Incarnation and evolution

Christian theology holds that the incarnation of the Word of God took place in Jesus of Nazareth. Deliberations by the Church over a number of centuries culminated in the Council of Chalcedon and led to the confession of the Two Natures of Jesus: fully God and fully human. Milestones in scripture and tradition leading to this confession were traced and later theological implications explored.; The modern understanding of the evolution of the universe was sketched and the roles of cosmic, biogenetic, and cultural evolution were defined. Some details of each process were examined. The next task was to rehearse some selected attempts at reconciling Darwinian thought and Christian theology. This spanned many approaches, most of which involved God directing or otherwise working in evolution.; In the section “Incarnation and Evolution Reconsidered,” a novel approach for an integration of theological incarnation and scientific evolution was proposed. A new word conveying the concept of God present in the universe yet also transcending the universe—transentheism —was introduced. God as incarnating Word of God submits God's self to evolutionary selection. This is a kind of emptying (kenosis) which also has elements of a co-evolution between God in Christ and the world into which the Logos is emptied. An effort was made to expand transentheism into a Trinitarian evolutionary theology.; The co-evolution of the Word and matter, energy, and life in creation culminates (on earth) in humanity and the human person Jesus of Nazareth. All evolution, all life, and all humankind are co-existent with the Word of God. However, the Word is completely expressed in Jesus by means of biogenetic and cultural selection.; In addition, cultural selection proceeds and selection takes place on stories and traditions, which eventually results in doctrines and theologies of the Church. These define how the church formulates its understanding of the Word of God, incarnation and, eventually, the Two Natures of Christ. Along with the selective process that results in the Evolutionary Epic over geological time, cultural evolution selects parts and the whole of this immediate hypothesis of incarnation and evolution, the very one just summarized.