The Case for Spirit Christology

Abstract

O VER THE PAST twenty years or so various essays have appeared which deal with Spirit Christology. 1 The purpose of this study is to summarize the ground that has been gained, and at the same time to make the case for Spirit language in Christology. By a Spirit Christology I mean one that "explains" how God is present and active in Jesus, and thus Jesus' divinity, by using the biblical symbol of God as Spirit, and not the symbol Logos. It is the contention of those who propose such a thoroughgoing Spirit Christology that it expresses in a more adequate way for our time what has been expressed through a Logos Christology. 2 We can begin the discussion by describing the situation in which Christology is being written today as one that makes Spirit Christology attractive. Ours is an historically conscious period, and a Christology that does not betray an historical consciousness as its presupposition will not be credible. As a consequence of this historical consciousness, Christology today begins overwhelmingly with a consideration of Jesus and proceeds throughout to underline and even stress the humanity of Jesus. Clearly this stands in reaction against an overly abstract portrayal of the identity and status of Jesus. Positively this point of departure relies on the data of the Synoptic Gospels in which Jesus is portrayed as a human being who was related to God, 1 Some essays that may serve as an introduction to Spirit Christology are the following: James D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit (London: SCM, 1975); idem, Christology in the Making (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1980); Olaf Hansen, "Spirit Christology: A Way out of Our Dilemma?" in The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church, ed. P. Opsahl (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1978) 172-203; Norman Hook, "A Spirit Christology," Theology 75 (1972) 226-32; Harold Hunter, "Spirit Christology: Dilemma and Promise," Heythrop Journal 24 (1983) 127-40, 266-77 (this essay is hostile to Spirit Christology on the basis of a reading of scriptural and early Christian sources); G. W. H. Lampe, "The Holy Spirit and the Person of Christ," in Christ, Faith and History, ed. S. W. Sykes and J. P. Clayton (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ., 1972) 111-30; idem, God as Spirit (Oxford: Clarendon, 1977); Paul W. Newman, A Spirit Christology: Recovering the Biblical Paradigm of Christian Faith (Lanham, Maryland: Univ. Press of America, 1987); Philip J. Rosato, "Spirit Christology: Ambiguity and Promise," TS 38 (1977) 423-49. 2 Rosato's essay cited in the last note does not propose a thoroughgoing Spirit Christology but seeks to integrate themes from this Christology into the classical Christological and trinitarian frameworks. A summary of the problems involved in Logos Christology can be found in Newman, A Spirit Christology 1-27. 257 at Harvard Libraries on June 29, 2015 tsj.sagepub.com Downloaded from

Pluralist Theologies

“…115 The solution emerging from Haight's discussion amounts to the view that Jesus' normativity should not be seen as singular but as exemplary: 'other saviour figures of equal status … may also reveal something of God that is normative.' 116 What they reveal can be genuinely different, but it should not contradict the normative aspects apparent in the various concepts of salvation in the religions. 'Difference in religious aims and ends' is, so Heim, what Pluralist attempt to deny.…”

“…109 A concise summary of his central argument is found in his essay 'The Case for Spirit Christology'. 110 Comparing the mediatory role of Jesus to the general function of a symbol, Haight argues that each symbol has a double nature, the nature of the symbol life of self-giving love, or agape, he 'incarnated' a love that is a finite reflection of the infinite divine love. 100…”

Jesus Christus – Repräsentant Gottes

“…An genau diese Stelle sollen auch die Christen treten. In einem a-theistischen Glauben sollen sie Gott handelnd in der Welt repräsentieren, besonders in ihrem Einsatz für die unter Unfrieden, Ungerechtigkeit und Armut Leidenden (nach Mt 25,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]. Darin vollzieht sich die Menschwerdung Gottes als sein Zum-Menschen-Kommen.…”

“…Auch die Überlieferungen des AT und NT entfalten sich eher in den Kategorien von Ereignis, Geschehen und Beziehung als in denen des Seins und der Substanz. 34 Solche Denkformen sind auch sachgemäßer, wenn es um personale Wirklichkeiten geht, wie bei der Person Jesu Christi. 37 .…”

“…Deshalb dürfen wir auch nicht das geringste Stücklein anderswoher ableiten […] wer sich mit ihm allein nicht zufrieden gibt, […] der verfehlt den rechten Weg […].» 31 In der Taufe wird der Mensch in diese Beziehung hinein «ordiniert», in der Kirche wird sie kul-Christus und im Wirkungsbereich der Christusverkündigung gelebt haben, dann ist die Gnade oder zumindest deren Zuteilung nicht universal und unbedingt. Es stellt sich dann die Theodizeefrage als Frage nach der Gerechtigkeit Gottes nicht nur angesichts des unschuldigen Leidens in der Welt, sondern auch in religionstheologischer Hinsicht als Frage nach einer «soteriologischen Chancengleichheit».Eine spezifisch reformierte Version des Partikularismus besteht in der Lehre von der (doppelten) Prädestination, der zufolge Gott nicht das Heil aller, sondern nur das Heil der von ihm Erwählten will 34. Damit stellt sich das Grundproblem der Religionstheologie -die Vermittlung zwischen der…”