Christology in Conflict

This book provides an analysis of two different strategies, peculiar to modern theology, for interpreting the identity of Christ and the recurring theological dilemma of how to deal with a figure who was both an individual human person and yet the bearer of universal, divine significance. The author begins by demonstrating how, in the 17th century, the perception of Jesus of Nazareth underwent a profound change which led eventually to the German Enlightenment. He considers in this connection the work of the two leading Christological thinkers of the 20th century, Karl Rahner and Karl Barth. Rahner's Christology is examined and described as being flawed, despite its brilliance, while Barth's Christology is presented as a more successful response to this modern dilemma in Christology. The author then turns to an earlier theologian, Thomas Aquinas, whose "logico-grammatical" explication of the notion of incarnation suggests a different path through some of the hazards of the Christological debate.