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LIKE US IN EVERY WAY: HELPING STUDENTS AT HARDING UNIVERSITY IDENTIFY WITH JESUS
A MINISTRY FOCUS PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
BY
SCOTT ADAIR DECEMBER 2010
ABSTRACT
Like Us in Every Way: Helping Students at Harding University Identify with Jesus Scott E. Adair Doctor of Ministry School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 2010
This final project facilitates a doctrinal intervention to help emerging adults at Harding University understand and appropriate the biblical teaching of Christ’s humanity in order to bring about holistic spiritual formation. The intervention takes place during five or six class periods in two college courses at a private, liberal arts college in Searcy, Arkansas affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The students in these classes are in a liminal stage of life marked by a quest for identity. Their tattoos tangibly bear witness to this quest and to their postmodern leanings. The majority of these students share a background in the Churches of Christ of the American Restoration Movement. This project seeks to ground these students’ identities in Christ while addressing a potential deficiency in their inherited views of Christ, namely, a superficial understanding of his human nature. The doctrine of the utter humanity of Christ not only provides the content for this intervention, it provides the methodology. Thus, each main component of this project begins “from below” with concrete observations. Most significantly, the intervention anchors its Christological conclusions to the tangible rite of baptism, which has a prominent place in Restoration theology. First, the intervention shows how Jesus’ own baptism densely expresses a robust Christology. Second, the approach presents Christian baptism as an identity-shaping capsule of the believer’s participatory faith in Christ. Quantitative and qualitative analysis suggests that the doctrinal intervention contributed to positive changes in the ways students thought about Jesus and the ways they related to Jesus. Moreover, some students reported specific behavioral changes brought about by their new understanding of Jesus. Thus, the project did contribute to the holistic spiritual formation of Harding students.
Content Reader: Kurt Fredrickson, PhD
Words: 279
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
PART ONE: CONTEXT FROM BELOW
Chapter 1. EMERGING ADULTS AT HARDING UNIVERSITY 8
Chapter 2. CHRISTOLOGY IN THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST 34
PART TWO: CHRISTOLOGY FROM BELOW
Chapter 3. BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF HUMANITY OF CHRIST 55
Chapter 4. IMPLICATIONS OF DOCTRINE OF HUMANITY OF CHRIST 77
PART THREE: INTERVENTION FROM BELOW
Chapter 5. STRATEGIC PLAN FOR INDUCTIVE INTERVENTION 108
Chapter 6. STUDENT RESPONSES 128
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 153
BIBLIOGRAPHY 162
iii
INTRODUCTION
Andrew was a sophomore at Harding University.1 He had grown up in a Christian home but was in the process of converting to Buddhism. In a private conversation with
Andrew, I asked him, “Do you believe Jesus is Lord?”
“Sure, I believe Jesus is Lord, about like I believe George Bush is President. I believe it,” Andrew said, “but it does nothing for me.”
Since Harding is a conservative Christian school, explicit statements of disdain or indifference toward Jesus such as Andrew’s are rare. Nevertheless, a few minutes of observation on Harding’s campus might leave one with the impression that many students implicitly share Andrew’s attitude toward Jesus, though perhaps unconsciously. A snapshot of daily chapel might expose hundreds of students text-messaging instead of praying, doing homework instead of praising, or talking to one another instead of listening to the devotional speaker. As a teacher of “Life of Christ,”2 and “Christ and
Culture,”3 I sense this disinterest.
Founded in 1924, Harding University is a private, liberal arts university in Searcy,
Arkansas affiliated with the Churches of Christ. Harding’s current enrollment is 4,167 undergraduate students and 2,446 graduate students from 48 states and 52 nations.4
1 Andrew (pseud.), personal communication with author, Searcy, AR, September 10, 2003.
2 Scott Adair, “BNEW 211: Life of Christ,” (2002-2010).
3 Scott Adair, “BDOC 356: Christ and Culture,” (2006-2010).
4 Enrollment Statistics, Harding University Fall 2009 (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Office of Academic Affairs, April 2010), 1.
1
Nearly 80 percent of Harding’s student population is affiliated with the Churches of Christ.5 Since Churches of Christ strongly emphasize Sunday school, it is safe to conclude that many of these students have heard stories about Jesus since infancy.6 By the time they enroll in sophomore “Life of Christ,” they would also have had academic exposure to the Gospels because they were required to take “New Testament Survey” as first-year students.7 Such a biblical foundation should be advantageous to the learning environment, but it often seems to contribute to a contemptuous familiarity. The folded arms and smug faces of some seem to be saying, “What are you going to teach me about
Jesus that I do not already know?” They may not necessarily be bored with Jesus, but they sometimes give the impression that they are tired of taking classes about him. They are bored with the Gospels.
Bible professors should be loath to contribute to the students’ boredom. Given the apparent indifference, it is imperative that the instructor offers a fresh approach to the
Gospels. This is unlikely to occur, however, if the teacher’s own perspective on the
Gospels is stale.
As I prepared to teach “Life of Christ” in the 2003 fall semester, I needed to reinvigorate my own way of looking at the Gospels. I decided to start with the Gospel of
Mark since it is the shortest, most vividly narrated, and presumably earliest account. I
5 Enrollment Statistics, 2.
6 Richard T. Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith: The Story of Churches of Christ in America (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996), 219. The Churches of Christ have fully embraced the Sunday school phenomenon since the early 1900s. There exists, however, a wing of the movement that believes Sunday school is unwarranted by Scripture.
7 “BNEW 112: Survey of the New Testament.”
2 wanted to approach Mark’s Gospel with new eyes, as if to experience the good news about Jesus for the first time. I made a conscious effort to let the story speak for itself. I resisted the temptation to nuance or harmonize Mark’s earthy account with creedal formulas, Pauline theology, or even the other Gospel accounts. This way of initially approaching Jesus “from below,” as a man from Nazareth, rather than “from above,” as eternal Divine Son, honors the way people of his day first encountered him. 8
This inductive approach to the Gospel of Mark challenged my Christological assumptions. The first chapter alone raised difficult questions9 that pointed me down a path of inquiry that ultimately overhauled my understanding of Jesus. In short, I became convinced that Jesus was truly human. He was not some sort of alien or hybrid. Rather he was, as Hebrews 2:17 confirms, “like his brothers in every way.”10 As I grappled with this passage and other biblical texts on which the teaching is based, I had to admit my own Christological superficiality up to this point. I had always affirmed the doctrine that
Jesus was fully human, but only as a hollow proposition, and not a transforming reality. I had finally met the person beyond the creed. The discovery of his thoroughgoing
8 Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus—God and Man, trans., Lewis L. Wilkins and Duane A. Priebe, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968), 33-37. This should not be taken as a presumption of philosophical or theological neutrality. Pannenberg’s “from below” method, itself, rests upon the theological approach called “history as revelation,” which rests philosophically upon rationalism. Nevertheless, acknowledgement of one’s own presuppositions makes a fresh reading of the Gospel accounts more likely. Pannenberg’s usage of the phrase, “from below,” is distinctly Christological. Practical theologians currently use “from below” in reference to the present situation as the proper starting point for theological inquiry leading to orthopraxis.
9 Michael Cosby, Portraits of Jesus: An Inductive Approach to the Gospels (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999). Morna D. Hooker, Beginnings: Keys That Open the Gospels (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997). In time, these two sources also helped raise some of the difficult questions.
10 Unless otherwise indicated all Bible references in this paper are to the New International Version (Colorado Springs, CO: International Bible Society, 1978).
3 identification with humanity has re-ordered my worldview, continues to bring about transformation, and will ultimately leave no part of life untouched. At the very least, it has changed the way I teach “Life of Christ” and “Christ and Culture.”
The goal now was to try to duplicate this discovery in a college classroom setting.
Most of these students probably already subscribed to the doctrine of the full humanity of
Christ before they enrolled in the class. They would likely be able to state a proposition that affirmed his full humanity and divinity11 but had not yet pursued the implications of the creed. They merely paid lip service to the doctrine.12 Apparently, the churches of their upbringing emphasized the deity of Christ but seemed to have neglected to present a robust view of his humanity. As a result, these students have difficulty identifying with
Jesus, which contributes to deficiencies in their holistic spiritual formation. For this reason, this project facilitates an intervention to help emerging adults at Harding
University understand and appropriate the biblical teaching of Christ’s humanity in order to bring about holistic spiritual formation.
The inductive approach applied to the Gospel of Mark that led to discovery serves as the impetus and inspiration for this project. “From below,” then, is the organizing principle. Namely, in regard to context, theology, and even the design of the intervention, this project strives to start with the concrete. Part One of this ministry focus paper analyzes the context of students at Harding University. Instead of merely generalizing
11 Though Harding students are largely unaware of the Council of Chalcedon and the definition it produced, most students adhere to an abstraction of the Chalcedonian formula which is often stated in the form of a mathematical paradox: “100 percent Divine / 100 percent Human.” Chapter 6 offers quantitative and qualitative feedback that confirms this.
12 Quantitative and qualitative feedback confirms this. Chapter 6 gives the results.
4 about postmodern epistemology or coming of age in Western culture, this project seeks first to observe the students, themselves, in their “micro-system” at Harding University.13
In “from below” fashion, then, Chapter 1 begins by observing one rather conspicuous characteristic of many Harding students: the acquisition of tattoos. Exploration of this phenomenon serves as a springboard to key developmental and cultural realities that set the stage for the case studies that follow.
The bulk of Chapter 1 consists of narrative descriptions of three Harding students based on personal interviews and email correspondence.14 The purpose of these case studies is two-fold. First, the descriptions of the three students point to contextual realities common to Harding students. Second, these stories unveil various types of needs or deficiencies: self-reported struggles in the lives of these students that are at least partly due to an insufficient or unbiblical view of Jesus.
The second chapter of Part One analyzes the theological context of Harding students. Since most of these students come from the Churches of Christ, the first portion of Chapter 2 simply introduces this religious movement. This introduction to the
Churches of Christ includes a brief history, a summary of current practices and beliefs, and survey of Christological tenets.
13 Urie Bronfenbrenner, The Ecology of Human Development (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1979), 22. “Micro-system” is Bronfenbrenner’s term for immediate context. He likens the “micro-system” to a set of Russian dolls. The innermost halves represent the immediate setting containing the developing person and the outermost doll represents global contextual factors. With such an image in mind, the first major section of this paper initiates the contextual inquiry by examining the innermost matryoshka doll.
14 All interviews were confidential; the names and locations of interviewees are changed by mutual agreement. All other details in the narratives are accurate. 5
The second major section offers the theological response to the needs articulated in Part One. In keeping with the “from below” principle, Part Two continues following the inductive path. The biblical investigation, therefore, begins where the Gospel of Mark begins: with the baptism of Jesus. After examining several other concrete events in the life of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels, the inquiry progresses through other expressions of belief concerning Jesus’ humanity found in the New Testament--culminating with the
Christ-hymn of Philippians 2. Upon reviewing the exegetical findings, this section draws doctrinal conclusions and explores the practical implications thereof.
The final section brings context and theology to bear on a specific ministry plan to be implemented in “Life of Christ” and “Christ and Culture.” In order to ensure the relevance of the intervention, the project design is informed by the contextual insights of
Part One. In order to ensure its veracity, the design seeks to be faithful to the theological conclusions of Part Two. After offering a detailed layout of the intervention, this third section describes the methods used to evaluate the intervention and the results thereof.
Part Three also narrates the outcomes of the students whose problems were described in
Part One. The ministry focus paper concludes by summarizing the project, evaluating the results, and offering proposals for greater effectiveness in the future.
6
PART ONE
CONTEXT FROM BELOW
CHAPTER 1
EMERGING ADULTS AT HARDING UNIVERSITY
In The Interpretation of Cultures, Clifford Geertz illustrates the goal of ethnography by discussing a wink.1 An observer might thinly describe a wink as a rapid contraction of one eyelid. “Thick description,” however, interprets the “stratified hierarchy of meaningful structures” in a given culture in order to determine whether the behavior is a twitch, a conspiratorial signal, a parody, a gesture of ridicule, or a flirtatious advance.2 Ethnography is “thick description.”3
This section offers “thick descriptions” of the lives of emerging adults at Harding
University in order to establish their need for Christological intervention. This kind of analysis is impossible if one relies solely upon the conclusions of other researchers. In order to gain access to the layers of meaning and the compelling stories of these students,
1 Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 6-7. Geertz attributes the wink illustration and the concept of “thick description” to British philosopher, Gilbert Ryle.
2 Ibid., 7.
3 Ibid., 9-10. In summarizing the goal of ethnography, Geertz says, “The point for now is only that ethnography is thick description. What the ethnographer is in fact faced with—except when (as, of course, he must do) he is pursuing the more automated routines of data collection—is a multiplicity of complex conceptual structures, many of them superimposed upon or knotted into one another, which are at once strange, irregular, and inexplicit, and which he must contrive somehow first to grasp and then to render.”
8 one must go beyond secondhand research. This kind of understanding requires participant-observation.4
The Tattoo Phenomenon
Accordingly, this section begins by analyzing an observable phenomenon. Were an anthropologist from another culture to visit Harding’s campus, he or she might quickly observe that many of these students have permanent ink on their bodies. This current manifestation of the ancient practice of tattooing holds important developmental and cultural insights for the researcher. The tattoos that mark this generation are laden with meaning.5 Admittedly, the practice of getting tattoos is not foreign to previous age groups in North America. However, the meaning associated with body art was different for those who became adults before the turn of the millennium. Stereotypically, tattoos belonged to the likes of sailors, gang members, bikers, and ex-convicts. As such, earlier generations viewed them as deviant. Now, however, tattoos are part of the mainstream culture. Of course, this does not mean that all college-age students have tattoos. Nevertheless, now even conventional students, unlike those of previous generations, see tattoos as a live option with significant cultural support. The practice currently carries enough momentum that the average student makes a conscious choice concerning whether or not to acquire body art. In contrast, it seems the thought never occurred to mainstream students of previous generations. This broader appeal signals a momentous cultural shift. Looking beyond skin deep at today’s tattoo phenomenon offers an elaborate rendering of this shift,
4 Chap Clark, Hurt (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004). Clark’s ethnographic work among midadolescents gives shape to the approach used in this project. He sets forth his intent and methodology in the preface and appendix.
5 See Appendix B. “Skin Deep: Why the Tattoos?” 9 which has epistemological and developmental implications. The current practice symbolizes what it means to come of age in North America at the turn of the millennium by pointing to three principle characteristics of this period of life. The college years, as depicted by tattoos, represent an age of “in-between-ness,” an age of instability, and an age of identity explorations.6
Age of “In-between-ness”
The current tattoo phenomenon points to an age of “in-between-ness.” Most individuals who get tattoos acquire their first between the ages of eighteen and twenty- four.7 In other words, they get them after they leave home but before they settle into marriage and long-term careers. The current practice of tattoos, then, marks a period of life that is difficult to categorize. It is a period of life between adolescence and adulthood.
For the most part, American law sees college-age students as adults. Most state legislation sets the age of majority at eighteen, which is the typical age of a first-year college student.8 In regard to tattoos, thirty-nine states have laws hindering individuals
6 Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 8-17. He offers the following five features of this period of life: age instability, age of feeling in-between, age of identity explorations, age of self-focus, and age of possibilities. For the purpose of this project, however, “the age of identity explorations” is a broad enough category to subsume the age of self-focus and the age of possibilities. Furthermore, Arnett does not connect any of these features with getting tattoos.
7 Anne E. and Amy J. Derick Laumann, “Tattoos and Body Piercings in the United States: A National Data Set,” Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 55, no. 3 (2006). The aim of this study, as summarized on page 413, is to establish the prevalence, societal distribution, as well as the medical and social consequences of tattooing and body piercing in the United States. The statistical chart on page 418 shows that 84% receive their first tattoo at or after age 18. The article then offers the other end of the range: “Overall, 65% of those with a tattoo had obtained their first tattoo by 24 years of age.”
8 West's Encyclopedia of American Law 2nd ed. (Detroit: Gale, 2005), s.v. “Age of Majority.” The age of majority is the age when one is given legal adult status and no longer regarded as a minor. States vary the age of majority depending upon the issue. Eighteen is the age of consent for most adult privileges and responsibilities. Ages sixteen and twenty-one are legal markers for some issues.
10 from getting them before age eighteen.9 With this in mind, tattoos can function as a visible marker of the legal threshold of adulthood.
Some developmental theorists, in agreement with American laws, see college students as young adults.10 This view, however, is the exception among contemporary social scientists. Laws notwithstanding, most hold that individuals ages eighteen to twenty-two are not adults in North American culture and should not be labeled as such.
They point out that individuals are taking longer to accomplish the traditional markers of adulthood than previous generations.11 Namely, most eighteen to twenty-two-year-olds are not yet financially independent, they are not yet married, and they are not yet parents.12 Some frame this postponement of adult roles as a lengthening of adolescence13
9 Tattoos and Body Piercings for Minors, (National Conference of State Legislature, 2009). http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=14393. Legally, tattoo prohibitions are similar to tobacco prohibitions; the violator is the one who administers the ink or does the body art. Some states prohibit them outright, some allow tattooing of minors with parental consent or presence.
10 Sharon Daloz Parks, Big Quesions, Worthy Dreams: Mentoring Young Adults in Their Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Faith (San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000). Note the title of her book. Parks recognizes the ambiguity of becoming adult; the first chapter is entitled, “the elusiveness of adulthood.” However, she refers to college-age students as “young adults” throughout her book. Erik H. Erikson, Identity: Youth and Crisis (New York: W. W. Norton, 1968). Erikson speaks of a prolonged adolescence or a psychosocial moratorium but his default term for individuals in their late teens and early twenties is “young adult,” 156. These young adults are in the sixth psychosocial stage, grounding their identity by losing themselves in intimacy, 139.
11 Arnett, The Winding Road, 3; Clark, Hurt, 29; Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., Rubin G. Urmbaut, and Richard A. Settersten, Jr., ed. On the Frontier of Adulthood: Emerging Themes and New Directions, Macarthur Foundation Series (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2005), 1-4; Christian Smith, Souls in Transition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 5-6.
12 Arnett, The Winding Road, 3.
13 John Santrock, Adolescence, 9th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003). According to Santrock, the outdated theory understood adolescence as a singular transitional period. The new view, he says, recognizes two distinct stages of adolescence: early and late, 19. Clark, Hurt, 35 perceives that the continued lengthening of adolescence has resulted in yet a third distinct stage. Social scientists usage of the term, “midadolescence,” agrees with Clark’s three-stage conception. For examples, see the following: Kathleen Boykin McElhaney Joseph P. Allen, Gabriel P. Kuperninc, Kathleen M. Jodi, “Stability and Change in Attachment Security across Adolescence,” Child Development 75, no. 6 (2004): 1792. Christine 11 and identify college-age persons as “late adolescents.”14 Others believe that the term
“adolescent” is not appropriate for these individuals and opt for names such as “youth,” or “emerging adult.”15 These latter theorists acknowledge the delay into adulthood but do not frame the issue as a lengthening of adolescence. Rather, they propose the existence of a life-stage between adolescence and adulthood.16 Jeffery Jensen Arnett, the most prolific advocate of this view, identifies college-age students as “emerging adults.”17 This project adopts the term “emerging adult” because it captures well the idea of “in-between-ness.”
Avoiding the term “adolescence” in reference to these students acknowledges that something developmentally significant occurs when one leaves home. Also, qualifying
“adulthood” acknowledges that the individual is not yet a full-fledged adult. Furthermore, the term is beneficial because it points forward; it anticipates and expects maturity.
“Adolescence,” on the other hand, points back to an earlier stage.
Wekerle and David A. Wolfe, “Dating Violence in Mid-Adolescence: Theory, Significance, and Emerging Prevention Initiatives,” Clinical Psychology Review 19, no. 4 (1999): 435-436.
14 Glen R. and Feldman Elliott, S. Shirley, “Capturing the Adolescent Experience,” in At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent, ed. S. Shirley Feldman and Glen R. Elliott (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University 1990), 1-3. Chap Clark, “The Changing Face of Adolescence: A Theological View of Human Development,” in Starting Right: Thinking Theologically About Youth Ministry, ed. Chapman Clark Kenda Creasy Dean, and David Rahn (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Youth Specialties Academic, 2001), 50-53. Figures 2.1 and 2.2 place eighteen to twenty-two year-olds as late adolescents. However, Clark’s article is not so concerned about affixing static labels as it is exploring the complexity and ambiguity of becoming adult in Western culture.
15 Kenneth Kenniston, “Youth: A ‘New’ Stage of Life,” American Scholar 39 (1970): 631-633. Kenniston uses the ambiguous term “youth.” Arnett, “Emerging Adulthood: A Theory of Development from the Late Teens through the Twenties,” American Psychologist 55 (May 2000): 476. Arnett coins the term “emerging adult.” James E. Côté, Arrested Adulthood: The Changing Nature of Maturity and Identity (New York: New York University Press, 2000), 31, 178. He uses the terms “youthhood,” 178, and “psychological adulthood,” 31. Smith, Souls in Transition, 6. He notes other labels such as “extendend adolescent,” adultolescence,” “the twixter years,” and “twenty-somethings.” Smith prefers Arnett’s term “emerging adult.”
17 Arnett, “A Theory of Development,” 476. He says that this period of life begins around eighteen and ends around twenty-five.
12
Whether the behavior is appropriate or not, getting a tattoo expresses this “in- between-ness.” As such, it serves as a self-induced social marker or rite of passage.18 Ink injected into the skin of a college student says, “I am no longer an adolescent, but I am not yet ready to settle down.”
This sense of being in-between finds corollaries in current Western epistemology.
It is difficult to define the mindset of North American culture because it has “not yet” taken positive form. It is too early to describe with much detail or consensus the worldview that will ultimately replace modernism.19 Many use the term “postmodern” to describe the current worldview. The term, however, only expresses what the mindset is not, that it is “no longer” modern.20 Tattoos, which offend modern sensibilities, flourish in a postmodern culture. Their pervasive presence proclaims that North American culture has entered an age of “no longer” but “not yet.” The “in-between-ness” of emerging adults and their body art finds a welcome home in a culture of epistemological limbo.
Age of Instability
The current tattoo phenomenon points to an age of instability. More specifically, the permanent nature of tattoos stands in contrast to the instability of emerging adulthood.
Nearly every dimension of life is transient and impermanent for these individuals. First,
18 Arnold van Gennep, Rites of Passage (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1961), 21. Van Gennep made known the phrase, “rite of passage.” In his extensive ethnographic work at the turn of the twentieth century, he found that all civilizations celebrate life transitions with rituals. The specifics of these rituals differ but they all have the same basic outline: separation, liminality, and re-aggregation. Incidentally, Van Gennep distinguishes physiological adulthood from social adulthood, see Chapter 6. David Elkind, All Grown up and No Place to Go (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1984), 46. Elkind says rites of passage, or markers, are external signs of where we stand “in the stages on life’s way.”
19 Stanley J. Grenz, A Primer on Postmodernism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), 11.
20 Ibid., 12.
13 emerging adults change residents far more frequently than individuals in other stages of life.21 Second, emerging adults change jobs or schools more frequently than adolescents or adults.22 Third, having left their families of origin, emerging adults have less stable familial relationships than adolescents or adults.23
Tattoos may function as a protest to such impermanence. In previous generations, life’s most enduring decisions were made by individuals ages eighteen to twenty-two.
Now these decisions are increasingly delayed.24 For example, the average age of first marriage is now 25.9 for women and 27.5 for men.25 Getting a tattoo, however, represents a permanent decision that many of these students feel prepared to make. In a period of life marked with instability and impermanence, these students long to make a decision that has lasting implications.
This sense of instability finds corollaries in the dawning Western epistemology.
Postmodernism, by definition, challenges modern notions of certainty and objectivity.26
Friedrich Nietzsche, whose “influence on postmodern scholarship cannot be overestimated,”27 seeks to demolish the notion of epistemological and ontological
21 Arnett, “Theory of Development,” 471.
22 Arnett, Winding Road, 11.
23 Ibid., 11.
24 Smith, Souls in Transition, 4-6. He attributes this change to four related social transformations: 1) the growth of higher education, 2) the delay of marriage, 3) an economy with less job security, and 4) parental enablement.
25 Ibid., 5. The average age of first marriage for women went from 20.3 in 1950 to 25.9 in 2006. The average age of first marriage for men went from 22.8 in 1950 to 27.5 in 2006.
26 Grenz, Primer on Postmodernism, 7-8.
27 Douglas J. Soccio, Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy, 4th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2001), 485. 14 stability, proposing instead a world of eternally recurring flux and chaos.28 The transient, unstable nature of emerging adulthood epitomizes this mindset. Nevertheless, as emerging adults drift along in this sea of cultural and developmental uncertainty, they long for an anchor. Getting tattoos, then, may be an attempt to anchor the postmodern self.29
On the other hand, this anchoring response may not necessarily oppose postmodernism. That is, since postmodernists claim that all reality is constructed reality, perhaps tattoos represent the postmodern impulse to construct, or in this case, design one’s own sense of stability and truth.30 Body ink provides college students the opportunity to tell their socially constructed stories in a culture that rejects meta- narrative.31
Age of Identity Explorations
The idea that tattoos can be used to tell one’s story implies that tattoos are associated with identity explorations. Today’s college students who acquire body art are not merely picking an image off of the parlor wall. These students think long and hard
28 John Richardson, “Nietzsche on Time and Becoming,” in A Companion to Nietzsche, ed. Keith Ansell-Pearson (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 212.
29 Paul Sweetman, “Anchoring the (Postmodern) Self? Body Modification, Fashion, and Identity,” in Body Modification, ed. Mike Featherstone (London: Sage, 2000). Sweetman suggests something similar, though his application is more specific. He claims that some modify their bodies as a protest to fashion consumerism, which sustains itself by necessitating change. The permanence of tattoos, then, function as an anti-fashion fashion.
30Walter Truett Anderson, The Next Enlightenment: Integrating East and West in a New Vision of Human Evolution (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003). His chapter, “Being Constructive,” gives a good summary of the roots and pervasiveness of constructivism.
31 “Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.” Jean Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans., Geoff and Brian Massumi Bennington (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1984), xxiv-xxv.
15 about their custom designs. Each one comes up with an image or phrase that captures his or her own essence.32 Tattoos represent a quest for self that is indicative of this stage of life.33
Emerging adults pursue identity more intensely than individuals in other stages of life.34 Using Erikson’s identity theory as his starting point, James Marcia holds that one’s identity status is based on the interplay of exploration and commitment.35 Ideally, one’s searching should move toward commitment in three key areas of life: occupation, relationships, and ideology. “Identity achievement,” then, is this status of one who has both explored and made commitments in work, love, and worldview.36 His theory also describes three less ideal identity statuses. “Identity foreclosure” is the status of an individual that does not explore options but commits to each area of life by default.
“Identity moratorium” is the status of one who continues to explore options without
32 Students intending to get a tattoo, but have not yet done so, express that they are still trying to come up with an image or phrase that merits permanent placement. See Appendix 1.
33 Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, "Suffering, Selfish, Slackers? Myths and Reality About Emerging Adults," Journal of Youth and Adolescence 36 (2007): 25-27. According to Arnett, this focus on the self should not be confused with selfishness. He does not believe that emerging adults are anymore selfish than any other group. In fact, he demonstrates that, in many respects, emerging adults are more altruistic than others.
34 Kenneth R. Hoover, James E. Marcia, and Kristen Diane Parris The Power of Identity: Politics in a New Key (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers, 1997), 97. James Marcia evaluated all of the studies that had been conducted using his identity status model that dates back to the 1966. The summary of the studies concluded that identity explorations begin at age 18 and increase until age 24.
35 Jane Kroger, “Identity Development During Adolescence,” in The Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence, ed. Gerald R. and Michael D. Berzonsky Adams (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 208-211. Kroger provides a contemporary explanation and critique of Marcia’s identity theory.
36 Ruthellen Josselson, Pathways to Identity Development in Women (San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass Pulications, 1987). Josselson offers the following intuitive synonyms for Marcia’s statuses: “pathfinder” for achievement, “guardian” for foreclosure, “searcher” for moratorium, “drifter” for diffusion. The study was longitudinal, so in 1996 she published a follow-up book Ruthellen Josselson, Revising Herself: The Story of Women's Identity from College to Midlife (New York: Oxford, 1996). In this book, “pathfinder” becomes “pathmaker.”
16 working toward commitment. Finally, “identity diffusion” is the status assigned to one who neither explores nor commits in matters of work, love, and worldview.
In Arrested Adulthood: the Changing Nature of Maturity and Identity, James Côté claims that in today’s society, identity diffusion and identity moratorium have increasingly become the dominant modes among those coming into adulthood.37 This may be due to the fact that postmodern culture offers such a vast array of options in regard to work, love, and worldview that it is difficult to make commitments.
Additionally, emerging adults must navigate these options without adequate scaffolding since “institutional supports for making developmental transitions have been de- structured and are often deficient.”38 The weak linkage between educational and occupational structures is a prime example of inadequate institutional support.39 As a result, emerging adults are left on their own to figure out who they are.
Rather than providing institutional support for identity achievement, North
American culture offers alluring substitutions. Profit-oriented industries sell superficial identities to those remaining in states of moratorium and diffusion. Instead of arduously constructing identity through crisis and commitment, individuals often settle for instant gratification and “image consumption.”40 This tendency undermines all three of the
37 Côté, Arrested Adulthood, 129. He says that diffusion was dominant in premodern culture and achievement dominant in early modern culture. Now, however, diffusion and moratorium have become normative. However, just because these modes are normative, he does not mean to imply that they are beneficial or adaptive for society or the individual.
38 Margaret Mead, Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap (New York: John Wiley, 1970), 72. Margaret Mead refers to this kind of society as prefigurative. Postfigurative societies provide ready-made scripts for those coming of age.
39 Côté, Arrested Adulthood, 129.
40 Ibid., 130. 17 commitments necessary for identity. Projecting a cool image through style and media consumption has faster return than pursuing a meaningful career path. Indulging in narcissistic whims like video games and parties distracts students from deliberately developing a coherent philosophy of life. “Hooking-up” seems less complicated and more fun than dating with a view toward marriage 41
The relationship between identity and tattoos merits further study. The connection, if any, varies from person to person. Some students get tattoos that are symbolic of one’s hard earned self-discovery.42 Others may unknowingly get tattoos as an identity substitute, along the lines of image consumption.43 The absence of tattoos also may relate to identity status. Some do not yet know themselves enough to symbolize their deepest commitments on their skin.44 Others may have such a strong sense of self that they do not believe their identity can be adequately expressed by any image or phrase.45
41 Kathleen A. Bogle, Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus (New York: New York University Press, 2008), 158. Chapter 8 is entitled “Hooking Up and Dating: A Comparison.”
