Jesus: An Experiment in Christology Volume VI

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The existence of the historical Jesus cannot be doubted. But who was Jesus of Nazareth? And who is he for us today? In this controversial work Schillebeeckx offers his ‘experiment’: an informative and sustained hermeneutical reflection on the story of Jesus. It became a bestseller, and would become the first volume of Schillebeeckx’ trilogy on Jesus Christ. He presents a Christology ‘from below’, rooted in the synoptic gospels, but especially in Mark and in the Q tradition. At the same time he is clearly interested in portraying ‘the historical Jesus’ as both Proclaimer and Proclaimed. In this major work Schillebeeckx tries to answer questions such as: Is the promise of salvation only to be found in Jesus Christ because he was a gift from God, as the Gospels tell us? What can we say about the inspiration of so many who do not attend church or adhere to any believe they find in Jesus Christ? Schillebeeckx takes us into his promising quest that leads to the ultimate question of what religious truth actually is. Cover HalfTitle Title Copyright How to use this book Dedication Contents Introduction to Collected Works of Edward Schillebeeckx Introduction to the new edition ‘Jesus: an experiment in Christology’ Foreword WHY THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN I. The story of a crippled man II. The situation in outline III. A challenge IV. Note on exegesis and theology PART ONE: QUESTIONS OF METHOD, AND CRITERIA Section One: Jesus of Nazareth, norm and criterion of any interpretation of Jesus Chapter 1: The believer’s historical access to Jesus of Nazareth §1 Structure of the offer of salvation and the Christian response A. The human person, focus of manifold relationships B. Revelation and ‘le croyable disponible’ C. The constant unitive factor D. Disharmony between Jesus and the New Testament §2 Jesus of Nazareth, acclaimed as the Christ, object of historico-critical inquiry A. Diverse images of Jesus and Jesus as ‘object’ of historical inquiry B. Old and new: the critical approach C. Modern historiography and Jesus of Nazareth D. Theological significance of the historical quest for Jesus Chapter 2: Renewed need for a post-critical, narrative history Section Two: Criteria for a critical identification of the historical Jesus §1 Background against which the historical criteria must be viewed: matrix of the various criteria §2 Why then search for criteria to direct the sifting process? §3 Cataloguing of valid, positive criteria A. Redaction history as a criterion: traditions incorporated ‘willynilly’ B. Criterion of form criticism: the principle of dual irreducibility C. Tradition history as a criterion: principle of the ‘cross-section’ D. Consistency of content as a criterion E. Criterion of the rejection of Jesus’ message and praxis §4 Frequently employed but invalid criteria §5 Note on the Q hypothesis Section Three: Justification for the structure of this book in terms of the method, hermeneutics and criteria discussed PART TWO: ‘THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST’ By way of introduction: euaggelion or good news Section One: What Jesus proclaimed and how he lived Chapter 1: Jesus’ message of God’s coming salvation §1 Prophetic and apocalyptic penitential movements in Israel §2 Message and praxis of John the Baptist §3 Jesus’ first prophetic act: his baptism by John §4 Underlying impulse of Jesus’ message and preaching A. God’s rule directed to humaneness: the kingdom of God B. The praxis of the kingdom of God: Jesus’ parables C. Eschatological revolution: Jesus’ beatitudes Chapter 2: Jesus’ Praxis §1 Jesus’ caring and abiding presence among people experienced as salvation from God A. ‘Beneficent’ reality (Mk. 7:37) of God’s lordship, made present in Jesus’ mighty acts (a) Hermeneutic horizon of Jesus’ miracles (b) Jesus’ miraculous freedom ‘to do good’ (Mk. 3:4) (c) Jesus’ call to faith in and return to God. Faith and mighty works B. Jesus’ liberating and joyous dealing with people: table fellowship with Jesus (a) Existential impossibility of mourning in Jesus’ presence: the ‘non-fasting’ of his disciples (b) Jesus’ liberating table fellowship with his circle and with ‘outcasts’, tax collectors and sinners (i) Eschatological messenger of God’s openness towards sinners (ii) Jesus as host: a bounteous gift of God C. Pre-Easter fellowship with Jesus of disciples who ‘go after him’ §2 Man’s cause as God’s cause: the ‘God of Jesus’ A. Jesus liberating mankind from a constricting view of God: Jesus and the Law (a) Difficulty of exegetical research (b) Q traditions and Markan traditions about ‘Jesus and the Law’ (c) The cleansing of the temple (d) The law as love of God and love of one’s neighbour B. Jesus’ original Abba experience, source of his life’s secret, message and praxis Conclusion and definition of the problem: reality or illusion? Section Two: Kingdom of God, rejection and death of Jesus Chapter 1: Rejection and death of Jesus §1 The death of Jesus as interpreted in early Christianity A. The eschatological prophet-martyr: contrast scheme B. The divine plan of salvation: salvation history scheme C. A redemptive, atoning death: soteriological scheme §2 The death of Jesus, viewed in the context of his earthly life A. Rejection of Jesus’ message and praxis B. Jesus in the face of his approaching death (a) Growing certainty of a violent death (b) The unavoidable question of Jesus’ own interpretation (c) Logion of unconditional readiness to serve (d) The last supper: unshaken assurance of salvation in the face of death §3 Historical legal grounds for Jesus’ execution Chapter 2: Jesus’ last prophetic sign: his death left for others to interpret Section Three: The Christian story after Jesus’ death: the kingdom of God takes on the appearance of Jesus Christ Chapter 1: The disciples scandalized by the arrest and execution of Jesus §1 Historicity and superimposed interpretation in the gospels §2 The disciples scatter and reassemble: the problem entailed Chapter 2: ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead?’ (Lk. 24:5) Introduction: local and official traditions of early Christianity §1 Traditions centred on the Jerusalem site of the holy sepulchre A. Mk. 16:1-8: apostolic resurrection kerygma in the context of the ‘holy sepulchre’ B. Mt. 28:1-10: the Markan account transposed to a polemical context C. Lk. 24:1-12: the Markan narrative in the context of the (Judaeo-) Greek ‘rapture’ model D. Rekigious experience and eschatological religious terminology §2 The official apostolic tradition: ‘We believe that God raised him from the dead’ (1 Thess. 1:10) A. ‘Jesus made himself seen’ (1 Cor. 15:3-8) (a) A unifying formula (b) Manifestation, preaching and act of faith B. ‘Jesus showed himself to Peter and the Eleven’ C. ‘On the road Paul saw the Lord’ (Acts 9:27): the Damascus narrative (Acts 9:22, 26) (a) Acts 9: the conversion vision (b) Acts 22 (c) Acts 26 Chapter 3: The Easter experience: being converted, at Jesus’ initiative, to Jesus as the Christ ?? salvation found conclusively in Jesus §1 An account of some converts. A Jewish conversion model? §2 Jesus’ disciples reassembled at the historical initiative of Peter §3 The experience of grace as forgiveness §4 Critical question: ambiguity of the term ‘Easter experience’ PART THREE: CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION OF THE CRUCIFIEDAND-RISEN ONE Section One: The gospels: general hermeneutics of the risen Jesus Chapter 1: Early Christian movement centred on Jesus: different echoes of the one Jesus of Nazareth §1 Taking stock of early Christian credal trends §2 Early Christian creeds and their historical foundation in Jesus A. Maranatha or parousia Christology: Jesus, bringer of the approaching salvation, Lord of the future and judge of the world (a) Basic trend of this creed (b) The creed in the tradition of the Q community (c) The Lord of the future in Mark’s Christology B. Theios anèr Christology (?): Jesus the divine miracle worker. Christology of the Solomonic son of David C. ‘Wisdom’ Christologies: Jesus, the messenger and teacher of wisdom; Jesus, pre-existent, incarnate, humbled