By Schubert Ogden
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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
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what
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is
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really
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essential
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in
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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
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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
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between
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being
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merely
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one
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more
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authority,
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even
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the
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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
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perfectly
...
authentic
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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
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one·
...
..
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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
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and
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foremost
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among
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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
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truth
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ofthese
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christologies.
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For
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the
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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
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concepts
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and
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symbols
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iri
...
which
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it
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was
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fonnulated,
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is
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that
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Jesus
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is'
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rather
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the
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primal
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source
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of
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all
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authority,
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on
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the
...
same
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level
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as
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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
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as
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this
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very
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source
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now
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become
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fully
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explicit
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(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
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way,
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trying
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to
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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
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of Christ,1:10).
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Unless
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I'm
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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,
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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
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one
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hand, and
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''world
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view,"
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on
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the
...
other.
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And
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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
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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
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more
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facts,
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or
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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
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than
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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
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most
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awful
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and
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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
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obscure,"
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Maurice
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argues,
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"are
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involved
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in
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facts
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and
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through
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facts
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may
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be
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entertained
...
and
...
embraced
...
by.
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those
...
who
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do
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not
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possess
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the
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faculty
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for
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comparing
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notions,
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and,
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have
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a
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blessed
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incapacity
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of resting in
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them"
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(1:10).
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In
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my
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teons,
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"facts,"
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which
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is
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to
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say
...
,
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existentially
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significant
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facts,
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mediate
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self-understanding/understanding
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ofexistence,
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which'is
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something
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importantly
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different
...
from
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"symbolizing
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ideas."
...
This
...
is
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the
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conceptual
...
background
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of Maurice's
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question
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about
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Christianity-namely,
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whether
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it
...
"shall
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be
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a
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practical
...
principle
...
and
...
truth
...
in
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the
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hearts
...
of men,
...
or
...
shall
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be
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exchanged
...
for
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a
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set
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of intellectual notions
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or
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generalizations"
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(2:44).
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I'm
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aware
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that
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this
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is
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not
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as
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well
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developed
...
as
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it
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needs
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to
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be.
...
But
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I
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trust
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I
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have
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said
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enough
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to
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make
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clear
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that,
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at
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this
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second
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point,
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also,
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the
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parallel,
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if not convergence,
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between
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Maurice's
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intentions
...
and
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my
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own
...
is
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very,
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very
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close.
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It's
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hard,
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therefore,
...
not
...
to
...
think
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of Wilhelm Herrmann,
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who,
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as
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Bultmann
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recognized,
...
had
...
all,
...
or
...
most,
...
of the right
...
ideas,
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but
...
remained
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very
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much
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in
...
need
...
of"the
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'right'
...
philosophy."
...
18
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August
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2007