God Incarnate: Explorations in Christology

The doctrine of the incarnation is one of the central and defining dogmas of the Christian faith. In this text, Oliver Crisp builds upon his previous work, Divinity and Humanity: The Incarnation Reconsidered (Cambridge, 2007). In God Incarnate, he explores the Incarnation further and covers issues he did not deal with in his previous book. This work attempts to further the project of setting out a coherent account of the Incarnation by considering key facets of this doctrine, as parts of a larger, integrated, doctrinal whole. Throughout, he is concerned to develop a position in line with historic Christianity that is catholic and ecumenical in tone, in line with the contours of the Reformed theological tradition within which his own work falls. And, like its predecessor, this book will draw upon philosophical and theological resources to make sense of the problems the doctrine faces.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1.Method in Christology 2.The election of Jesus Christ 3.The pre-existence of Christ 4.The 'fittingness' of the Virgin Birth 5.Christ and the embryo 6.Was Christ sinless or impeccable? 7.Materialist Christology 8.Multiple Incarnations Afterword Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Oliver Crisp is Professor of Analytic Theology, and Director of the Logos Institute for Analytic and Exegetical Theology at the University of St Andrews, UK.

Review :
'Those who are less than enthusiastic about the revival of analytic theology ought to look to Crisp's work as an exemplar for the discipline and direct their concerns to the fruit of the discipline rather than the method itself. In Crisp's work they will find tight arguments, concern for scripture and tradition, and a respectable coherence. God Incarnate, while successful on its own terms, can be viewed as a guidebook for further explorations in analytic theology.'- James Gordon, Docent Research Group, Austin, TX 78755, USA Crisp presents a thorough analysis of traditional doctrine in accessible terms. Thus this book is truly an analytic theology... I would recommend this text to academics and students alike. All of these essays are thought-provoking, even if one does not agree with all he says... Crisp writes with great clarity and persuasiveness... [His] work demonstrates that analytic discipline can restore both lucidity and precision to the theological endeavor. In this rigorously systematic monograph, Oliver Crisp builds on his 2007 work, Divinity and Humanity: The Incarnation Reconsidered, to showcase the merits of analytic theology … True to its epistemological commitments, God Incarnate offers readers a glimpse into the theological mind of a logician that is equally rigorous and pious. Anyone interested in [the] topics [covered] and in careful attention to the philosophical and dogmatic issues that they may raise, will find a reading of this book to be immensely rewarding. 'Oliver Crisp's God Incarnate is an "exercise in analytic theology" by a leading analytic theologian.  Clearly written and rigorously argued, the book provides an engaging and theologically sensitive tour of a variety of issues concerning, and closely connected to, the metaphysics of the Incarnation.  God Incarnate will surely be of interest to both philosophers and theologians working on this central aspect of Christian theology.' 'Oliver Crisp continues his project of analytical theology with these doctrinally sensitive studies of central topics in Christology.  There are few contemporary accounts of the metaphysics and dogmatics and dogmatics of incarnation which can match this book for clarity, rigour and penetration.' John Webster, King's College, Aberdeen, Scotland