The Jesus debate: a survey and synthesis /

Description

This book hopes to be an introductory survey and interpretation of current developments in the study of Jesus. Because it is only introduc- tory, a certain degree of depth is necessarily sacrificed for the sake of breadth. The primary audience to which this book is addressed is educated beginners in the study ofJesus. This audience dictates the introductory na- ture of the work to a great extent. But my own limitations also dictate this, for the study of Jesus carries one into so many complex areas that no one person can really hope to be master of them all. Because this book is a survey of current trends, it will attempt to put the student in touch with what the author thinks are the major develop- ments taking place right now. Many fine works have appeared on Jesus from various points of view. This author feels it is time to try to integrate these into an introductory survey so that the interested reader can begin to sketch a preliminary map of the complex terrain. Because this work is an interpretation, it will attempt some kind of critical integration of the varied currents taking place. In a sense, every work represents the author's own personal evaluation. This cannot be avoided, and admitting it perhaps makes both me and the reader some- what more critical. But this author also feels itis time to attempt some kind of more formal integration. The various currents now developing are very rich and have much to contribute to one another. From the very beginning let me say that this is a theological intro- duction to the study of Jesus. Theology has its own modest role to play in developing both our critical understanding of Jesus and our critical prac- tice of the Christian life. If a theological book is written well, it can even inspire the reader psychologically and aesthetically. But we theologians need to be humble and recognize that the arts also have their important role to play in matters religious. This book simply needs to be comple- mented by some of the great literary works on Jesus, as well as the great artistic masterpieces. Van Gogh, Endo, Kazantzalcis, Solzhenitsyn, and many more might fruitfully be consulted along with this book. They will help the reader respond to the Jesus event existentially, affectively, and even aesthetically in a way that no merely theological work can do. Be- tween us, theologians and artists, perhaps the "whole person" will be mo- tivated to make the kind of response to Jesus that he deserves. 243481 Preface 1 Author's Note 3 1. A Proposal 5 Jesus as one who mediates a new vision and praxis of our human relationship to God, to ourselves, to our social relations, and to our bodies and nature PART ONE: AN OVERVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO JESUS 2. The New Interest in Jesus 15 Exploring how our modern turn to experience, our modern sensitivity to evil, and our new global awareness raise new questions about Jesus 3. Finding Our Way Among Modern Christologies 45 Exploring the continuum of modern approaches to Jesus: those rejecting modernity, those too uncritically accepting it, and the critical "centrist" Christologies 4. A Possible Method for Christology 79 Christology as a critical, to-and-fro dialogue between the tradition dbd our contemporary experience, a dialogue facilitated through philosophical, historical, literary (aesthetic), practical, and global methods of analysis 5. Reflections on the Jesus Quest 90 The quest as a key example of the dialogue between tradition and contemporary experience; the key phases of the quest; the roles the quest might play in today's Christology Contents 6. 7. 7A. 7B. 7C. 711 8. PARTTWO:LEADINGINTERPRETATIONSOF NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTOLOGY New Testament Christology: The Literary-Critical Contribution 115 Paul Ricoeur and David Tracy as leading literary-critical analysts; the pluralism of literary approaches; the key lessons for a renewed Christology New Testament Christology from an Historical, Psychosocial, and Philosophical Perspective Summarizing the results of the modern, historical-critical approach to the New Testament; complementing and correcting it through psychosocial approaches; exploring philosophical mediations of the Jesus event for today The Practical Context of Jesus The volatile, social world of Jesus' day, and the various "spiritual" responses to it The Message and Work of Jesus An overview of the key themes and practices of Jesus—his spiritual outburst in his volatile, social world 147 151 181 The Easter Experiences 220 What was the original "model" of the Easter experiences?; Easter as the transformation of Jesus and the early female and male disciples; the empty tomb and the Shroud From Kerygma to Gospels Exploring scholarly views on how our early Christology and soteriology took shape: the fidelity and near-infidelity of the New Testament to the Jesus event New Testament Christology: A Contemporary Summary... 280 An author's personal attempt to mediate the results of the various approaches to New Testament Christology: The Jesus event as the disclosure of a new vision and praxis of our relations to God, to self, to society, and to the world (= Christology); the Jesus event as the therapy for our broken relations in these four human dimensions (= soteriology) vi 248 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. PART THREE: JESUS IN THOUGHT AND PRACTICE AFTER THE NEW TESTAMENT Jesus and the Exploration of the Divine in Later Christianity 299 Exploring the importance of the post-biblical tradition for today; the great debate over the kind of Divinity disclosed in Jesus; the correctives provided by the martyrs, mystics, and theologians Jesus and the Exploration of the Self, Church, Society, and Nature in Later Christianity 324 Continuing our exploration of the great debate; over the new model of the self disclosed in the Jesus event, the new model of Church and society, and the new model of the world; the important corrective contributions of the saints, mystics, theologians, Reformers, and religious orders Salvation and Spirituality in the Light of Jesus: A Suggestion 343 Exploring how the soteriological dimension of the Jesus event took shape in later Christianity; some proposals for a renewed soteriology; integrating spirituality with Christology and soteriology Jesus and the Divine in the Contemporary Debate 367 Exploring some contemporary challenges to the disclosure of the Divine in the Jesus event: Does the Divine change and suffer?; the American feminist critique of our vision and praxis of the Divine Presence, in the light of Jesus, and in the light of women's experience Jesus and the Self in the Contemporary Debate 385 Two contemporary challenges to the new model of the self disclosed in the Jesus event: In what way is Jesus unique, especially in light of everyone's divine-human nature, and in light of the world's religions?; How important is Jesus' maleness? Can a male Savior save women? (Continuing the feminist critique of Christology and soteriology) vii 14. Jesus, Church, and Society in the Contemporary Debate 401 Some new challenges for the new model of Church and society disclosed in the Jesus event: How must the Churches transform themselves to align themselves more fully with the Jesus event?; the emerging, new phenomenon of -critical" Christians and their approaches to Church-participation; Where is the "carrier" of the Jesus-like community today: the debate between socialism and democratic capitalism?; Jesus and nuclear ethics; continuing the feminist critique of Church and society in the light of Jesus and women's experience 15. Jesus and Ecology in the Contemporary Debate 419 Exploring the intersection between today's new interest in ecology and the Jesus event; the hidden link between misogynism and the exploitation of the biosphere; the dialogue between Christology and the Native American critique of Christianity Index of Subjects Index of Names 428 43