Who do you say that I am?Facing some contemporary challenges in Christology

Traditional view

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ he was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man, and in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord

Critical studies on Jesus threat:

Origins: development of historical-criticism during the Enlightenment. ◦Historical: reconstruct historical

conditions that led to production of the Bible.

◦Critical: Biblical texts have no self-evident authority.

Aimed to be a more “scientific” approach.

Shaped by anti-supernatural bias.

Search for historical Jesus

1st Quest

•Jesus of history very different from the Christ of Faith.

•Gospels do not give accurate picture.

•Jesus → ethics (brotherhood of humans; Fatherhood of God)

No quest

•Result of Schweitzer’s (et. Al.) criticism of 1st Quest.

•Bultmann: Jesus of history not significant for Christianity

Search for the historical Jesus

2nd quest

•Reaction to Bultmann

•Form criticism

•Seeks to establish authentic Jesus sayings

•Gospels a product of earliest Christian communities

3rd Quest

•Studies Jesus in context of Judaism

•Continuum of views (conservative → skeptical)

Consequences for Christology

1st & 2nd Jesus is not

who the Gospels claim

him to be

No real Christology

3rd Q

More promising (NT

Wright)

Case by case

Religious Pluralism Basic claim:

◦All religions are legitimate responses to the Divine Ultimate.

◦Jesus’ exclusivity is rejected. ◦Motivation: tolerance of diversity of

religious views.

Hick’s religious pluralism

God

Islam

Buddhism

Judaism

Christianity

Christ

Islam?

Judaism?

Buddhism?

Hick’s Religious pluralism“But they [i.e., the world’s

religions] seem to constitute more or less equally authentic human awareness of and responses to the Ultimate, the Real, the final ground and source of everything” (SPW, 45)

Hick’s Religious pluralism“…God is thought of and

experienced through the conceptual ‘lens’ of our own tradition. For each tradition functions as a kind of mental ‘lens’ – consisting of concepts, stories (both historical and mythical”, religious practices, artistic styles, forms of life – through which we perceive the divine”

Hick’s Religious pluralism“But if we define salvation as an actual

human change, a gradual transformation from natural self-centeredness…to a radically new orientation centered in God and manifested in the ‘fruit of the Spirit,’ then it seems clear that salvation is taking place within all of the world religions…”

Different understandings of salvation “are all forms of the same fundamental human transformation from self-centeredness to a recentering in the ultimately real”

Hick’s Religious pluralismWhat about Jesus?

◦Acknowledges that if Jesus Christ is truly God incarnate and died for the sins of humanity then it follows that Christianity is the one true religion

◦But he believes that the above claim about JC is a later invention by Christians and do not represent what Jesus believed about himself

Evaluation of Hick’s pluralismChristianity has to give up its

distinctive claims to accommodate pluralism.

The variety of world religions make incompatible truth claims.

Because of such diversity, it’s impossible to reduce religious claims to a single idea or theme that all have in common.

1st developed: Walter Bauer Expanded by many: Ehrman

Historical challenge

Historical challengeA lot of diversity in early

Christianity – examples:

Ebionites Jesus = ordinary human being

Marcionites Jesus = God / appeared to be human

Gnostics Jesus is different than the Christ

Proto-orthodox Jesus = fully God and fully human

Historical challengeBauer:

◦Such diversity was ok for the “earliest” forms of Christianity.

◦Distinction between ORTHODOXY & HERESY arose much later: Orthodoxy: (lit: “right belief”) essential

beliefs that are central to Christianity. Heresy: rejection of the core and central

doctrines of the Christian faith.

HISTORICAL CHALLENGE

• Eventually one group became dominant.•This group forced their views on others. • It began during the time of Constantine. (306-337) •Example: Council of Nicaea (325).

BRIEF EVALUATIONA more detailed response is found in…

Brief response to HC:Bauer ignored the data of the NT, which,

from a historical methodological point of view, is irresponsible.

The data of the NT for both earlier and later books depicts an abiding concern with “orthodoxy.”

Such claims are based on historical inaccuracies: Consider..◦ Before the 4th-century it’s clear Christianity

emphasized orthodoxy. ◦ A high Christology goes back to NT docs. ◦ Such claims are based on a doubtful early dating

of Gnostic Gospels.