The Metaphysics of the Incarnation

The growth of both philosophy of mind and cognitive science has developed our understanding of the human mind in ways that just a few decades ago were unthinkable. As ideas from philosophy of mind begin to cross over into philosophy of religion, there is renewed interest in questions about the divine mind, about how it might relate to a human body, and about whether incarnation itself might be articulated with the conceptual tools offered by the current research developments in the philosophy of mind. This book offers original essays by leading philosophers of religion representing these new approaches to theological problems such as incarnation. The doctrine of incarnation - that Jesus Christ was God become human - has always been one of the most central and distinctive features of Christianity. Similar doctrines about divine humans can be found in other religions, from the claims to divinity made by ancient kings and emperors to the concept of avatars in Hinduism. But many people regard the notion that a human being could also be divine as unjustifiable or incoherent, and none of the many attempts to articulate it philosophically has earned general acceptance. The authors explore, from a variety of different viewpoints, whether any metaphysically rigorous and coherent model of incarnation can be defended today. Their aim is to give readers a clearer sense not only of the problems and possible new solutions associated with incarnation itself, but of how the notion of incarnation may be fitted in to wider current debates in philosophy.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction ; 2. The humanity of God ; 3. Compositional christology without Nestorianism ; 4. Should concretists part with mereological models of the incarnation? ; 5. Drawing on many traditions: an ecumenical kenotic Christology ; 6. The metaphysics of kenosis ; 7. Hylomorphism and the incarnation ; 8. The coherence of the Chalcedonian Definition of the incarnation ; 9. The incarnation and unity of consciousness ; 10. Vehicle externalism and the metaphysics of the incarnation: a medieval contribution ; 11. The extended mind in ontological entanglements ; 12. Multiple incarnations and distributed persons

Review :
those who are willing to listen, at least, to the work of analytical philosophers of religion, and are interested in philosophical issues in the Christian religion, will want to read this interesting and diverse collection. Marmodoro and Hills The Metaphysics of the Incarnation is easy to recommend to anyone interested in the topic, especially to those whose philosophical approach might be best described as analytical. Furthermore, regardless of the particular application to the incarnation employed in the volume, a number of the contributions will be of interest to those working on the philosophy of mind in general. a valuable collection. the work provides an interesting measuring gauge for the current state of discussion of the topic among analytic philosophers. ... professional philosophers will no doubt find the essays fascinating ... it is a valuable collection.