Incarnation without the Fall

An important Christological question is whether the incarnation depends on human sin. This paper sets out one version of an “incarrnation anyway” doctrine, i.e. the view according to which Christ would have been incarnate without a fall (an issue that has begun to receive more attention in the recent theological literature). This version of incarnation anyway I call the christological union account. It is argued that far from being theologically speculative in a pejorative sense, the christological union account sheds important light upon several related issues such as the image of God, and God’s ultimate end in creating the world. After setting out the doctrine in an extended narrative, some of the principal reasons in favor of the view and against it are weighed up.