42 Many students offered answers along this line from the tattoo survey conducted at Harding in 2008. One respondent says, “I went to HUG (Harding University in Greece) Summer 2006. I was working through difficult issues with my family, my self, and my relationship with God. That summer changed my life completely. I have ‘pierced’ in Greek to remember that no matter what I go through, I have a master.” See Appendix B for survey.
43 Tattoos such as a Nike Swoosh, a Macintosh Apple, a team logo, or some other fashionable symbol reflect image consumption. One girl says, “A friend and I decided to get the same tattoo together, a star. Just to elaborate, I am in the process of having it removed.” See Appendix B for survey.
44 One respondent admits, “Right now I do not have one because I don’t have anything that means enough to me that I would want it to be on my body forever and I don’t want to endure the pain. At some point, though, if I find a saying or symbol of something that meant that much to me I would definitely get one.” Another echoes, “I don’t have one because I have not had one recurring image or scripture or phrase that I have wanted to put on my body.” See Appendix B for survey.
45 Along this line, a male metaphorically responds, “Let’s put it this way, it’s like you own a beautiful one of a kind Lamborghini, and then you go and slap a bumper sticker on it! Now for me to go and do that, it would have to be a pretty sweet bumper sticker.” See Appendix B for survey.
18
Others abstain from body art because they perceive the practice as trendy and are not motivated by temporary social approval.46
In summary, this “thick description” of today’s tattoo phenomenon introduces college-age students as those who must navigate the unstable period of life between adolescence and adulthood. In order to emerge into healthy adulthood, these individuals must figure out who they are through exploration and commitment in areas of love, work, and worldview. Tattoos merely serve as a tangible springboard into these matters.
Student Narratives
The issues introduced above set the stage for the case studies that follow. It is one thing to explore the contextual factors of emerging adulthood, but it is another to listen to the life stories of emerging adults. The stories of these students are provided here for two reasons. First, each case brings to light the cultural, developmental, and theological context of students at Harding University. The narratives substantiate and enliven the above research on college-age students. Second, their stories exhibit different types of challenges students face to which this intervention addresses. In other words, these stories describe Harding students and establish the need for a Christological intervention.
Anna
Anna was a sophomore at Harding who became estranged from God.47 She sat on an aisle seat of the third row in the 9:00 AM section of “Life of Christ,” during the fall of
46 One respondent said, “Maybe the fact that a lot of people are getting them at this age is somewhat of a turn-off to me because it seems like ‘the thing to do.’” See Appendix B for survey.
47 Anna (pseud.), interview by author, Searcy, AR, August 20, 2008. All quotations in this narrative come from this interview. 19
2008. She was a bright student who made good grades and offered insightful comments in class. She describes herself as a “techy” or “nerd” who likes lists, order, and structure.
There was no indication that the girl on the third row was feeling further from God with each passing day.
Anna had never experienced deep guilt until she came to Harding University. She could acknowledge that she had sinned in a generic sense during her high school years but could not think of specific transgressions against God. She thought of herself as a
“good girl” who maintained her goodness by trying hard. She was glad to extend grace to people that did not try hard enough, but she felt like she was different, like she was better.
She believed she was held to a higher standard. Then she came to college.
As a freshman at Harding, she experienced the power of temptation for the first time. She had dated boys in high school but had never crossed any sexual boundaries, nor had she been desirous to do so. Now, however, as an eighteen-year-old far away from home she found herself engaging in promiscuous behavior with a young man who was also a Christian.48 She wondered what she had become. She no longer recognized herself.
She wondered about her eternal destiny—if her salvation was in jeopardy due to her deliberate and repeated offenses. She described her sense of assurance as a seesaw. She would ask for forgiveness and feel secure until she “messed up” the next day. To offset her paralyzing guilt she armed herself with numerous rationalizations to continue her
48 Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, “A Theory of Development,” 473. Moral standards notwithstanding, the difference between Anna’s relational experience before and after leaving home is corroborated in developmental research. See According to Arnett, one of the differences between the adolescent (seventeen and under) and the emerging adult (eighteen to twenty-five) is in regard to romantic relationships. In adolescence, dating is transient and recreational and often occurs in groups. In emerging adulthood, dating occurs in couples, lasts longer, and involves a deeper level of emotional and physical intimacy.
20 newfound lifestyle: “At least we’re not going all the way,” “We’re going to marry anyway,” or “Our bodies were obviously designed for this.” Her friends added this one:
“If he’s not getting it from you he’ll get it somewhere else.” Months after the peak of her struggle she agreed to do an interview where she not only unveiled her crisis in retrospect, she offered background information that added depth and dimension to her situation.
Anna was raised in a small church in Chicago, Illinois. Oak Grove Church of
Christ could be called a “house church.” After it outgrew the members’ living rooms the church began meeting in a nursing home parlor. At its largest it grew to about thirty-five members. Anna recalls how serious the church was in regard to morality. The intimate setting of the house church made repentance or confession quite intense. She remembers being sent to another room along with the other children when the nature of the sins being confessed was not suitable for young ears.
When Anna was thirteen years old Oak Grove Church of Christ began to unravel.
A charismatic leader had begun to demand conformity to his distinctive views on the
Lord’s Supper. Some families, including Anna’s, resisted his heavy-handed approach and the church eventually disbanded. Anna’s family began attending Southwest Church of
Christ, a more traditional and established church of about three hundred members where her father eventually became an elder. Incidentally, from Anna’s seventh grade year to her twelfth grade year the church burned through four different youth ministers.
Anna described her father as extremely knowledgeable about the Bible. He maintains a view of the Holy Spirit that is considered ultra-conservative in Churches of
Christ: that the work of the Holy Spirit is solely text-based. That is, the Bible is the only
21 access that contemporary Christians have to the Holy Spirit. This is known as the “Word- only” view of the Holy Spirit.
In addition to conservative religious doctrine, Anna’s parents were also careful about her media exposure. They had cable but her parents blocked MTV, VH1, and BET.
They also disallowed magazines like Cosmogirl and Seventeen and prohibited her from viewing PG-13-rated movies until she was thirteen. They still forbid R-rated movies.
Anna’s conservative upbringing and impeccable reputation was a stark reminder of how far she felt she had strayed. At her core she sensed that her indiscretion had estranged her from God and his salvation. Even while acknowledging the great cost, she still felt utterly powerless to stop the very behavior that was leading her further away. She felt like she had traveled so far down this path that she could not discern a way back.
Furthermore, no one knew the seriousness of her struggle. Her attire was anything but promiscuous. She never said anything in class that tipped off her “try-harder” ethic that was failing her so miserably. Her demeanor never signaled her “saved-then-lost-then- saved” soteriology. Even her closest confidants were unaware of the magnitude of her spiritual crisis. She was facing it alone. However, during the third week of “Life of
Christ,” Anna would find unexpected help for her struggle.
Marcus
Marcus was a collegiate athlete who needed a new perspective on Jesus.49 He sat on the back row where athletes tend to sit. Unlike the stereotypical sportsman, however,
Marcus frequently contributed to the class discussions. Furthermore, he did so with such
49 Marcus (pseud.), email interviews with author, Searcy, AR, June 5-July 13, 2009. All quotations in this narrative come from this correspondence. 22 eagerness and sincerity that he seemed oblivious to the stigma attached to those students who demonstrate excessive interest in school. His candid comments revealed a curious mixture of common street sense and spirituality. While his apparent knowledge about drug culture and addiction raised the eyebrows of some of his classmates, his openness about prayer and holiness evoked eye-rolling in others.
Even though Marcus’s performance on exams was outstanding, his grade suffered because he had difficulty making it to class. When he did come, he was habitually late.
On several occasions he approached me after class to explain his tardiness and his unexcused absences. With refreshing and disarming honesty, Marcus would say something like, “I just slept in. I have no excuse. I kept hitting the snooze button. I am so sorry.” After skipping five or six classes, though, even Marcus figured out that charm and forthrightness could only go so far. In order to shore up his poor grade, he made a special visit to my office to explain why he was having so much difficulty making it to class on time. As he told me a little bit about his background I became interested in more than his alibi for truancy.
Incongruent Upbringing
Marcus’s upbringing is a story of incongruence. His parents divorced when he was four years old. Religious differences were not cited as the reason, but the polarity surely did not help matters. His mother was a non-practicing Catholic and his father was an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist. Marcus’s life reflected the parental dichotomy; he attended a Catholic school in honor of his mother but lived with his father in
Providence, Rhode Island where they were members at a Fundamentalist church. It was
23 here that Marcus heard “hellfire and brimstone” preaching. The orienting principle for the church was Paul’s admonition to “not be conformed to the pattern of this world” in
Romans 12:2. The women wore only dresses because they were forbidden to wear unisex clothes such as pants. Rock music of any sort was taboo. Furthermore, all translations other than the King James Version were considered perversions. Marcus recalls numerous church bonfires that were kindled and stoked with the pages of contemporary translations of the Bible.
As Marcus entered the high school youth group of his church he gladly championed these restrictions and regulations for about a year. Several factors, however, caused him to start resisting the strict code. First, his peers at the Catholic school he attended demonstrated a far less rigid system of morality that raised questions about the value system of his youth group. Second, he happened to see Aerosmith perform on television during the half-time show of the Super Bowl and he was mesmerized. He started sneaking around trying to gain access to more rock-n-roll and contemporary
Christian music, which also was banned. Third, a prominent adult member at his church pulled Marcus aside and confronted him about his close relationship with his mother. As
Marcus explained it, the member told him that since his mother was Catholic she would burn in hell because she was not a real Christian and that he needed to withdraw from her lest he meet the same fate. Fourth, the youth group began to shun him because he had developed friends at school and because they knew he was listening to rock music. He responded to their rejection by turning exclusively to the social scene at his Catholic school for belonging and identity. He excelled in track and found friendship among the other athletes. Nevertheless, his life was marked with dichotomy and contradiction. He
24 was torn between the disparate values of church and school, of father and mother, and of youth group members and track teammates.50 The seeds of Marcus’s behavioral issues were thoroughly sown and cultivated.
Anonymous Alcoholic
In response, Marcus began turning to alcohol to help him navigate his confusing world. His drinking was excessive and daily, but his problem went largely undetected due to his furtiveness. Not only did he drink alone in his bedroom at night, he was even sneaking vodka shots during class. He described himself as “high functioning,” in reference to his ability to mask the severity of his alcoholism.
Marcus got to the point where he lost all confidence in his ability to face life unless he had a few shots. It was too late by the time his teammates realized the magnitude of his drinking problem. Their attempts at intervention were met with violence. Marcus summarized that dark period of life by stating that he could write a book about how bad it got during the eight months following his friends’ attempted intervention, but suffice it to say he ended up in a drug rehabilitation center one thousand miles from home in Searcy, Arkansas. This Christian rehabilitation center, which specializes in high-risk adolescent males, is called Capstone.51 The founder and primary therapist of Capstone is also a counseling professor at Harding University. This explains how Marcus ended up coming to Harding.
50 William Damon, The Youth Charter (New York: Free Press, 1997). This incongruity of values is in direct opposition to the advice of moral development expert, William Damon, who urges parents and all other adults in any given community to offer a consistent and coherent set of standards to their young in order to create an environment that fosters the development of moral identity in teenagers.
51 Capstone Treatment Center, Searcy, Arkansas.
25
Rehabilitation
When he arrived at Capstone Treatment Center his whole being was set against
God, at least the God he had been introduced to in Rhode Island. He recalls that the treatment center began to slowly unveil a different view of God. This compelling new picture of God was in contrast to everything he had ever known. Nevertheless, on March
8, 2006, Marcus broke out of Capstone. He secured liquor, drank heavily, and in a drunken stupor he later found himself surrounded by multiple police cars. The authorities sent him to a critical care detention center in Little Rock. While there, he picked up a
Bible and read Romans. He got on his knees and cried out to God, “Show me who you really are.” He then acknowledged his need for God.52 He has been sober ever since.
Marcus eventually returned to his confusing high school existence in Providence.
He found a non-denominational church in his hometown that he believed would reinforce this new picture of God.53 His father left the Fundamentalist church and went with his son to this new church. One year later Marcus came back to Arkansas to enroll at Harding
University with a track scholarship. During his first week of school, the director of
Capstone baptized Marcus “for the forgiveness of sins.”54
High Hopes in Harding
The fact that Marcus has remained sober since he enrolled here at Harding does not mean that college life has been easy. Alcohol had been his way of coping with stress
52 This “conversion experience” would be considered insufficient according to the typical conversion teachings of the Churches of Christ. See footnote 54.
53 Incidentally, Churches of Christ claim to be non-denominational. Chapter 2 explains.
54 In the Churches of Christ, salvation necessitates baptism “for the forgiveness of sins” based primarily on Acts 2:38. Chapters 2 and 4 elaborate on and address this issue. 26 or anxiousness. The alcohol was gone now, but the dark moments of life remained.
Marcus had been learning to displace dependency on alcohol with dependency on God.
He believed that coming to a Christian school like Harding would help facilitate this new life direction. Among the many distinctions between Harding and public higher education is the requirement that all fulltime students at Harding must enroll in a Bible-related course every semester. Marcus was excited about this requirement. He was more than eager to learn more about this new understanding of God to which he had been introduced at Capstone.
His expectations for what Harding could deliver, however, may have been unduly high. After three semesters at Harding, he evaluated his Bible classes as “academically challenging, uninspiring, and impractical.” Perhaps he was unconsciously expecting the
Bible class environment at Harding to be similar to the therapeutic environment of
Capstone. Regardless, Marcus did not feel that his Bible classes at Harding offered any assistance in his resolve to depend on God rather than alcohol. In spring of his sophomore year, 2009, he enrolled in “Life of Christ.”
Rachel
Rachel was a graduating senior in “Christ and Culture” that needed to embrace the truth of Christ’s full humanity.55 She was the picture of success. Her professional business attire set her apart from her peers. Her harried stride to her front row seat at the beginning of each class often left the impression that she had just come back from a prestigious job interview.
55 Rachel (pseud.), email interviews with author, Searcy, AR, June 7-December 9, 2009. All quotations in this narrative come from this correspondence. 27
A closer look revealed the painful truth behind Rachel’s managerial garb. She described herself as “angry, sullen, and, in general, just really unhappy and depressed about my life and my future.” A brief sketch of her church and family background may provide some introductory insight regarding the seeds for such bitterness, but this case study will quickly turn to and concentrate upon her college years for answers.
Statistically speaking, Rachel’s background is that of the typical Harding student.
The mean profile for a student at Harding is a female who grew up in a small town in
Arkansas, with an intact family, attended a public school, and was reared in a small to mid-sized conservative Church of Christ.56 As such, Rachel’s inherited Christology may represent her classmates.
She attributes her beliefs about Jesus to her parents. She said her parents were diligent in their study of the Scriptures and in their devotion to Christ. Their knowledge about Jesus “sort of spilled over” onto Rachel and her sisters. Her description of the process implied an informal, lifestyle form of indoctrination.
While it is likely that Rachel also owes much to her church for her view of Christ, her self-reporting indicates otherwise. She answered, “As far as the understanding of
Jesus, I would not say that my church had that big of an impact.” When she was young, her Sunday school teachers told the stories about Jesus, but, as she grew older, her teachers left the topic of Jesus “for the most part, untouched.”
In regard to preaching, there was little continuity. She recalls that her church had a difficult time keeping ministers; she listed seven different preachers from her childhood
56 Flavil Yeakley, Director of Outcomes Assessment, Harding University, interview with author, Searcy, AR, September 15, 2009. 28 and adolescence. Every new preacher brought in a new emphasis and a new attitude, which was “sometimes a little harsh.” She said that if she had to articulate a consistent emphasis of the church, despite the turnover in the pulpit, it would be the importance of loving one’s neighbor.
Her involvement in the church youth group was marginal. There were not many teens her age and she was not close to any of the youth ministers. Basketball occupied most of her extracurricular energy until she quit in the tenth grade due to a conflict with her coach. After that time she maintained a heavy workload as a waitress in addition to the demands at school. If nothing else, this background provides some insight into
Rachel’s driven personality. As this college senior told her story, it became evident that her upbringing was not the source of her anger. The three root causes that emerged had more to do with her future and her present. Her anger stemmed from uncertainty, stress, and distance from God.
First, Rachel was sullen because her future was uncertain. She was facing graduation from college but had no plans beyond that. Even if such vague prospects are typical for graduating seniors, this reality seemed particularly difficult for Rachel because of her self-diagnosed “OCD”: the personality trait that required her to get “all her ducks in a row with nametags.” While some of her peers seemed to relish the challenges presented by life’s unpredictability, Rachel longed for detailed certainty. “For me,” she explained, “it was easy to jump into college from high school. I knew that for the next four years I would be at Harding and, in general, I knew what I was going to be doing.
That gave me comfort. However, from college to life is not predictable. I did not have a clue where I was going.” Along with her lack of plans, Rachel also indicated that she felt
29 unprepared to begin a career in her chosen field even if such an opportunity presented itself. This sense of inadequacy only intensified the anger she felt about her dauntingly open future. What is more, she was not dating anyone. There was no significant other to whom she was attached that might give shape to what lies ahead.
Second, Rachel’s anger stemmed from the current stress of her senior year of college. Her proverbial ducks were now “running in every direction” and she could not keep up with any of them. She felt like every facet of life was in disarray. For example, the financial strain she experienced during her last few months of college set off a series of other difficulties. She was trying to purchase an affordable and dependable car but this was on hold because she was having difficulty paying her tuition bill. So on nights and weekends she worked as a waitress. However, this grueling schedule led to poor academic performance on exams and projects. If piling bills, long hours, and flagging grades were not enough, she was also a resident assistant in one of the dormitories. In this regard, she simply declared that the girls on her wing were “going crazy.” All this pressure left Rachel more than ready to be done with college, but this desire only brought her full circle to the first source of her anger. Though she was “sick of Harding,” she was
“freaking out about having to leave Harding” because she did not know where she was going or what she was going to do.
As she continued to explore the sources of her anger, Rachel elaborated on a third cause. This last source is more internal and is one for which she assumes responsibility.
During her time at Harding she felt like she had drifted further and further away from
God. She charts this drift from God on the basis of her church attendance patterns as well as her prayer and personal Bible study habits during her years at Harding.
30
She recalled that as a freshman she went to church three times a week. Her sophomore year she started skipping a little but was still quite regular. She remembers not wanting to go to church and not wanting to pray, but she disciplined herself to do so despite her wishes. However, her junior year was “bumpy.” By October of her third year of college she had stopped going to church altogether. She also stopped praying. She knew her relationship with God was suffering greatly, but she said she simply did not care enough to do anything about it. Her senior year began the same way. Though she still believed in God, she acknowledged she did not care about Him. She told herself she had too much to do to go to church. She said her understanding of Jesus at this time was still on a “high school level.” She knew she was in a spiritual rut but admitted that she just let herself wallow in it.
Rather than ranking Rachel’s spiritual rut on a par with the previously discussed factors of uncertainty and stress, it may be more fitting to view this estrangement from
God as the foundational issue that underlies all of her difficulties. She was facing an uncertain future without the stability and security of an intimate relationship with God.
She was trying to cope with financial strain and a demanding schedule on her own. She felt utterly and cosmically alone. She confessed that this profound isolation from God was the root problem:
I was limiting God and whenever you do that, of course your future looks bleak . . . of course you’re depressed . . . of course you get sullen. Without God there’s not much to look forward to and because I wasn’t praying or close to Him. I was dejected and for lack of a better word, pissed-off at the world and life and my future. I wasn’t letting God lead or talk to me and I wasn’t seeking Him.
However, this is not the end of Rachel’s story. A new perspective on the person of Jesus was about to break into her bleak world.
31
Analysis of the Student Narratives
The stories of Anna, Marcus, and Rachel give depth and color to the concept of emerging adulthood discussed earlier. Their dilemmas manifest that emerging adulthood is indeed an age of “in-between-ness,” instability, and identity explorations. Furthermore, these intimate accounts of college students at Harding University disclose various existential needs to which the doctrine of the humanity of Christ might speak.
As Anna leaves the sheltered environment of her upbringing she embarks upon a perilous journey of self-discovery. She is in-between the restrictions of adolescence and the responsibilities of adulthood. Harding’s authorities, in spite of the school’s strict reputation, do not monitor Anna’s behavior as closely as her parents. This reality coupled with a newfound longing for intimacy results in behavior that runs counter to her moral standards. Her debilitating guilt leads to deep questions about her identity and the religion of her upbringing. She not only needs answers, she needs help dealing with temptation.
Marcus’s story diverges from the Harding norm. Since he was not raised in a
Church of Christ he is in the minority at Harding. In regard to identity explorations,
Marcus had to deal with his debilitating alcoholism before he could honestly begin navigating the fields of love, work, and worldview. By God’s grace and the help of a rehabilitation program, Marcus came to Harding ready to pursue life’s commitments.
Developing a coherent worldview is no simple endeavor for Marcus since Catholicism,
Fundamentalism, Twelve-Step spirituality, Evangelicalism, and Restorationism have each contributed to his view of God. Understanding his pastiche background helps explain why Marcus asks so many poignant questions in class. He longs for philosophical
32 coherence. Furthermore, he needs help with his occasional dark moments of despair, which affect his wellbeing as evidenced by his poor attendance.
Rachel came from a healthy family and a traditional church background. Coming to Harding was the predictable next step beyond adolescence. However, she became terrified of the next threshold. As an overachiever, Rachel has become infuriated by the uncertainty of her future. She is anxious about her career, she has nothing settled in regard to romantic relationships, and she has abandoned practices of personal and corporate devotion to God. Her negligence concerning God belies her inherited philosophy of life. The additional stress of work, bills, and grades only intensifies her anger and her estrangement from God. She needs resources to help her reconnect with
God and navigate her transition into adulthood.
These three case studies provide the bookends for this paper. The first chapter deliberately leaves the stories unresolved. This paper provides their outcomes in the last chapter. In response to the needs presented in this first section, the heart of this paper presents a Christological intervention and the biblical doctrine on which it is based.
Before moving to this center, this paper must cover one final contextual matter: theological context. While chapter one has dealt mostly with the cultural and developmental context of Harding students, chapter two addresses their theological context, particularly in regard to their understanding of Christ. Chapter 2, then, explores the Christological background of most Harding students by analyzing the Christological tenets of the Churches of Christ.
33
CHAPTER 2
CHRISTOLOGY IN THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST
Approximately 80 percent of the undergraduate students who attend Harding
University are from the Churches of Christ.1 Since this project seeks to enrich the
Christology of these particular students, it is important to explore the Christological tenets of the Churches of Christ. However, because of the contextual nature of
Christology, it is fitting to provide orientation. Accordingly, the first portion of this chapter simply introduces the Churches of Christ. This introduction includes two parts:
1) a sketch of the origins of the Churches of Christ as a unity movement in antebellum
America, and 2) a summary of the distinctive features of present-day Churches of Christ.
Historical Sketch of the Churches of Christ
The Churches of Christ trace their roots to the American Restoration Movement.
This tradition, also known as the Stone-Campbell Movement, began as an ambitious quest for Christian unity in response to the great number of denominations vying for
1 Enrollment Statistics, 2. The percentage of adherents from the Churches of Christ is steadily decreasing each year. In 2005 the percentage of undergraduate students affiliated with the Churches of Christ at Harding was 86%, 83% in 2006, 82% in 2007, 81% in 2008, and 79% in 2009. In 2009, only 75% of the students from the first-year class were affiliated with the Churches of Christ. While this is still a considerable majority, it is a significant drop from the 2008 first-year class of 81%. 34 legitimacy on the American frontier at the turn of the nineteenth century. Thomas
Campbell, a Presbyterian minister at the time, issued the following unity plea in 1809 that captured the essence of the Restoration Ideal:
Tired and sick of the bitter jarrings and janglings of a party spirit, we would desire to be at rest; and . . . we would also . . . recommend such measures as would . . . restore unity, peace, and purity to the whole Church of God. This desirable rest, however, we utterly despair either to find for ourselves . . . by continuing amid the diversity and rancor of party contentions, the veering uncertainty and clashings of human opinions: nor, indeed, can we reasonably expect to find it anywhere but in Christ and his simple word, which is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Our desire . . . would be, that, rejecting human opinions and the inventions of men as of any authority, or as having any place in the Church of God, we might forever cease from further contentions about such things; returning to and holding fast by the original standard; taking the Divine word alone for our rule.2
The unity efforts of this minister and his son, Alexander Campbell, had a broad appeal during the Second Great Awakening. They were calling all Christians in their respective traditions to eschew the human-made tests of faith that divided believers.3
They believed that if Christians would simply turn to the Bible alone for matters of faith and practice, they would effectively restore that singular, pre-denominational, New
Testament Church for which Christ died.4
Meanwhile, another Presbyterian minister, Barton W. Stone, had independently come to similar conclusions and was zealously seeking to liberate people from the
2 Thomas Campbell, Declaration and Address of the Christian Association of Washington (Washington County, PA: 1809).
3 Paul M. Blowers, “Creeds and Confessions,” in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Anthony L. Dunnavant Paul M. Blowers Douglas A. Foster, D. Newell Williams. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004), 252. The Westminster Confession became a primary target of Restoration critique.
4 William E. Kooi, Jr., “The Protestant Reformation,” in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004), 612. This sentiment is not necessarily distinct from the sola Scriptura ideal of Protestants. The leaders of the Restoration Movement were convinced, however, that Protestantism had failed to abide by it.
35 bondage of denominationalism in Kentucky.5 The two movements found each other in
1824 and eventually joined forces in 1832.6 The countercultural Stone advocated a more radical version of restoration;7 but ultimately it would be the prolific, statesmanlike
Alexander Campbell, who would rise to prominence.8
The newly merged allies had difficulty deciding what to call themselves. The way in which they settled this matter is indicative of the genius of this movement. They certainly had no desire to spawn yet another denomination. Campbell wanted adherents to be called “disciples” and he offered lengthy rationale. Stone gave just as many reasons for the name “Christians.”9 They both conceded. Since both of these designations for followers of Christ are found in the New Testament, they used the names interchangeably. Similarly, in naming the individual congregation, they simply called it the “Christian church” that meets in this or that town. They alternately called it a “church of Christ” because of the referent in Romans 16:16. To the unfamiliar, this naming process might seem quaint or even petty. The cogency of their approach, however, lies in
5 C. Leonard Allen, Things Unseen: Churches of Christ in (and after) the Modern Age (Siloam Springs, AR: Leafwood, 2004), 101. In a chapter cleverly entitled, “The Stone that the Builders Rejected,” Allen explains that before Campbell was ever known in the Cumberland region Barton Stone had already influenced over two hundred preachers who had been establishing “Churches of Christ.”
6 D. Newell Williams, “Barton Warren Stone,” in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, eds. Paul M. Blowers, Douglas A. Foster, Anthony L. Dunnavant, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004), 713.
7 Ibid., 704, 712-713. Stone was more controversial than Campbell. For example, he even rejected the doctrine of the Trinity as manmade.
8 Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith, 3. While Stone and Campbell agreed on the orienting principles of restoration and unity, Hughes highlights their contrasting views in his historical survey. He characterizes Stone as “apocalyptic” and Campbell as “postmillennial.” He uses this dichotomy as an interpretive device that illuminates key tensions in every era of the Churches of Christ.
9 Williams, “Barton Warren Stone,” 715. 36 their effort to apply this principle to all church matters.10 This thoroughness was pursued with deep confidence that if all Christians would do the same, the Lord’s Church would be united. The simplicity and optimism of this ideal resonated with the American spirit of that era.11 Consequently, the movement continued to expand throughout the 19th century.
Nevertheless, before the American Civil War ended, the seeds of disunity were already undermining this grand endeavor. The rift would not be official until 1906 when the Christian Churches (instrumental) and the Churches of Christ (a cappella) were listed separately in the U.S. Religious Census. 12 A century later, the Churches of Christ represent the largest branch of the once unified Restoration Movement. Today there are over 1.5 million adherents of the Churches of Christ in the United States with the highest concentrations in Texas and Tennessee. 13
10 Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith, 30. “Bible names for Bible things” is a well-known adage among Restorationists. Alexander Campbell said “We choose to speak of Bible things by Bible words, because we are always suspicious that if the word is not in the Bible the idea which it represents is not there . . . There is nothing more essential to the union of the disciples of Christ than purity of speech.” See also Eugene Boring, Disciples and the Bible: A History of Disciples Biblical Interpretation in North America (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 1997), 18. Stone, even more ardently, opposed the infusion of non-biblical terms, such as “eternally begotten,” into the language of the church.
11 Campbell, Declaration and Address. Notice the distinctly American ring to the language of Thomas Campbell’s fourth proposition: “the New Testament is as perfect a constitution for the worship, discipline, and government of the New Testament Church, and as perfect a rule for the particular duties of its members.” See also Boring, Disciples and the Bible, 60, 86. The Campbells emphasized a populist approach to Scripture that resonated with the American spirit. They expressed confidence that the common man with common sense would be able to understand the plain meaning of the New Testament.
12 Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith, 128-32, 202. On the surface, the division was over the use of instruments in worship as well as the support of missionary societies. As with most historical conflicts, however, the specifics were merely symptomatic of more complex issues. In this case, the politics of the Civil War should not be overlooked. Since 1906 up to the present, formal divisions have occurred on both sides. Today, several distinct groups claim Restoration heritage. The largest three are Churches of Christ, Christian Churches (Independent), and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
13 Carl H. Royster, Churches of Christ in the United States (Nashville: 21st Century Christian, 2009). This regularly updated publication records 1,573,768 adherents in the United States with regular attendance at 1,204,475. For global records see Mac Lynn, Churches of Christ around the World (Nashville: 21st Century Christian, 2003). Electronic sources for statistics pertaining to the Churches of 37
Since the Churches of Christ are an expressly creedless group, the best way to access the prevailing Christology is to examine not only the historical background but also the shared practices of these churches in order to discern the underlying
Christological assumptions. The following section, then, briefly outlines the unifying practices found in Churches of Christ today.
Summary of Striking Features
This summary of current practices in the Churches of Christ will emphasize those features that distinguish these churches from other Christian traditions. The result is admittedly incomplete. There is not enough room in this project to present a measured, comprehensive analysis of polity and practice.14 Anyone raised in a typical Church of
Christ, however, would easily recognize the following indigenous qualities pertaining to congregational leadership, baptism, communion, and the corporate assembly.
