Thinking of Christ: Proclamation, Explanation, Meaning

This is a textbook on Christology for the undergraduate, graduate, and seminary market written by eleven distinguished North American Roman Catholic theologians. The structure of the book and of the individual essays follows a pattern of recovery (analysis of the tradition), critique (consideration of special problems), and reconstruction (distinctive Christologies in the contemporary American context).**Part I, devoted to historical recovery, treats Jesus of Nazareth and the significance of historical Jesus research for Christology today; Christological developments resulting in the conciliar definitions of Nicaea and Chalcedon; and diverse conceptions of Christ's redemption in the early and medieval church. Part II treats four problems in modern debate: religious pluralism and Christian exclusivist claims; theological anti-Semitism embedded in Christological formulations; legitimation of male privilege via appeals to the masculinity of Jesus and Christ's headship of the church; the use of the Christ symbol to legitimate colonialism and racial exploitation. Finally, Part III offers two examples of contemporary Christologies of social transformation: mujerista Christology and black Christology.Contributors: Lisa Sowle Cahill, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Roger Haight, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Robert Lassalle-Klein, William Loewe, John Pawlikowski, Jamie Phelps, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Gerard Sloyan, and Tatha Wiley.**Read less