yet exalted Wisdom D. ‘Easter’ Christologies: Jesus, the crucified-and-risen one Conclusion Chapter 2: First identification of the person: link between the earthly Jesus and the earliest Christian creeds §1 Existing Jewish models of end-time saviour figures A. The end-time prophet, ‘filled with God’s Spirit’, who brings the good news of salvation to the oppressed: ‘God’s reign has begun’ B. The end-time messianic son of David (a) National, dynastic ‘Davidic messianism’ (b) Prophetic sapiential ‘Davidic messianism’ C. The son of man §2 The Christian ‘first option’ among existing Jewish models of endtime saviour figures A. Early Christianity: a Jewish interpretation of Jesus B. Jesus, presumed to be the end-time prophet C. Jesus, the end-time messenger from God, source of the earliest credal strands and main source of the earliest Christian use of the titles Christ, the Lord, the Son D. Christian prophetic/sapiential interpretation of Jesus as the messianic son of David and rejection of dynastic/Davidic messianism Conclusion Section Two: Direct hermeneutics of the resurrection in the New Testament Chapter 1: ‘Raised from the dead’ §1 Late Jewish ideas about life after death §2 It was God who raised him ‘from the dead’ §3 ‘The third day he rose again according to the Scriptures’: Jesus’ resurrection as a conclusive eschatological event Conclusion Chapter 2: Resurrection, exaltation, sending of the Spirit. The parousia Conclusion Section Three: From a ‘theology of Jesus’ to a Christology Chapter 1: Theology ‘raised to the second power’ Chapter 2: Growing reflection in the New Testament traditions Section Four: Post-New Testament reflection in the early church: christological dogma Conclusion of Part Three and definition of the problem PART FOUR: WHO DO WE SAY THAT HE IS Section One: The present christological crisis and its presuppositions Chapter 1: ‘Conjunctural’ hermeneutic horizon of ideas and a-synchronous rhythm in the complex transformation of a culture Chapter 2: The break with tradition since the Enlightenment §1 Lessing’s view against the background of the Enlightenment §2 Contemporary ‘christological’ tendencies in the wake of the Enlightenment §3 Acknowledged and tacit assumptions §4 Universality via historically particular mediation Section Two: A ‘universal hermeneutic horizon’ not amenable to theorizing Chapter 1: Unique universality of a historically particular human being §1 The concept of ‘human transcendence’ §2 Unique universality: universal appeal of ‘what is worthy of man’ A. Definition of the problem B. The humanum we seek C. The human and the religious Conclusion Chapter 2: The history of human suffering in search of meaning and liberation §1 The problem of ‘universal history’ §2 Impossibility of theorizing ultimate meaning and of a universal hermeneutic horizon Section Three: Jesus, parable of God and paradigm of humanity Chapter 1: God’s saving action in history §1 Historical discourse and discourse in religious language §2 Revelation or God’s salvation-historical acts as experienced and articulated in religious language A. God’s creative activity in our world: ‘human person’ and ‘being of God’ B. God’s saving activity in history C. God’s definitive saving acts in history Chapter 2: The christological problem §1 Definitive salvation-in-Jesus imparted by God A. God’s message in Jesus B. Salvation in Jesus or in the risen crucified one? C. Intrinsic significance of Jesus’ resurrection for salvation §2 The necessity, difficulty and limits of a theoretical christological identification of the person §3 In search of the basis of Jesus’ Abba experience: soul of his message, life and death, and disclosure of the mystery of his life Chapter 3: Theoretical Christology, story and praxis of the kingdom of God Epilogue: postscript to the story of the crippled man Technical information A. Explanation of some technical and unfamiliar terms B. Abbreviations C. Pseudepigrapha (or non-canonical intertestamentary literature) D. Sigla employed (periodicals, dictionaries, series) E. Bibliographical index of subjects F. Index of authors