The God series books were based on a group of meetings that brought together over 100 scholars from around the world to pursue various aspects of a contemporary discussion of God. The participants were drawn from all parts of the our world and from virtually every religious tradition. Here Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Confucianists, members of African religions, and many others meet each other face to face. Moreover, the participants come from a wide range of disciplines and from cultures East and West, North and South.

Easy generalizations about people in other traditions–or in other strands of one’s own tradition–are quickly seen to be inadequate to the living reality. And as a result participants set in motion in their own lives dynamics and processes that will bear fruit in unpredictable ways. The vast majority of participants found this to be an event of great significance for them.

There was no attempt made to impose a certain outcome on these deliberations, nor was it assumed that there was some easy unity that underlied all the multiplicity present to the discussions. Nevertheless, what emerged was a heightened awareness of the beliefs and views of others and one’s own, and a determination to pursue lines of development.

The volumes in the God: The Contemporary Discussion Series are indicative of the continued pursuit and represent “stepping stones” designed to broaden the forum of the discussions. Many of the essays presented also reflect the influence of the encounter on each individual contributor. A unique experience herein awaits the student of religion or philosophy, the seeker of knowledge of the Ultimate, the teacher of spiritual discipline, or anyone interested in the emerging confluence of the religious traditions of the world.

Christology: The Center and the Periphery

Jesus asked the simple question, “Who do you say that I am?” Throughout history the proliferation of responses has ranged from the personal (You are the Savior of my soul), to the ontological (You are the Logos of God, the eternal and incarnate Word), to the humanist (You are the Man of Nazareth, shining example of ethics taught as ethics lived), to the theopolitical (You are the Liberator of the oppressed). Even today, christology oscillates between the center and the periphery, between an interpretation of the Christ as a sociopolitical reformer of this world, and other worldly views of the Christ as a private rescuer from a corrupt world soon to
pass away.

Christology: The Center and the Periphery, is an invitation to method in christology. The essays included reflect many of the spectra in the rainbow of interpretation of the Christ in today’s theological climate, and are grouped thematically and historically as well. Individual essays discuss such areas as christology in early Christianity, the crucifixion as symbol of love, and the recovery of a trinitarian perspective. In sum, the figure of the Christ, seen in the light of the three articles of the Christian creed, namely creation, redemption, and sanctification, remains the guiding motif of Christology: The Center and the Periphery.

Table of Contents
Introduction
PART I. TRADITION AND ORTHODOXY
1 Messianic Perspectives in the Bible
KAPP L. JOHNSON AND GARTH I. MOELLER
2 Christology in Early Christianity
JEAN LAPORTE
3 Christ as Pattern and Agent of Creation
HENRY VANDER GOOT
4 Unification Christology
JONATHAN WELLS
PART II. CRITICAL CHRISTOLOGY
5 Some Problems With Orthodox Christology
NONA R. BOLIN
6 Critique of “Christ Crucified” as Symbol of Love “Par Excellence”
PATRICIA GLEASON
7 The Meaning of the Doctrine of the Incarnation in Christian Thought PAUL BADHAM
PART III. POST-MODERN CHRISTOLOGY
8 Jesus the Messiah: A Comparative Perspective
HARRY B. PARTIN
9 The Historical Jesus and Unification Theology: An Appraisal and Critique
MARCUS BORG
10 The Purpose of Christ: Toward the Recovery of a Trinitarian Perspective
M. DARROL BRYANT
Contributors
Index

FRANK K. FLINN is a consultant in Forensic Religion. He has served as an expert witness on questions of church and state and is the co-editor of Religion in the Pacific Era (Paragon House, 1986).