Four big ones - 25 July 2011 |
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Peter J. Leithart’s The Four promises to be an interesting read. To begin with, here are a couple of thoughts from the introduction.
I’m a lot happier with Leithart’s “on the other hand” perspective on classical Christology than with the thought that the “complications” of the subject are a bewildering distraction from the Real Jesus of the Gospels. And so, it seems, is Leithart himself. (That makes me very happy, because few theological tendencies are more tiresome than hearing people bash away at complex theological formulations on the grounds of their alleged irrelevance when in fact those formulations – especially the complicated bits – are very important indeed.) According to Leithart, “The Christological technicalities of the early Church, the Reformation, and the modern age are not intended to move Christians away from the gospels but to provide coordinates for reading the gospels.”
In fact, I’d be tempted to go even further: Christology is intended not only to provide hermeneutical coordinates, but to honour the fruit of hermeneutical endeavour. The church has devised complicated Christological formulations because we want to find things to say about Jesus which are not simply a repetition of the words of Scripture, but which which are themselves faithful to the Christ found there. It’s about worshipping God the Son with our minds and mouths.
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Minister's Blog