First, Churches of Christ are autonomous.15 There is no central headquarters or written doctrinal statement that formally connects these churches. A plurality of male elders governs each congregation.16
Christ include "Statistical Abstract of Churches of Christ Worldwide," ChurchZip (2010). http://www.churchzip.com/statisticalsummary.htm. See also “American Religious Identification Survey,” The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: United States Religious Landscape Survey (2010). http://religions.pewforum.org/. According to this external study on American religion, 1.7% of the population in the United States is “Restorationist” of which 1.3% from Churches of Christ.
14 For fuller ecclesiological treatments see Everett Ferguson, The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996); Edward C. Wharton, The Church of Christ (West Monroe, LA: Howard Book House, 1987). For a summary of ideas prevalent in the Churches of Christ throughout the first two-thirds of the 20th century, see William S. Banowsky, Mirror of a Movement: The Churches of Christ as Seen through the Abilence Christian College Lectureship (Dallas, TX: Christian Pub. Co., 1965).
15 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 344-346. Wharton, The Church of Christ, 81.
16 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 322. Wharton, The Church of Christ, 80. 38
Second, Churches of Christ teach that baptism is “for the remission of sins,” hence, essential for salvation.17 This water immersion is the precise point when one is forgiven and added to the Church.18 Before being baptized, one must hear the Gospel, believe it, repent, and confess Jesus as the Son of God.19 This five-fold faith response necessitates that individuals are mature enough to comprehend their commitment. In other words, Churches of Christ reject infant baptism.20 As later chapters will demonstrate, this ministry focus paper seeks to make the most of this high view of baptism.
Third, the adherents gather together to partake of the Lord’s Supper every
Sunday.21 This symbolic meal is intended for the properly baptized, but Churches of
Christ do not enforce exclusive participation. Thus, practically speaking, communion is open to all.
Fourth, a visit to a corporate assembly on any Sunday morning would reveal a few additional distinguishing features. Namely, Churches of Christ maintain distinct gender roles in that only men preside in public acts of teaching and worship.22
Furthermore, the Churches of Christ are non-charismatic in regard to gifts of the Holy
17 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 183. Wharton, The Church of Christ, 45.
18 Wharton, The Church of Christ, 48. “Church” is used here in the universal sense, not congregational.
19 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 163-205. See also Ferguson’s recent tome, which is dedicated entirely to the topic of baptism. Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009).
20 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 195-201. Wharton, The Church of Christ, 50.
21 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 249-261. Wharton, The Church of Christ, 127-133.
22 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 341.
39
Spirit.23 Finally, and perhaps most striking to a visitor, the Churches of Christ worship without the aid of instruments; that is, they sing a cappella.24
These distinctive features concerning leadership, baptism, communion, and the assembly are representative of mainstream Churches of Christ. As would be expected, a number of congregations have relinquished some of the distinguishing features in pursuit of broader identification. The opposite reaction also persists, whereby traditionalists enumerate a variety of additional stringencies beyond those just described. Regardless, anyone raised in a Church of Christ would quickly recognize the above snapshot.
This summary of current practices and the preceding historical background of the
Churches of Christ provide orientation for what follows. Familiarity with the texture and depth of the Restoration storyline should inform the forthcoming Christological discussion so as to guard against an abstracted result. The following portion of this chapter, then, identifies several issues pertaining to the way Churches of Christ tend to view the nature of Christ.
Aversion to Creeds
The name, “Church of Christ,” implies a decidedly Christocentric focus. Despite its namesake, an outside researcher would have difficulty pinpointing the movement’s
Christology. There is no written doctrinal statement that summarizes what the Churches of Christ believe or teach concerning the person and work of Christ. As stated in the previous historical sketch, this void is intentional because the founding leaders were
23 Ibid., 309-310. Churches of Christ have a cessationist view in regard to the miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the worship assembly.
24 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 272-273. Wharton, The Church of Christ, 135-138. 40 expressly averse to making extra-biblical creeds. The oft-quoted, though somewhat ironic
Restoration slogan, “no creed but Christ,” captures the essence of this conviction.25
Not only were the founders averse to making creeds, they were also dubious of the existing creeds, even those of Nicea and Chalcedon. They believed that the classical definitions were based upon philosophical speculation of humans rather than Scripture.
For example, Stone vehemently opposed the Nicene/Chalcedonian phrase, “eternally begotten,” as unbiblical. He insisted that the Son, rather, was “the first-begotten,”26 based on Colossians 1. Consequently, he rejected the idea of the Son’s eternal existence as well as his co-equality with God, the Father.27 This earned him the labels, “Great Heresiarch of the West,” “Arian,” and “Socinian” by Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians abroad.28
Campbell’s reaction to classical Christology was less offensive. He joined Stone in firmly rejecting the notion of eternal generation. 29 He also objected to what he perceived as convoluted, speculative language used to parse the interrelatedness of God.30
25 For orientation and background on slogans of the Restoration Movement, see W.J. Jarman, “The Slogans of the Disciples (5-Part Series),” Christian-Evangelist (1949); W. Carl Ketcherside, “No Creed but Christ,” Mission Messenger 22, no. 11 (1960).
26 Robert D. Cornwall, “Christology,” in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, Douglas A. Foster, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004), 204.
27 Ibid.
28 Williams, “Barton Warren Stone,” 701. Stone, however, denied these charges and articulated the difference between his views and Arianism or Socinianism, 710, 712.
29 Cornwall, “Christology,” 204.
30 Paul M. Blowers, “Doctrine of God,” in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movment, ed. Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, Douglas A. Foster, , D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004), 357.
41
Nevertheless, much to Stone’s chagrin, in an article entitled “The Trinitarian System,”
Campbell affirmed the “uncreated and unoriginated relation” between the Father and the
Logos, based on John 1.31 In other words, Campbell’s Christology was much more akin to Nicene/Chalcedonian orthodoxy than Stone’s. Despite their doctrinal differences and spirited debates concerning the nature of Christ, they continued to accept each other as
Christian brothers and co-reformers. Their fellowship amidst dissent laid the foundation for the considerable Christological latitude within Churches of Christ. Concomitant with this, however, is Christological ambiguity.
Historical Blindness
The fact that the founders disputed the language of the ecumenical creeds assumes they were conversant with the ancient Christological controversies. As former
Presbyterian ministers, one would expect such familiarity. Their critical awareness of
Christian history seemed to inform and inspire their search for biblical answers.
Campbell demonstrates this dynamic in the following quote where he curiously manages to avoid and affirm Trinitarian thought in the same breath: “We speculate not upon God, nor upon divinity, nor upon unity, plurality, or trinity or tri-unity. But we have a manifestation of God out of humanity in the Father, of God in humanity in the Son, and of God with humanity in the Holy Spirit.”32 Elsewhere, Campbell’s reflections display both his orthodoxy and his theological sophistication.
Language fails and thought cannot reach the relation in which the Father and the Son have existed, now exist, and shall forever exist. But that there is, and was,
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
42
and evermore will be, society in God himself, a plurality as well as unity in the Divine nature, are inferences which do obtrude themselves on my mind in reflecting upon the divine communications to our race.33
This perspicacity, however, was not passed down to the heirs of the movement.
With their Bible-alone plea, Stone and Campbell so successfully marginalized and discredited patristic Christology that the second-generation adherents were not so much resistant to the classical definition of Christology as they were seemingly ignorant of it.34
In 1874, Restorationist author, physician, and college president, T.W. Brents, wrote The
Gospel Plan of Salvation, a massive volume ostensibly providing an exhaustive exposition of the truth of the gospel as revealed in Scripture.35 The first 150 pages were dedicated to exposing the errors of Calvinist doctrines. The final three hundred pages were dedicated to the proper mode and function of baptism; refuting pedobaptists, non- immersionists, and anyone that does not view baptism as essential for salvation. 36 Yet, in all of its 662 pages, not one section reflected on the person and work of Christ. Shocking in retrospect, the Gospel Plan of Salvation has nothing in it that can properly be labeled
33 Ibid. Campbell tries to limit his discussion of the Godhead to what has been revealed in Scripture. Hence, he tends to avoid discussion of the immanent Trinity in favor of the economic Trinity (though he would not use either term).
34 Doug Foster, “Christology in the Stone-Campbell Movement: An Exploratory Survey,” (paper presented at Restoration Theological Research Fellowship, Boston, MA, November 20, 1999), 9. There were exceptions to this Christological void. Foster points out that Charles L. Loos and W.K. Pendleton wrote sophisticated articles in the Millenial Harbinger that each demonstrated proficiency in ancient and contemporary Christological issues.
35 T.W. Brents, The Gospel Plan of Salvation (Nashville, TN: Gospel Advocate, 1874).
36 Ibid. Chapter titles of Brents’s book are as follows: 1. Predestination, 2. Election and Reprobation, 3. Calvinistic Proofs Examined, 4. The Foreknowledge of God, 5. Hereditary Depravity, 6. The Establishment of the Church, 7. The Identity of the Church, 8. The New Birth, 9. Faith, 10. Repentance, 11. The Confession, 12. Baptism: What is it? 13. Who Should be Baptized? 14. The Design of Baptism, 15. The Holy Spirit.
43
Christological.37 Moreover, this Christologically arid work enjoyed considerable stature in the Stone-Campbell Movement. Richard Hughes said that it “came to serve as a kind of systematic theology for Churches of Christ, both reflecting and defining its orthodoxy for generations to come.”38 Brents’s book prefigures not only the void of Christological reflection found in much of Restoration thought, but also the antithetical disposition that became characteristic of the Churches of Christ for the next century.39
Critical awareness of historic Christology re-emerges in the Churches of Christ in
1955. Credentialed with the S.T.B and Ph.D. in Religion from Harvard, LeMoine Lewis delivered a speech at Abilene Christian College lectureship entitled, “The Word Became
Flesh.” Of all the speeches ever delivered at Abilene’s annual lectureship, Lewis’s was said to be “the most competent treatment of the Christological problem.”40 In it he traced the historical heresies and the corresponding correctives. He deemed that the endless speculation achieved little more than division and confusion. He went on to discredit any explanation of Christ’s nature that could not be expressed by the language of Scripture.
“Nicea was doomed to fail from the first” he said, “because ‘homo-ousian’ was a
37 Foster, “Christology in the Stone-Campbell Movement,” 10. Others have decried the glaring omissions of this influential work. See also Boring, Disciples and the Bible, 397. He notes, “There is no chapter on atonement, theology of the cross, or God’s grace.”
38 Hughes, Reviving the Ancient Faith, 173. The irony in Hughes’ choice of words here should not be missed. In effect, Hughes says, “So much for Bible-alone!”
39 This seems to suggest a relationship between the lack of positive Christological reflection and the debating spirit.
40 Banowsky, Mirror of a Movement, 167-168. In an effort to trace the ideas of the Churches of Christ, Bill Banowsky, who would later become President of Pepperdine University, analyzed every speech of the Abilene Christian College annual lectureship from 1917 to 1964.
44 philosophical, rather than a scriptural term.”41 He further remarked on the politics and power plays behind the councils: “In trying to define the nature of Christ,” Lewis indicted, “they lost the spirit of Christ.”42 He then wryly pointed out the near impossibility of avoiding heresy: “It was so easy to fall into subordinationism or
Patripassionism, or in trying to stay out of Apollinarianism or Eutychianism to fall into
Nestorianism.”43 Harking back to the sentiments of Stone and Campbell, Lewis offered a voice of critical awareness at a time when Churches of Christ were largely unschooled in historical theology. His learned perspective reinforced that original aversion to creeds.
The latter half of the twentieth century would tell a different story.
Blind or Beholden to the Creeds
At the present time there is a dichotomy in the Churches of Christ concerning historical awareness. Countless congregations still have leaders who remain oblivious to the issues of classical Christology. However, since the 1950s, in spite of a widespread anti-intellectualism present in the Churches of Christ, an increasing number of ministers have pursued advanced education and seminary training. As a result, many leaders within
Churches of Christ have become acquainted with the Christological controversies and creeds. The current awareness, though, looks nothing like the scathing analysis of Stone, or the evaluative familiarity of Campbell or Lewis. Today it is not difficult to find educated ministers in the Churches of Christ who are appreciative and affirming of the
41 Lewis, “The Word Became Flesh,” in Abilene Christian College Lectures (Austin, TX: Firm Foundation, 1955), 21.
42 Ibid.
43 Ibid.
45 conciliary parameters.44 This trend is indicative of a general drift toward a broader, less distinct, evangelicalism occurring in many congregations today. This drift has profound implications for the self-understanding and trajectory of the Churches of Christ beyond the scope of this paper. The immediate point, though, is that Churches of Christ represent a wide range of dispositions in regard to classical Christology: from blind to beholden.
Such variegated awareness and appreciation does not make it easy to articulate the prevailing Christology in the Churches of Christ. Up to this point, the analysis suggests that ambiguity, itself, is the most distinguishing mark of a Restorationist view of Christ.
There are, however, a few other core beliefs and emphases about Christ that have persisted in the Churches of Christ to which this chapter now turns.
Emphasis on the Divinity of Christ
Traditionally, when leaders in the Churches of Christ say something about the nature of Christ they emphasize his divinity.45 In his analysis of hundreds of influential
Restoration sermons, Banowsky summarizes, “There was no emphasis more central to the Abilene speechmaking than the divinity and kingship and saviorhood of Jesus, the
Christ.”46 Granted, ministers who neglect this theme could hardly be called “Christian.”
Doug Foster attributes this pronounced theme in the Churches of Christ to reactionary
44 Ron Highfield, Great Is the Lord: Theology for the Praise of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008). Highfield, Professor of Religion at Pepperdine University, is a contemporary example of one within the Restoration Movement whose influence nudges the movement toward classical reformed theology.
45 Foster, “Christology in the Stone-Campbell Movement,” 9. Foster cites two articles written by preachers from ultra-conservative Churches of Christ who go so far as to deny the humanity of Jesus.
46 Banowsky, Mirror of a Movement, 165.
46 discourse rather than constructive analysis.47 Preachers stressed Christ’s equality with
God in opposition to what they considered aberrant views such as those held by modernists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, or Unitarians.48
The resurgence of modern skepticism represented by the Jesus Seminar around the turn of the Millennium continues to elicit Christological response among Churches of
Christ as well as other conservative Christian faiths.49 Had the influence of the Jesus
Seminar remained sequestered in the halls of academia, congregational ministers may have felt no need to respond. However, in 1996, the Easter edition of all the major news magazines ran favorable cover stories on the findings of the Jesus Seminar’s search for the authentic words and deeds of Jesus.50
Since then, spinoffs of their ideas continue to appear in popular media.51
Numerous popular religious books now offer a version of Christianity based on the ethics of a non-miraculous Jesus who was not resurrected and who is certainly not divine.52 The
47 Foster, “Christology of the Stone-Campbell Movement,” 7.
48 Ibid.
49 The Jesus Seminar produced the following books. Robert W. Funk and Roy W. Hoover, The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (San Fransisco: HarperSanFransisco, 1993); Robert W. Funk and The Jesus Seminar, The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of Jesus (San Fransisco: HarperSanFransisco, 1998).
50 Jeffrey L. Sheler, “In Search of Jesus,” U.S. News and World Report, April 8 1996; David; Richard N. Ostling; Lisa H. Towler Van Biema, “The Gospel Truth?,” Time, April 8 1996; Kenneth L. Woodward, “Rethinking the Resurrection,” Newsweek, April 8 1996.
51 James and Simcha Jocobivici Cameron, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” (Discovery Channel, 2007); “The Execution of Jesus (History Channel),” (A & E Home Video, 2004).
52 Jesus Seminar fellow, Marcus Borg has written several bestsellers along these lines. See Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary (San Fransisco: HarperSanFransisco, 2006); The Heart of Christianity (San Fransisco: HarperSanFransisco, 2003); Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but Not Literally (San Fransisco: HarperSanFransisco, 2001). He has just recently published his first novel that also promotes a metaphorical kind of faith: Putting Away Childish Things: A Tale of Modern Faith (New York: HarperOne, 2010). 47
Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown’s popular historical fiction, capitalized on this trend with a worldwide bestselling book and a motion picture.53 Popular comedian, Ricky Gervais, directed and starred in the recent movie, The Invention of Lying, which brazenly accuses
Christianity of duping people into feeling better about death.54 As pop culture increasingly marginalizes or ridicules belief in Jesus’ divinity it is only fitting that
Christian leaders would respond by upholding it. The problem, however, is that this is often done to the neglect of his humanity. The conclusions of the Jesus Seminar might have been less threatening in the first place had Christians all along been affirming his utter humanity.
Jesus is the Son of God
In regard to confessions and creeds, the Churches of Christ require only one.
Before baptism, the believer confesses, “Jesus is the Son of God,” or something very similar.55 The mindset of the Stone-Campbell Movement discourages any creedal elaboration of this simple statement of faith.56 However, without clarification, adherents might say the same words but mean very different things by them. For example, both
53 Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code (London: Bantam, 2003). Ron and Akiva Goldsman Howard, “The Da Vinci Code” (Sony Pictures, 2006).
54 Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson, “The Invention of Lying,” (Warner Bros., 2009).
55 Alexander Campbell, “The Christian System,” (Pittsburg, PA: Forrester and Campbell, 1839), 60. “The only apostolic and divine confession of faith which God, the Father of all, has laid for the church - and that on which Jesus himself said he would build it, is the sublime and supreme proposition: that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. This is the peculiarity of the Christian system: its specific attribute.”
56 William B. Decker, “Baptismal Confession,” Restoration Quaterly 1 (1957): 184. The expansion of this confession, according to Restoration leaders, is what led to the human-made creeds that have brought so much confusion and division.
48
Stone and Campbell upheld the essentiality of confessing that Jesus is the Son of God, yet this statement proved to be amorphous enough to accommodate their significant differences discussed earlier in this chapter. This Christological leeway, which still exists in Churches of Christ, is striking. Since these churches stress precision and uniformity in secondary and tertiary matters such as music in the assembly or the role of women, it is surprising they allow such breadth of opinion concerning the nature of Christ, the core of
Christian faith. In other words, individuals with “Adoptionist” or “Tri-theist” leanings would likely find warmer reception in a typical Church of Christ than someone advocating an expanded public role for women. Nonetheless, the simple confession,
“Jesus is the Son of God” invites believers to continue pursuing a biblical understanding of its meaning, even at the risk of reaching historically denounced conclusions.
Other Christological Emphases in Churches of Christ
While Churches of Christ do not have a written doctrine of Christ, two default
Christologies emerge as prominent: 1) “Jesus—author of the New Testament” and 2)
“Jesus—founder of the Church.”57 The constitutional approach to the Bible effectively presents Jesus Christ as the authoritative giver of the New Testament. Adherence to the apostolic commands and examples in Scripture is synonymous with obedience to Christ.
Related to this emphasis is the presentation of Jesus as the founder of the Church.
“Church” in this mindset refers to “the New Testament Church,” “the one true Church,” the people who rightly adhere to Scripture, those who follow the “plan of salvation,”
57 Thomas H. Olbricht, Hearing God's Voice: My Life with Scripture in the Churches of Christ (Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 1996), 438.
49 namely, members of the Church of Christ. However, these churches “have often ignored the Founder and chiefly discussed that which he founded.”58 This emphasis has contributed to a provincial understanding of the work of Christ and his people. As a result the criteria of Christian fellowship in the Churches of Christ are notoriously narrow.
In reaction to this mindset, several developments emerged during the latter half of the twentieth century that influenced the Christology of the Churches of Christ. For one, preachers began stressing the foundational role of God’s grace in response to the overemphasis on human obedience to the “plan of salvation.”59 Furthermore, leaders began stressing the life and ethics of Jesus found in the Gospels in reaction to a perceived preoccupation with Acts and the Epistles as patterns for church practice.60 Finally, ministers began to embrace an incarnational theology that shaped both the message and the methods of the Churches of Christ. While this was a needed development, the particular kind of reflection it generated is central to the concerns of this ministry project.
In regard to this incarnational direction, acclaimed author Max Lucado figures prominently. His devotional writings have helped believers all over the world become more attentive to the person of Jesus. Theologian, John Mark Hicks asserts that Lucado
58 Thomas H. Olbricht, Hearing God's Voice: My Life with Scripture in the Churches of Christ(Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 1996), 436.
59 John Mark Hicks, "The Man or the Plan? K.C. Moser and the Theology of Grace among Mid- Twentieth Century Churches of Christ," (paper presented at W.B. West, Jr. Lectures for the Advancement of Christian Scholarship, Harding University Graduate School of Religion, Memphis, TN: Ocober 5, 1993). For opposing view see Dub McGlish, "The 'Man or Plan' Discussion Revisited," The Gospel Journal (May 2004). The “plan of salvation” is a phrase used by Restorationists in reference to the proper steps one takes in response to the Gospel. The five step plan includes 1) hearing the gospel, 2) believing it, 3) repenting of sins, 4) confessing Jesus as God’s Son, 5) being immersed for the forgiveness of sins. Note the connection with the previously cited work by T.W. Brents, The Gospel Plan of Salvation.
60 For example, “The Lifestyle of Jesus” was the title of Harding University’s 1988 Lectureship based on the Gospel of Mark. For book of compiled lectures see The Lifestyle of Jesus, (Gospel Light, Delight, AR, 1988).
50 has been “the most influential of all. His Christology is pervasive in our pulpits, our pews and throughout evangelical culture.”61 Historian Doug Foster exclaims, “The person arguably doing the most Christology in the Churches of Christ (and far beyond) today is
Max Lucado.”62
In his most explicitly Christological book, God Came Near, Lucado urges readers to accept Jesus as utterly human.
For thirty-three years he would feel everything that you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary . . . He got colds, burped and had body odor . . .There is something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant, packaged, predictable. But don’t do it. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in can he pull us out.63
However, in the same book, Lucado imaginatively affirms the divinity of Jesus in a way that unintentionally subverts his insistence on his humanity. He starkly reflects on
“God as a fetus.”64 Elsewhere he says, “Angels watched as Mary changed God’s diaper.”65 In the same book where Lucado tries to stress Jesus’ full identification with the human condition he also portrays him as “the infant-God”66 to whom Mary prays and may have accidentally called “Father.”67 Lucado ponders the prospect of Mary counting
61 John Mark Hicks, “Christological Reflections in the Light of Doug Foster's ‘Christology in the Stone-Campbell Movement’,” (paper presented at Restoration Theological Research Fellowship, Boston, MA, November 20, 1999), 4.
62 Foster, “Christology in the Stone-Campbell Movement,” 12.
63 Max Lucado, God Came Near (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1986, 2004), 8.
64 Ibid., 7.
65 Ibid., 8.
66 Ibid., 4.
67 Ibid., 26.
51 the stars with young Jesus . . . and succeeding.68 This romanticizing of the infancy narrative produces a kind of Christological reflection that hinders struggling people from identifying with Jesus. In contrast to Hebrews 2:17, Lucado’s Jesus is not “like his brothers in every way.”
Hicks offers critique along these lines.
This type of incarnational theology tends to undermine the humanity of Jesus because it assumes that Jesus did not really identify with the human psyche. The divine mind informs and empowers the human life of Jesus in such a way that he is no longer a genuine model for struggling Christians. I think his Christology needs a good dose of the incarnation as a participation in fallenness where Jesus assumes fallen human nature, struggles with sin and shares our weaknesses.69
“His theology,” deems Hicks, “seems to lack significant kenosis.”70 Incidentally, the Christology found in many Churches of Christ today also lacks significant kenosis.71
While it would be naïve to blame Lucado for this doctrinal deficiency, his pen at least gives artful language to the facile Christological tendencies already present in the
Churches of Christ. Regardless, this oversight warrants correction. As the contextual portion of this paper comes to a close, this chapter briefly corroborates the claim that the
Churches of Christ are not adequately emphasizing the humanity of Christ.
In an effort to assess the Christological views held within the Churches of Christ, this project conducted a survey in 2007 among several groups associated with the
68 Ibid., 25.
69 Hicks, "Christological Reflections,” 4.
70 Ibid., 4.
71 “Kenosis” is a transliteration of a Greek word meaning “to empty.” A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (2000), s.v. “kenow.” The word is used in reference to Christ: “he emptied himself, divested himself of his prestige or privileges,” (Phil 2:7).
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Churches of Christ.72 Adolescents, emerging adults, and adults responded. The survey instrument, based on a five-point Likert scale, consists of seven belief statements about
Jesus. One of the items states, “Jesus was fully human (He was 100 percent human).” Of the 623 respondents, only 397 marked “agree” or “strongly agree.” If the instrument is valid, 226 respondents (36 percent) did not affirm the full humanity of Jesus. Included in the study is a Fall 2007 section of “Life of Christ,” where twenty-three college sophomores out of forty-eight agreed to the statement concerning Jesus’ humanity with nineteen of them marking “disagree” or “strongly disagree.” In other words, only 48 percent of these sophomores affirmed the full humanity of Jesus and 40 percent did not.
While these raw statistics are unsettling, this paper later demonstrates that many who
“strongly agree” do so perfunctorily.
The results of this survey confirm the historical and theological assessment of the
Churches of Christ in this chapter. However, the college students who took the survey are not merely respondents offering statistical data, they are individuals at a critical juncture of life like Anna, Marcus, and Rachel. Many Harding students in the wilderness of emerging adulthood have yet to embrace the core truth that God in Christ fully identifies with them. This is at least partly due to the fact that Churches of Christ do not adequately teach or emphasize this central tenant of Christian faith.
72 See Appendix C, “What Do You Believe about Jesus?” 53
PART TWO
CHRISTOLOGY FROM BELOW
CHAPTER 3
CHRISTOLOGY FROM BELOW
In keeping with the “from below” principle, the Christology represented here begins with the concrete. Rather than commencing with a discussion of the two natures of
Christ, the incarnation of the Son, or divine kenosis, this chapter explores one tangible story in the life of Jesus: his baptism. This narrative is a natural beginning point. First of all, it is the earliest event in the life of Jesus referenced by all four gospels. Furthermore,
Scripture points to Jesus’ baptism as the beginning of the Gospel (Mk 1:1-11; Acts 10:37-
38, 1 Jn 5:6-8).1 Finally, the apostles use the event as a chronological reference point in their criteria for appointing a new apostle (Acts 1:21-22).
However, the most compelling reason for beginning the Christological inquiry with the baptism of Jesus is because of the story’s theological density. The narrative is a capsule doctrine of Christ. In Trinitarian fashion, the baptismal narrative conveys three foundational truths concerning the full humanity of Christ. It expresses his solidarity with humanity, his life in the Spirit, and his need for the Father’s voice.
1 The passage in 1 John 5:6-7 is the least obvious of these three references. John’s teaching about water and blood refers to the beginning and the end of the earthly ministry of Jesus, in reference to his baptism and his death. J. A. T. Robinson, "The One Baptism as a Category of New Testament Soteriology," Scottish Journal of Theology 6, no. 3 (1953): 263. Robinson finds other connections between baptism and crucifixion in Johannine literature (Jn 7:38, 19:34). 5 5
His Solidarity with Sinful Humanity
The Messiah first appears on the public scene joining the ranks of confessing sinners. Mark writes, “And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins . . . Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River . . . At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan (Mk 1:4-9). Jesus stands on the banks of the
Jordan waiting to undergo a ritual intended to pardon sin.2 The picture offends the doctrinal sensibility of Christians looking back on the event. Theological dissonance occurs when Jesus, who is without sin, steps forward to submit to John’s baptism of repentance and forgiveness. Well-meaning devotees might write the story differently if given the license. Perhaps they would separate Jesus from the sinful throng, deterring him like John the Baptist did, insisting that Jesus do the baptizing instead (Mt 3:14).
Regardless, Jesus is not dissuaded. He accepts his role as one “numbered with the transgressors” (Is 53:12).3
While Westerners tend to view sin merely as personal disobedience, Second-
Temple Jews understand that sin has a corporate dimension.4 Though personally
2 Michael Casey, Fully Human, Fully Divine: An Interactive Christology (Liguori, MO: Liguori/Triumph, 2004), 28.
3 Robinson, “The One Baptism,” 260. Noting the connection with Isaiah 53, Robinson says, “The essential meaning of Jesus’ baptism is precisely that he was ‘numbered with the transgressors’ and ‘bare the sin of many.’”
4 Mark E. Biddle, Missing the Mark: Sin and Its Consequences in Biblical Theology (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2005), viii-xiii.
56 innocent, Jesus comes confessing the sins of Israel.5 He comes before God bearing the collective guilt of humanity.6
This connection with sinners that launches his career also characterizes his ministry. Jesus’ opponents rightly accuse him of eating and drinking with tax collectors
(Mk 2:16) and welcoming kind acts from women of bad reputation (Lk 7:39). He makes no apologies for consorting with the wayward. Jesus’ execution between two criminals is a stark but fitting ending to his life of oneness with sinners (Mk 15:28). His cross brings to a crescendo the chord of solidarity struck at his baptism.7
This identification, though, is not merely based upon the company he keeps. Jesus fully identifies with humanity because he is fully human. He assumes the fallen nature of mortals.8 Gregory of Nazianzus provides the classical basis for this difficult teaching,
“For that which he has not assumed, he has not healed . . . If only half Adam fell, then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also; but if the whole of his nature fell,
5 N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God, vol. 2 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996). Wright’s entire thesis in this volume rests on the claim that Jesus understands himself to be representing Israel. This understanding has greatly influenced the theology of this ministry focus project.
6 Casey, Fully Human, Fully Divine, 32.
7 Oscar Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament, trans., Shirley C. Guthrie and Charles A.M. Hall, Revised ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975), 67. Cullmann sees in Jesus’ consciousness an indissoluble connection between his baptism and his crucifixion. “Jesus is baptized in view of his death, that on the cross he will accomplish a general baptism of his people. He takes on himself all the sins which the Jews bring to the Jordan. In this way the whole plan of salvation which he has to realize is openly laid before him.”
8 Thomas Weinandy, In the Likeness of Sinful Flesh: An Essay on the Humanity of Christ (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 18. Weinandy rightly holds that the salvation of humanity depends upon the Son’s assumption of sinful flesh. He stresses that the Son did not become generic humanity, but sinful humanity. For a contrasting view, see Thomas V. Morris, The Logic of God Incarnate (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986), 56-70. Morris sees generic humanity as logically more compatible with the full divinity of Christ.
