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At issue, he says, is his controversial formulation according to which "what is decisive is the '_that_' of Jesus' having come \[_das Entscheidende (ist) das Daß des Gekommenseins Jesu_\] not the '_what_,' i.e., not the historically verifiable data concerning his life and work." But "it is undeniable that for Paul and the rest of the New Testament, except for the synoptic gospels, . . . only the '_that_,' not the '_what_' plays a role. In assertion of the '_that_,' the paradox is asserted that a historical figure \-\- the person Jesus of Nazareth \-\- is at the same time the eschatological figure \-\- the Lord Jesus Christ."