By Schubert Ogden
The Notebooks of Schubert Ogden
What is the twofold constitutive assertion (or what are the two constitutive assertions,) of the Christian witness explicitly as such?
The twofold constitutive assertion (or the two constitutive assertions) of the Christian witness explicitly as such is (or are):
Jesus is the decisive re-presentation of the meaning of ultimate reality for us; and
God is strictly ultimate reality in its meaning for us.
In the case of both assertions, however, their existential significance comes out only when they are converted, so as to read respectively:
The decisive re-presentation of the meaning of ultimate reality for us is Jesus; and
Strictly ultimate reality in its meaning for us is God.
Presupposed by these formulations is a threefold distinction between: (1) ultimate reality, including strictly ultimate reality, in its structure in itself; (2) ultimate reality, including strictly ultimate reality, in its meaning for us; and (3) the decisive re-presentation of ultimate reality, including strictly ultimate reality, in its meaning for us. Also presupposed is that, while "Jesus" refers to a particular historical reality, "God" refers to transcendental, strictly ultimate reality -- in the metaphysical sense of the term, to strictly ultimate reality in its structure in itself; and in its religious sense, to strictly ultimate reality in its meaning for us.
15 June 2002
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