57 it must be united to the whole nature of him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole.”9 In other words, if Jesus only became partially human, his salvation is partial.
Gregory’s dictum implies a similar point: if Jesus became a hybrid—half God and half man—then his salvation only applies to hybrids. Three centuries earlier than Gregory, the author of Hebrews insists on the Son’s absolute participation with humanity.
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that the might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Heb 2:14-18).
The exhorter stresses the soteriological necessity of the Son’s manifest corporeality. Were this not the case, death and the devil would prevail. He further explains that the Son comes to save humans not angels. Thus, like humans, he too had to be made lower than the angels (Heb 2:9, Ps 8:5), descending all the way down to the dust of Adam for the hope of Abraham’s progeny. Jesus must be from the same lump of clay,
“like his brothers in every way” (Heb 2:17). Finally, the author says Jesus’ participation includes genuine suffering and temptation so that he is able to support his siblings during their moments of weakness.
While Hebrews delivers these Christological tenets in homily, Mark does so in story.10 His Gospel describes key moments when Jesus plumbs the depths of human
9 Gregory of Nazianzus, Epistle 101, Patriologia Graeca, vol. 37. However, unlike the Christology of this paper, Gregory believes Jesus retains all of the divine attributes in the incarnation.
10 The following articles affirm this Christological reading of Mark. Eugene Boring, "The Christology of Mark: Hermeneutical Issues for Systematic Theology," Semeia 30, no. (1985); Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, "Narrative Christology and the Son of Man: What the Markan Jesus Says Instead," 58 emotion. In Gethsemane, he seeks help from friends when he becomes “deeply distressed and troubled” (Mk 14:33). The two Greek words Mark uses here, ekthambeisthai and adamonein, connote the outermost limits of horror and terror.11 Jesus then discloses to his disciples that he is “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” requesting they stay and keep watch (Mk 14:33). While heading to his place of solitude he collapses to the ground and pleads with Abba, Father to let this hour pass him by (Mk 14:34-35). Mark’s
Gethsemane account throws the despairing Messiah into sharp relief.
As Mark’s Gospel transitions from Gethsemane to Golgatha it unfolds like a tragedy.12 The disloyalty of a friend results in Jesus’ arrest (Mk 14:44). A rigged trial finds him worthy of death (Mk 14:55-57, 64). After multiple beatings, soldiers splay him on a cross as a risible spectacle (Mk 14:65; 15:15-19, 25). Once on the cross, the mood intensifies as a foreboding darkness descends upon the land at noontime (Mk 15:33).
After three hours without light Jesus screams, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mk 15:34)?13 Regardless of what one might surmise concerning the theological significance of this cry and its connection with Psalm 22, readers must not miss the obvious: Jesus feels utterly abandoned by God.
Biblical Interpretation 11, no. 3/4 (2003); Robert C. Tannehill, "The Gospel of Mark as Narrative Christology," Semeia 16 (1979).
11 James D. G. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1975), 19.
12 Morna Hooker, "The Beginning of the Gospel," in The Future of Christology, ed. Abraham J. Malherbe and Wayne A. Meeks (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), 19-22. Hooker notes that Mark’s Gospel seems to follow conventions of Greek tragedy.
13 Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God, trans., R. A. Wilson and John Bowden (Harper & Row: New York, 1974), 149-153. Moltmann builds his robust Trinitarian theology upon this cry of abandonment.
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Just before dying, Jesus gasps enough air to bellow another piercing cry but this time no words come (Mk 15:37). His dying declaration is an indistinguishable moan of agony. Ironically, in Mark’s Gospel this cry becomes the clearest revelation of his divine
Sonship. “And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God’” (Mk 15:39). No other human in Mark’s account acknowledges Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God in spite of his amazing teaching, healing, and miraculous signs. According to the text, the confessing centurion witnesses none of these wonders. Instead, what he sees is a man crying in the throes of death. The most convincing moment of divine Sonship is a raw plea of desperation from the abyss of human experience.14 The symbolism of Jesus’ baptismal descent into the Jordan is fulfilled.15 His solidarity with humanity is consummated.
His Life in the Spirit
In 2008, I presented material on Jesus’ humanity at a convention in New Mexico.
As I taught the lesson I used a refrain taken from Hebrews 2:17, “He had to be made like his brothers in every way.” When I opened up the session for questions, a youth minister
14 Boring, “The Christology of Mark,” 136. Mark is doing narrative Christology. Boring understands the centurion’s confession as Chalcedon in story form: “this man (precisely the weak crucified Jesus) is the Son of God (the one who transcends human categories).”
15 His inaugurating baptism, now three years behind him, finds striking corollary in Jesus’ last moments. For example, darkness descends rather than the dove-like Spirit (Mk 15:33; 1:10). Also, Elijah cryptically appears in both stories (Mk 15:35, 1:6, 9:12-13, see also 2 Kgs 1:8). Furthermore, the temple curtain is torn open just like the heavens at his baptism (15:38, 1:10). Finally, in both accounts someone proclaims Jesus to be the “Son of God” (15:39, 1:11). It is noteworthy, though beyond the scope of this treatment, that the transfiguration in the middle of Mark’s gospel also shares many similar features with the baptism and crucifixion.
60 from the audience spoke up, “I hear what you are saying, but how is walking on water just like me?”
The Christology set forth in this paper asks Christians to believe two competing truths: that Jesus assumes the utter limitations of humanity, and that Jesus actually performs the extraordinary deeds recorded in the Gospel accounts. Initially, it seems that to embrace one is to reject the other. While some see Chalcedon’s abstract two-nature
Christology as the only solution, the explanation found in the Gospels comes in the form of a dove.16 “As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove” (Mk 1:10).17 This scene, celebrated in
Christian history in icons, paintings, and hymns beautifully symbolizes the centrality and necessity of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus.
In panorama, the Spirit is integral to the entire gospel landscape. It is only in the
Holy Spirit’s overshadowing presence that Mary becomes pregnant (Lk 1:35). The Holy
Spirit’s special presence in the life and ministry of John the Baptist (Lk 1:15) blazes a trail for Jesus, who will later baptize in the Holy Spirit (Lk 3:16). After the authorities kill and bury Jesus, he does not spontaneously resuscitate; it is rather the power of the Spirit that raises him from the dead (Rom 8:11). The disciples who encounter the risen Christ receive power from the Holy Spirit to accompany their witness to the resurrected Lord in
16 Weinandy, In the Likeness of Sinful Flesh, 95. He sees this dove as representative of creation when God’s Spirit hovers over the waters. Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit, 65. He presents two additional possibilities: the dove distinguishes Jesus’ experience of the Spirit from the tongues of fire that will later come upon his disciples, and the dove symbolizes the return of Noah’s dove which he released after the flood.
17 Weinandy, In the Likeness of Sinful Flesh, 95. Jews largely believed that God had been silent since the days of the prophets. As such the heavens were closed. However, at the baptism of Jesus, the Father tears open the heavens and sends his Spirit. This moment symbolizes access to the Father.
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Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). In sum, there is no gospel without the Spirit.18
While the role of the Holy Spirit is key to the overarching plan of God’s salvation, it is the presence of the Spirit in the life of Jesus from his baptism to his crucifixion that specifically addresses the question, “How is walking on water like me?” The Bible answers this question in the baptism of Jesus. At the incarnation the Son does indeed take upon himself all of the limitations of humanity, but at age thirty the Holy Spirit comes upon him and works mightily through him.19
The carpenter from Nazareth remains relatively obscure until this moment at the
Jordan. The baptismal anointing not only inaugurates Jesus’ prophetic career, it also indicates that from this point on the Spirit of God will permeate the life and mission of this man in a new way. In Flame of Love, Clark Pinnock recognizes that the honorific,
“Christ,” expresses this reality.20 While “Christ,” “Messiah,” or “anointed one” clearly evokes the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:7), the name also points to the anointing of the
18 Jurgen Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom, trans., Margaret Kohl (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), 74-75. “The history of Jesus is as incomprehensible without the action of the Sprit as it would be without the God whom he called my Father, or without his activity out of the existence of ‘the Son.’”
19 Weinandy, In the Likeness of Sinful Flesh, 94. He warns against two extremes in this regard. To say that Jesus in no way possessed the Spirit before his baptism is specious. However, it is also inaccurate to deny that the Spirit came upon him in a new way at his baptism.
20 Pinnock, Flame of Love, 88. Pannenberg, Jesus—God and Man, 120-122. Pannenberg, however, warns against Spirit Christology because he believes it inevitably slips into adoptionism. According to Pannenberg, starting with a Spirit-filled explanation results in a denial of the unity of Jesus and God. However, if one begins with the resurrection and works back, Jesus’ Spirit-filled existence is in keeping with his unity with God. The historical event of the resurrection is the ultimate confirmation of the identity of Jesus (Rom 1:3-4), who is the Son of the Father through the Spirit. Looking through the lens of the resurrection retroactively unveils the Spirit’s role. Were it not for the resurrection, the claim of the Spirit’s unique role in the life of Jesus would be invalid. This assumption guides and tempers the Spirit Christology of this ministry project.
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Spirit upon Jesus at baptism. As such, “Spirit” is embedded in the inner logic of the word,
“Christ.” To say “Jesus Christ” is to say, “Jesus, Anointed by the Spirit.”21
This Spirit-filled understanding of Christ fits well with the events following his baptism. The Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Mk 1:12).
Jesus then returns to Galilee “in the power of the Spirit” (Lk 4:14). At his debut in his hometown synagogue, he quotes Isaiah 61, acknowledging the Spirit as the source of his ministry. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Lk
4:18-19). Jesus founds his ministry upon the abiding, anointing, and sending of the Spirit.
In spite of Jesus’ clarity on the matter, people reject his claims. His townspeople attempt to throw him off a cliff the very day he announces the unique work of the Spirit in his life (Lk 4:29). Later, religious authorities credit Beelzebub as the source of Jesus’ exorcising activity (Mk 3:22). Significantly, Jesus does not defend himself. Instead, he warns them in jarring terms against blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Mk 3:28). Jesus’ statement in Matthew 12:28 leaves no room for discussion: “But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Jesus does not claim to be the source of the authority and power he displays.
21 See also the Spirit Christology of Karl Rahner, On the Theology of the Incarnation, Theological Investigations, vol. 4 (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966). Max Turner, "The Spirit and the Power of Jesus’ Miracles in the Lucan Conception," Novum Testamentum 33, no. 2 (1991). Boris Bobrinskoy, "The Indwelling of the Spirit in Christ," St. Vladimir's Theological Quaterly 28, no. 1 (1984). Ivor J. Davidson, "Pondering the Sinlessness of Jesus Christ: Moral Christologies and the Witness of Scripture," International Journal of Systematic Theology 10, no. 4 (October 2008); S.J. Philip J. Rosato, "Spirit Christology: Ambiguity and Promise," Theological Studies 38 (1977); Roger Haight, "The Case for Spirit Christology," Theological Studies 53 (1992); Steven M. Studebaker, "Integrating Pneumatology and Christology: A Trinitarian Modification of Clark H. Pinnock's Spirit Christology," Pneuma 28, no. 1 (2006). 63
When the first Christians share the story of Jesus they present him as a man through whom God worked. “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22). While this passage emphasizes “God” rather than “the Spirit,” it does not warrant a false antithesis: “Spirit of God” is interchangeable with “the power of God.”22 Compare Matthew’s exorcism account, “by the Spirit of God” (Mt 12:28) to Luke’s parallel “by the finger of God” (Lk 11:20).
Furthermore, Acts 10:37-38 shows not only the interchangeability of these terms but also the significance of baptism as the starting point of Jesus’ divine power. “You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that
John preached—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him” (Acts 10:37-38). Since the Spirit of God is the source of the mighty deeds, all the limitations of humanity still apply to Jesus.
Scripture presents another paradox. The Bible teaches that Jesus is fully human,
“made like his brothers in every way” (Heb 2:17), “tempted in every way, just as we are”
(Heb 4:15a). It also teaches that Jesus was fully obedient. In spite of his thorough temptations, he “was without sin” (Heb 4:15b). Once again, believers tend to resort to the
“fully God/fully human” solution of Chalcedon to square his perfect obedience with his utter humanity. While this two-nature conclusion is enduring, sublime, and true, it is not
22 Roger Haight, “The Case for Spirit Christology,” 266.“The biblical symbol, the Spirit of God, refers to God. God as Spirit, or the Spirit of God, is simply God, is not other than God, but is materially and numerically identical with God. God as Spirit is God. But God as Spirit refers to God from a certain point of view; it indicates God at work, as active, and as power, energy, or force that accomplishes something.
64 complete. A thoroughly biblical and Trinitarian answer regarding Jesus’ sinlessness should also include the vital role of Holy Spirit. 23 After all, the Spirit does more in the life of Jesus besides performing miracles. For example, the Holy Spirit affects Jesus subjectively and intimately links him to the Father. “At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth’” (Lk
10:21). Here, the Spirit is the source of joy for Jesus, prompting him to praise the Father.
Acts 10:38 points not only to the Spirit as the source of Jesus’ “healing all,” but also as the source of his “doing good.” Pinnock claims that it is the Spirit who enables Jesus to remain faithful to the Father from the wilderness to the cross.24
Jesus, then, does not achieve perfection merely by nature, but by accepting the resources God offers to him in his fleshly state. The wilderness temptations underscore this truth. In order for Jesus’ temptations to be genuine, there must be the possibility of failure. 25 God provides resources for Jesus, namely, the leading of the Spirit, Scripture, and attending angels. Jesus, who “can do nothing by himself” (Jn 5:19), is anointed with
23 Pinnock, Flame of Love, 85-87; Max Turner, "The Work of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts," Word & World 23, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 150. Turner emphasizes that the Spirit is active in both the physical realm and the personal/existential realm.
24 Pinnock, Flame of Love, 88-91.
25 The possibility of sin and sinlessness is a long-standing controversy in theological anthropology and Christology. Oliver Crisp, "Did Christ Have a Fallen Human Nature?," International Journal of Systematic Theology 6, no. 3 (July 2004): 273. Crisp explains the matter in a clear fashion. The doctrine of original sin and guilt teaches that before the fall, it was possible for Adam not to sin (posse non peccare). After the fall of Adam it is impossible for humans not to sin (non posse non peccare). This tenet creates problems for a doctrine Christ in regard to his full humanity and sinlessness. Some follow Augustine in maintaining that Christ was not able to sin (non posse peccare), 273. Incidentally, Enlightenment optismism had more influence upon Restorationism than Augustine did on this point. Thus, most members in the Churches of Christ do not believe in original sin or original guilt. The default view in the Churches of Christ is the Pelagian notion that it is possible for humans not to sin (like Adam before the fall), though Christ is the only one to fulfill the possibility (Rom 3:23). Crisp, 286, however, represents the opposite extreme by allowing his commitment to the doctrine of original sin and guilt to commandeer his Christology.
65 the Holy Spirit in order to overcome every barrier that would threaten to derail him from his faithful service to the Father for the sake of the world. Ivor J. Davidson articulates well Jesus’ dependence upon the Spirit for godly decisions. “The ability so to decide does not derive from titanic human resolve any more than it does from a wholesale hegemony of divine power in which the reality of the human is effaced. It rests upon the Spirit’s enabling of the Son to live out his particular, vulnerable, fleshly existence in the way that the Father intends.”26 These Spirit-enabled decisions ultimately lead Jesus to the cross.27
Along this line, Davidson says, “The climax of his obedience—and, by implication, the ultimate in Jesus’ reliance upon the Spirit—comes when the accuser, who has been biding his time ever since his defeat in the desert (Lk 4:13), reappears to instigate betrayal at the hands of Judas, leading to arrest and trial (Lk 22:3).”28 Having overcome this final temptation, Hebrews 9:14 says that it is “through the eternal Spirit” that Christ
“offered himself unblemished to God.”
The implication of this teaching is staggering. The Church rightly confesses that only Jesus was perfect. However, he was made perfect through his dependence on the
Father through the Spirit. Boldly stated, Jesus could not have fulfilled his role as faithful
Son without the Spirit.29 When the Father tears open the heavens he pours out his Spirit
26 Davidson, “Pondering the Sinlessness of Jesus Christ,” 393.
27 Robert W. Jenson, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 134-135. Building on the Christology of Maximus, Jenson elaborates on Jesus’ Trinitarian decision-making as he explores the issue of dyothelitism, or dual wills.
28 Davidson, “Pondering the Sinlessness of Jesus Christ,” 390.
29 Weinandy, In the Likeness of Sinful Flesh, 97.
66 upon his Son. Jesus, having completely emptied himself, is filled by that outpouring, which results in filial affection and faithfulness never before known by human flesh.
His Need for the Father’s Voice
When the heavenly voice declares, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11), only Jesus apprehends it. This proposal provides the most reasonable scenario. First of all, it is significant that the voice addresses Jesus directly
(Mk 1:11, Lk 3:22).30 Also, the Gospels only describe what Jesus sees: “he saw heaven being torn open” (Mk 1:10), and “he saw the Spirit of God” descend like a dove (Mt
3:16).31 Furthermore, while the Gospels state that many people are present, there is no indication that they react to the heavenly voice or the other phenomena accompanying
Jesus’ baptism. All of this suggests that the voice from heaven is meant for Jesus, not the crowd.
Moreover, this interpretation resolves apparent incongruencies in Mark’s opening chapter. Mark 1:5 states that “the whole Judean countryside and all of the people of
Jerusalem” were present during these events. Soon after, however, Jesus commands silence from the demons who would reveal his divine identity (Mk 1:24-25, 34). He likewise warns those whom he heals to keep quiet about him (Mk 1:43, 5:43). These demands for secrecy seem absurd if scores of people have already heard that he is God’s
30 However, the statement according to Matthew’s Gospel reads, “This is my Son . . .” (Mt 3:17). Admittedly, the author prefers the accounts of Mark and Luke. While one must take Matthew’s account seriously, it is beyond the scope of this project to resolve this Synoptic variation.
31 The fourth gospel indicates that John the Baptist also saw the Spirit descend on Jesus (Jn 1:32). Again, it is difficult to square every detail of this event with all four Gospel accounts. Nevertheless, it does not alter the thrust of this paper’s interpretation to acknowledge that John, as a prophet, had special insight into these unfolding events.
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Son. In short, if the voice from heaven is intended for everyone present, it becomes the first and greatest spoiler of Jesus’ plan for secrecy.
On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine that the crowd is blind to a gash in the firmament or deaf to the thundering voice of God. Some scholars resolve this by interpreting the narrative as Jesus’ subjective experience or as his later reflection on the significance of his baptism.32 While this may account for the incomprehension of the crowd, it undermines the historical veracity of the Gospels.
A better explanation is that the cosmic wonders actually occur but the people do not understand them. Luke denotes the physicality of the events when he mentions the
Holy Spirit’s “bodily form” being like that of a dove (Lk 3:22). People see a bird land on a man, but they do not perceive it as divine anointing.33 Likewise, the heavenly voice breaks into the universe above the river, but the bystanders only hear atmospheric rumbling.
John’s Gospel corroborates this explanation. Toward the end of Jesus’ ministry, the Father speaks directly to Jesus. The people in the crowd hear the heavenly voice but pass it off as thunder, though some wonder if it might be an angel (Jn 12:28-29). It is easy to imagine that those standing on the banks of the Jordan reacted in a similar fashion.
32 Dunn, Jesus and the Spirit, 65. “Mark himself is not concerned to present the episode as a piece of biography. Jesus’ baptism by John was probably the occasion for an experience of God which had epochal significance for Jesus, even though that significance may only have been fully grasped after some reflection by Jesus.” See also Raymond Brown, An Introduction to New Testament Christology (New York: Paulist Press, 1994), 84. Brown says, “The difficulty of establishing scientifically the historical character of a theophany is enormous. Another obstacle to using this testimony in our quest stems from the intent of the narrative.”
33 John the Baptist admits that it is only by God’s revelation that he understands the meaning of this sign (Jn 1:32-33).
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If, therefore, God speaks directly to Jesus, this means he was conveying a message to Jesus. That message is clear: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11). If there is purpose behind God’s words, and Jesus is the sole recipient of these words, then God is telling Jesus something he needs to hear. In order to understand why Jesus needed to hear this, it is essential to understand precisely what he heard.
From the vantage point of a devout Galilean peasant, these words are rife with cultural, religious, and covenantal significance. This is a summons anchored in Hebrew
Scripture.34 It taps into two distinct ideas from Israel’s redemptive consciousness: the messiah and the suffering servant. First, it recalls the enthronement language of Psalm
2:7: “He said to me, ‘You are my Son, today I have become your Father.’” Second, it evokes the image of the suffering servant in Isaiah 42:1: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him.” The announcement fuses these two roles, calling Jesus to take upon himself the destiny of
Israel. As Jesus receives his anointing, he is like young David lowering his head, allowing oil from Samuel’s horn to flow freely upon him. He is like the aged Moses, removing his sandals, accepting the call to suffer for Israel, yet without equivocation.
This decisive moment marks the inauguration of God’s reign through Jesus, the afflicted king.
The statement’s historical gravity does not diminish the paternal affection laden in the words. If Jesus is to take on this assignment he needs the assurance of his Father’s
34 Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament, 66-67.
69 love. The Father immerses the Son in divine affirmation, confirming sublime intuitions and settling lifelong questions. This sober call to the cruciform mission necessitates this moment of clarity and bonding. In other words, Jesus needed this moment in order to confirm his identity and purpose.
Such an interpretation raises fundamental questions. Some of them include: “Does
Jesus not already know he is the Son of God?” “Since he is fully divine, knowing all things, would he not know who he is?” “At the very least, Jesus’ parents would have informed him of the wonders surrounding his birth.” “Does Jesus not at age twelve state that he must be about his Father’s business?” 35
Insights from the Boyhood Temple Story
Of all of the objections, the one concerning the boyhood temple story presents the most compelling evidence against the notion that Jesus needed the Father to confirm his identity and purpose at baptism.36 As such, the story demands a thorough investigation.
This inquiry will reveal that Jesus’ childhood statement does not require divine self- awareness.
The story of the boy Jesus in the temple beautifully celebrates the uniqueness of this child, illustrating his extraordinary wisdom (Lk 2:40, 2:47) as well as his radical devotion to and intimacy with God (Lk 2:49).37 At first glance, the story seems to
35 Students inevitably raise these questions.
36 Henk J. De Jonge, "Sonship, Wisdom Infancy: Luke 2:41a-51a," New Testament Studies 24, no. 3 (April 1978): 318-319. De Jonge provides strong historical evidence against the notion that this encounter is Jesus’ bar mitzvah.
37 Ibid., 350-351. De Jonge points out that Jesus’ entire life is marked his “dei,” his “must,” his “had to.” 70 confirm his infinite knowledge and his awareness that he is the Son of God. Deeper investigation, however, tempers these conclusions, revealing a thoroughly human child.
There are two key observations from Luke 2:40-52 which point to the full humanity of
Jesus. The first is based on the reaction of Jesus’ parents to the boy’s behavior at the temple. The second is Luke’s portrayal of Jesus as a learner. Both of these points relate to
Jesus’ consciousness of divine Sonship.
The Reactions of Jesus’ Parents
The reactions of Jesus’ parents in Luke 2:40-52 suggest that Jesus must have been a rather normal Jewish boy. First, when he turns up missing his parents do not know where to begin to look for him. They go back to Jerusalem and conduct a three-day search (Lk 2:44-46). This response implies that Jesus is displaying new behavior. Had
Jesus established a pattern of abandoning his family in order to converse with religious authorities, they likely would have gone immediately to the temple.
Second, when they finally find Jesus in the temple they are bewildered (Lk
2:48a). They seem perplexed by their son’s religious acumen and offended by his apparent disregard (Lk 2:48b). His behavior is completely inexplicable. His parents have never seen such an outward display of their son’s dedication to God. Moreover, the silence of the Gospels suggests they will not see it again for eighteen years. Luke’s summary treatment of Jesus’ childhood implies that he does not repeat this sort of behavior until after his baptism: “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51). Jesus’ return to Nazareth early in his adult ministry provides even more compelling evidence.
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The people of Nazareth are shocked that this tradesman whom they watched grow up would presume to teach with such authority (Mk 6:1-3). “Isn’t this the carpenter?” they ask (Mk 6:3). Their lack of faith stuns Jesus, even hindering his ability to perform miracles there (Mk 6:5-6). All of this suggests that Jesus led a quiet, uneventful life from twelve to thirty.
Third, Jesus’ parents do not comprehend Jesus’ ambiguous statement about his
Father (Lk 2: 50).38 Mary says to Jesus, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Jesus replies, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:48-49).
There appears to be a play on words. Mary says, “your father” (Lk 2:48), and Jesus responds, “my Father” (Lk 2:49). “But they did not understand what he was saying to them” (Lk 2:50). Jesus, however, expects his parents to know something of his unique obligations to God. His words, “didn’t you know” (Lk 2:49) supposes a positive response.39 Nonetheless, it is not clear to the parents what kind of relationship their boy has with the God of Israel. In spite of the angelic visit (Lk 1:26-38) and the virgin conception (Lk 1:34-35; 2:5), Joseph and Mary do not fully comprehend their child’s identity and purpose. Even if they are certain that their son is the Messiah, their notion of what Messiah means likely falls in line with the Jewish expectations of the time. In other words, Gabriel’s message comes to Mary through the filter of Israel’s hopes. This lack of
38 Ibid.: 333-334. The fact this phrase has footnotes indicating variable translations, whether “Father’s business” or “Father’s house” points to the ambiguity of the statement. DeJonge believes Jesus intended for it to be ambiguous. His parents’ incomprehension confirms the enigmatic quality of the expression.
39 Ibid.: 334.
72 full understanding explains the nationalistic character of the Magnificat (Lk 1:54), as well as the later tension that develops between Jesus and his family (Mk 3:21, 3:31-35).
The reaction of Jesus’ parents implies two things. First, it undermines the notion that they told Jesus he was the Son of God. They may have told him about the extraordinary events, but based on their confusion at the temple, their understanding of the significance of those events seems incomplete at best. Second, it suggests that Jesus’ behavior at the temple is uncharacteristic. Apparently, before and after this incident,
Jesus does not manifest extraordinary qualities until after his baptism. All of this speaks only indirectly to the question of Jesus’ own awareness of his divine Sonship. Another facet of Luke’s account strikes closer to the heart of the issue.
Jesus the Learner
Luke’s portrayal of Jesus as learner more directly addresses the utter humanness of Jesus. This aspect of the story is easily overlooked. Most popular treatment of the temple narrative emphasizes Jesus as teacher. Nevertheless, the interaction between Jesus and the elders is reciprocal. Luke says Jesus is “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions” (Lk 2:46). Christians tend to emphasize the boy’s answers and seem to forget that he had questions. The text does not suggest that Jesus has come to repair the faulty theology of the elders; Jesus has come to learn.40 The give-and- take nature of the conversation hints at Jesus’ cognitive development. Since he is fully
40 Based on the types of questions Jesus asks in his adult ministry, it is conceivable that the boy is using inquiry as a way to challenge or provoke. Luke, however, gives no details about the content or the intent of Jesus’ words like he does in Jesus’ adult ministry. He simply says that Jesus has questions. Had Luke wanted to say that Jesus was challenging them with questions he could have done so. Since there is no indication that the boy Jesus is here using questions as a teaching device, it seems most prudent to take Luke’s narration at face value: Jesus has genuine questions.
73 human, he has verbal capacity at age twelve that he did not have at age ten. At the incarnation, Jesus voluntarily takes upon himself not only the limitations of human corporeality, but also the limitations of human cognition.
Luke plainly states that Jesus develops holistically. “And Jesus grew in wisdom, and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52). He grows intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially. In other words, he develops the way all humans do.
Jesus was not born wise. He was not born omniscient. He was born with the mind of a human baby. The passage even says that Jesus grows “in favor with God” (Lk 2:52). The intimacy Jesus enjoys with his Father is something that grows stronger as he matures.
The same holds true for his intense devotion. In Jerusalem’s temple, Joseph and Mary witness a nascent devotion in the boy Jesus that will one day find its fullest expression outside the city gates.
Hebrews 5:7-9 shows that continuous holistic learning and radical devotion to
God are marks of Jesus’ adult life as well. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” The hope of humanity rests on the Son, who, in his utter humanity, fully depends on God during each difficult step of obedience until he completes his path of faithful Sonship, redefining what it means to be human.
Full humanity, then, entails suffering, crying out, learning, submitting, and being made perfect.
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Here the discussion turns back to the question of Jesus’ awareness of his divine
Sonship. His retort, “I had to be in my Father’s house” (Lk 2:49), is an undeniable claim regarding his special connection with God. Jesus’ personal reference to God as “my
Father” is distinctive if not unprecedented among Israelites.41 It is not too far of a leap, then, to say that Jesus knows he is the Son of God at age twelve. This conclusion, however, requires specificity of language. To suppose that the boy Jesus understands himself to be the pre-existent Logos, the eternally begotten Son, the Second Person of the
Holy Trinity when he says “my Father’s house” (Lk 2:49) goes well beyond the sense of the phrase. It is doubtful that this child from Nazareth thinks in the language of fourth century philosophers.
The narrative does, however, portray Jesus as a surprisingly wise child who is conscious of his unique and profound closeness with God.42 It also illustrates that at a young age, Jesus begins yielding to the Father’s claim on his life. It is this characteristic that will ultimately bring him to the banks of the Jordan where all of his intuitions or conceptions of Sonship will be brought into crisp focus. As he awaits his baptism, perhaps he perceives his life merging with the life of Israel. The story of Scripture thoroughly informs his crystallizing self-understanding. Perhaps Jesus’ heart blazes as he
41 Brown, An Introduction to New Testatment Christology, 85-87. Brown provides a summary of scholarly opinion concerning the unusual character of Jesus’ usage of Father or Abba.
42Mark L. Strauss, Four Portraits, One Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 267. The clear emphasis on wisdom stated at the beginning and end of the narrative (Lk 2:40, 52) and illustrated in the story itself may be drawing on characteristics of the Messiah mentioned in Isaiah 11:1 says. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.”
75 listens to John’s sermons.43 It is all becoming clear to him: the promise to Abraham, the
Exodus, the wilderness, the covenant with David, as well as the prophesies concerning
God’s suffering servant.44 Jesus comes up from the Jordan convinced that the entire drama of God and Israel is culminating in him because the Father audibly confirms to
Jesus that he is, indeed, the Anointed One, the beloved Son. Jesus needed to hear God’s voice.
