Freedom and the incarnation

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how free will should be understood within the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation, particularly on the assumption of traditional Christology. We focus on two issues: (i) reconciling Christ's free will with the claim that Christ's human will was subjected to the divine will in the Incarnation; and (ii) reconciling the claims that Christ was fully human and free with the belief that Christ, since God, could not sin.

Recent developments in analytic Christology

“…Crisp has also weighed in on how to conceive of Christ's relation to sin, especially whether Christ had a fallen human nature (Crisp, ) and whether Christ was sinless or impeccable (Crisp, ). This latter question is also related to the issue of Christ's freedom taken up by Pawl () and Pawl and Timpe ()…”

‘Upright, Whole, and Free’: Eschatological Union with God

“…One reason for Couenhoven to grant that the above desiderata of divine freedom can be satisfied by the incompatibilist is so that his account of divine freedom doesn't require the truth of determinism. In this sense, Couenhoven should be grateful for the above account.8 If this is correct, then one could use this general approach to give an account of the Incarnate Christ's freedom; seePawl and Timpe (2016).9 A previous version of this paper was presented at the University of York in the UK, where I benefited from a very vigorous discussion. I'd especially like to thank David Worsley and David Efird for the invitation and their constructive insights.…”