The Incarnation An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Incarnation of the Son of God

by Davis, Stephen T.; Kendall, Daniel; O'Collins, Gerald

• ISBN13: 9780199275779
• ISBN10: 0199275777
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-10-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This interdisciplinary study follows an international and ecumenical meeting of twenty-four scholars held in New York at Easter 2000: the Incarnation Summit. After an opening chapter, which summarizes and evaluates twelve major questions concerning the Incarnation, five chapters are dedicatedto the biblical roots of this central Christian doctrine. A patristic and medieval section corrects misinterpretations and retrieves for today the significance of the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) and its aftermath, as well as clarifying Aquinas' enduring metaphysical interpretation of theIncarnation. The volume then moves to theological and philosophical debates: three scholars take up such systematic issues as belief in the Incarnation, the self-emptying that it involves, and its compatibility with divine timelessness. The remaining four essays consider the place of the doctrine ofthe Incarnation in literature, ethics, art, and preaching. There is a fruitful dialogue between experts in a wide range of areas and the international reputation of the participants reflects and guarantees the high quality of this joint work. The result is a well researched, skilfully argued, and,at times, provocative volume on the central Christian belief: the Incarnation of the Son of God.

Author Biography

Stephen T. Davis is Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, Claremont McKenna College, California. Daniel Kendall, SJ is Professor of Theology, University of San Francisco. Gerald O'Collins, SJ is Professor of Systematic and Fundamental Theology, Gregorian University, Rome.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Preface to the Paperback Edition	xiv
Plates	xvi
Abbreviations	xvii
Participants in the Incarnation Summit (Easter, 2000, New York)	xix
1. The Incarnation: The Critical Issues	1	(30)
GERALD O'COLLINS, SJ
BIBLICAL WITNESS
2. Theophany, Anthropomorphism, and the Imago Dei: Some Observations about the Incarnation in the Light of the Old Testament	31	(16)
J. ANDREW DEARMAN
3. Jesus' Self-Understanding	47	(15)
N.T. WRIGHT
4. St Paul and the Incarnation: A Reassessment of the Data	62	(31)
GORDON D. FEE
5. Romans 8: The Incarnation and its Redemptive Impact	93	(23)
JEAN-NOËL ALETTI, SJ
6. The Incarnation: The Jewish Milieu	116	(27)
ALAN F. SEGAL
PATRISTIC AND MEDIEVAL WITNESS
7. What Does Chalcedon Solve and What Does it Not? Some Reflections on the Status and Meaning of the Chalcedonian 'Definition'	143	(21)
SARAH COAKLEY
8. Nature and the 'Mode of Union': Late Patristic Models for the Personal Unity of Christ	164	(33)
BRIAN E. DALEY, SJ
9. Aquinas' Metaphysics of the Incarnation	197
ELEONORE STUMP
FOUNDATIONAL AND SYSTEMATIC ISSUES
10. Was Jesus Mad, Bad, or God?	221	(25)
STEPHEN T. DAVIS
11. The Self-Emptying of Love: Some Thoughts on Kenotic Christology	246	(27)
C. STEPHEN EVANS
12. A Timeless God Incarnate	273	(30)
BRIAN LEFTOW
THE INCARNATION PRACTISED AND PROCLAIMED
13. A Word Made Flesh: Incarnational Language and the Writer	303	(10)
KATHLEEN NORRIS
14. The Incarnation and Virtue Ethics	313	(19)
LINDA ZAGZEBSKI
15. The Incarnation in Twentieth-Century Art	332
DAVID BROWN
16. The Incarnation in Selected Christmas Sermons	313	(84)
MARGUERITE SHUSTER
Index of Names	397