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Responsible Faith Christian Theology in the Light of 20Th-Century Questions

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Responsible Faith Christian Theology in the Light of 20Th-Century Questions 1 Responsible Faith Christian Theology in the Light of 20th-Century Questions Hans Schwarz Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis 1986 2 Responsible Faith Christian Theology in the Light of of 20th Century Questions HANS SCHWARZ 3 CONTENTS Preface............................................................................................................ Abbreviations.............................................................................................. Introduction: A Thoughtful and Thought-Provoking Faith PART 1 PROLEGOMENA.......................................................... Chapter 1: Theology....................................................................... A. The birth and development of Christian theology .................... B. Three essential functions of theology......................................... Chapter 2: Revelation.................................................................... A. Signals of transcendence ............................................................ B. Disclosure of a higher dimension............................................... C. Exclusiveness of the self-disclosure in Jesus Christ ................. D. The limits of (rational) perception.............................................. Chapter 3: Scripture...................................................................... A. The emergence of the New Testament Scriptures..................... B. The formation of the Christian Bible.......................................... C. The development and function of the canon............................. PART 2 THE GOD WHO ACTS.................................................. Chapter 4: God ............................................................................... A. God and the gods........................................................................ B. The limits of our natural knowledge of God.............................. C. What God is like.......................................................................... Chapter 5: Creation ....................................................................... A. God as creator ............................................................................. B. God's relationship to the world................................................... C. God's providential activity .......................................................... Chapter 6: Humanity..................................................................... A. Our creatureliness........................................................................ B. Our administrative task ............................................................... C. Our dialogical structure............................................................... 4 Chapter 7: Sin.................................................................................. A. The cause of evil.......................................................................... B. The power of sin (original and actual sin).................................. C. The extent of corruption ............................................................. PART 3 THE CHRIST WHO SAVES......................................... Chapter 8: Jesus of Nazareth ....................................................... A. The quest for the historical Jesus ............................................... B. Jesus of Nazareth......................................................................... Chapter 9: Jesus the Christ.......................................................... A. The turning point of the resurrection ......................................... B. Stations of Christological reflection ........................................... C. The two aspects of Christ ........................................................... PART 4 THE SPIRIT WHO EMPOWERS............................... Chapter 10: The Holy Spirit ......................................................... A. The biblical documents............................................................... B. The early church .......................................................................... C. The Reformers and contemporary theologians......................... Chapter 11: The Church ............................................................... A. The formative period................................................................... B. The present structure................................................................... C. The three-pronged potential........................................................ Chapter 12: The Means of Grace................................................. A. God's Word ................................................................................. B. God's sign..................................................................................... C. God's presence............................................................................. Chapter 13: The Christian Hope.................................................. A. Resurrection ................................................................................ B. The end of history ....................................................................... C. The new world............................................................................. Notes................................................................................................. For Further Reading......................................................................... Index of Names................................................................................ Index of Biblical References............................................................ Index of Subjects ............................................................................. 5 6 PREFACE Comprehensive presentations of the content of the Christian faith are increasingly written in a team approach. it is virtually impossible for an individual scholar to master the wealth of information and insights offered by ever-advancing reflection and scholarship. Nonetheless, it remains the task of individuals to believe in the Christian faith, i.e., to hold with reasonable confidence that the basis of their trust is indeed trustworthy. Everything else borders on mindless credulity or irrational ideology. This implies that individual believers should "master" the content of the Christian faith, if not in every detail, then at least in its general outline. The present volume grew out of the concern to present the general content of the Christian faith from one person to another, so to speak, in a comprehensible and comprehensive way, without becoming overly burdened with specialized knowledge. This was facilitated by the fact that in several areas I have previously written monographs which provide a more detailed discussion both of exegetical questions and the historical development of certain themes. The present endeavor also granted me the opportunity to explore the whole content of the Christian doctrine even in areas such as Christology, which I had not yet presented as in-depth studies. In retrospect — prefaces are customarily written after a work has been concluded — I must confess that I have been astounded at the wealth of Christian doctrine and, had it not been for the stubborn intent to write only one volume, the project would have easily evolved to a multivolumed set. The discerning reader will still find items missing which should have been included. Keeping the desiderata to a minimum, there is for each chapter an appended list of approximately 10 books for further reading. The number has been kept intentionally low, since these specialized monographs themselves provide more exhaustive bibliographies, while the intent of this text is to allow it to speak for itself. Notes have been subjected to the same principle, seldom going beyond the citing of direct quotations. The intention of this book is not to set forth all the items which one has to believe as a Christian. Such fideistic legalism would be more appropriate for an age of authoritarianism than for our present age of personal responsibility. I instead wanted to indicate what Christians today believe, why there are good reasons to believe it, and what difference these beliefs make for the basic outlook on life in today's world. Thus the questions Why? and What difference does it make? are not sacrificed for the sake of the What? The Christian faith is not an exercise in how much one can believe but a wholehearted endeavor to believe in something which is credible and which makes such a difference in one's life that one can venture one's whole life on that belief The material contained in this book has been presented many times inside and outside of the classroom in the United States and in West Germany, in a denominational seminary setting and in the brisker air of the university. I owe much to the questions, criticisms, and suggestions I have encountered from colleagues, students, pastors, and laity. My special thanks go to my research assistant, Craig Nessan, who undertook the arduous task of improving my style, bringing the notes into proper form, compiling the bibliographies, and helping with the proofreading and indexes. Diana Sgaslik deserves thanks for checking out numerous references. Bärbel Berger and Barbara Fischer must be thanked for typing the manuscript in its various stages with unfailing patience and accuracy. Finally, I thank my wife for her support as she patiently learns the joys and trials of the life of a teacher and writer. But I would like to dedicate this book to my children,
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