Impeccability and Temptation: Understanding Christ’s Divine and Human Will

329 Pages·2021·7.355 MB·English

Impeccability and Temptation
In Christian theology, the teaching that Christ possessed both a human and
divine will is central to the doctrine of two natures, but it also represents
a logical paradox, raising questions about how a person can be both im-
peccable and subject to temptation. This volume explores these questions
through an analytic theology approach, bringing together 15 original papers
that explore the implications of a strong libertarian concept of free will for
Christology. With perspectives from systematic theologians, philosophers,
and biblical scholars, several chapters also offer a comparative theology
approach, examining the concept of impeccability in the M uslim tradition.
Therefore, this volume will be of interest to scholars and graduate students
working in analytic theology, biblical scholarship, systematic t heology, and
Christian-Islamic dialogue.
Johannes Grössl is Assistant Professor for Fundamental Theology and
Comparative Studies of Religion at the University of Würzburg, Germany.
He has published in Faith and Philosophy and Theology and Science and
co-edited a volume of German translations of essays on divine foreknowl-
edge and human freedom, Göttliche Allwissenheit und Menschliche Frei-
heit (2015).
Klaus von Stosch is Professor for Systematic Theology at the University of
Paderborn, Germany. He is an internationally well-known expert in com-
parative theology, having published 11 monographs and 40 edited books,
among them, together with Francis Clooney, How to do Comparative
Theology? He has held guest professorships in Jerusalem and research
fellowships at the University of Qom (Iran), Harvard Divinity School, and
Georgetown University.
Routledge Studies in Analytic and Systematic Theology
Series editors: James Turner, Thomas McCall and Jordan Wessling
Impeccability and Temptation
Understanding Christ’s Divine and Human Will
Edited by Johannes Grössl and Klaus von Stosch
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Studies-in-Genocide-and-Crimes-against-Humanity/book-series/
RSGCH
Impeccability and Temptation
Understanding Christ’s Divine and
Human Will
Edited by
Johannes Grössl and Klaus von Stosch
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Johannes Grössl and
Klaus von Stosch; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Johannes Grössl and Klaus von Stosch to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 9780367615024 (hbk)
ISBN: 9780367618940 (pbk)
ISBN: 9780367618933 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
Contents
List of fgures vii
List of contributors ix
Introduction: impeccability and temptation 1
JOHANNES GRÖSSL
PART I
Was Christ sinless? Exegetical and historical approaches 13
1 The sinlessness of Christ and human perfection 15
JEFFREY SIKER
2 Sinless or not? The baptism by John and Jesus’
consciousness of his personal sins 33
ANGELIKA STROTMANN
3 “He himself was tempted” (Hebr 2:18): the temptation of
Jesus in the New Testament 50
LENA LÜTTICKE AND HANS-ULRICH WEIDEMANN
4 God’s work and human’s contribution: Jesus’ sinlessness in
Theodore of Mopsuestia’s Christology 75
CORNELIA DOCKTER
5 Conciliar Christology, impeccability, and temptation 94
TIMOTHY PAWL
vi Contents
PART II
Is Christ impeccable? Systematical approaches 117
6 Seven questions ingredient to Jesus Christ’s temptation 119
JOHN E. McKINLEY
7 The Hypostatic Union and the freedom of Christ 143
THOMAS SCHÄRTL
8 Classical Theism, Christology, and the Two Sons Worry 164
R.T. MULLINS
9 Peccable as Son of Man, impeccable as Son of God: an
attempt to reconcile freedom and impeccability 183
DOMINIKUS KRASCHL
10 The divine and human will of Christ 199
OLIVER D. CRISP
11 Deification and the divided-consciousness-view 216
JOHANNES GRÖSSL
PART III
Human perfection and sinlessness in Islamic theology 233
12 The scope of ‘iṣma and Qur’anic evidence 235
MOHAMMAD HAGHANI FAZL
13 Inerrancy and exaggeration in Shi‘i theology 253
MUHAMMAD LEGENHAUSEN
14 The theological concept of imamate: how Imamis reconcile
human perfection and free will 271
VAHID MAHDAVI MEHR
Conclusion: impeccability and sinlessness in Islam and
Christianity 286
KLAUS VON STOSCH
Author/Subject index 297
Scripture index 311
Figures
1.1 Alexamenos Graffti 18
12.1 Five dimensions of inerrancy 243

Contributors
Oliver D. Crisp is Professor of Analytic Theology at the University of St.
Andrews, UK. His constructive work has, to date, primarily been in
the areas of Christology and hamartiology. His publications include
Divinity and Humanity: The Incarnation Reconsidered (2007) and God
Incarnate: Explorations in Christology (2009).
Cornelia Dockter is a research assistant at the Institute of Catholic Theol-
ogy of the University of Paderborn, Germany. Her dissertation on Chris-
tological debates in Quranic perspective, Geist im Wort, was published
with Brill in 2020.
Johannes Grössl  is Assistant Professor of Fundamental Theology and
Comparative Religion at the University of Wurzburg, Germany. He
has co-edited a volume with German translations of essays on divine
foreknowledge and human freedom, Göttliche Allwissenheit und Men-
schliche Freiheit (2015). His habilitation on Christ’s impeccability will
appear as a monograph with Herder in 2021.
Mohammad Haghani Fazl is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center of Islamic
Theology and member of the Prophetology Project at the University of
Paderborn, Germany. His research interests lie primarily in the Scrip-
tures and exegesis. He has published Inerrancy of the Bible from the
Christian point of View (in Persian). His PhD dissertation with the ti-
tle The Impact of Interreligious Dialogue on the Interpretation of the
Scripture will be published by University of Religions and Denomina-
tions, Iran (in Persian).
Dominikus Kraschl OFM is Professor of Philosophy and the History of
Philosophy at University of Chur, Switzerland. His publications (in Ger-
man) include The Precarious God-World-Relationship (2009), Rela-
tional Ontology. A Contribution to the Discussion of Open Questions
in Philosophy (2012) and Indirect Experience of God: Its Nature and
Relevance for Theological Epistemology (2017).