By Schubert Ogden
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Reflection on the Epigraph from Luther (in The Point of Christology)
By definition, the historical Jesus is the merely human Jesus, who is in principle one with whom we exist, act, believe, witness, or whatever -- one whatever—one who thus stands on the same level as ourselves. This, then, is why "it is not enough, nor is it Christian" to appeal to the historical Jesus.
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I can appreciate in this connection both what Schmitnals Schmithals means in saying that the historical Jesus is nothing but law and is "exchangeable," or "replaceable," and why Luther is so insistent that Christ is, first of all, a "sacrament," or "gift," only secondly, an "example."
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