Category:Incarnation (subject)

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Incarnation

Overview

The Incarnation of the Christ is one of the central Christian doctrines. Although there are different understandings, the Incarnation can be described as the process through which the divine Logos (Jesus) was believed to have become flesh.

While the doctrine of incarnation is still at the center of contemporary theological debate, since the mid-nineteenth century scholars have began tracing its historical development, from its origins to the present.

Once assumed to be a common doctrine in the entire New Testament (and theologically announced in the Old Testament), the doctrine of incarnation (and of the divinity of the Christ) first explicitly appeared only in the Gospel of John and subsequent literature.

Major Theological Treatises on the Incarnation of the Christ

• De Carne Christi (around 210), by Tertullian

• De incarnatione Verbi Dei (4th cent.), by Athanasius of Alexandria

• De trinitatis erroribus (1531), by Michael Servetus.

• Immanuel; or, The mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God (1645), by James Ussher.

• The Incarnation: Collected Essays in Christology (1987), by Brian Hebblethwaite.
  • A collection of essays defending the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation against its modern critics.

• Divinity and Humanity (2007), by Oliver Crisp.
  • "The doctrine of the Incarnation lies at the heart of Christianity. But the idea that 'God was in Christ' has become a much-debated topic in modern theology. Oliver Crisp addresses six key issues in the Incarnation defending a robust version of the doctrine, in keeping with classical Christology. He explores perichoresis, or interpenetration, with reference to both the Incarnation and Trinity. Over two chapters Crisp deals with the human nature of Christ and then provides an argument against the view, common amongst some contemporary theologians, that Christ had a fallen human nature. He considers the notion of divine kenosis or self-emptying, and discusses non-Incarnational Christology, focusing on the work of John Hick. This view denies Christ is God Incarnate, regarding him as primarily a moral exemplar to be imitated. Crisp rejects this alternative account of the nature of Christology."--Publisher's description.

External links

• Wikipedia