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I am reading "The Message of the Bible, An Orthodox Christian Perspective" by George Cronk for an Intro to Scripture class. On page 37 of the book the author states that it is an Orthodox tradition to teach that the incarnation (without the death of Christ)would of taken place even if man did not fall from grace. Could someone give me some more backround on this. I have never run across this before in Orthodox teaching.

Dear Byz-Lady,
Since this board is called East-N-West, i can perhaps add a little info you may appreciate. This is a very old theological question. In the Latin church there are two differing schools of thought.

The Franciscan school says Yes, God would have become incarnate even if Adam had never fallen.

The Dominican or Thomistic school says No, God would not have become incarnate if Adam did not fall. St. Thomas Aquinas gives two reasons for this belief.
First, according to St. Thomas scripture does not support this theory. Secondly, again according to St. Thomas, the Fathers of the Church do not support this theory.

So in the West there is a split of opinion. I would be very curious to know what the Byzantine and non-Byzantine East says about this topic, and wheather in the East there is room for differing schools of thought. Could you perhaps elaborate on the reasons Mr. Cronk gives for his stated position.

Khaled,
Mr Cronk states in his book, "But man, as we have seen, although created good, was a finite, imcomplete and therefore imperfect being, even in the garden of Eden. And for this reason, many Orthdox thinkers have argured that man's movement toward union with God would have required God's movement toward union with man, even if man had remained faithful to his Creator and therefore free from sin. Only if God condescended to become one with man could man realistically hope to become one with God. Thus, the incarnation of the divine Word-the union of God and man in the person of Jesus Christ-is an essential feature of God's eternal plan for the world. And the incarnation would have taken place even if man had not fallen under the bondage of sin and death".