The account of the baptism of Jesus is narrative Christology. The Jordan event represents the Son’s solidarity with humanity, his life by the Spirit, and his need for the
Father’s voice. This Christology that leads to a robust and biblical Trinitarianism also points to the Son’s full participation with humanity. This singular moment “from below” unveils full divinity and full humanity at the same time. Neither Chalcedon nor Nicea can match the sublime content laden in this event. Having articulated it, the next chapter of this ministry focus paper explores the implications of this Christology for emerging adults at Harding University.
43 This speculation is based on the reaction of the Emmaus disciples when Jesus explained to them that Scripture is fulfilled in him.
44 In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus frequently explains to people how he fulfills Scripture.
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CHAPTER 4
IMPLICATIONS OF THE DOCTRINE
As stated in the introduction, this ministry project facilitates an intervention to help emerging adults at Harding University understand and appropriate the biblical teaching of Christ’s humanity in order to bring about holistic spiritual formation. Each chapter of this paper represents a key component of this thesis. Chapter 1 describes emerging adulthood in a postmodern culture. Chapter 2 elaborates on the theological context of Harding University. Chapter 3 sets forth the biblical doctrine of the humanity of Christ. The current chapter explores the ramifications of this doctrine for the lives of these students given their theological, cultural, and developmental contexts. Thus, in keeping with the stated purpose, Chapter 4 seeks to understand how this intervention might result in holistic spiritual formation for these particular students.
This doctrine is not a dead-end confession. It is not enough to say that Christ participates with humanity. His full identification draws men and women to him and calls for a response. Irenaeus said, “He became as we are that we might become as he is.”1 In
1 Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Ante-Nicene Fathers 1, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1993), 3.19.
77 his book entitled, The Human Being, Walter Wink describes Jesus as the archetypal human: “Jesus incarnated God in his own person in order to show all of us how to incarnate God. And to incarnate God is what it means to be fully human.”2 This is a true statement, but turning the tide of human sin requires more than exemplarist theology. The
Son’s total participation and identification with humanity serves not only as a model, but also as a summons for people to fully unite with him. God’s kenosis in Christ is the means to humanity’s theosis.3 Since his identification is thoroughgoing, the response must be the same. The Son’s immersion into the human drama invites reciprocity.
Participation with Christ
True holistic spiritual formation, then, only comes about through identification and participation with Christ. The New Testament expresses this chief objective with several phrases: “Christ formed in you” (Gal 4:19), “conformed to the likeness of his
Son” (Rom 8:29), “we shall be like him” (1 Jn 3:2), “Christ in you” (Col 1:27), and
“perfect in Christ” (Col 1:28), to name a few. This first section, then, outlines what it means for humans to fully identify with Christ. The second section explores way in which this Christology specifically engages postmodern emerging adults in a Restoration context.
As Chapter 3 demonstrates, Jesus’ baptism encapsulates his thorough identification with humanity. Conversely, this dramatic initiation also encapsulates how
2 Walter Wink, The Human Being: Jesus and the Enigma of the Son of the Man (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002), 30.
3 For a general treatment see Robert W. Jenson, "Theosis," Dialog 32, no. 2 (1993). If kenosis is the word to describe the belief that God became human, theosis is the word to describe the belief that humans become like God. This is the same concept as the Orthodox notion of divinization or deification. 78 humans might thoroughly identity with Christ. Following the Trinitarian contours of
Jesus’ baptism, the good news of Christ’s full humanity calls individuals to share in his
Sonship, take up his suffering, and live by his Spirit.
Sharing in His Sonship
Jesus’ earthly ministry begins with the heavenly statement, “You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased” (Mk 1:11). The other bookend of Jesus’ earthly ministry is strikingly similar. His inauguration at the river foreshadows his death and resurrection. The immersive act itself, especially in retrospect, symbolizes burial and rising. Jesus expresses the continuity of these bookends by using baptismal language when referring to his impending crucifixion (Mk 10:38; Lk 12:50).4 Moreover, the hidden affirmation of Sonship at Jesus’ baptism anticipates the public announcement of Sonship at his resurrection. Romans 1:4 says that it is the resurrection of Jesus that proclaims that he is the Son of God. In other words, his resurrection fulfills and validates the Father’s baptismal statement of identity. The Son’s watery initiation sets him on a course of obedience that culminates in death and resurrection.
The cosmos finds hope in this trajectory.5 Just as Jesus’ baptism anticipates his resurrection, so his resurrection anticipates the final consummation (Rom 8:11-25). Since
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15), his death and rising is the telos of
4 John’s first letter stresses this linkage. The testimony of water, blood, and Spirit suggests that Jesus’ baptism is inseparable from his death and rising (1 Jn 5:6-8).
5 Pannenberg, Jesus—God and Man, 396. “Only in this light can we intimate what the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth means: only in Jesus, indeed, only in the light of the eschatological event of his resurrection, is the eternal Son of God present in time. Only through Jesus is creation mediated into sonship, i.e., into its appropriate relation to God, and thus reconciled with God.”
79 the created order. Moreover, since the Son is fully human, the firstborn among many siblings (Rom 8:29), his resurrection especially unveils the destiny of humans who share in his Sonship.6
This sweeping eschatology is densely expressed in Christian baptism as well as in
Jesus’ baptism. In his article, "The One Baptism as a Category of New Testament
Soteriology," J. A. T. Robinson says, “Christian baptism simply reproduces in the life of the Christian the one baptism of Jesus begun in Jordan and completed in the resurrection.”7 Even though the Father directs his baptismal statement of Sonship to Jesus alone, the voice, in a proleptic sense, endorses the whole human race.8 Therefore, just as the Father says, “You are my beloved Son” at Jesus’ baptism, so believers ascertain their true identity as they rise from the water. This filial truth ripples into the eschaton; for history culminates with all creation acknowledging the daughters and sons of God at the final resurrection (Rom 8:19-21). Such is the narrative arc for those united in Christ.
Anchoring one’s identity in Christ, then, is the starting place for holistic spiritual formation. People think and act according to their identity. This notion squares with New
Testament theology. When Paul wants to affect the moral behavior of his epistolary recipients, he begins by telling them who they are in Christ. In his article, “Indicative and
Imperative: The Basis Structure of Pauline Ethics,” William Dennison says, “Paul never
6 Ibid., 390. Pannenberg stresses the primacy of humanity in creation. “As one eschatological summation, as the reconciliation of humanity across all dividing chasms, the Christ event establishes not only the unity of human history, but thereby also establishes the unity of the universe. This assertion presupposes that the totality of the material world does not possess its unity in itself apart from man, but that this unity is only structured through man.”
7 Robinson, “The One Baptism,” 263.
8 Casey, Fully Human, Fully Divine, 33.
80 writes in the imperative without first writing in the indicative.”9 In other words, Christian identity predicates Christian ethics. Dennison distills the whole of Paul’s ethical structure down to one statement: “Become what you are in Christ.”10 This “since/then” grammar implies that spiritual formation begins with identity in Christ.11
When Paul wants to assure believers that they are sons and daughters of God, he reminds them of their baptism.12 He writes to the Galatians, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal 3:26-27). This rest of this pericope strengthens the linkage between Sonship and baptism by referencing the role of the Spirit in the life of the believer. Paul continues, “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out ‘Abba, Father’” (Gal 4:6). All of this is predicated upon the full humanity of Jesus: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Gal 4:5). Though not explicit, this identity text has strong thematic connections with Jesus’ baptism by recalling his solidarity with humanity (“born of a woman”), the descent of the Spirit, and his affirmation of Sonship.13 This same Spirit
9 William D. Dennison, "Indicative and Imperative: The Basic Structure of Pauline Ethics," Calvin Theological Journal 14, no. 1 (April 1979): 73.
10 Ibid.: 72.
11 Ibid.: 72-73.
12 Allen Mawhinney, "Baptism, Servanthood, and Sonship," Westminster Theological Journal 49, no. 1 (1987): 48. Based upon significant motifs in Scripture as well as exegesis of specific passages, Mawhinney insists that “the Christian’s baptism is (among other things) an affirmation of his sonship.”
13 Ibid.: 44.
81 who engenders intimacy between Father and Son cries “Abba, Father” from the depths of the hearts of daughters and sons.
Taking Up His Suffering
Full identification with Christ, however, involves more than intimacy with God.
To be united with the Son is to take on the role of daughter or son, not merely the benefits. Participation implies faithfulness. If divine sonship or daughterhood is the indicative, filial obedience is the imperative. Ephesians 5:1 reveals this dynamic and describes the character of a life befitting of God’s sons and daughters. “Be imitators of
God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” The Son establishes and defines the meaning of obedience through the cross. Those who share in his Sonship continue to reflect his self-emptying compassion for broken humanity, which honors the character of the Father.14 Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mk 8:34). The Son calls upon his brothers and sisters who collectively make up the Church to share in his suffering.
Accordingly, Paul sees his own ministry as a continuation of Christ’s suffering.
“Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church” (Col 1:24).
In Philippians 3:10, Paul expresses his deepest hope in participatory terms, “I want to
14 Michael Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul's Narrative Soteriology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009), 107. As the title of his book indicates, Gorman sees God’s character as fundamentally cross-shaped. In his first chapter entitled, “Although/Because He Was in the Form of God,” he proposes the Christ-hymn of Phil 2:56-11 as “Paul’s master story.” He summarizes the theology of this chapter as “God’s kenotic, cruciform identity revealed in the cross and leading to the practice of cruciformity, which is in fact theoformity, or theosis.” 82 know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” He says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
Baptism densely expresses and inaugurates this participatory suffering, for baptism is about solidarity. This ministry focus paper earlier describes Jesus’ baptism as a ritual that densely displays his solidarity with sinful humanity—an act of oneness that finds fullest expression at his crucifixion. The inverse is true of Christian baptism. To wit, Jesus calls his disciples to join him in a baptism of suffering: “You will drink the cup
I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with” (Mk 10:39). In other words, baptism enacts “co-crucifixion.”15
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” (Rom 6:3-5).
Through this act of holistic, participatory faith, sin-ravaged humans express solidarity with the one sinless human. They participate with the Son in his death to sin
(Rom 6:10). As such, they come up from the water freed from their bondage to sin (Rom
6:6, 11-23) in order to live as “slaves to righteousness” (Rom 6:18), and “slaves to God”
(Rom 6:22). This victory over sin is proleptic of the victory over sin’s fatal wages.
15 Ibid., 83. “Co-crucifixion” is Gorman’s term. 83
The doctrine of the full humanity of Christ, then, invites rebellious, self-centered people to participate with Christ in his self-emptying obedience to God. Life with Second
Adam entails difficult struggling against the desires of the flesh in the post-baptismal wilderness. Christian baptism implies willingness to undergo persecution and shame with
Jesus, whether it is social ostracism, legal sanctions, employment barriers, or even martyrdom. One can face martyrdom with Christ if he or she has already died with Christ in baptism. Defining the Christian life as participation in the suffering of Christ honors the radical character of discipleship. This partnership of suffering produces Christ- likeness. Sons and daughters join with Jesus in a transforming journey of obedience unto to death, which ultimately leads to “co-resurrection.”
This journey calls Christians to follow the kenotic path of Philippians 2 at every juncture, in every relationship. Kenosis defines the way of the Christian in the Church and in the world. Practically speaking, this journey includes identification with the poor and the outcast. With some semantic license Michael Gorman, in his book, Inhabiting the
Cruciform God, captures the essence of participatory holiness with the dictum, “Be cruciform, for I am cruciform.”16 It is imperative that the Church demonstrates God’s solidarity with broken humanity. The hope of a fractured world is at stake. As God sent his Son into the world, so he sends his sons and daughters into the world (Jn 17:18). As adopted offspring in submission to the will of God, the church must participate in God’s self-emptying compassion for sinful humanity.
16 Ibid., 105. His chapter title is “‘You Shall be Cruciform, for I am Cruciform:’ Paul’s Trintarian Reconstruction of Holiness as Theosis.”
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Living by His Spirit
However, Christians must understand that they are not left to their own devices.
Participatory obedience is the opposite of self-sufficiency. Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal
2:20).
The doctrine of the full humanity of Christ teaches that even Jesus was not left to his own devices. God provided Jesus with divine resources that enabled his obedience.
Jesus’ righteousness was based on his dependence and reliance on God not sheer will and strength (Heb 5:7-9). The Father gave the Son his Spirit, his affirmation, prayer, his mission, Scripture, and a community of faith.
Likewise, the Father gives his sons and daughters divine resources in order to enable their obedience. He gives them a community of faith, Scripture, prayer, and most importantly, his own Spirit. He pours out his Spirit upon his children. Through participation with the Son, the Spirit binds the children to the Father and to one another.
This invitation into divine community and the communal life of the church reverses the autonomous direction instigated by the Fall.17 The unity of the Spirit made manifest in the church reflects the mutual self-giving of Father, Son, and Spirit.18 As such, it draws the world to God. That Spirit guides, empowers, and comforts God’s children. The Spirit that cries, “Abba, Father,” is the Spirit that manifests the fruit of Christ-like character
17 John D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1985), 102. “Communion is no longer constitutive of being in a fallen state of existence.”
18 Catherine Mowry LaCugna, God for Us: The Trinity and Christain Life (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), 382. 85 among sons and daughters in the community of faith and in their interaction with the world. It is the Holy Spirit that leads Christians away from those traits that are not becoming of God’s family, desiring against behavior that is appalling, divisive, and narcissistic (Gal 5:20-21). Instead, Christians turn outward, manifesting those self- emptying qualities that reflect the character of God and foster unity, such as “love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:23). “Since we live by the Spirit,” Paul says, just after describing the fruit thereof, “let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25).
Sharing in his Sonship, taking up his suffering, and living by his Spirit is a
Trinitarian summation the Christian life. Identification and participation with Father, Son, and Spirit is the biblical definition of holistic spiritual formation. In her book, God For
Us, Catherine Mowry LaCugna captures the magnitude of this uniting:
Entering into the life of God means entering in the deepest way possible into the economy, into the life of Jesus Christ, into the life of the Spirit, into the life of others. Baptism means incorporation into the very life of God, which is indistinguishable from God’s life with every creature throughout time, past present, and future. God’s very life, lived out by persons who love and exist together in communion, is what we experience in the economy of creation and salvation.19
Christology in Context
This participatory Christology, by definition, is meaningless apart from an actual human context. The story of Jesus always comes to particular people in specific cultural contexts. This approach to the doctrine of the full humanity of Christ finds “points of contact” with the distinctive developmental, cultural, and theological context of Harding
19 Ibid.
86
University.20 Specifically, this presentation of the doctrine of the humanity of Christ finds special connections with emerging adults at a time in Western history when epistemological foundations are shifting. Furthermore, this teaching is especially fitting at an institution like Harding University, which has deep roots in the Churches of Christ of the American Restoration Movement.
The college years should be a time to solidify one’s identity. “Inbetween-ness” and instability leaves emerging adults asking, “Who am I?” This identity quest, according to Marcia, requires students to explore vocational, relational, and ideological options.21
When one’s exploration turns to commitment in all three areas, Marcia contends that such person has achieved identity.22 In a postmodern culture, the prospect of achieving
Marcia’s criteria of identity before graduation seems to be steadily decreasing.23 As
Chapter 1 points out, identity moratorium and identity diffusion have increasingly become the norm for emerging adults in a postmodern culture.24 This doctrinal intervention, then, comes to these students at a developmental stage when they are actively exploring or should be exploring philosophical options. The ideology to which these students ultimately commit will inevitably color all of their other commitments.
20 Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology, 5th ed. (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 167. Emil Brunner and Karl Barth debated the existence of a point of contact in humanity or culture for divine revelation. The Christology of this ministry project sides with Brunner on this issue, maintaining that points of contact do exist because God reveals himself, even if faintly, in creation and in humans, and thus, in culture as well.
21 Kenneth R. Hoover, James E. Marcia, and Kristen Diane Parris The Power of Identity: Politics in a New Key, 97.
22 Ibid.
23 This is especially the case if age of first marriage is an indicator.
24 James E. Côté, Arrested Adulthood,129. 87
With this in mind, this intervention offers a biblical, Trinitarian, Christ-centered worldview that finds inroads into the postmodern mindset of emerging adults in a
Restorationist context. This portion of Chapter 4 seeks to find possible bridges for this
Christology among postmodern emerging adults. The chapter ends by exploring ways in which this Christology interfaces with Restorationism.
Postmodern Emerging Adults and the Human Christ
It is beyond the scope of this paper to offer an exhaustive treatment of the dynamics that commend the Christology of this ministry project to emerging adults in a postmodern cultural context. The topic merits more investigation than the limitations of this project afford. Nevertheless, this section explores four promising bridges already present in postmodern culture: spirituality, story, relationship, and holism.25
Spirituality
The Christology of this ministry project seeks to tap into the postmodern quest for spirituality. Philosophers and popular artists have declared in unison that the
Enlightenment project has failed. The panacea that put a handful of humans on the moon also gets credit for deforestation, the atomic bomb, arms race, global warming, and all manner of pollution. Disenchanted people want something that telescopes and microchips simply do not offer. Though today’s society is quick to offer an overwhelming array of replacement worldviews, this proliferation of choices affectively shrinks the number of
25 Craig Van Gelder, "From the Modern to the Postmodern in the West: Viewing the Twentieth Century in Perspective," Word & World 20, no. 1 (2000): 37-39. Van Gelder sees eight bridges for the gospel amidst postmodern people: spirituality, narrative, community holism, experiential, particularity, irony, and wider rationality.
88 certainties, which leaves people right where they started—clambering for something stable.26
Organized religion has historically offered such stability, but Westerners tend to view religious institutions as irrelevant, if not corrupt. In response, people “turn inward.”27 The current quest for spirituality is increasingly given to subjectivity.
According to Robert Fuller, in his book, Spiritual but Not Religious, this personalized spirituality, carries with it the supposition that individuals must establish their own criteria for spirituality.28 Personal experience, then, not truthfulness, becomes the chief test of legitimacy.29 Thus, postmodern spirituality tends to prioritize self-healing, self- discovery, and self-actualization.30
The developmental factors of emerging adulthood discussed in Chapter 1 serve to intensify this feature. “Inbetween-ness,” instability, and identity explorations combine with postmodernism to provide lush habitation for this individualistic brand of spirituality. Emerging adults are no longer under the religious auspices of home but not yet responsible for the religious well-being of a new family.31 This liminal state creates an ideal opportunity for faith exploration. However, this quest is not merely an
26 David Wells, Above All Earthly Pow'rs: Christ in a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), 148.
27 Ibid.
28 Robert C. Fuller, Spiritual but Not Religious (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 75.
29 Ibid., 73.
30 Wells, 154-155.
31 Jeffery Jensen Arnett; Lene Arnett Jensen, "A Congregation of One: Individualized Religious Beliefs among Emerging Adults," Journal of Adolescent Research 17, no. 5 (September 2002): 451. “It is well established that the late teens and early 20s are ages of relatively low religious participation in American society.”
89 opportunity: it is an expectation.32 In their study of the religious traits of emerging adults entitled, “A Congregation of One,” Jeffery Jensen Arnett and Lene Arnett Jensen say,
“They view it as both their right and their responsibility to form their beliefs and values independently of their parents, they pick and choose from the ideas they discover as they go along and combine them to form their own unique, individualized set of beliefs, an a la carte belief system.”33
The qualitative samples from the research of Arnett and Jensen illustrate the degree to which emerging adults typify postmodern suspicion of religious authority in favor of a pastiche faith. “You don’t have to be one religion. Take a look at all of them, see if there is something in them you like. . . I think all religions have things that are good about them.”34 The openness of some is seemingly without limitation. “A lot of my beliefs border on what would be labeled as witchcraft. I believe that objects can capture energy and hold it. I do believe it’s possible to communicate with people who have died.
I do believe in reincarnation. I believe I’ve had past lives. I am what I would label a
“guardian angel,” and there are certain people that I’m supposed to help out.”35 Another emerging adult admitted, “I’ve read some Joseph Campbell, and just the theory that all these religions, Mohammed and Buddha and Jesus, all the patterns there are very similar.
And I believe that there’s a spirit, an energy. Not necessarily a guy or something like that,
32 Ibid.: 452. Determining one’s own system of beliefs and values is a key criterion of adulthood.
33 Ibid.: 464.
34 Ibid.: 459.
35 Ibid.: 460.
90 but maybe just a power force. Like in Star wars, the Force. The thing that makes it possible to live.”36
This buffet approach stretches the concept of spirituality beyond meaning.37
Nevertheless, social science has bought into it. A prominent instrument that purports to measure spirituality includes the statement, “I believe there is only one true faith.”38 The inventory deems those who agree with this item as less spiritual than those who disagree.
However, when “spirituality” means everything, it means nothing.
In an effort to nurture holistic spiritual formation among emerging adults in a postmodern culture, this Christology directs students to the one who fills the spiritual void of all humans in all cultures, including postmodern cultures. This ministry project seeks to tap into the current spiritual quest, but with the conviction that true self- discovery, healing, and actualization only occurs when one follows Christ in his Spirit- empowered life of self-emptying.
The postmodern hunger for spirituality is a bridge to this Christology. However, the spirituality that this intervention sets forth is not the amorphous brand that is in vogue. The “Spirit-uality” of this doctrinal intervention has clear and definable telos. It awakens individuals to their relationship with Abba, their Creator. This “Spirit-uality” transforms the character of humans into that of the faithful Son. It deepens commitment to the community of faith. This “Spirit-uality” brings inner fulfillment by turning the believer outward toward “the other.”
36 Ibid.
37 Mark R. McMinn and Todd W. Hall, "Christian Spirituality in a Postmodern Era," Journal of Psychology and Theology 28, no. 4 (2000): 252.
38 Ibid. 91
The goal here is not to rail against postmodern spirituality. As Christians learn to live by the Spirit, the tangible community of God’s Spirit will attract postmodern seekers while it indirectly discredits diluted versions of spirituality. “But let the reality of
Christian spiritual formation come to its fullness,” says Dallas Willard, “and exclusiveness will take care of itself.”39
Story
The Christology of this ministry project is unmistakably narrative in character. As such it appeals to postmodern epistemology. Even though postmodernism rejects metanarratives, it recognizes the essentiality of stories for meaning and purpose.40 No one disputes the view that life, itself, is narrative in character.41 In his book, Telling God’s
Story: Bible, Church, and Narrative, Gerard Loughlin says, “Everything is a story, for stories produce every significant thing.”42 Stories shape the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of people, stories “go all the way down.”43 The narrative Christology of this ministry project, however, is not merely one story among other constructed stories. It is, rather, one way of telling “the Story.” Furthermore, Christian baptism preserves the plot
39 Dallas Willard, "Spiritual Formation in Christ: A Perspective on What It Is and How It Might Be Done," Journal of Psychology and Theology 28, no. 4 (2000): 258.
40 Ray S. Anderson, The Shape of Practical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 20-21.
41 Craig Van Gelder, "Defining the Center --Finding the Boundaries," in The Church between Gospel and Culture: The Emerging Mission in North America, ed. George Hunsberger and Craig Van Gelder (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), 37.
42 Gerard Loughlin, Telling God's Story: Bible, Church, and Narrative Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 15.
43 Ibid., 17.
92 and trajectory of this Christological narrative as it initiates people into drama. Loughlin says that when a person enters the scriptural story by entering the Church’s performance of that story: “he or she is baptized into a biblical and ecclesial drama.”44
This Christology is not merely a story to tell, it is a story to enact. Its credibility in a postmodern world is commensurate with the degree to which the storytellers faithfully reflect the cruciformity of the gospel. This story will especially appeal to emerging adults who are weary from writing their own story, those who long to have a part in a sweeping drama far more compelling and enduring than their own.45
This Christology equips these emerging adults with the saving story of Jesus as they head out into a pluralistic society. As they increasingly interact with people from other faiths, their essential contribution to the dialog is to live and tell the story of Jesus.46
The story, itself, writes Paul, is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe
(Rom 1:16). In The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society, Leslie Newbigin explains, “The
Christian must tell it, not because she lacks respect for the many excellencies of her companions—many of whom may be better, more godly, more worthy of respect than she is. She tells it simply as one who has been chosen and called by God to be part of the company which is entrusted with the story.”47
44 Ibid.
45 Margaret Mead, Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap (New York: John Wiley, 1970), 72.Mead would call North America a “prefigurative” society due to the fact that individuals are coming of age without out ready-made scripts. That is, they come of age before they have a script.
46 Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 182.
47 Ibid.
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The postmodern rejection of metanarrative is itself a nihilistic master story.48 It summarizes reality claiming that “there is, finally, only nothing.”49 The assumption behind the Christology of this ministry project is that “that there is nothing whatsoever” beyond the story of God’s revelation culminating in the person of Jesus.50 This is the story of divine love “that goes all the way down.”51
Relationship
Longing for relationship is universal. It is impossible to define oneself without reference to relationship. It is part of the imago Dei. The ubiquity of Facebook among college students points to this longing; though it is a poor substitute for authentic mutuality. Students update their profiles and post revised abstractions of themselves to a host of so-called friends. Unbridled use of this non-committal, pseudo-self-projecting medium threatens to impair a generation’s ability to develop committed relationships that entail vulnerability, risk, and sacrifice. God’s costly participation with humanity beckons students into a mutual, risky, self-giving relationship with him and with each other.
This presentation of the doctrine of the humanity of Christ comes to these students at a time of relational liminality. In regard to their past, the state of their relationships with their family of origins will never be the same since they left home. In regard to their future, most have not yet committed to their new sets of relationships.
48 Loughlin, Telling God’s Story, 17.
49 Ibid.
50 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
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Moreover, some are wounded from parental divorce or from weak father attachments.52
Many carry with them the pain of abandonment they felt in adolescence.53 In addition, the struggles common to humanity, such as loneliness, doubt, temptations, and anxiety about the future seem exaggerated during this liminal stage of life.54
Intimacy with Abba, Father through participation with the Son by his Spirit provides the only true fulfillment to the universal longing for relationship. This approach encourages intimacy with the Son by emphasizing the degree to which the he relates to them. It is likely that most Harding students are familiar with the phrase, “relationship with Jesus,” as well as the platitudes that often come with it. Relationship, however, necessitates relating. These emerging adults must understand that Jesus fully relates to them if they are to experience genuine relationship with him.
The Son of God voluntarily takes on all of the limitations and frailties of the human condition. As such, he identifies with their difficulties. Not only does he identify with the most traumatic episodes of life, he also relates to mundane difficulties. The narrative Christology of this ministry project points out to students that Jesus empathizes with those who face ordinary stressors. For example, he knows what it is like to skip meals due to busyness (Mk 3:20). He relates to students who are the brunt of jokes (Mk
52 David Popenoe, Life without Father (New York: Free Press, 1990), 21. Popenoe decries divorce and its destructive effect on children and society in general. He says that in most cases a child with a dead father is more adaptive than a child with a divorced father.
53 Chap Clark, Hurt, 43-56. Clark demonstrates the systemic nature of this abandonment in his ethnographic work among adolescents.
54 Researchers debate whether it is accurate or not to characterize emerging adulthood as a time of intense struggle. John Bynner, "Rethining the Youth Phase of the Life-Course: The Case for Emerging Adulthood?," Journal of Youth Studies 8, no. 4 (December 2005). Bynner sees emerging adulthood as a time traumatic and terrifying stage of life. Arnett, "Suffering, Selfish, Slackers?" 26. Arnett, however, takes issue with this perspective demonstrating that it is a time of increased sense of well-being. 95
5:40; 15:25-31). He understands what it feels like when people impose stereotypes: “Isn’t this the carpenter (Mk 6:3)?” He knows what it feels like when people rudely interrupt
(Mk 1:36). He sympathizes with those whose lives are so demanding they cannot seem to find time to pray (Mk 1:35-36). He feels for those who have unsupportive families (Mk
3:21).
LaCugna summarizes, “Jesus experienced all the drives and ambiguities of bodily existence: from thirst, sex, hunger and need for sleep, to doubt, fear, and longing, suffering, and finally death itself. His humanity would not be real if anything less were the case.”55 This insight becomes a relational bridge that transcends space and time. Each student begins to realize that he or she does not have to face life and death alone. For that matter, they do not even have to face their mundane daily struggles alone. The Son understands.
Holism
These students’ identity explorations are at peak. They are actively asking the question, “Who am I?” For centuries, God has provided the answer to this question with a memorable, holistic, meaning-laden rite, but the Church often fails to tap into its identity- shaping function.
Concerning North American society, David Elkind laments vanishing markers.56
Western culture blurs the boundaries between life’s stages so that people no longer know
55 LaCugna, God For Us, 295.
56 David Elkind, All Grown up and No Place to Go (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1984), 93. “Vanishing Markers” is the title of chapter five.
96 where they are on the journey.57 In the absence of clear rites of passage young people are left to devise their own. Sadly, the Church has also neglected to provide clear identity markers. Acknowledgement of this negligence might shed some light on why emerging adults are increasingly getting religious tattoos.
As Chapter 1 discusses, students are expressing their spiritual identity through tattoos. Most Harding students who have tattoos report that they acquired them for religious or spiritual reasons. This blending of religion, art, and flesh speaks to its holistic nature. Body art represents the story of their lives.58 Tattoos help some share their faith.
The Church needs to step back and realize what is happening. In many ways, it seems that tattoos have taken the place of baptism. The Church’s failure to fasten Christian identity to the ancient, tangible, biblical rite of baptism has contributed to insecure identities in Christ, whereby students feel compelled to provide their own markers.
Baptism, even if in retrospect,59 offers that tangible, ancient, holistic, body engulfing, statement of unmistakable Christian identity. It speaks of participation with
Christ, of death and resurrection, of incarnation and glorification, of kenosis and theosis, of suffering and vindication, of Abba, Father’s affirmation and call, and of the Spirit’s abiding presence. This marker tells students how to live today. It gives them their ethical bearings. It reminds them of their commitment to God and their commitment to neighbor.
57 Ibid.
58 “Tattoos . . . are symbols of my faith . . . I am reminded of who I need to be.” See Appendix B.
59 Admittedly, most of these students were baptized several years before they showed up on Harding’s campus.
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Its self-emptying symbolism becomes a “curriculum for Christ-likeness.”60 It not only expresses solidarity with Christ, it expresses solidarity with every human who has joined him, who is joining him, or who will join him in death and resurrection. The practice that began in the Jordan with Father, Son, and Spirit has continued to flow into eternity. It is difficult to imagine any tattoo bearing this much theological weight.
