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Striking in the later writings, however, is Marxsen's insistence that christology "always starts out with the experience that people have had with the activity of Jesus" ("The Limit," etc.: 50). In other words, he not only never questions, but explicitly affirms, that the perspective of the earlier essay is still valid. The difference seems to be simply that, in the later writings, what is second in the first is itself nuanced so that one can distinguish a first and a second even with respect to it. In this way, "implicit christology" comes to include even qualification of Jesus' activity as "eschatological," while "explicit christology" is limited to statements attributing certain qualities to Jesus's person. In the earlier essay, by contrast, "implicit christology" is limited to Jesus' activity – -- "christology in act, as Marxsen calls it – -- while "explicit christology" is taken to include all christology of reflection, even that which says nothing about Jesus himself but simply qualifies his activity as "eschatological."

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