PITTSBURGH SEMINARY PROFESSOR RELEASES NEW CHRISTOLOGY BOOK
The Rev. Dr. Edwin Chr. van Driel, Directors' Bicentennial Professor of Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, has published The Incarnation as God's First Intention: Supralapsarian Christology for Faith and Practice (Baker Academic, 2025). Dr. van Driel is a notable Christology scholar and a leading expert in supralapsarian Christology specifically.
The book first advocates for a Christology which understands the incarnation not as God’s response to sin but as God’s first intention in the act of creation. Then, in its second part, the work illuminates the impact of such a Christology on a variety of other questions pertinent to Christian theology and the life of the Church, including atonement, trinitarian theology, election, eschatological expectation, and mission. Thus, the book thoroughly expounds theological and practical implications of taking up the idea that God’s primary purpose is to dwell with God’s creatures, offering a rich theological perspective with significant academic and pastoral benefits for theologians and ministry practitioners alike.
Dr. van Driel has published numerous articles and essays in academic journals including Modern Theology, The International Journal of Systematic Theology, The Heythrop Journal, Worship, and The Scottish Journal of Theology, and in popular publications such as Christian Century, Call to Worship, and The Presbyterian Outlook. He is the author of Incarnation Anyway: Arguments for Supralapsarian Christology (Oxford University Press, 2008) and Rethinking Paul: Protestant Theology and Contemporary Exegesis (Cambridge University Press, 2021), which won the 2021 Senior Alberigo Award of the European Academy of Religion, and the editor of What Is Jesus Doing? Divine Agency in the Life of the Church and the Work of the Pastor (IVP Academic, 2019) and the T&T Clark Handbook of Election (Continuum, 2023). Dr. van Driel holds a B.Div. (theology), M.Div., and M.Phil. (philosophy) from Utrecht University and an M.A. (religious studies), M.Phil. (religious studies), diploma (Anglican studies, Berkeley Divinity School), and Ph.D. (religious studies, theology) from Yale University.
An ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Dr. van Driel served on the committee that produced the denomination’s most recent hymnal, Glory to God, and on the editorial advisory board of the Book of Common Worship. He serves on the executive committee of the American Theological Society and was chair of the International Consultation on Ecclesial Futures, which gathers yearly to consult on the Church’s contextual missional challenges.