However, rather than condemning or condoning tattoos, this project seeks to tap into the beautiful and godly yearning that lies behind the current tattoo phenomenon among emerging adults at Harding University. Their longing to anchor their identity in something tangible provides an opportunity to retroactively freight their baptism with
Christological meaning so that they can begin to draw from its limitless life-shaping resources. God provides a palpable answer to the emerging adult who asks, “Who am I?”
Restorationists and the Human Christ
Most of the students that will encounter this teaching come from Churches of
Christ. As such, it is essential for this Christology to resonate with Restoration ideals.
The prominence of Scripture and baptism in this doctrinal intervention resonate with its
Stone-Campbell origins. This section begins by elaborating on these two points of contact. Afterwards, this section explores how the Christology of this ministry project addresses deficiencies within the Restoration tradition.
Ideally speaking, Restorationists appeal to the authority of Scripture for orthodoxy, not the ecumenical councils. As such, they are not constrained to sift every
60 Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiricy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), 311. This phrase came from the title of the ninth chapter.
98 biblical insight through the sieve of the 4th century metaphysics. In the context of the
Churches of Christ, the teaching concerning the utter humanity of Christ has merit to the degree that Scripture articulates it. In order for this approach to have legitimacy in
Restoration circles it must square not only with the Gospels, but also with the whole of the New Testament.61 The fact that this perspective seeks to show continuity between the
Gospels (set forth in Chapter 3) and Paul’s letters (set forth in Chapter 4) should go a long way among Restorationists. The approach affirms the observation of Richard B.
Hays in his article, “Is Paul’s Gospel Narratable?” He says that the Gospels have a doctrinal core and the letters have a narrative substructure.62
Furthermore, to express the contours of Christology with a baptismal narrative seems especially fitting in a Restorationist context. The belief system of the Churches of
Christ places enormous import on this rite. As Chapter 2 states, the Churches of Christ practice immersion “for the remission of sins.”63 As such, it is the punctiliar locus of salvation. In the nomenclature of Churches of Christ, “when I was baptized” is synonymous with “when I became a Christian.” Devout adherents shy away from language such as “when I was saved” or “when I accepted Jesus” because such phrases blur the significance and efficacy of the baptismal moment. Stated negatively, they teach
61 Leroy Garrett, "New Testament Christianity," in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, Douglas A. Foster, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004), 561.
62 Richard B. Hays, "Is Paul's Gospel Narratable?," Journal of the Study of the New Testament 27, no. 2 (2004): 235. This article strongly affirms the narrative structure of Paul’s theology and soteriology.
63 Ferguson, A Biblical Ecclesiology, 183.
99 that if someone is baptized, but not specifically “for the forgiveness of sins,” then they are not really baptized, thus not saved.64
Challenges to Restorationism
Some members are embarrassed by the hard line Churches of Christ take on baptism. Reactionaries downplay the importance of it, consigning it to the realm of non- essential matters of conversion.65 This project, however, takes a different tack by suggesting that the Churches of Christ, in their narrow focus on the forgiveness of sins, have failed to take advantage of the identity-shaping function of baptism. It is shocking to say, but in some respects Churches of Christ have not made a big enough deal of it.
Baptism means so much more than forgiveness of sins. It is participatory, holistic faith. It is a tangible union with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection telling Christians who they are. The immersive act tells them where they have been, where they are going, how they should live today, whom they live for, and by what means.
Restorationists need to abandon reductionist language that presents baptism as an essential “step” in a “five-step plan of salvation.” Postmodern students bristle at this
64 Paul M. Blowers, Douglas A. Foster, and D. Newell Williams, "Baptism," in The Encyclopedia of Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, Douglas A. Foster, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004), 66. “Invariably those from Churches of Christ have defended the propositions that baptism is for the remission of sins and is essential for salvation. The danger in defending such positions in debate is that baptism might come to be regarded as simply a command to be obeyed, a mechanical act to perform. The most constructive statement of the understanding of baptism among Churches of Christ, however, is that it is in the act of baptism, this act of surrender of one’s life to God in faith and obedience, that God, by the merits of Christ’s blood, cleanses one from sin and truly changes the state of the person from an alien to a citizen of God’s kingdom. Baptism is not a human work; it is the place where God does the work that only God can do. This position has been consistently taught in sermons, books, and Sunday School literature through most of the twentieth century.”
65 Ibid., 66-67.
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Enlightenment-honed formula. This doctrinal intervention presents baptism not as a step in a plan, but as participatory faith.66 God’s thoroughgoing grace calls for a thoroughgoing response. The Son becomes wholly human in order to save the whole person. Thus, each one must respond to God’s holistic grace with his or her entire being.
This kind of faith response is cognitive (belief and confession), volitional (repentance), and physical (baptism). No part of human life is excluded from the engulfing acceptance of God’s love. Unpacking the Christology laden in the baptism of Jesus offers an indirect method of correcting, enriching, and deepening Restoration thought and practice in regard to baptism.
This Christological approach enriches other areas of Restoration theology. For example, as adherents take the humanity of Christ seriously it should reshape their anthropology. Churches of Christ tend to have high regard concerning the ability of humans. They typically reject the doctrines of original sin and original guilt.67 A strong doctrine of free will intensified by Enlightenment optimism on the American frontier influenced the movement’s positive estimation of human ability.68 While Restoration
66 Peter Morgan, "Five Finger Exercise," in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement,, ed. Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, Douglas A. Foster, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, Mi: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004), 338-339. This five-step mindset goes back to early Restorationist, Walter Scott (1796- 1861), who used his five-finger exercise as a memory aid in teaching. The mnemonic served as an “innovative evangelistic technique with a critically sharpened soteriology. Scott instructed, “Beginning with the thumb, point to each finger and repeat the words, ‘faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sins, gift of the Holy Spirit.’” It also served as a contrasting response to the five points of Calvinism. Soon after Scott, however, the five-step plan changed to hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. This is the plan these students know.
67 Paul M. Blowers; William Kooi, "Anthropology," in Encylcopedian of the Stone-Campbell Movement, eds. Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, Douglas A. Foster, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004), 29.
68 Ibid., 29-30. “Barton Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, and their associates reflected a profound philosophical debt to the British Empiricist John Locke and to Scottish Common 101 preachers do not necessarily present these anthropological views systematically, their sermons and classes tend to have a strong undercurrent of “believe the plain truth,” “do your best,” “choose right,” and “try harder.”69
At first glance, the doctrine of the full humanity of Christ seems to affirm this high anthropology. Insisting that Jesus was “like his brothers in every way” (Heb 2:17), yet lived a sinless life seems to imply that humans have the capacity for moral perfection.
A facile view of this doctrine might propose that Jesus, with the capacity of a human, is simply the only human who rightly exercised his choice not to sin. He lived a complete human life with the resources afforded to all humans, but, unlike all other humans, Jesus chose not to sin. According to this oversimplification, other humans, by nature, could have done the same, but simply chose otherwise. In keeping with this view, Jesus’ success, his moral perfection, is what makes his sacrifice pleasing to God and his life exemplary to humans.
Deeper exploration, however, reveals that Jesus does not do it alone. This lack of autonomy is true of both his divinity and his humanity. Jesus needs the resources God provides in order to live faithfully.70 As the representative for humanity, Jesus demonstrates that God’s intent for humans is that they rely on him. This understanding of the humanity of Jesus indirectly corrects Restorationist anthropology by addressing the question, “How does he do it?” The answer is simply, “by God.” Without God, humans
Sense Realism,” 29. Barton’s critics called him “Pelagian” because he taught that humans, even in their fallen state, were still “capacitated moral agents,” 30.
69 Ibid., 29.
70 Jenson, Systematic Theology, 215. This dependence not only displays the fullness of his humanity, but also the fullness of his deity. God as Father, Son, and Spirit is the antithesis of autonomy. 102 have absolutely no capacity within them for godliness. This Christology replaces autonomous language such as “do your best” and “try harder” with participatory language: “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25).
Furthermore, this approach taps into and addresses the hesitation that
Restorationists have had toward Trinitarianism.71 Starting “from below” at the baptism of
Jesus, rather than “from above” guards this Christology from abstract speculation. In
Restorationist fashion, this approach seeks to allow Scripture to shape theology, rather than letting historical theology shape Scripture. Such a pursuit, to whatever degree it is possible, captures the very essence of Restoration origins. Nevertheless, without seeking
Nicean and Chalcedonian approval, the inquiry leads to a biblical, baptismal, participatory, Trinitarian faith that falls well within the parameters of both ecumenical councils. As such this teaching has the potential to free Restorationists to embrace a robust and transforming doctrine of Father, Son, and Spirit. Restorationists should cite the Trinitarian formula at baptism not only out of obedience to Matthew 28:19, but out of doctrinal conviction that this moment of faith incorporates the person into life with the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Integral to the issue of Trinity is the Holy Spirit. Churches of Christ tend to offer very little positive teaching about the role of the Holy Spirit.72 Controversies involving
71 Hymnals in the Churches of Christ are one place to document this Trinitarian hesitation. Most of hymnals used by the Churches of Christ change the lyrics to Reginald Heber’s classic song, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The last line of the original song is, “God over all, and blessed Trinity.” The altered hymnals read, “God over all, and blest eternally.” See Great Songs of the Church (Hammond, IN: Great Songs Press, 1979), 396; See also Songs of the Church (West Monroe, LA: Howard, 1977), 186.
72 Byron C. Lambert, "Doctrine of the Holy Spirit," in Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, eds. Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, Douglas A. Foster, D. Newell Williams (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans 2004), 403.
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Pentecostalism or the “Word only view” have jaded the discussion.73 Rather than merely reacting, Restoration leaders need to be constructing a biblical doctrine of the Spirit.
Pneumatology, however, is not a stand-alone pursuit. The proper starting place for a healthy understanding of the Holy Spirit is a sound doctrine of Christ.74 Along this line, intervention emphasizes the significant role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, in the
Godhead, in the church, in the world, as well as in the life of the believer. To be sure, this topic needs more attention, but participatory Christology is a good starting point.
Finally, this doctrine of the humanity of Christ provides a clear, biblical
Christology in a movement that, in spite of its namesake, has settled for Christological ambiguity. “Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?” is often the extent of the
Christological inquiry. Members fill the vacuum with distorted Christologies such as a flattened version of “Christ, the author of Scripture,” inclining toward bibliolatry.75
Another option is a provincial form of “Christ, the Lord of the Church,” which can become blinding traditionalism.76 On the other end of the spectrum, members might adhere to a “Christ, the liberator of religious restrictions,” producing all manner of superficial causes.
73 Ibid., 405. Lambert catalogs these two views as “verbal-transcendent” and “verbal-restrictive,” respectively, based on how the Spirit interacts with Scripture in the life of believers. Mediating views represented in Restoration history are “verbal-augmentative” and “verbal-coefficient.”
74 Inagrace T. Dietterich, "Missional Communities: Cultivating Communities of the Holy Spirit," in Missional Church, ed. Darrell L. Guder (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1998), 159. Dietterich’s chapter is a rich and timely pneumatolgy for the church in a postmodern context. She, too, explores the connection between Jesus’ baptism and Christian baptism in order to discern the role of the Spirit.
75Thomas H. Olbricht, "Hermeneutics in the Churches of Christ," Restoration Quaterly 37, no. 1 (1995): 19-20.
76 Ibid.
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Furthermore, the approach gives depth and meaning to the notion of a relationship with Christ. The “man versus plan” controversy that ensued sixty years ago in the
Churches of Christ certainly weakened the stronghold of the lifeless “plan.”77 However, the “man” option left people with vague notions of Jesus’ personal love and grace. This doctrinal intervention grounded in baptism advocates intimacy with Christ through shared
Sonship and articulates in narrative form the criteria for Christlikeness. Expressed densely by the immersive act, the believer is to participate in Christ’s Spirit-empowered, self-emptying life of intimate faithfulness to Abba, Father. Jesus’ kenotic, baptismal trajectory becomes the path of suffering upon which his followers are to joyfully embark.
This participation in Christ’s self-emptying course refocuses priorities. God’s participation in the suffering of the world through Christ’s church means giving scandalous preference to the marginal, the poor, the alien, the widow, the orphan, the weak, the sinful, the broken, and the failing. Churches learn that to be cruciform is to serve the “other” in the community without expectation of gain. This entails exploring
“go structures” where the church shows solidarity with the community rather merely maintaining the “come structures.”78
Furthermore, this participation in Christ’s self-emptying course refocuses how
Christians treat each other. Paul makes this connection to the Christians in Philippi:
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
77 John Mark Hicks, "The Man or the Plan? K.C. Moser and the Theology of Grace among Mid- Twentieth Century Churches of Christ," in W.B. West, Jr. Lectures for the Advancement of Christian Scholarship (Harding University Graduate School of Religion: 1993).
78 David Claydon, ed. A New Vision, a New Heart, a Renewed Call (Volume 1): Lausanne Occasional Papers (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2004), 576.
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then make joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition of vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil 2:1-5).
Hays sees salvation itself as participation with Christ. “We receive salvation insofar as we are united with Christ and belong to him.”79 He goes on to describe two implications of such a uniting that articulate well the intent of this chapter.
For one thing, a participatory soteriology ensures that salvation always has an ecclesial character: we are not saved as solitary individuals, but we become incorporated in Christ, so that our fate is bound together not only with him, but also with our brothers and sisters in him. Second, participation in Christ entails conformity to the pattern of self-sacrificial love that he embodied and enacted on our behalf. Therefore, a narrative soteriology will always highlight the ethical implications of participation in Christ: our lives become shaped in accordance with his pattern of action.80
Holistic spiritual formation, then, is that shaping effect that occurs when one takes part in Christ; a union that includes sharing in his Sonship, taking up his suffering, and living by his Spirit. Emerging adults at Harding University need to realize, even if in retrospect, that this is the meaning of their baptism. This doctrine of the humanity of
Christ invites students to a life of solidarity with him, providing them with the identity they have longed to discover and the wherewithal to live according to it. Having set forth the doctrine (Chapter 3) with its implications (Chapter 4), the next main section describes the methodology of the intervention (Chapter 5) followed by the responses of the students to the material (Chapter 6).
79 Hays, “Is Paul’s Gospel Narratable?” 235.
80 Ibid. 106
PART THREE
IMPLEMENTATION FROM BELOW
CHAPTER 5
STRATEGIC PLAN FOR INDUCTIVE INTERVENTION
Faith is complex. Experiences, culture, media, religious background, peers, and parents all shape one’s belief system. Whether actively or passively, these students have been constructing their respective worldviews for nearly twenty years by the time they are sophomores in college. Seeking to alter or enrich the core of their views about Christ in such a short amount of time is quite ambitious.
Affecting this sort of change does not happen by accident. The “inductive” nature of this intervention does not imply that the approach is unplanned. The facilitator must carefully think through every dimension of his or her unique role in this collaborative pursuit. While the instructor must not micro-manage the process, he or she is still required to articulate clear goals and formulate deliberate strategies that will vehicle truth and facilitate transformation. This fifth chapter sets forth the desired outcomes, delivery style, and learning strategies of the doctrinal intervention. The bulk of this chapter describes each of the seven movements of the intervention in order to convey the content as well as the timing, transitions, and tempo of this inductive approach.
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Desired Outcomes
Harding’s statement of institutional purpose requires that the university provide
“programs that enable students to acquire essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions.”1
Since this doctrinal intervention is an integral part of two college courses, it falls under the same rubric as all courses taught at Harding University. As such, this doctrinal intervention also seeks to help students acquire knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
Knowledge is an obvious requirement. In order to shape these students beliefs about Jesus, students need certain information that they did not previously have. This
Christology is grounded in key scriptures that the students must know: 1 John 4:2, 2 John
7, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 2:40-52, Hebrews 2:14-17, Hebrews 5:7-9, and Philippians 2:1-11.
In addition to Scripture, these students need to know various theological concepts.
This project calls students to do deliberate theology.2 If these students are to evaluate their own theological assumptions, they must be able to articulate them. This doctrinal intervention helps students name their existing beliefs by introducing them to theological vocabulary such as: dualism, docetism, Christology, theology, anthropology, hamartiology, kenosis, theosis, prolepsis, pneumatology, cruciform, classical theism, and more.
Beyond Scripture and concepts, these students also need to be aware of the basic content of the creeds or definitions from Nicea and Chalcedon. Students from
Restorationist backgrounds have likely never knowingly read the Nicene Creed or the
1 Harding University, Expanded Statement of Institutional Purpose, October 23, 2001
2 Kenda Creasy Dean, "Fessing Up: Owning Our Theological Commitments," in Starting Right: Thinking Theologically About Youth Ministry, ed. Chapman Clark, Kenda Creasy Dean, and David Rahn (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan/Youth Specialties Academic, 2001), 30. 109
Definition of Chalcedon.3 Nevertheless, the influence of these two creeds shapes these students without their awareness. In order to probe or engage these boundaries of orthodoxy, students need to have a more conscious awareness of them.
Nevertheless, this approach hopes to offer more than just knowledge. Facts alone do not bring about holistic transformation. This intervention also seeks to teach certain skills. Students need to learn how to read Scripture theologically. This Christological method models a narrative-theological approach to Scripture. It encourages readers to step back looking for typological themes and narrative substructures. For example, the
Exodus is a dominant motif in Israel’ s understanding of God. It is a cord that holds the
Old Testament together. Realizing this helps one see beyond the individual trees in order to take in the theological forest. This is true for the New Testament as well. Themes emerge that serve as master stories.4 For example, this approach sees Christ’s participation with humanity as a foundational component of the biblical storyline. As students discover this they will hopefully become more proficient at recognizing other leitmotifs.
In addition to narrative-theological interpretation, this intervention teaches the skill of self-inquiry. While it is essential to slow down and ask questions of the text, it is also essential to ask questions of oneself. This intervention teaches students to become
3 Many students, however, are familiar with a song called “Creed,” covered by Third Day in 2003. In 1993, Rich Mullins released this song, which puts the Apostles’ Creed to contemporary Christian music. The Apostles’ Creed is very similar to the Nicene Creed.
4 Michael Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul's Narrative Soteriology (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009), 9. The subtitle of Gorman’s first chapter is “the theological significance of Paul’s master story.” Gorman sees the Christ hymn of Philippians 2:6-11 as Paul’s meta-narrative.
110 more aware of the personal biases and presuppositions that they bring to the biblical inquiry.5
In addition to knowledge and skills, this doctrinal intervention seeks to inspire and enable a number of dispositions in keeping with the teaching of Christ’s full humanity. Increased humility, compassion, peacemaking, forgiveness, and servanthood are a few examples. Admittedly, outcomes of this sort are difficult to measure, but highly desired nonetheless.
Beyond the rhetoric of institutional demands, this intervention seeks to help students understand that through Christ, they are sons and daughters of God. Their filial identity should engender faithfulness to God. Furthermore, participation in Christ should result in Spirit-dependence manifested by self-emptying for the sake of others. In other words, this doctrinal intervention hopes to do more than enable students to acquire knowledge, skills, and dispositions, it seeks also to change beliefs, attitudes, and values.
Dialogic Delivery Style
Since this intervention seeks to change beliefs, attitudes, and values, it could easily create defensiveness.6 A frontal assault delivery style will deeply entrench these students into their current beliefs, attitudes, and values. The teacher needs to allow space for the students to change incrementally.7 If a given student is to own his or her own
5 Dean, “Fessing Up,” 30.
6 Chap Clark, class lecture, “An Integrated Approach to Total Church Life,” May 18, 2005, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA. In this lecture, Clark attributed these insights to the work of Sarah Trenholm.
7 Ibid.
111 change, this intervention must not merely be a one-sided appeal. 8 It must be in dialog.9
The “from below” principle that guides this whole process demands that the teacher meet these students where they are in order to participate in a mutual quest for truth.10 This is in contrast to a style that begins by putting forth a stark, provocative claim. Rather than employing a style that is deductive, linear, and monologic, this doctrinal intervention is inductive, fluid, and dialogic. Perhaps the best way to describe this style of teaching is with an analogy.
In September 2010, owners of a house in Dorset, England uncovered on their dining room wall a hidden mural painted by the famous Lucian Freud.11 As the British couple removed the wallpaper they unveiled a masterpiece worth millions.12 In this analogy, the doctrine of the humanity of Christ is the painting. The instructor begins class by raising a question, or analogically tearing off a strategic piece of wallpaper revealing a portion of the painting. Hopefully the glimpse of the painting inspires students to join in the uncovering pursuit. If not, the teacher tears off another piece. He or she does this until student interest is piqued. Their questions reveal more of the exquisite artwork. They soon figure out that better questions remove larger swaths of paper. Some of their queries build upon the instructor’s initial questions; others begin unveiling a different section of the painting with their seemingly unrelated questions. Rather than insisting that there is
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid. Clark says there is an 80% greater likelihood of agreement with dialog versus monolog.
10 Ibid. Along these lines Clark cites the principle of “assimilation/contrast” as set forth in social judgment theory by Sarah Trenholm.
11 William Feaver, "Wall Flower: A Lucian Freud Mural Is Uncovered in an English Country House," ARTnews, September 2010, 6.
12 Ibid. 112 only one entry point to this mural, the instructor affirms their absorption into the project by momentarily abandoning his or her section of the wall in order to join them at theirs.
The process continues as long as the students are motivated to keep asking questions.
Potential rewards and risks are inherent in this approach. The pinnacle of learning occurs when this collaborative inquiry unveils a portion of the painting that is unknown even to the instructor. Such moments motivate the teacher and the student to keep tearing. The risk, however, is that if the students do not engage, the painting simply remains veiled.
The effort must be collective. It is only with the help of interested students that the instructor will continue the pursuit. Though the mural is never fully unveiled, the hope is that the intervention has enabled these students to see enough of the magnificence that they are inspired to continue exploring the truth of Jesus’ humanity and divinity for the rest of their lives.
This dialogic style requires the instructor and the students to listen deeply to each other. This deep listening, however, is risky, for it inevitably calls for individuals to change.13 This approach has, indeed, resulted in change for both students and the instructor. The understanding and presentation of this doctrine continues to be altered, amended, expanded, and transformed because the teacher and the students have continued to probe and press the ideas set before them. Students who participated in the
2006 presentation of this doctrine would hardly recognize the 2010 version of it. Not only are the methods different, the content is different, for the theology, itself, has changed more of the mural has emerged.
13 Moira Lee, "Experiencing Shared Inquiry through the Process of Collaborative Learning," Teaching Theology and Religion 3, no. 2 (2000): 113.
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Learning Strategies
In keeping with this interactive style, this intervention uses several “best practices” in order to vehicle its content. In Classroom Instruction that Works, Robert
Marzano identifies nine instructional strategies.14 Two of these are particularly relevant.
First, this doctrinal intervention uses the strategy of comparison. The teacher facilitates student exploration of similarities and differences. Marzano’s research finds this instructional strategy to be the most effective.15 For example, students might compare and contrast the attributes of classical theism with the biblical revelation of God in Christ.
Inviting students to create metaphors and analogies is another way to express this strategy of comparison. As students try to grasp the theological concepts, they instinctively generate earthly analogies in their minds. If students find the learning environment safe, they may share their analogies with the class. In one class, a girl enthusiastically likened the Jesus’ divine self-awareness to the Jason Bourne character in the 2002 film, The
Bourne Identity.16 The class took some time to explore the similarities and differences between Jesus’ self-discovery and Jason Bourne’s.17 This student’s analogy steered the
14 Robert J. Marzano; Debra J. Pichering; Jane E. Pollock, Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001). The book devotes a chapter to each instructional strategy. The nine strategies are: 1) identifying similarities and differences, 2) summarizing and note taking, 3) reinforcing effort and providing recognition, 4) homework and practice, 5) nonlinguistic representations, 6) cooperative learning, 7) setting objectives and providing feedback, 8) generating and testing hypotheses, 9) cues, questions, and advance organizers.
15 Ibid., 15.
16 Doug Liman, "The Bourne Identity," (Universal Pictures, 2002).
17 Marzano, Classroom Instruction That Works, 49-59. When the instructor took this student’s analogy seriously, he tapped into Marzano’s third instructional strategy, that of “reinforcing effort and providing recognition.”
114 doctrinal pursuit in a direction that led to brilliant insights, which the instructor could not have otherwise induced.
Second, this doctrinal intervention uses nonlinguistic representations.18 For example, the instructor draws numerous simple diagrams on the dry-erase board in order to anchor concepts. One of these simple diagrams is useful when responding to students’ early resistance to the discussion of Jesus’ full humanity. For example, in “Christ and
Culture,” on October 28, 2010, during the first thirty minutes of the presentation, I paused to solicit reaction. A male student on the back row raised his hand and said, “It seems like you are not being balanced. It seems like you are emphasizing his humanity but you are not equally emphasizing his divinity.” In response I drew a tiny circle next to large circle. I labeled the small circle “fully human” and the large circle “fully divine.”
Gesturing toward the two circles on the board, I said, “Most churches do a good job affirming the divinity of Jesus with their sermons, classes, and songs, but they often neglect to affirm his utter humanity.” “This,” pointing to the tiny circle, “is the reason I am being unbalanced right now. For the next few days I want to shore up this tenet of
Christian faith to which many only give lip-service, afterwards we will balance it with his divinity, but for now let us look deeper into the biblical teaching of his full humanity.”
Perhaps more memorable than diagrams is a brief drama or mime that the instructor does with the help of a student. This symbolic action typically occurs toward the end of the intervention. After four days of discussing the full humanity of Jesus, it is time to try to square Jesus’ humanity with his divinity. In order to do so, the instructor
18 Ibid., 72-83.
115 seeks out a volunteer, usually a large male student for effect. The student comes to the front of the classroom and climbs up on a table with the instructor. As the two of them are standing on the table facing the classroom, the instructor encourages the students to open their Bibles to Philippians 2:5-11. In this mime, the student represents God, the
Father, and the teacher represents God, the Son. Another student then reads the Christ- hymn from 2:5 to 2:8 loudly and slowly. As the reader says, “Who being in very nature
God,” the teacher grasps the arm of the student standing at his side on the table. When the reader says, “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing,” the instructor dramatically lets go of the student and begins to descend from the table to the floor as the passage is read. This descent continues until 2:8,
“becoming obedient unto death—even death on a cross!” At this point the instructor is lying flat on the floor. The instructor lies still for several awkward seconds. When the reader breaks silence, “the Son” gets up off of the floor holding a hand up to “the Father” who hoists him up onto the table as 2:9-11 is read: “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This is one example of many strategies this intervention uses to make theology palpable.
Seven Movements of the Intervention
The “from below” approach demands attention to matters of timing and order.
The inquiry must slowly build bridges with the planks of shared observation rather than burn bridges them with the flame of polarizing claims. In order to get the students to
116 engage it is important to meet them where they are. Two preliminary items set the stage for the seven movements of the doctrinal intervention.
Before the instructor formally broaches the question of Jesus’ humanity, he introduces the students to an evangelistic method using the Gospel of Mark. This presentation familiarizes students with the story of Jesus in Mark and encourages them to share the story with a friend. The interactive Bible study approach emphasizes the degree to which Christ understands difficulties—from common annoyances to the horrors of death. By the time the instructor begins the actual intervention, the students already know the story of the suffering servant that Mark portrays.
The second preliminary item is a pretest.19 The instructor administers a brief anonymous instrument to the students in order to assess key aspects of their beliefs about
Jesus. In addition to providing data, the assessment signals a new direction in class, raising questions that the intervention implicitly promises to address.
Movement One: Introducing the Heresy
Having measured the students’ beliefs concerning the doctrine of Christ, it is time to begin the intervention. The first movement articulates the problem. The belief that
Jesus was not fully human is a heresy that dates back to the first century. The New
Testament specifically addresses this false teaching. For example, 1 John 4:2-3 says,
“This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” The same author addresses the issue even more
19 See Appendix C.
117 poignantly in 2 John 7: “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge
Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
After reading these passages, the instructor explains the emergence of docetism in early Christian thought.20 A simple diagram represents how Christianity began within the confines of Judaism but shortly expanded into the broader Greco-Roman context.
Docetism was not a problem for Jewish thinking Christians; however, as Greeks absorbed the truth about Jesus, they did so with a dualistic worldview.21 The following discussion explains the heresy and its origins.
As the Greeks accommodated the gospel, they had to categorize Jesus as either spirit or matter; he could not be both since matter is evil. If people with this mindset accepted Jesus as God, then they could not also perceive of him as having become matter.
As such, he must not have come in the flesh. Docetism synthesized Greek dualism with
Christianity by maintaining that the Son of God only appeared to have come in the flesh.22 At baptism, God came upon the man, Jesus of Nazareth, but departed from him just before death. After all, the docetist thought, surely God cannot actually die. John’s
20 Many scholars see docetism as the issue behind John’s letters. Robert Kysar, 1, 2, 3 John, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1986), 62, 91. Bart Ehrman, "1 John 4:3 and the Orthodox Corruption of Scripture," Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 79, no. 3-4 (1988). Rudolf Bultmann, The Johannine Epistles, Hermeneia (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1973), 63.
21 Stephen S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 51 (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1984), xxiii-xxvi, 222-224. Smalley sees two issues behind 1 John. In addition to the docetic views of Hellenistic Christians, there are also Jewish Christians with Christology that is too “low.” Christ, to them, is not divine, thus John emphasizes Jesus’ divine status and origins.
22 G.W. Grogan, "Docetism," in The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. J.D. Douglas (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1974), 305. This article provides a good summary of this early Christian heresy.
118 first letter squarely confronts this view by anchoring the divine Sonship of Jesus in his crucifixion, as well as in his baptism.23
This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son (1 John 5:6-10).
Having shown the earliest roots of this heresy, the instructor seeks reaction from the students: “Any thoughts? Any reactions?” If not, the instructor asks a series of questions in order to engage them in discussion: “Does some form of docetism still exist in Christian churches today?” “If so, how?” “In practical terms, what are the dangers of docetism for Christians?” “In other words, what difference does it make whether or not
Jesus came in the flesh?” “What difference does it make whether or not the Son of God became fully human?” These questions gauge the theological astuteness of the class.
Their responses or lack of responses guide the direction of the intervention. When this discussion winds down, the instructor moves to the second movement.
