By Schubert Ogden
Page History
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One of the important questions that Maurice raises and answers is, How is Christ rather~as Maurice contends, "as the (The Doctrine of 43). Unless I'm mistaken, I raise and answer the very same in a closely parallel, ifnot convergent,wayin The Point ofChristology. _Consider, e.g.,
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such
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passages
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as
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the
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following:_to
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be
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regarded?
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Is
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he
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to
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be
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regarded
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"merely
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as.
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a
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man
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born
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at
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a
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certain
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time
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into
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thisworld,
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and
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the
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head
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of
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a
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sectcalled
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Christians,"
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or,Son,
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the
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Word
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of the Father,
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begotten
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from
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everlasting
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of the Father"?the
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Thirty Nine Articles:
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question,
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arguing
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While
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there
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does
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indeed
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seem
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to
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be
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a
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difference
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in
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principle
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between
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even
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perfectly
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actualizing
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authentic
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existence
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and
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being
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the
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incarnation
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of God asserted
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by
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.
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Nicrea
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and
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Chalcedon,
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these
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are
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hardly
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the
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only
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terms
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in
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which
...
what
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is
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really
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essential
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in
...
this
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difference
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may
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be
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fonnulated.
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On
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the
...
contrary,
...
...
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even
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in
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the
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supposedly
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'low'
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christology
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ofthe
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earliest
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Jewish-Christian
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community,
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the
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claim
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made
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for
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Jesus
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was
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that
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he
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is
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the
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decisive
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re-presentation
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of
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God
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and
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as·
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such
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belongs
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on
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the
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divine
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rather
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than
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on
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the
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human
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side
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ofthe
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relationship
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between
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God
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and
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human beings
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generally,
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.But
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if
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I
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am
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right
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about
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this,
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the
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really
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essential
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difference,
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upheld
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in
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some
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tenns
...
or
...
other
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by
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all
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New
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Testament
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christologies,
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is
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the
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difference
...
between
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being
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merely
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one
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more
...
authority,
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even
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the
...
primary
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such
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authority,
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and
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being
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the
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explicit
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primal
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source
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from
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which
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all
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authority
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derives.
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Because
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even
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a
...
perfectly
...
authentic
...
human
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existence
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need
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be
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no
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mor.e
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than
...
one·
...
..
...
authority
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among
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others,
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on
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the
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same
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level
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as
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ourselves,
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even
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if
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rITst
...
and
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foremost
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among
...
us,
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Jesus'
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having
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actualized
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such
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an
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existence
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cannot
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possibly
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be
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the
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sufficient
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condition
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ofthe
...
truth
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ofthese
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christologies.
...
For
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the
...
essential
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claim
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made
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by
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each
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ofthem,
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whatever
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the
...
concepts
...
and
...
symbols
...
iri
...
which
...
it
...
was
...
fonnulated,
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is
...
that
...
Jesus
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is'
...
rather
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the
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primal
...
source
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of
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all
...
authority,
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on
...
the
...
same
...
level
...
as
...
God,
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even
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if
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alsodistinct
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from
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God
...
as
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this
...
very
...
source
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now
...
become
...
fully
...
explicit
...
(81).
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| Wiki Markup |
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There is also the question--to my mind, far more serious-whether the very attempt to understand Jesus· himself as this |
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norm _\[se._ _the norm of appropriateness\] does not implicitly deny the characteristic claim that the Christian witness makes about him by its christo logical assertion. Even the primary |
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norm of |
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appropriateness can be no more than one authority among others, as distinct from the primal source of |
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authority by which even the primary nonn alone is authorized. But what does it mean to assert that Jesus is the Christ; or any ofthe other things that Christians have_ _ |
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historically_ _asserted him to be, |
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if not precisely that Jesus is just such a primal authorizing source, and hence inrmitely more than any authority derived from this source, even the primary such authority? I submit that the deeper difficulty with the typically liberal theological answer to the question of |
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the norm |
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of appropriateness is that it assigns to Jesus himself, contrary to the clear intention of |
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the apostolic witness, the role that rightly belongs rather to the apostles. |
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If this is so, however" the way to respond to the challenge posed· by the ongoing development of |
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historical-critical study |
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of the New Testament is not by abandoning the early church's criterion of apostolicity. Quite the contrary, if |
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Jesus is rightly asserted by the Christian witness to be inrmitely more than any nonn, because he is the primal source of all |
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norms made fully explicit, then the early church was exactly right in taking . apostolicity to be the criterion of canonicity. It lies in the very logic of.the concept of. 'authority' that the primal _{_}source_ _of authority, whether implicit or explicit, cannot itself be_ _an_ _authority, at least in the same literal sense ofthe word. On the other hand, and by the same logic, there belongs to the original authority authorized by its primal source, and so in this case to the witness ofthe apostles as explicitly authorized by Jesus; the unique role ofalso being the originating authority and therefore the sole primary norm or canon. This is so because it is solely through this original and originating authority that the primal source authorizing it is explicitly available precisely as such (102_ _f)._ |
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| Wiki Markup |
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\[Revisionary christo logy\] is also open to the theological objection of implying that Jesus is other and less than even the earliest christology ofwitness asserts or implies him to be. By making Jesus himself the primary norm of appropriateness instead of the primal source ofall norms made fully explicit, one reduces him to but one authority among others, even if the primary such authority. Thus he becomes the Jesus |
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_ |
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with_ _whom we believe in God, instead |
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of the Jesus_ _through_ _whom we believe in God--one who is a mere man, on the same level as ourselves, even if |
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first and foremost among us, instead of one who is infmitely more than a mere man, on the same level with God, even if also distinct from God as the decisive re-presentation of |
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God's gift and demand. As far as I am concerned, it is this strictly theological implication that reveals the most serious inadequacy in the typical procedure |
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o |
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frevisionary |
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christology. Even if the historical objection could somehow be met by adducing primary as well as secondary sources about Jesus, there would still be the decisive objection that the Jesus |
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attested by the Christian witness is infmitely other and more than the so-called historical Jesus_ *_(111{_}* *{_}f.). _* |
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The
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other
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important
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point
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at
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which,
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I
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am
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convinced,
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I
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am,
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in
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my
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own
...
