This book raises in a new way a central question of Christology: what is the divine motive for the incarnation? Throughout Christian history a majority of Western theologians have agreed that God's decision to become incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ was made necessary by "the Fall": if humans had not sinned, the incarnation would not have happened. This position is known as "infralapsarian." A minority of theologians however, including some major 19th- and 20th-century theological figures, championed a "supralapsarian" (...) Christology, arguing that God has always intended the incarnation, independent of "the Fall." Edwin Chr. van Driel offers the first scholarly monograph to map and analyze the full range of supralapsarian arguments. He gives a thick description of each argument and its theological consequences, and evaluates the theological gains and losses inherent in each approach. Van Driel shows that each of the three ways in which God is thought to relate to all that is not God -- in creation, in redemption, and in eschatological consummation -- can serve as the basis for a supralapsarian argument. He illustrates this thesis with detailed case studies of the Christologies of Schleiermacher, Dorner, and Barth. He concludes that the most fruitful supralapsarian strategy is rooted in the notion of eschatological consummation, taking interpersonal interaction with God to be the goal of the incarnation. He goes on to develop his own argument along these lines, concluding in an eschatological vision in which God is visually, audibly, and tangibly present in the midst of God's people. (shrink)

The conception of “prospective potency” was defined by its author H.Driesch as “the sum of the possible modes of development of a given part of the embryo”. However, in the language of science the word “potency” usually means “power”, not “possibility”. Therefore this conception from the beginning possessed a certain ambiguity, that it retained up to the present. The distinction of “active” and “passive” potency, introduced by Roux, has found no general acceptance. It appeared necessary to submit the conception of (...) “potency” to a profound analysis. In the first place it is shown, that the ambiguity of this conception vanishes, if we understand by the word “potency” those fundamental properties of the embryonic material, that are responsible for its various developmental possibilities. We can distinguish among these properties the “reactive powers”, by which the embryonic material reacts to inductive stimulations, and its own “developmental tendencies”. These faculties only differ by their strength; a “reactive power” may change into a “tendency”, when its intensity increases during development; conversely, a “tendency” may change into a mere “reactive power” by a decrease of its strength. The determination of the material results from the conflict of its tendencies. The inductive actions interfere by strengthening or weakening different tendencies, and by activating new tendencies by reinforcement of the “reactive powers” of the embryonic material. (shrink)

Treatise on Mimamsa philosophy; critical edition.

Ancient Indian Coins. Osmund Bopearachchi and Wilfried Pieper., Brepols, Turnhout 1998. 289 pp. + 59 plates. €88. ISBN 2-503-50730-1 Uygur Buddhist Literature. Johan Elverskog., Brepols, Turnhout 1997. 154 pp. €43. ISBN 2-503-50544-9.

Buddhahood Embodied. Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet. John J. Makransky. State University of New York Press, Albany, NY 1997. xix, 494 pp. Cloth $73.50, pb $24.95. ISBN 0-7914-3431-1/3432-X.

Buddhismus und Christentum. Geschichte, Konfrontation, Dialog. Michael von Brück and Whalen Lai. Verlag C. H. Beck, Munich 1997. 805 pp. DM 78.

Cultivating a Daily Meditation. Dalai Lama XIV. LTWA, Dharamsala 1991. xiv, 137 pp. No price given.

Der Buddhismus I: Der indische Buddhismus und seine Verzweigungen. Heinz Bechert et al. Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2000. ix, 512 pp. DM 163.50. ISBN 3-17-015333-1.

Das ältere Mittelindisch im Überblick. Oskar von Hinüber. 2., erweiterte Auflage Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2001. 344 pp. €45.10. ISBN 3-7001-0761-7.

dBu ma sar gsum gyi ston thun. Phya pa Chos kyi sen ge. Edited by Helmut Tauscher. Vienna 1999. XXXIII, 146 pp.

Emptiness Appraised. A Critical Study of Nagarjuna's Philosophy. David F. Burton. Curzon Press, Richmond 1999. XV, 233 pp. £40.00. ISBN 0 7007 1066 3.

Epistemology and Spiritual Authority. Vittorio A. van Bijlert., Vienna 1989. 191 pp. ÖS 230.00.

India in Early Greek Literature. Klaus Karttunen. Studia Orientalia 65, Helsinki 1989. vi, 295 pp. FIM 150. ISBN 951-9380-10-8. India and the Hellenistic World. Klaus Karttunen. Studia Orientalia 83, Helsinki 1997. x, 439 pp. FIM 200. ISBN 951-9380-35-3.

Stanislaw Schayer: O filozofowaniu Hindusów. Artykuly wybrane. Wybral i wstepam opatrzyl Marek Mejor. Warsaw 1988. 539 pp. Zl 1100.

The Bible and the Buddhists. J. Duncan M. Derrett. Sardini Editrice, Bornato in Franciacorta - Italy 2000. 136 pp. Lire 50,000. ISBN 88-7506-174-2 Pb.

The Bodhisattvapitaka. Its Doctrine, Practices and their Position in Mahayana Literature. Ulrich Pagel. The Institute of Buddhist Studies, Tring 1995. xvi, 478 pp. £40.00. ISBN 09515424 43.

The Greeks in India. A Survey in Philosophical Understanding. Demetrios Th. Vassiliades. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt, Ltd., New Delhi 2000. xvi, 261 pp. Rs750.00. ISBN 81-215-0921-1.

The "Khandha Passages" in the Vinayapitaka and the four main Nikayas. Tilmann Vetter. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Vienna 2000. 357 pp. ASch. 774. ISBN 3-7001-2932-7.

The Salistamba Sutra and its Indian Commentaries. Jeffrey D. Schoening. Volume I. Translation with Annotation. Volume II. Tibetan Editions. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 35, 1-2. Vienna 1995. pp.xx, 388; ix, 382. ATS 850.

Thundering Zeus. The Making of Hellenistic Bactria. Frank L. Holt., University of California Press, Berkeley and London 1999. xviii, 221 pp. ISBN 0-520-21140-5.