Movement Two: The Baptism of Jesus
The passage in 1 John 5:6-10 concerning water and blood segues to the baptism of
Jesus. The second movement of this doctrinal intervention explores Mark’s baptismal account. First, the instructor notes that John’s baptism is a fitting “beginning of the
23 Some scholars indicate that 1 John is not necessarily confronting docetic Christology. The following represent those who explain that the salient issue behind 1 John is soteriological rather than Christological. Ramond E. Brown, The Epistles of John, Anchor Bible, vol. 30 (New York: Doubleday, 1982), 58-59, 76, 595. Marinus De Jonge, Jesus: Stranger from Heaven and Son of God, trans., John E. Steely(Missoula, MT: Scholars, 1977), 205-206. 119 gospel” (Mk 1:1). The instructor asks why John’s baptism might be an appropriate beginning point for the story of Jesus. Second, the instructor points out that John’s baptism was for forgiveness and repentance and that the people were confessing their sins
(Mk 1:4-5). “Why is Jesus undergoing such a baptism?” the teacher asks. This question usually generates enough theological dissonance to elicit several responses. The discussion creates an opportunity to explore the idea of Jesus’ solidarity with sinful humanity. Third, the instructor asks questions about the voice from heaven (Mk 1:11):
“For whom was the voice intended?” “Who heard it?” “Was it audible or was it an inner experience?” “Why does Jesus need to hear this statement?”
After discussing these matters at length, the instructor narrows the inquiry. “If the heavenly voice was intended for Jesus, then it functioned as information, confirmation, affirmation, or inauguration.” After explaining each of these options, the teacher invites input from the students. Following a period of dialog, he or she conducts an in-class survey concerning their opinions on the four possible functions of the voice. By the time the results are counted, a student inevitably raises his or her hand recalling Jesus’ childhood statement from Luke 2:49, “I had to be about my Father’s business.” This interjection provides a smooth transition to the next movement.
Movement Three: The Boy Jesus in the Temple
The third movement of this intervention thoroughly explores the boyhood temple account of Luke 2. As the class turns attention to this story, the instructor says, “This story does indeed speak to the issue of Jesus’ self-consciousness, but it also offers other insights concerning the larger question of his full humanity.” The instructor then reads
120
Luke 2:40-52, making observations along the way, such as the reaction of the parents, and the elements of the story that portray Jesus as a learner.
The instructor also acknowledges the distinctive features of the boy Jesus in this narrative, such as his unparalleled wisdom, his radical devotion, and exclusive reference to God as “my Father.” The conclusion of the passage serves as a fitting transition to the next movement of the intervention: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk 2:52).
Movement Four: The Process of Jesus’ Perfection
The fourth movement of the intervention explores the idea that Jesus grew. More specifically, this section encourages students to grapple with notion that Jesus developed spiritually (“in favor with God”). A key passage for such inquiry is Hebrews 5:7-9. The instructor points out from this text that Jesus is reliant upon God, that he is incapable of saving himself, that he learns obedience through suffering, and that he was made perfect.
This section is a natural place to discuss ideas of sinlessness and perfection.
Students often have a static view of perfection defined as “the avoidance of bad things.”24
To represent this understanding, the instructor draws a stick figure inside a box and with the word “sin” written outside the box. The goal, according to this reductionist perspective, is for the human to never go outside the lines.
While sinlessness certainly includes the avoidance of bad things, it is so much more. The instructor advocates a dynamic view of perfection, which calls for increasing trust, reliance, and compassionate self-emptying for the sake of others. The instructor
24 Davidson, “Pondering the Sinlessness of Jesus Christ,” 393. “Sinlessness is not a static ‘quality’: it is the outcome of an enduring and horrendous fight.” 121 draws a simple linear scale from 1 to 100 representing measures of “Godlikeness.” At the
100 point, the instructor draws a cross. This simple diagram demonstrates that Jesus’ spiritual and moral development was a process, a journey. It teaches that God prepared
Jesus to take greater steps of reliance. It implies that Jesus was not ready to go to the cross at age twenty-two. The scale suggests that each incremental progression of godliness required increasing measures of trust and surrender. Temptation, then, is not merely the lure to do something wicked. Temptation is also the appeal to take matters into one’s own hand rather than to trust God in his call to a dependent path of self- emptying. At every juncture of Jesus’ spiritual development, he trusted his Father when their wills collided. His statement of intimate surrender “Abba, Father, . . . not what I will, but what you will” (Mk 14:36) captures the essence of his entire journey of faithfulness. This disposition guided Jesus into uncharted realms of holistic obedience, leading him ultimately to the final step of obedience that perfectly mirrored the Father’s heart. “It is finished” (Jn 19:30).
Movement Five: Full Humanity and Sin
The instructor transitions from the fourth movement to the fifth by writing a few questions on the board: “How did Jesus do it? Did Jesus live a sinless life based on his full humanity or his full divinity? Did he do so with human resources or divine resources?” As the students begin to engage these questions the discussion moves toward the nature of humanity. The fifth movement explores the ramifications for humanity if
Jesus is fully human. In terms of systematic theology, this portion of the intervention deals with theological anthropology and hamartiology.
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In order to help students think about the relationship between the humanity of
Jesus and humanity in general, the instructor places four Latin phrases on the board in a column: posse peccare (able to sin), non posse peccare (not able to sin), posse non peccare (able to not sin), and non posse non peccare (not able to not sin).25 Each of these phrases represents possibilities regarding the relationship between humans and sin. After defining each of the phrases, the instructor tries to poll the class concerning which of these options describes the nature of humans. Students seek clarification before voting.
They ask if the instructor means Adam or after Adam. They also ask if the instructor means Christian human or pre-Christian human. The instructor affirms their astuteness and has them evaluate Adam separately from humans after Adam (but non-Christian).
The instructor then polls the students concerning their understanding of Jesus. The instructor allows the controversy to brew for a while and then offers an insight that helps clarify the issue. The instructor writes the phrase, “when left to own devices” on the board next to each category of humanity. In other words, what is the relationship between
Adam and sin “when left to his own devices?” What is the relationship between humans and sin “when left to their own devices?” This changes everything. This insight helps students to recognize that God never intended humans to be autonomous. Goodness is impossible without God. The instructor then asks, “What is the relationship between
Jesus and sin if he is left to his own devices?” This question helps students think about the connection between sin and autonomy from God. It helps students think about Jesus’
25 Bradley L. Nassif, "Toward a 'Catholic' Understanding of St. Augustine's View of Original Sin," Union Seminary Quarterly Review 39, no. 4 (1984): 297. Nassif explains that Augustine presented the distinctions regarding humanity and sin in chronological progression from “possible not to sin” in the Garden to “not possible to sin” in heaven. 123 dependence on God as the fountainhead of his goodness (Heb 5:7-9). Students may even recognize that divinity does not exist in isolation.
Movement Six: Full Divinity and “the Omnis”
This last insight segues into the sixth movement of the intervention: the theological ramifications. The belief that Jesus is fully divine is anchored in his resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:3-4). Moving back from this tangible proclamation, the instructor asks, “If Jesus is fully divine, what does this tell us about the nature of
God?”26 The instructor draws a large “v” on the board to represent the gospel trajectory, which includes themes such as incarnation and glorification, death and resurrection, humility and exaltation. This is usually the most natural time to perform the brief mime based on Philippians 2 described earlier in this chapter.
A discussion follows the skit concerning God’s self-emptying. The teacher asks several questions along these lines: “Of what did the Son empty himself: divine nature or divine prerogatives?” “Is it possible for the Son to divest himself of his powers and privileges and still be fully God?”
The teacher often tells a story at this point. He asks the class to imagine that
David Burks, the president of Harding University, resigned as president, shredded his degrees, deeded his house to Harding, bequeathed his retirement accounts, savings accounts, and vehicles to various staff members and proceeded to hitchhike to Memphis with nothing but the clothes he was wearing. Once in Memphis, he lived on the street, building relationships with the homeless, standing in line at the soup kitchen, and all the
26 Pannenberg, Jesus—God and Man, 53-72. Among contemporary theologians, Pannenberg is the chief proponent of this theological method that begins with the historical resurrection of Jesus. 124 while he voluntarily barred himself from returning to his possessions and position of influence. The instructor then asks, “If David Burks did that, would he still be David
Burks?” This story helps students to see that the Son of God can empty himself of divine advantages and still remain divine.
The teacher then lists several attributes of classical theism on the board such as
“omnipotent,” “omnipresent,” “omniscient,” “immutable,” and “impassible.” While listing and defining these attributes, he or she says, “We have seen that Jesus reveals true humanity since he is truly human, however, Jesus is also truly divine, and thus, he reveals true divinity. In other words, we learn who God is by knowing Jesus.” Then the instructor asks a series of questions intermittent with their questions and comments: “With this in mind, what do we learn about God, if Jesus is, as Christians confess, the fullest revelation of God? What does the revelation of God in Christ say about God and the attributes of classical theism? Most poignantly, does the incarnation and crucifixion of the Son flow out of the nature of God or does it run counter to the nature of God?”27 The ensuing dialog is sublime. The discussion plumbs the deepest assumptions of Christian belief. As such, it is essential that instructor models humility, respect, openness, and a sense of awe as the students search out the mysteries of God. Before leaving the topic, the teacher writes a phrase next to each “omni,” such as, “Omnipotent—unless voluntarily choosing to limit his power for the sake of relationship.” “Omniscient—unless voluntarily choosing to limit his knowledge for the sake of relationship.” These qualifying phrases
27 Gorman, Inhabiting the Cruciform God, 29, 123. Gorman says that at the deepest level, the “although he was God” of Phil 2:6 also means “because he was God.” See also N. T. Wright, The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology (London: T&T Clark, 1991), 84-87. Wright sees incarnation and crucifixion as windows into God. Christ’s kenosis, then is “the proper expression of divine character,” 87. 125 seek to uphold both God’s foundational attribute of love as well as the classical definitions of divinity.
Movement Seven: Anchoring the Theology in Ritual
The seventh movement takes the class full circle to the concrete moment of Jesus’ baptism. At this point the instructor traces the highpoints of this doctrinal journey. Based on all that has been discussed, the instructor asks the students to consider, in retrospect, the fuller meaning of Jesus’ baptism. The teacher wants the students to freight this tangible moment with as much theology as it will hold. To give structure to this process, he or she writes on the board all of the links that students recognize between Jesus’ baptism and the broader theological topics discussed over the last few class periods. The teacher tries to induce the following connections, not necessarily in the order listed. First, they should recall the participatory dimension of Jesus’ baptism; that this moment symbolizes God’s utter solidarity with humanity. Second, the students should be able to see the symbolism of death and resurrection in the act of immersion. Third, they should be able to articulate Trinitarian insights present at Jesus’ baptism. Fourth, students should recall the significant role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus as represented by the dove.
Fifth, they should make baptismal connections with Jesus’ clear affirmation of Sonship.
Other insights may come forth, but these are enough to transition to a final exercise.
Having stuffed the contents of this intervention back into the baptism of Jesus, the instructor will than ask the students to reflect upon the theological density of their own baptism. In order to get to this level of reflection, the instructor has the students to take write an essay on the meaning of Christian baptism based on the insights that the class
126 has written on the board concerning Jesus’ baptism. Once they have written this general essay, the teacher requests that they make it personal. The instructor says, “If you have been baptized into Christ, take a moment to write down the theological truths that this tangible moment expresses.” He or she then puts the following optional sentence starters on the board: “My baptism into Christ . . .” “My baptism into Christ announces that . . .”
“My baptism into Christ reminds me that I am . . .” “My baptism into Christ assures me that . . .” After the students finish writing, the instructor places them in groups of three so that they may read their essays aloud. Other than the final exam and a post-test instrument, this exercise concludes the doctrinal intervention.
The goal of this intervention is ambitious. Generally speaking, the desired outcome for these students is holistic spiritual formation. More specifically, as these students embrace the doctrine of God’s full participation with humanity in Christ, this truth will inspire and enable them to live out a participatory, Trinitarian, self-emptying, others-oriented, Spirit-empowered faith in Christ Jesus. In short, the goal is for these students to fully identify with the one who fully identifies with them. Having explained the entire intervention, Chapter 6 analyzes quantitative and qualitative responses of students in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this final project.
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CHAPTER 6
STUDENT RESPONSES
Christology shapes life. This conviction drives the intervention. N. T. Wright aptly states, “What you say about Jesus affects your entire worldview. If you see Jesus differently, everything changes. Turn this small rudder, and the whole ship will change tack.”1 Chapter 6 measures the practical differences that this intervention has made in the lives of Harding students. The analysis is both qualitative and quantitative.
Student Narratives
In April 2008 I received a greeting card in campus mail that read, “Dear Mr.
Adair, I just wanted to thank you for all of the great lessons you give. Actually realizing
Jesus’ humanity has given me more hope than I ever thought a few Bible classes could give me. Thank you, [Anna].”2 I saved the note in a folder and did not think of it again for months. During the fall semester of 2008, as I was trying to craft the proposal for this final project, I thought of Anna’s note. The card did not say much, but at the time it was the most tangible evidence I had to indicate that this intervention was doing more than
1 Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 6.
2 Anna (pseudo.), letter to author, April 2008.
128 merely changing students’ opinions. With this in mind, I sent her an email to see if she would be willing to elaborate on the meaning of her note. She agreed to do an interview.
The interaction with Anna gave new life to this final project. Her story motivated me to devise ways of assessing the practical differences the material was making in the lives of other students. I assigned essays in my classes hoping to surface more stories.3 I conducted a lengthy search for two additional students who would help complete the narrative component of this final project.4 I eventually selected Marcus and Rachel for these roles. The outcomes of Anna, Marcus, and Rachel offer three different examples of how Harding students might appropriate this Christology.
Anna
Chapter 1 introduced Anna and her dilemma. Her upbringing in a conservative
Church of Christ served as a tangible reminder of how far she had strayed. She felt that her indiscretion with her boyfriend had estranged her from God and from his salvation.
She still felt powerless to stop the very behavior that was leading her further away from
God. She felt like she had traveled so far down this path that there was no way back.
Anna said, “I felt lost, I tried harder, but it only led to failure.”5
3 The instructions for the essay were as follows. “For up to five optional bonus points, please give your reactions to the class discussion on the humanity of Christ. Was the material new to you? How has this material affected you? Are there any questions that you have about the topic or any snags that remain? What are some practical implications of this teaching? Bonus points will be awarded based on the depth and thoroughness of your reflection, not according to whether or not you agree with instructor.”
4 Tangible appropriation of the doctrine was the chief criterion for selection. See Appendix A for a copy of the email interview that ultimately resulted in the selection of Marcus and Rachel.
5 Anna (pseud.), interview by author, Searcy, AR, August 20, 2008.
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However, during the third week of “Life of Christ,” she found unexpected help for her struggle. As a result of the intervention, Anna reported that she began to relate to
Jesus as one who understands.6 The doctrine of Christ’s full humanity revealed to Anna that God loves her and forgives her because he truly understands how difficult it is to be human.7 She took strength in the fact that Jesus was genuinely tempted. Her connection with Jesus as a fellow struggling human who had overcome inspired and empowered her to do the same. With his help and presence, she changed her dating behavior.8
At the time of the interview, Anna and the young man were engaged to be married. She happily relayed that they were able to “rein it in.”9 Nevertheless, three months after our interview, Anna broke up with her fiancé. In a follow-up conversation
Anna admitted, “I do not think that I would have had the clarity of thought to break up if we were still sexually involved.”10 One of the reasons she cited for ending the relationship with her fiancé is that she found out he was addicted to pornography. In retrospect, she was so grateful to be out of that relationship.11
6 Anna (pseud.), interview by author, Searcy, AR, August 20, 2008.
7 Ibid.
8 Of course, this doctrinal intervention is merely one of many contributors to Anna’s spiritual growth. Anna mentioned other moments that occurred at Harding University that helped undermine her “saved-then-lost-then-saved” soteriology and her “try harder” ethic. She recalled a statement that Dr. Monte Cox, Dean of the College of Bible and Religion, made while she was at the study abroad program in Greece during the summer after her senior year of high school. One night at a devotional Dr. Cox said to the group, “You will never be more saved than you are right now.” She never forgot those words. Also, during her freshman year of college, she heard a lesson that Dr. Cox taught entitled, “Five Ways to Adjust Your Sails to Catch the Wind of the Holy Spirit.” She said she had never heard this kind of teaching on the Holy Spirit before. It is not difficult to see how timely Dr. Cox’s words were for Anna.
9 Anna (pseud.), interview with author, Searcy, AR, August 20, 2008.
10 Anna (pseud.), follow-up interview by author, Searcy, AR, February 2, 2009.
11 Ibid. 130
Anna is currently a producer for the NBC affiliate news in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In a recent email Anna relayed a story that ties the doctrine of the humanity of Christ to her professional life.
I tend to beat myself up a lot after I make mistakes. And when I’ve made “big” mistakes in the past, sometimes I struggle to move past them. During the past summer while I was interning, some of the employees were making a little movie and asked for me to say a line. I didn’t think much about it and said the ten or twelve innocent words for them. A week later the video went viral. The video made news because those employees acting in the film were on camera talent and the dialogue was explicit in nature. Then the movie made national news when they were fired due to the film. As it was my most public and one of the most embarrassing mistakes I had made, I became depressed for several days. I wouldn’t eat. I wouldn’t talk to anybody. I wouldn’t get out of bed. I just wallowed in my horror at the consequences of my actions. I was suspended from work so I didn’t have to go anywhere . . . Christ doesn’t want me to not get out of bed because of a mistake I’ve made. That behavior was an unhealthy extreme. He, however, does want me to take the mistake and learn from it . . . And this is when my altered views of Christ’s humanity truly became important. Before I started studying the humanity of Christ, I thought he was judgmental. In my mind he would have been agreeing with my peers in this situation. However, that wasn’t the case. Instead He was an encouraging friend. As long as things were right between Christ and myself, everything else was all right regardless of the surroundings.12
As of December 2010, Anna is single. In conversation, she reported that she has been dating someone: “But,” she added, “it is moving slow.”13
Marcus
As Chapter 1 recounts, Marcus had already come a long way by the time he enrolled in “Life of Christ” in the spring semester of 2009. In some respects, however, his journey was just beginning. The last question on the final exam in “Life of Christ” was for up to four bonus points. The question read, “What is the most important thing that you
12 Anna (pseudo.), email to author, Searcy, AR, June 6, 2010
13 Anna (pseud.), personal conversation with author, Searcy, AR, December 2010.
131 have learned in this class?” I decided to initiate an email interview with Marcus based on his answer to that question. He wrote,
The most important thing that I learned in this class was the idea or concept that just as Jesus was 100% God he was likewise 100% human. This concept was very influential in my life as a whole as well as my one on one interaction with God. Before I was introduced to this concept my prayer life was primarily requesting and crying out to, however after learning this principle and wresting around with it, it quickly changed to relational prayer.14
Excerpts from the email correspondence further relay the practical implications of the intervention for Marcus. In one of his email messages he wrote, “The idea of Jesus fully being human, I mean it just shifted my walk around, even my identity.”15 In response I asked him to elaborate on his statement: “These are big claims. What do you mean? What tangible changes have been made?” Marcus replied,
It really made Jesus so much more real to me . . . Feeling the same temptations we feel . . .Which is so helpful and encouraging to me. Also examining and seeing that Jesus did in fact grow in knowledge and what not. Tangible changes have been seen in my prayer life and to the degree to which I seek after God . . . I now dive into God’s word and seek to learn more about Jesus and strive to live out his message much more than I ever have before.
I referred back to his essay from the “Life of Christ” exam: “In your essay you talked about how the idea changed your prayer life. Is this still the case?”16 Marcus related a specific incident:
Yes! Very much so here is a good example . . . From time to time I struggle with a bit of anxiety and downness . . . However I have learned this past semester that that is okay. Feeling the full range of human emotions is how God created us to live and what he created us to feel. So anyway a few nights ago, I just began to feel down and anxious . . . if this was a year ago either I would have run away
14 Marcus (pseud.), essay on final exam in BNEW 211: “Life of Christ,” Spring 2009.
15 Marcus (pseud.) email interview with author, Searcy, AR, June 7, 2009.
16 Author, email interview with Marcus (pseud.), Searcy, AR, June 12, 2009.
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from prayer or prayed for it to go away right away!!! Instead I dived into God’s word and read Mark 14:34, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’ I looked up in a dictionary to find the exact definition of sorrow and found ‘deep distress.’ So I stopped and prayed something like ‘Lord, I feel sorrowful, which is a painful thing but not necessarily a bad thing. Lord I know that you felt similar feelings, and I just ask that you provide me the strength to live through this tough time and learn to rely on your power and ability you have granted to me.’ This just comforted me so much knowing that God felt it and made it through and perhaps grew stronger through it.17
Marcus interrupted his education at Harding University for one year to join the youth ministry staff at Mariners Church in Southern California.18 He returned in Fall
2010 to finish his degree in psychology. He currently serves part-time as a counselor at
Capstone Treatment Center, the place that initially helped alter his view of God. Marcus recently relayed his excitement about a study from the Gospel of Mark that he conducted with the rehabilitation clients at Capstone.19 He said that the young men responded positively to his message. The topic of the study was the full humanity of Jesus that he learned in “Life of Christ.” Marcus expects to graduate in May 2011. He still marks
March 8, 2006 as the last time he got drunk.
Rachel
Rachel found herself in a spiritual rut as she approached graduation from Harding.
She was anxious about her future and estranged from God. I became interested in
Rachel’s story because her essay for the final exam in “Christ and Culture” conveyed an unusually imaginative response to the intervention:
17 Marcus (pseud.), email interview with author, Searcy, AR, June 23, 2009.
18 Mariners Church, Irvine, California.
19 Marcus (pseud.), personal conversation with author, Searcy, AR, September 2010. 133
What really keeps rolling around in my head is that Jesus felt everything I have. I know we talked about it in class already but he felt hurt feelings, he felt pain, he felt down. He felt embarrassment. What I wondered and still do is if Jesus ever loved any girl in a romantic way? If Jesus knew that he could make enough fish and bread to last for 5,000 people did he ever worry about not having enough food? Did he worry about not having a house or not keeping his carpenter job? Because I’m graduating and currently facing a lot of scary decisions and moments, I’m thinking more and more about Jesus going through what I am. It’s a strange thing to think. I guess I would have to be on the side that feels like Jesus is more divine than human. But what we talked about in class has really helped me calm down and not freak out about leaving Harding. It’s made it easier for me to believe and know that Jesus has gone through what I am going through and that he will help me through it.20
I initiated an email interview with Rachel to find out more.21 Based on her upbringing, Rachel well represented the typical student at Harding.22 Beyond background information, I asked her about tangible effects of the doctrinal intervention. In one email message I asked, “Are there specific moments when the idea of Jesus’ humanity comes to mind?”23 She gave a vivid example:
There are specific moments when Jesus’ humanity comes to mind and the most current one is this week. I just started my new internship on Monday. I was nervous about meeting people, I was scared to death that when they asked me to do a project, I wouldn’t know how. I was absolutely in knots when I walked in there. I wanted to turn around and leave and throw my college education out the window and yell “FORGET IT! I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS!” But, of course, I didn’t. I showed up. On time. Stomach upset. Hands clammy. Nervous. I prayed all the way up to the 13th floor in downtown Little Rock. I was surrounded by businessmen and women. Powerful. In charge. Knowing what they were doing with their lives. And I prayed. I prayed for strength. I prayed for calmness and I prayed to do well. I also thought about how Jesus probably felt as he started off the beginning of his 3 year mission. He was probably scared. He was probably nervous about meeting people. He probably had an upset stomach. Same as I did. So this calmness happens when I actually think about him and what he went
20 Rachel (pseud.), essay portion of final exam, BDOC 356: “Christ and Culture,” Spring 2009.
21 See Appendix A for a copy of the initial interview questions.
22 See Chapter 1.
23 Author, email interview with Rachel (pseud.), Searcy, AR, June 12, 2009. 134
through but the calmness also stay with me in general and keeps me from spinning off.24
About a year after Rachel wrote this, she sent another message reporting all of the changes that have occurred since graduation. She began working full-time for the firm where she did her internship. She indicated how stressful this job was, but reported that her ability to handle stress has changed:
I think and know I've changed a lot over the past year. Things that tripped me up and bothered me before, don't now. My personality has changed and I'm much calmer than I was in school. For one, my job is as stressed and crazy as anything I know. I work between 50-60 hours per week. There are days where all I want to do is scream. There are thousands of deadlines, meeting and bosses that are constantly filling my days. I HAD to let some of my OCDness go or I would have exploded a long time ago. This was a necessity. In a strange way, I'm thankful for this job helping me to do that. I don't worry so much about the little things. I look at it as a bigger piece instead of little details. While I'm still ducks-in-a-row, it is not as intense or important as it once was. I know things are never under my control, even though I would like to think they are and now I'm okay with that knowledge. Another thing that I really believe has made more of a difference is that I read my Bible and pray so much more now than when I was in school. Things are harder now and I need God more. Even though this past year has been extremely rough and lonely, it’s been really good for my relationship with God and my prayer life. Over all my anxiety level has dropped from about an 8-9 to a 2-3 on most days. Even though my work is all-consuming, all the time, everyday, and it's crazy from 8 a.m.-8p.m., I'm much better now and I know that God has helped me do that. I know it was him and not me.25
Of course it would be naïve to claim that all of these changes are the direct results of the doctrinal intervention from Rachel’s senior year. A better explanation is that the
Spirit of God used many resources, people, events, and circumstances in conjunction with
Rachel’s receptive heart to bring about holistic spiritual formation in her. Nevertheless, given the thread of continuity in her essay and emails, it does not seem to overstate the
24 Rachel (pseud.), email interview with author, Searcy, AR, June 16, 2009.
25 Rachel (pseud.), email interview with author, Searcy, AR, May 26, 2010. 135
case to say that the doctrinal intervention served as one of those resources that the Spirit
used to reshape Rachel’s life.
An even more drastic change has occurred in Rachel’s life since the
correspondence in May 2010. As of August 2010, Rachel is serving as a missionary in
China. Tracing the series of events that led Rachel to leave her successful career, raise
money, and go to China is beyond the scope and the length limitations of this paper.
Nonetheless, the trajectory of Rachel’s story has greatly encouraged me to continue
helping Harding students identify with Jesus as they face the threshold of adulthood.
Collective Results from “Life of Christ” 2008
In spring 2008, in the 200-level course, “Life of Christ,” I administered a brief survey that served as a pretest and post-test comparing students’ perceptions about Jesus before the doctrinal intervention to their perceptions after the intervention using a five- point Likert scale where “5” equals “strongly agree.” Table 1 represents the results.
Table 1. Changes in perceptions regarding Jesus in spring 2008 “Life of Christ” Statement Before After % Intervention Intervention Chg 1. Jesus was half divine and half human (50/50). 2.22 1.95 (5%)
2. Jesus was fully divine (He was 100% God). 4.22 4.26 --
3. Jesus was fully human (He was 100% human). 4.00 4.26 5%
4. Even as a small child, Jesus always knew he was the Son of God. 3.69 2.85 (17%)
5. Jesus was unable to sin. 1.96 1.86 --
6. Jesus and I have a human-to-human relationship 2.71 3.29 12% (I think of Jesus as a fellow human). 7. Jesus and I have a God-to-human relationship 4.20 4.14 -- (I think of Jesus as God).
136
The first three items of the instrument assess Christological orthodoxy.
Concerning item one, it is surprising that there was any adherence to the heretical notion that Jesus was a hybrid. The lack of clear conviction on this item alone provides ample justification for a doctrinal intervention. The Likert averages in Table 1 indicate that student agreement on this item decreased after the intervention. Closer look at the results reveals that many students were simply not sure what to believe in this regard. The intervention helped students clarify their beliefs in this regard.26
Item two measures students’ beliefs regarding the full divinity of Jesus. The increase in agreement on this item in the post-test is not statistically significant; however, it is of utmost significance that this intervention, which emphasizes the humanity of
Jesus, did not reduce student belief in the divinity of Jesus. Item three measures belief in the full humanity of Jesus. The post-test did indicate some increase in agreement on this item. Nevertheless, the overall analysis of this research suggests that many of the students who marked “strongly agree” to this item on the pretest may have known the “right answer,” but their intellectual assent was superficial. The following qualitative responses lend credence to this interpretation.27 “I knew Jesus was human,” one student wrote, “but never truly believed it.”28 Another said, “Before the discussion I knew intellectually that
26 On the pretest, 22.4 % answered “undecided” with the same percentage answering “strongly disagree.” On the post-test, only 9.5% answered “undecided” with 38.1% marking “strongly disagree.”
27 This project also collected qualitative data. In order to acquire qualitative responses to this intervention the instructor included an optional bonus essay on the one of the major examinations in the 2008 class. The instructions for the bonus essay were as follows. “For up to five optional bonus points, please give your reactions to the class discussion on the humanity of Christ. Was the material new to you? How has this material affected you? Are there any questions that you have about the topic or any snags that remain? What are some practical implications of this teaching? Bonus points will be awarded based on the depth and thoroughness of your reflection, not according to whether or not you agree with instructor.”
28 Student response, essay item, “Life of Christ,” Spring 2008. 137
Jesus was both fully human and fully God when he was here on earth, but I never grasped the concept of his humanity until now.”29
Rather than testing their orthodoxy, item four gauges students’ perceptions concerning a specific dimension of Jesus’ life. The item measures students’ beliefs concerning Jesus’ consciousness of his divine Sonship, particularly during his early childhood. In this class, students’ beliefs changed more on this issue than on any other.
Figure 1 shows even more dramatic results by focusing only on the percentage of agreement.
70% 61% 60% 50% 40% 31% 30% 20% Before Interven on 10% A er Interven on 0% "Agree" or "Strongly Agree"
Percentage of Students marking "Even as a small child, Jesus always knew he was the Son of God"
Figure 1. Changes in beliefs on item 4 in "Life of Christ"
The number of students who “agree” or “strongly agree” with this statement is cut in half after the intervention. Nevertheless, the doctrine of the humanity of Christ is not merely about changing beliefs, it is about transforming lives into the image of Christ.
Thus, to change students’ opinions on this matter is pointless unless it makes a practical difference toward this end. As the analysis continues, the results point to changes along these lines.
29 Ibid. 138
The fifth item on the instrument asks students to indicate the degree to which they agree with the statement, “Jesus was unable to sin.” As far as historical theology is concerned, this is no simple issue. 30 Nevertheless, these students largely disagreed with this statement before and after the intervention. Students already believed that in order for
Jesus’ temptations to be genuine (Heb 4:16), sin had to be a conceivable option for him.
Hence, the intervention did not effect change on this item.
