This book raises in a new way a central question of Christology: what is the divine motive for the incarnation? Throughout Christian history a majority of Western theologians have agreed that God's decision to become incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ was made necessary by "the Fall": if humans had not sinned, the incarnation would not have happened. This position is known as "infralapsarian." A minority of theologians however, including some major 19th- and 20th-century theological figures, championed a "supralapsarian" Christology, arguing that God has always intended the incarnation, independent of "the Fall."
Edwin Chr. 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.
Industry Reviews
"In this analytically rigorous and deeply insightful work, Dr. van Driel zeroes in on central issues and takes them apart with exceptional ease and clarity. In and of itself, that is an extraordinary achievement, considering the complexity of thought of the figures he is engaging. This book makes an important original, creative, and compelling contribution to supralapsarian Christology." --Miroslav Volf, Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology, Yale
Divinity School
"Van Driel's work is a rare example of theological construction that is rigorous and yet creative, that is definite and detailed as to is own conclusions, and that puts a surprising issue firmly on the table for contemporary theology, making an eloquent case for its importance. The book doesn't just open a new discussion, it positively advances it." --Paul DeHart, Vanderbilt University
"With a maestro's attention to the full orchestral breadth of the symphony that is systematic theology, van Driel's analysis reveals how God, in supralapsarian theories of the Incarnation, saturates ordinary life with Christological significance, revealing the resplendence of the everyday as we have it, and demonstrating 'the centrality of Christ to eschatological consummation,' which teaches us something about the destiny for which humanity is created.
Historically informed yet never pedantic, theologically profound yet never obscure, this is a book from which students will profit and at which masters will marvel." --Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia
"[Van Driel's] construction is careful, clear, and elegant, drawing not only on theological tradition but also careful readings of biblical texts." --Religious Studies Review
"An important book that brings a whole set of ideas and concepts back into the contemporary theological conversation. . . professors, students, and ministers will all benefit from reading and engaging."--Center for Barth Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary
