# Henri Blocher French evangelical theologian (b. 1937). Professor of Systematic Theology at the Faculté Libre de Théologie Évangélique de Vaux-sur-Seine (1965-2003) and Gunther Knoedler Professor of Theology at Wheaton College Graduate School (2003-2008). Blocher is the most significant continental-European evangelical systematic theologian of the late 20th century and a co-developer of the **Framework Hypothesis** through *In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis* (IVP, 1984), which brought the Framework reading to a broad English-speaking evangelical audience. He is also the author of *Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle* (NSBT 5, Apollos/IVP, 1997), the standard contemporary evangelical treatment of the doctrine. ## Key works - *In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis* (IVP, 1984; French original *Révélation des origines*, 1979), Framework Hypothesis defense; the work that introduced the Framework position to mainstream evangelical readership beyond the Reformed-confessional guild where Kline had launched it - *Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle* (New Studies in Biblical Theology 5, Apollos/IVP, 1997), comprehensive evangelical engagement with the doctrine of original sin; engages Augustinian, Eastern, Pelagian, and modern frameworks - *Evil and the Cross: An Analytical Look at the Problem of Pain* (Kregel, 1994; French original 1990), theodicy from an evangelical-Reformed perspective - *Songs of the Servant: Isaiah's Good News* (IVP, 1975), Isaiah Servant Songs exegesis ## Theological position - **[Genesis 1](/codex/genesis-1/):** Framework Hypothesis, the six days are a literary-theological structure (two parallel triads), not a strict chronological report. Blocher's treatment in *In the Beginning* is more systematic-theological than Kline's exegetical-article approach, integrating the Framework reading with broader creation-theology (goodness of creation, *imago Dei*, the Fall, eschatological new-creation hope) - **Original sin:** Affirms the classical doctrine with nuance. Engages the Augustinian-seminal, Reformed-federal, and Eastern-Orthodox frameworks; favors a form of federal-headship reading that takes the inherited-corruption seriously without committing to every detail of Augustinian seminal-participation. Argues that the doctrine is *illuminated* rather than *resolved* by systematic theology, the "riddle" language is deliberate - **Historical Adam:** Affirmed; Blocher insists on historical-Adam within the Framework reading, maintaining that the Framework position concerns the *literary genre* of [Genesis 1](/codex/genesis-1/) (not 2-3) and does not require abandoning the historicity of Adam and Eve - **Theodicy:** Evil is a surd, genuinely irrational, not explicable within a closed rational system. The Cross is the divine answer, not a philosophical explanation. This positions Blocher between strict rational-theodicy (Leibniz, Plantinga's free-will defense) and anti-theodicy (D. Z. Phillips, Terrence Tilley) - **Confessional stance:** evangelical; broadly Reformed but working within the French-Swiss evangelical tradition rather than the Anglo-American Presbyterian-Reformed guild ## Apologetic significance Blocher's *In the Beginning* is load-bearing for two distinct apologetic fronts: 1. **Against the "Christianity = YEC" charge:** Blocher demonstrates that a sophisticated evangelical theologian can hold the Framework position while affirming inerrancy, historical Adam, and the Fall. This undercuts the atheist move of equating Christianity with a 6,000-year-old-earth commitment. 2. **Against the "original sin is incoherent" charge:** *Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle* provides the most accessible contemporary evangelical engagement with the philosophical-theological difficulties of the doctrine. The work is referenced across the codex's soteriology and anthropology hubs. ## In the codex - [Genesis Hermeneutics](/codex/genesis-hermeneutics/), Framework Hypothesis proponent alongside Kline - [Genesis Interpretation Spread](/codex/genesis-interpretation-spread/), Framework position in the four-position synthesis - [Origins and Cosmology](/codex/origins-and-cosmology/), broader origins domain hub - [Old Earth Creationism](/codex/old-earth-creationism/), Framework as OEC variant - [Six Day Creation Falsified Objection Defeater](/codex/six-day-creation-falsified-objection-defeater/), Framework in the defeater's scholarly anchors - [Bible Scientific Errors Objection](/codex/bible-scientific-errors-objection/), Framework as hermeneutical response - [Bible Scientific Errors Objection Defeater](/codex/bible-scientific-errors-objection-defeater/), scholarly deployment - [Original Sin](/codex/original-sin/), referenced as contemporary evangelical engagement - [Inherited Guilt and Visiting Iniquity Objection Defeater](/codex/inherited-guilt-and-visiting-iniquity-objection-defeater/), original-sin scholarly anchor - [Romans 5.12](/codex/romans-5-12/), modern conservative scholarship reference - [G0266 - hamartia](/codex/g0266-hamartia/), sin vocabulary; Blocher cited on doctrine of sin - [H0120 - adam](/codex/h0120-adam/), Adam vocabulary; Blocher cited - [Theistic Evolution](/codex/theistic-evolution/), [Romans 8](/codex/romans-8/) eschatological reading reference - [Genesis 1.14-19](/codex/genesis-1-14-19/), Day 4 problem; Framework response ## See also - [Meredith Kline](/codex/meredith-kline/), Framework Hypothesis originator; Kline's exegetical-article approach complemented by Blocher's systematic-theological treatment - [Hugh Ross](/codex/hugh-ross/), Day-Age concordist; alternative OEC position - [John Walton](/codex/john-walton/), Cosmic-Temple / Functional Ontology; alternative non-literal reading - [Genesis Hermeneutics](/codex/genesis-hermeneutics/), the five orthodox readings hub - [Original Sin](/codex/original-sin/), the doctrine Blocher's *Illuminating the Riddle* engages - [Federal Headship](/codex/romans-5-12-21/), the mechanism Blocher's original-sin treatment favors (with nuance) - [Hexaemeron Tradition](/codex/hexaemeron-tradition/), patristic-medieval commentary genre on Genesis days