The sixth and seventh items continue pressing the two-nature issue that underlies all Christological inquiry. However, instead of probing beliefs concerning Jesus’ humanity and divinity, these two statements assess how one relates to Jesus, whether as a human or as God. Thus item six states, “Jesus and I have a human-to-human relationship
(I think of Jesus as a fellow human).” If the intervention is successful, the post-test should reveal that more students agree with this statement after the intervention than before. One might fear, though, that if students begin to relate to Jesus as a human, they might stop relating to him as God. Figure 2, however, indicates otherwise.
100% 92% 90% 90% 80% 70% 60% 52% 6. "Jesus and I have a 50% human-to-human 40% rela onship." 27% 30% 7. "Jesus and I have a God- "Agree" or "Strongly Agree" 20% to-human rela onship." Percentage of Students marking 10% 0% Before Interven on A er Interven on
Figure 2. Changes in ways of rela ng to Jesus in "Life of Christ"
30 Crisp, “Did Chrst have a Fallen Nature?” 273. Crisp explains that classical theologians have been divided on this issue. Augustinian theologians maintain that Christ, even in his human nature, was unable to sin. 139
Based on these findings, there was, in fact, a significant increase in the number of students indicating a human connection with Jesus after the doctrinal intervention. The most surprising insight emerges, however, concerning the students’ divine connection with Jesus. The results indicate that while the students collectively increased in regard to relating to Jesus as a human, their relating to him as God essentially remained the same.
Looking back to the results of items two and three, most of the students had
“Chalcedonian beliefs” about Jesus both before and after the intervention (see Table 1).
However, according to the results of items six and seven, half of the students in the class now have “Chalcedonian relationships” with Jesus, up from a quarter of the students before the intervention (see Figure 2).
So far, the results indicate that this intervention does effect change concerning the students’ beliefs about Jesus as well as the way they relate to him. More telling, however, is that the analysis points to a possible correlation between the beliefs of students and the way they relate to Jesus. Specifically, their answers to items four and six reflect the two most dramatic changes. Comparing the outcomes of these two items implies that a decrease in agreement on item four correlates to an increase in agreement with the relational statement of item six (see Figure 3).
In other words, helping students explore the possibility that Jesus grew in his self- understanding helps students connect with him as a fellow human. The qualitative analysis also bears witness to this dynamic. The following response represents many students who mentioned the significance of Jesus’ human development.
To think that he grew in wisdom opens my eyes to the fact that he grew just like me. Knowing he grew in all those ways helps me to realize that he was once just a kid like me. It is amazing to me to see just how much like me he actually was. It
140
has helped me see just how much he understands me and knows my needs and hurts. He truly is my high priest who can intercede for me. I feel like I can connect with him better knowing he truly understands me. That is exciting.31
70% 61% 60% 52% 50% 4. "Even as a small child, 40% 31% 27% Jesus always knew he 30% was the Son of God." 20% 6. "Jesus and I have a 10% human-to-human 0% rela onship." Before Interven on A er Interven on
Figure 3. Rela onship of items 4 and 6 in "Life of Christ"
The truth of the divine Son’s utter humanity is so much more than a creedal abstraction, an intellectual puzzle, or a novel insight. The following student apprehends the doctrine as a life changing reality.
Realizing the full humanity of our “great high priest” has far-reaching implications for our personal relationship with him. If the Christian way/walk is all about getting to know him and becoming more like Him, then we can begin to identify with him and know him when we realize he became just like us –was one of us. If I even begin to grasp this, I should be so excited/joyful that I am not alone—that my Maker knows what I am going through. Even more, it’s revolutionizing to know that Jesus needed the Father and had to cultivate and practice faith just like I do. He wasn’t born with a special faith. Each step was a choice for him to make. Each time I step out in faith to obey the Lord, each time I believe his promises rather than my own feelings, I am acting in the same faith in my Father that Jesus did. He didn’t have a special monopoly on the power of God that we don’t have. He said we would do even greater things than he did. Jesus’ life, in other words, was all about faith, no innate perfection. This is what gives us a great and glorious hope. We don’t have to wait until heaven to live life victoriously. Here and now, God’s power is available to even me. What could I
31 Student response, essay item, “Life of Christ,” Spring 2008.
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accomplish with faith as small as a mustard seed? Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.32
Beyond a closer relationship with Jesus, an accompanying implication that students reported had to do with evangelism. One wrote, “Knowing that Jesus was fully human helps me to relate Jesus not only to my own life, but to the lives of my friends. I can tell others about Jesus’ experiences.”33 Another said, “This information will help me teach others about what I have struggled to understand for a long time.”34
Not all of the responses were as enthusiastic. Some of the students conveyed mixed feelings about the intervention. For example, several students indicated that the material had a jarring effect on their faith. One student confessed, “For a few short moments, it caused me to doubt. I soon realized that I had a very docetic view.”35
Apparently the force of this doctrinal intervention is not softened with repetition. A student who had already heard this material in a different venue said, “It has really shaken me harder than it has before.”36 Another returning student said, “I have to say that it shakes my beliefs around every time.”37
In addition to this faith rattling effect, the intervention creates dissonance for some. One student’s candid essay captures this tension:
Due to my own stubbornness perhaps, the humanity of Christ presented in class has been and still is a hard perspective to accept. Even in wording this response it
32 Ibid.
33 Student response, essay item, “Life of Christ,” Spring 2008.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
37 Ibid. 142
is difficult for me to convey the extent to which I desire yet still have remained unable to believe that Jesus didn’t have some divine advantage over us. Jesus, even through significant growth in our relationship, still remains in the back of my mind on a shelf somewhere out of reach and trapped by my mindset of ‘well that’s Jesus.’ I am greatly encouraged at the knowledge that Jesus was fully human and the same power which raised him from the dead is available every moment to us. Yet I am still unable to believe that reality. I have never viewed Jesus in such a down to earth light as this material has led us to. It is difficult for me, perhaps in light of the pride and “capable human” mindset I have, to be convinced.38
Some were offended that the instructor would attempt to make sense of this mysterious tenet of Christian faith. One student tactfully articulated such displeasure:
I am very logical and a lot of things God is or does are not. I had to learn years ago that even though I may be smart enough for the human world I could never come close to comprehending God. I take comfort in that. I love that I can rely on a God that is so powerful and so incredibly smart that I can’t begin to understand how he could be 3 in 1 or how I could be his son. Furthermore, it makes no logical sense for Jesus to be fully divine yet fully human, but rather than trying to rationalize it to myself with my insignificant understanding and puny mind, I take comfort in his extreme wisdom, grace, and power to be able to do and be something I can’t understand. I know that you’ve spent years on this concept, but I also know that I’ve spent years and will probably spend the rest of my life learning to let go of trying to understand his reasons, his being, and his will.39
Another respondent expressed similar feelings: “I will always struggle with the idea that he is both, but that is where a strong faith must step in. I don’t think that this was something God designed for us to grasp, but to take comfort in the fact that he did it just like us.”40 Still another simply declared, “It’s too hard to understand.”41
Whether written or verbal, these types of reactions are welcome and have helped temper this ambitious quest. It is essential to approach this issue with humility
38 Ibid.
39 Ibid.
40 Ibid.
41 Ibid. 143 acknowledging the limitations of human reason (1 Cor 1:18-2:5). God’s mysteries are far beyond the ability of humans to ever search out and grasp (Rom 11:33-36). Nowadays, at key points during the intervention, the instructor grants that these truths are only available to the extent that God reveals them to humans—humans, that is, whom he has graced with the ability to understand. Such acknowledgment, however, is no excuse for intellectual laziness. Along this line, the instructor sometimes raises the question, “What does it mean to love the Lord with all your mind?” Furthermore, the instructor hopes that as the intervention becomes increasingly practical students will see that hubris is not the motivation.
Of greatest concern, however, are the undercurrents of an erring view of human ability present in some of the students’ responses to the 2008 version of the intervention.
The Restoration Movement’s historical resistance to Calvinist anthropology tends to veer the Restorationist into a Pelagian ditch. For example, the intervention inspired many students to cite feelings of emancipation from the inevitability of sin, reasoning that if
Jesus was fully human and lived a life of obedience, then the phrase, “I am only human,” is no longer a valid excuse for sin. Some take this idea too far, though, tapping into that dangerous “try harder” optimism: “It is challenging thinking of Jesus as a full human because this would mean that as he did, we are capable to live and die and be obedient as he was. We are able to follow God’s ways, if only we want and try.”42 Another expressed this heretical anthropology in different terms: “Jesus being fully human now puts pressure on me to become more than I thought I could have been. If Jesus was human and
42 Ibid.
144
I am human what is stopping me from doing ‘miraculous’ things for God.”43 Still another said, “I can’t believe how much this idea levels the playing field for me. I have no excuse to fall back on any more, and I can no longer say that perfection is too far to reach for.”44
Such responses from the spring semester of 2008 have made it necessary to revise the content and delivery of this intervention, eradicating any statements that might be misconstrued as advocating autonomous human ability. The instructor had to make a deliberate effort to emphasize human dependence and frailty. Quite frankly, though, this revision necessitated the instructor to reassess and overhaul his own anthropological views. This overhaul produced an anthropology grounded in biblical Christology.45 This path corrects Restorationism by avoiding Pelagianism and enlightenment optimism on one side, yet it affirms Restorationism by steering clear of the doctrines of original sin and guilt on the other side.
Other students in that same cohort, however, rightly couched Jesus’ perfect obedience in language of dependence: “He saw his own weakness and his own necessity for God, for leaning on him and trusting his guidance even when it didn’t make sense. He turned to God for strength every time, this is what I want, I’m only human after all.”46
Such recognition of Jesus’ utter dependence leads to a healthy, biblical view of what it means to be fully human. The revised intervention, represented in the content of this
43 Ibid.
44 Student response, essay item, “Life of Christ,” Spring 2008.
45 See Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of this paper.
46 Student response, essay item, “Life of Christ,” Spring 2008. 145 ministry focus, places much greater emphasize on this theme of dependence and weakness than the intervention of 2008.
Another shortcoming that the 2008 responses revealed was that the students did not make the connection between Christ’s kenosis and their own participation with Christ in his suffering for the sake of the world. The obvious explanation for this omission is due to the fact that the presentation they heard never made such connections because the instructor, himself, had not yet comprehended this implication. The 2008 intervention effected changes in regard to students’ beliefs, their connectedness with Jesus, and their awareness of divine resources in the face of temptation. However, these students were not grasping the idea that the kenosis of Jesus is a summons to join him in a Spirit-led life of
“cruciformity” that culminates in exaltation. The qualitative responses from a more recent class tell a slightly different story. First, however, a comparison between the quantitative analysis is in order.
Collective Results of “Christ and Culture” 2010
In Fall 2010, in the 300-level course, “Christ and Culture,” the instructor administered the same brief survey to a class of 61 students. Table 2 presents the results.
For the most part, the results for the juniors and seniors in Fall 2010 “Christ and Culture” match those of the sophomores in 2008 “Life of Christ.” A quick glance at the outcomes of both classes reveals similar patterns of initial belief as well as similar patterns of change after the intervention (Table 2. the scores in small, italicized font convey the averages for “Life of Christ”).
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Table 2. Changes in perceptions about Jesus in “Christ and Culture,” fall 2010 Statement Before After % Intervention Intervention Chg 1. Jesus was half divine and half human (50/50). 1.98 1.77 (4%) “Life of Christ,” 2008 2.22 1.95 (5%) 2. Jesus was fully divine (He was 100% God). 4.29 4.44 -- 4.22 4.26 -- 3. Jesus was fully human (He was 100% human). 3.98 4.58 12% 4.00 4.26 5% 4. Even as a small child, Jesus always knew he was the Son of God. 3.02 2.74 (6%) 3.69 2.85 (17%) 5. Jesus was unable to sin. 1.95 1.98 -- 1.96 1.86 -- 6. Jesus and I have a human-to-human relationship 3.22 3.56 7% (I think of Jesus as a fellow human). 2.71 3.29 12% 7. Jesus and I have a God-to-human relationship 4.19 4.21 -- (I think of Jesus as God). 4.20 4.14 -- Note: The averages represent student responses to a pretest and a post-test using a Likert scale where 1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Undecided, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree.
With one exception, the changes were less dramatic in “Christ and Culture.” This
milder reaction may be due to the fact that some of these students had already thought
through some of the issues by the time they became juniors or seniors. In other words,
this class began with more orthodox beliefs, in general, than the earlier sophomore class.
As such, the post-test scores for 2010 “Christ and Culture” end up being more
“Chalcedonian” than the post-test scores for the earlier “Life of Christ” class. In regard to
beliefs as well as in ways of relating to Jesus, these students more strongly affirmed both
the divinity and humanity of Jesus.
The most significant change that this quantitative analysis of “Christ and Culture”
reveals is the increase in belief on item three regarding the doctrinal statement, “Jesus
was fully human.” The averages in the two classes on this item were almost identical
before the intervention, but the results after the intervention showed a 12 percent increase
147 in belief among the students in 2010 “Christ and Culture” compared to a 5 percent increase in belief in 2008 “Life of Christ.”
While it would be impossible to pinpoint the reason for this difference, one possibility is that the intervention has changed some since 2008. Writing this ministry focus paper has brought about greater focus and new insights concerning the humanity of
Jesus to which earlier classes never had access. First, the students in this 2010 class were the first ones to explore the material concerning Jesus’ solidarity with humanity as expressed by his baptism. Second, they were the first to hear such lengthy treatment on
Jesus’ need for the Spirit as symbolized by his baptism. Finally, this was the first time the instructor encouraged students to anchor these theological truths to their own baptism, stressing a holistic, participatory faith.47 These improved dimensions of this intervention are partly due to the deeper theological reflection necessitated by the writing requirements of this final project.
The qualitative responses from the 2010 class bear witness to this shift in content.48 The essays following the 2010 intervention not only discuss the humanity of
Jesus, but also how this doctrine is linked to themes such as the Trinity, Spirit- empowerment, the Father’s affirmation, death and resurrection, and participatory suffering; all of which find tangible expression in Christian baptism. Themes of solidarity, Spirit-empowerment, and responsibility to the world permeate the following response.
47 See Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of this paper.
48 For up to five bonus points on a major exam, the instructor asked the students to write an essay describing how Jesus’ baptism informs Christian baptism. The instructor wanted to see if students would be able to develop this essay based on the themes set forth by the intervention. The hope was that this essay would crystallize and personalize doctrinal truths by anchoring them into their own baptism. 148
When we confess our sins and go under water, not only do we confess all of our individual sins, but we also confess the sins of our brothers and sisters and society as a whole. When we live and breathe our culture intoxicated with McDonald’s, raping the earth, and drawing lines between fellow humans, we live and breathe our culture of sin. We are a part of this madness, tainted by it, and the blood is on our hands, too. However, we should believe that God has sent his Spirit to be with us, to bind us, and to guide us. We have the same Spirit in us that taught Jesus to be perfect, to fight injustice, and to live wholly. When we come out of the water, Christians no longer have an excuse to sit on the sidelines, but we are to walk with each other, through the Spirit. We too should encounter this sinful world no longer without understanding, but as God-men and God-women.49
Another spoke in terms of divine community and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
“My baptism into Christ implies that I have become a part of the divine community . . . They are working in my life, and through them I can be used to touch the lives of the people who are around me . . . From Jesus’ baptism, we see how the Holy Spirit starts to direct every aspect of his life. How then could we not assume that when we are baptized, and are added to the very Kingdom of God, that the Holy Spirit does not enter our lives and begin to direct our paths?”50
One respondent focused on the burial imagery latent in baptism, “My baptism into
Christ means that I lay my life down for him, to do his will. Jesus came to earth and died a cruel death, therefore I have the obligation as a baptized Christian to become selfless and live my life as a mirror image of him. My baptism into him symbolized me dying to myself and rising up to live a new life full of joy and service to him.”51 This student acknowledged that this does not happen by her own strength, ending her essay by alluding to the Holy Spirit as “God’s gift to us to help us in our everyday walk as a
Christian.”52
49 Student response, essay item, “Christ and Culture,” Fall 2010.
50 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
52 Ibid. 149
Nevertheless, some were resistant to the instructor’s efforts to load their baptism with theological freight. One student, in particular, seemed to understand what the instructor was trying to do, but would not accept it based on subjective criteria.
I struggled with this part of class. I followed all of the things we talked about with the Trinity, and divine Sonship, and how God participated with sinful humanity through Christ, but I just could not associate all of this with baptism for some reason. That’s not what it means to me ultimately. I recognize these things are true, and I believe them, but they do not define what baptism is for me. They just don’t.53
Perhaps students balk at these theological proposals because they know that they did not have these thoughts in mind at the time of their own baptism. More to the point, it is difficult for individuals reared in Churches of Christ to retroactively assign meaning to their baptism because Restorationists assign a great deal of significance upon what one is thinking at the time of the immersive act. The following student captures this tension:
If Christian baptism is informed by Jesus’ baptism then I missed it. As with the ‘traditional’ Church of Christ procedure I focused on the forgiveness of my sins . . . Not that I think I should change anything now, but after studying Christ’s baptism . . . I feel like I missed at least half of the story . . . Had I considered the comparison to Christ’s baptism before mine, the symbolic self-emptying (Phil 2:6-11) and even physical motion of baptism would have held more weight in significance.54
The same respondent goes on to make a creative comparison between the age when Jesus was baptized and the age when he was baptized. “I was baptized at the age of
8 and Jesus was baptized at the age of 30. I was going into the 3rd grade and Jesus went into the wilderness.”55 His banter betrays some uneasiness with his young commitment.
53 Ibid.
54 Ibid.
55 Ibid.
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There were many others, though, whose essays suggested that they were willing to retrospectively inform their immersive initiation. The following response represents those students who personally connected with Jesus’ baptism and discovered rich theological insights.
I’ve tried to imagine myself in Jesus’ sandals. I imagine the scores of people around me, caught up in this revival of sorts with John in the middle probing deep into our hearts. I feel the ache of needing to do this, taking steps in the cold water, and being plunged under it by John. Then I hear, “You are my beloved Son, in you I am well pleased.’ I’m stunned, confused maybe, but totally aware of the fact that I am going to do what I have been called to do . . . I feel like heaven was ripped open and a bridge was built between God and humanity that couldn’t be perceived by the people there with Jesus. It involves centuries of God trying to make his presence known amongst his creation. By humbling himself as the Son to be immersed as a part of the human race, God through the Spirit makes Jesus the elusive and exclusive link for all of human history. It summarizes the story of Jesus’ entire life; one part dying and being buried, and another being resurrected. Myself being a Christian, it summarizes all of my life as well. This goes beyond my honorable sixth grade intentions of being forgiven of my sins it means that if I’m serious about living my life in full devotion to following Jesus, the Spirit should be a part of me. I should see my life not as personal daily endeavors, but as a living breathing, campaign for God to work in and through. My baptism calls for me to look up in silence and see God; listening for where he may send me. In the light of Jesus’ baptism, by own baptism was and is my first step across the bridge that God erected through Christ.56
These sentiments serve as a fitting affirmation regarding the effort to tether the doctrine of Jesus’ humanity to his baptism and to Christian baptism. These essays and survey results provide a window, even if hazy, into the effects of this doctrinal intervention in the lives of emerging adults at Harding University. There is sufficient evidence to affirm that this intervention is pointed in the right direction. The material does contribute to students’ holistic spiritual formation. Nevertheless, this final project has only begun to quarry the riches found in Christ Jesus. Since I began this project in
56 Ibid. 151
2005, I have made many adjustments along the way. The most dramatic change has come in the last year. The qualitative analysis suggests that the recent revision has helped students anchor Christological truths to their own baptism, strengthening their connection with Jesus. I believe this reworking taps into the identity-shaping function of this ancient marker in a way that is contextually appropriate. The lofty subtitle of this ministry focus paper is becoming a substantial reality: “Helping Students at Harding University Identify with Jesus.”
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
As the introduction states, this final project facilitates an intervention to help emerging adults at Harding University understand and appropriate the biblical teaching of
Christ’s humanity in order to bring about holistic spiritual formation. This statement encapsulates the three main sections of this ministry focus paper. The first main section contains two chapters dealing with contextual factors. Chapter 1 describes emerging adults and their postmodern mindset. Chapter 2 provides orientation to the Churches of
Christ, the theological heritage for most students at Harding. The second main section consists of Chapter 3, which articulates the doctrine of Christ’s humanity and Chapter 4, which explores its implications. The third main section sets forth the methods of the intervention in Chapter 5 and the student responses in Chapter 6.
Chapter 1 offers a “thick description” of emerging adults. If anthropologists from another culture came to Harding University seeking to understand the mores of these students, they would likely observe two concrete practices. First, they might notice that many students at Harding are getting tattoos, many of which are religious in nature (see
Figure 4). As Chapter 1 discusses, the current tattoo phenomenon tangibly represents key features of emerging adulthood in postmodern culture. Namely, it points to an age of “in- between-ness,” instability, and identity explorations.
Figure 4. Marcus’s tattoo.
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Second, anthropologists might note an uncommon significance attributed to baptism. For example, they would likely discover through interviews that most of these students were baptized during their adolescent years. They might even witness a student being immersed into the water of the baptismal font located on the pedestrian thoroughfare of Harding’s campus (see Illustrations 1 and 2).1 While this ancient rite marks Christian identity in general, these students’ conscientious immersion “for the forgiveness of sins” points more precisely to their background in the Churches of Christ.
Chapter 2 provides a brief history the Churches of Christ as well as a summary of their current beliefs and practices. Tattoos and baptism, then, provide a palpable entry point into the cultural, developmental, and theological contexts of these students.
Illustration 1. Baptism at Harding. Illustration 2. Baptistery and Bible building at Harding University.
In keeping with this “from below” scheme, Chapter 3 begins its Christological inquiry by studying a concrete, historical event. The baptism of Jesus densely expresses the profound truth of Christ’s utter self-emptying. This inaugurating act points to his solidarity with sinful humanity, his life by the Spirit, and his need for the Father’s voice.
The moment encapsulates a full-blown doctrine of Christ.
1 The 6th century baptistery at St. John’s Basilica in Ephesus provided inspiration for this font. 154
Following the Trinitarian contours of Jesus’ own baptism, Chapter 4 explores the implications of this Christology. Humans respond to Jesus with participatory faith by sharing in his Sonship, taking up his suffering, and living by his Spirit, all of which is densely expressed in Christian baptism. Not only does Chapter 4 explore the implications for humanity, it also highlights the particular relevance of this teaching for emerging adults in the Harding context. Participatory Christology provides an appealing anchor for emerging adults whose worldviews and identities are adrift. Moreover, it taps into postmodern preferences for story, holism, relationship, and spirituality—yet confronts the relativistic construal of each. Furthermore, this intervention couches Christology in terms befitting a Restorationist context while seeking to repair the related theological deficiencies of the movement.
Chapter 5 lays out the design and methods of the approach. This intervention takes its cues from the message it seeks to explicate. That is, God’s fullest self-disclosure comes in the form of a Galilean infant who grows and develops. This kenotic truth informs the learning strategies of this Christological approach. Thus, rather than dropping a finished treatise on these students “from above,” this presentation starts “from below” with concrete observations, moving incrementally toward a robust, relational doctrine of
Christ.
Chapter 6 analyzes the responses of the students. Quantitative data shows that many students changed their beliefs about Jesus. The intervention resulted in significantly greater belief in the full humanity of Jesus. This increase also correlates with a change in the way these students relate to Jesus. Namely, more students relate to Jesus as a fellow human as a result of the intervention. Equally important, students who affirmed the full
155 divinity of Jesus and related to him as God, continued to do so after the intervention. In other words, to believe that Jesus is utterly human does not necessarily undermine the conviction that he is fully divine.
Furthermore, in essays and interviews students reported that this new connection with Jesus contributed to practical changes. Many mentioned positive differences in areas such as prayer, Scripture reading, spiritual awareness, and evangelism. Some reported increased aid to overcome temptation, depression, anxiety, and guilt. Still others elaborated on clarity in matters of ethics and the priority of others inspired by the Son’s self-emptying trajectory. In other words, the intervention helped bring about holistic spiritual formation.
In final reflection, the doctrine of the humanity of Jesus inspires me to use tangible methods to convey deep truths. Scripture points to Christian baptism as a palpable means of conveyance that can bear unlimited Christological content. This connection is especially relevant among Restorationists who uphold baptism but oppose doctrinal statements. I want to help the Churches of Christ quarry the depths of the sacrament that they so ardently defend.2 It offers more than “the forgiveness of sins.” The revered practice calls the Churches of Christ to fully participate with the one whose name they bear. When these creedless congregations embrace the Christology that is embedded in baptism they will become cross-shaped communities. My responsibility in this regard is threefold. First, I will keep growing in Christ as I share in his Sonship, take up his suffering, and live by his Spirit. Second, I will design a congregational version of this
2 The Lord’s Supper, practiced weekly in the Churches of Christ, is the other tangible, biblical, identity-shaping reservoir of untapped doctrine in the Restoration movement that merits the same level of reflection. 15 6 intervention, conducting a pilot study with the church where I serve. Third, I will continue to develop and facilitate this doctrinal intervention among emerging adults at
Harding University. By God’s grace, scores of students will cross the threshold of adulthood with their identities firmly established in Christ. As such, they will be equipped to help Churches of Christ become Trinitarian, Spirit-empowered, self- emptying communities. These churches already have the necessary doctrinal curriculum—the enduring practice of Christian baptism.
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APPENDIX A
Email correspondence used to select students for narrative component
Email 1: Initial Request Sent 06/04/09 to 13 students
Dear ______,
I hope you are enjoying your summer. I recently re-read your bonus essay on the "humanity of Jesus" from your final exam in ______. I am impressed with your depth of understanding and with the way you have applied the idea of Christ's humanity to your life. I was wondering if you would be willing to do an interview with me via email or instant message in order to assist my doctoral research. I want to give my readers a window into the lives of three Harding University students as they encounter and appropriate this material. Among other things, I want to understand the background of each student in regard to their ideas about Jesus (religious upbringing, etc.) The names and locations of the students will be changed to protect the privacy of the individuals but the ideas and events will be relayed with accuracy.
If you would be willing to help with this please email me back and let me know. If not, I understand, and will simply be grateful for your good essay.
Thank you, Scott Adair
Email 2: Preliminary Interview Questions Sent 06/05/09 to 06/12/09 to 10 students who responded positively and in a timely manner to initial request
Dear ______,
Great, thank you so much for your willingness. Let's get started. We'll begin with some basics. I will follow up by pursuing different directions based on how you answer the following:
Where did you grow up?
What church(es) did you attend?
School background? Public? Private? Homeschool?
Family background? How many siblings? In tact family? Were both parents active in church?
How would you describe the preaching style at your home church? What was the biggest thing your church seemed to emphasize? What view or understanding about Jesus did you get from your church?
Describe yourself as a high school student. Describe your youth group experience (if you had one). What did the youth minister seem to emphasize about Jesus?
Why did you come to Harding?
How has your time here at HU shaped/changed/influenced your understanding of Jesus and your relationship with God?
Thank you for your help,
Scott Adair
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APPENDIX B
Skin Deep: Why the Tattoos?
1. Gender A. Male (37) B. Female (63)
2. Age A. 18 (3) B. 19 (27) C. 20 (29) D. 21 (24) E. 22 (7) F. 23 (5) G.24 + (5)
3. Do you have a permanent tattoo(s)? A. Yes (16) B. No (84)
If “Yes,” on item #3, answer the following: • How old were you when you go your first tattoo? A. 15 B. 16 C. 17 (1) D. 18 (3) E. 19 (6) F. 20 (5) G. 21 (1) H. 22 I. 23 or older
• Why did you get your tattoo(s)? Choose the dominant reason. A. Memorial to someone B. Like the way it looks (1) C. Individual Expression (2) D. Sexy E. Religious or Spiritual Reason (8) F. Rite of passage Compiled Responses: G. Fun Spiritual/Religious/Evangelistic (9) H. Got it with friends (1) Expression/Art/Fashion (3) I. Edgy Rite of Passage J. Express independence from parents Remember Time, Event, Person (3) K. Just got one Edgy/sexy/defiant/cool L. Cool Spontaneous/Got with Friends (1) M. Artful N. Spontaneous O. Fashionable P. Act of Defiance Q. Evangelistic Tool (1) R. Remember a time of life or an event (3)
• Please elaborate on why you got a tattoo. (15 qualitative responses)
• Do you regret getting a tattoo(s)? A. Strongly/Always regret (1) B. Somewhat/Sometimes regret (1) C. No regret (14)
• Do you intend to get another tattoo? A. Yes (6) C. No (9)
159
If “No” to item #3, answer the following:
• Do you intend to get one? A. Yes (7) B. Maybe (26) C. No (48)
• Why do you not have a tattoo? (78 qualitative responses)
• Why do you think some people your age get tattoos? Choose the most dominant reason. A. Memorial to someone (5) B. Like the way it looks (6) C. Individual Expression (33) D. Sexy (1) E. Religious or Spiritual Reason (7) Compiled Responses: F. Rite of passage Spiritual/Religious/Evangelistic (14) G. Fun Expression/Art/Fashion (42) H. Got it with a friend (5) Remember time, event, person (14) I. Edgy (1) Edgy/sexy/defiant (8) J. Express independence from parents (3) K. No reason, just got one Spontaneous/Got with Friends (6) L. Cool (3) M. Artful (1) N. Spontaneous (1) O. Fashionable (2) P. Act of Defiance (4) Q. Evangelistic Tool R. Remember a time of life or an event (9)
4. When does one become an adult (What is the criteria for adulthood)? 97 qualitative responses
5. Which of the following best describes your choice to come to Harding?
A. I chose to come to Harding and my parents are supportive B. I chose to come to Harding but my parents are not supportive C. My parents wanted me to come to Harding and I am alright with it D. My parents wanted me to come to Harding against my will
6. Out of all the colleges you could have chosen to attend, why did you choose Harding? 100 qualitative responses
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APPENDIX C
What do you believe about Jesus? 1. Jesus was half divine and half human (50/50). A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Undecided D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree
2. Jesus was fully divine (He was 100% God). A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Undecided D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree
3. Jesus was fully human (He was 100% human). A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Undecided D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree
4. Even as a small child, Jesus always knew he was the Son of God. A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Undecided D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree
5. Jesus was unable to sin. A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Undecided D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree
6. Jesus and I have a human-to-human relationship. (I think of Jesus as a fellow human) A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Undecided D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree
7. Jesus and I have a God-to-human relationship. (I think of Jesus as God). A. Strongly Agree B. Agree C. Undecided D. Disagree E. Strongly Disagree
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