way,
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trying
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to
...
uphold
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something
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that
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Maurice
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is
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keen
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on
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is
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the
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distinction
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he
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draws
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between
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"a
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gospel
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of facts"
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and
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"a
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gospel
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of notions"
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(The
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Kingdom
...
of Christ,1:10).
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Unless
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I'm
...
mistaken,
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this
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is
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his
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way
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of
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distinguishing-in
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my
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terms,
...
following Bultmann-between
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"the
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that' and "the what,"
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and between "self-understanding/understanding
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of existence,"
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on
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the
...
one
...
hand, and
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''world
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view,"
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on
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the
...
other.
...
And
...
recognizing
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this
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is
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also
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the
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key
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to
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making
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sense
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out
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ofhis
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otherwise
...
merely
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question-begging
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and
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questionably
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meaningful
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statements
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that
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"creeds"
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are
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"facts,"
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while
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"dogmas"
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are
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merely
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"notions,"
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or
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"opinions."
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Clearly,
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creeds
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are
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no
...
more
...
facts,
...
or
...
no
...
less
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notions,
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than
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dogmas
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are,
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unless
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they're
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taken-as
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Maurice
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and
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I
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both
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argue
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they
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are
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to
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be
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taken-as
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"direct
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address,"
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the
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gift/demand
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of a self-understanding/understanding
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ofexistence,
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rather
...
than
...
the
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"indirect
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address"
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communicating
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a
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world
...
view.
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"The
...
most
...
awful
...
and
...
absolute
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truths,
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which
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notions
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displace
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or
...
obscure,"
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Maurice
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argues,
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"are
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involved
...
in
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facts
...
and
...
through
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facts
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may
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be
...
entertained
...
and
...
embraced
...
by.
...
those
...
who
...
do
...
not
...
possess
...
the
...
faculty
...
for
...
comparing
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notions,
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and,
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have
...
a
...
blessed
...
incapacity
...
of resting in
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them"
...
(1:10).
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In
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my
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teons,
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"facts,"
...
which
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is
...
to
...
say
...
,
...
existentially
...
significant
...
facts,
...
mediate
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self-understanding/understanding
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ofexistence,
...
which'is
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something
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importantly
...
different
...
from
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"symbolizing
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ideas."
...
This
...
is
...
the
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conceptual
...
background
...
of Maurice's
...
question
...
about
...
Christianity-namely,
...
whether
...
it
...
"shall
...
be
...
a
...
practical
...
principle
...
and
...
truth
...
in
...
the
...
hearts
...
of men,
...
or
...
shall
...
be
...
exchanged
...
for
...
a
...
set
...
of intellectual notions
...
or
...
generalizations"
...
(2:44).
...
I'm
...
aware
...
that
...
this
...
is
...
not
...
as
...
well
...
developed
...
as
...
it
...
needs
...
to
...
be.
...
But
...
I
...
trust
...
I
...
have
...
said
...
enough
...
to
...
make
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clear
...
that,
...
at
...
this
...
second
...
point,
...
also,
...
the
...
parallel,
...
if not convergence,
...
between
...
Maurice's
...
intentions
...
and
...
my
...
own
...
is
...
very,
...
very
...
close.
...
It's
...
hard,
...
therefore,
...
not
...
to
...
think
...
of Wilhelm Herrmann,
...
who,
...
as
...
Bultmann
...
recognized,
...
had
...
all,
...
or
...
most,
...
of the right
...
ideas,
...
but
...
remained
...
very
...
much
...
in
...
need
...
of"the
...
'right'
...
philosophy."
...
18
...
August
...
2007
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