The Son More Visible: Immaterialism and the Incarnation

Abstract

In this article we argue that an immaterialist ontology—a metaphysic that denies the existence of material substance—is more consonant with Christian dogma than any ontology that includes the existence of material substance. We use the philosophy of the famous eighteenth‐century Irish immaterialist George Berkeley as a guide while engaging one particularly difficult Christian mystery: the doctrine of the Incarnation of Christ. The goal is to make plausible the claim that, from the analysis of this one example, there are strong reasons for thinking that if one wants to be a Christian one ought to be an immaterialist.

Berkeleyan idealism and Christian philosophy

“…Marc Hight argues that immaterialism significantly strengthens the plausibility of bodily resurrection, the incarnation of Christ, the divine Trinity, and even the doctrines of heaven and hell (Hight, ). Hight and Bohannon go so far as to say that such explanatory power provides 'strong reasons for thinking that if one wants to be a Christian one ought to be an immaterialist' (Hight and Bohannon, , 120).…”

Recent developments in analytic Christology

“…In other areas, see the pursuit of a Christological theory within an idealist ontological framework in Hight and Bohannon () and Crisp ().…”