logic the doctrine of the primacy of Christ is defined and defended in relation to the Thomistic – Scotistic debates over the primary and efficient causes of the incarnation. This leads to a defence of the Scotistic thesis and a reserved affirmation for the Sco-tistic hypothesis that there would have been an incarnation irrespective of the fall. This hypothesis is tested by reference to the work of four recent theologians, Thomas Weinandy O.F.M. cap., Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, and Thomas Torrance. Finally, a sketch describing another possible-world incarnation that builds upon the Scotistic hypothesis is provided.
New Blackfriars
On Getting First Things First: Assessing Claims for the Primacy of Christ
2009 •
Myk Habets
Reframing the Problem of the Incarnation: Towards a Conceptualist Christology (Old Draft - see the updated one)
J Alexander Rutherford
Traditional accounts of the incarnation, which maintain the true divinity and true humanity of Christ, have faced numerous criticisms across the history of the church, criticisms that have never entirely been resolved. What if the problem is not the claim of dual "natures" but rather the philosophical paradigm within which "nature" has been interpreted? In this paper, it is argued that significant issues caused by the traditional dual-nature paradigm can be resolved through a conceptualist account of "nature," that is, ontological identity or similitude with like things. After introducing the classic paradigm and the problems associated with it, conceptualism is proposed as an adequate solution to the problems of natural and personal continuity and, as a result, a strong framework within which to tackle the classic problems associated with the incarnation. Keywords: ontology, Hellenistic philosophy, conceptualism, essentialism, incarnation, Christology.
How Original Was Scotus on the Incarnation? Reconsidering the History of the Absolute Predestination of Christ in Light of Robert Grosseteste.
Daniel P Horan
The concept of incarnation in philosophical and religious traditions juxtaposed the concept of incarnation in Christianity
2019 •
Maniraj Sukdaven
Incarnation, as per definition in its simplistic form, wherein God assumes a human nature, is central to the Christian doctrine of faith. The premise upon which the uniqueness of the Christian doctrine of incarnation, as opposed to other religious traditions, is embedded in and among other texts of the Christian Bible, and in the Gospel according to John 1:1-18. This article will articulate some of the philosophies in existence at that time which may allegedly have influenced and elicited a response from the writer of the Gospel according to John (GAJ). An attempt will be made to understand how some of these philosophies view incarnation in forms that may not necessarily reflect incarnation as is traditionally understood in Christianity which is primarily ‘God becoming flesh’. Central to the understanding of Christian incarnation is the philosophical concept of logos which emanated in Greek philosophy. Finally, it should become apparent, that the understanding of ‘incarnation’, in s...
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion
Some problems for Tomistic incarnationists
1991 •
Keith Yandell
The Metaphysics of the Incarnation (Philosophy in Review 2013)
Seamus O'Neill
Modern Theology
"MORE SPLENDID THAN THE SUN": CHRIST'S FLESH AMONG THE REASONS FOR THE INCARNATION
2019 •
Brendan Case
This article defends two arguments proposed by Robert Grosseteste for the view that the Incarnation is logically prior to the Fall. Each of them is motivated by the goodness of Christ as a creature who is nonetheless worthy of worship, though the first considers this fact as an intrinsic good, and the second considers it as instrumentally good, by virtue of its making possible fleshly communion between God and his creatures. I will then consider Bonaventure's reasons for rejecting these arguments, which turn on the worry that they posit a divine obligation to become Incarnate. I show that while Bonaventure's concern is reasonable, he addresses it at the unacceptable cost of denying important aspects of the Incarnation's purpose in the actual world. However, Bonaventure accepts that the Incarnation and Passion are "necessary" for human redemption in a way that is consistent with divine freedom, an intuition which Aquinas brings to particularly clear expression by analyzing the Incarnation as necessary in the sense of being the most fitting means of salvation. Applying this line of thought to Christ's flesh, considered as the fitting instrument by which God has elected to perfectly beatify humanity, allows us to reconcile Grosseteste's insistence on the Incarnation's priority to the Fall with Bonaventure's insistence on its absolute gratuity.
Loke, Andrew. ‘Immaterialist, materialist, and substance dualist accounts of Incarnation.’ Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie, 54 (2012): 414-423.
Andrew Ter Ern Loke
The logic and language of the incarnation : towards a Christology of identification
1993 •
Peter McEnhill
of Thesis This thesis provides an examination of the contemporary discussion of incarnational language as its receives classical expression in the formulations of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. with a view to developing an incarnational account based on God’s identification with desus of Nazareth. With this in view consideration is given to a number of contemporary defences of the logic of Chalcedon viewed as a literal statement of identity. It is argued that such defences fail in that they carry over the tensions inherent in Chalcedon unresolved into their own positions. From this conclusion consideration is given to the criticism that incarnational language is not literal but metaphorical. This is agreed, but an argument is offered to show that metaphors can refer and bear cognitive information and as such are capable of conceptual articulation. It is further argued that there is an important class of metaphors which are ’theory-constitutive’ such that the theoretical claims...
