Christology

Christology: How Do We Talk about Jesus Christ Today? explores key questions that concern those who struggle to reconcile today's world with the faith and witness of centuries of Christianity. How do we talk about Jesus in a world that demands inclusivity and shies away from ideologies and doctrines of any kind? What does it mean to talk about Jesus in theological terms? Driving this book is the nature and core of the Christian witness, which acts like a GPS, guiding the reader through the terrain of a modern theological discussion of Christ. Ralf Wustenberg has given us a text on Christology that signals the new situation of Christian theology in Euro-American post-Christendom. It fairly breathes with the contested, pluralistic, postmodern environs of the Free University in Berlin. It achieves a new conception of tolerance: 'tolerance from out of faith,' where faith is taken radically as gift, never as achievement. As such, it recommends itself as an introductory text wherever teachers want to embrace pluralism critically by attesting with Luther and Bonhoeffer the truth claim of classical Christianity: Jesus Christ the Savior of the world. --Paul R. Hinlicky, Tise Professor of Lutheran Studies, Roanoke College, Salem, VA Wustenberg is at ease not only with the key texts of the Christian tradition, but also with the contemporary social and political contexts to which they must speak if they are to be of use. Wustenberg's Christology is an outstandingly clear introduction and a sparkingly original contribution to the central question in Christian theology: 'Who is Jesus Christ today?' --Stephen J. Plant, Dean of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England How to think about Jesus Christ is a key question for the twenty-first century--not only for the hundreds of millions of Christians but also for many others involved in religion, ethics, politics, culture, education, gender issues, and other areas. Wustenberg clearly identifies the main challenges facing those who want to understand and respond to Jesus Christ today and then opens up ways of engaging intelligently and imaginatively with them. The result is a fine book, rooted in broad scholarship and a range of contemporary involvements with which to think about this fascinating topic. --David F. Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England Ralf K. Wustenberg is Chair in Systematic and Historic Theology at the University of Flensburg, Germany and Director of the Institute for Protestant and Catholic Theology. He is author and editor of several books, including The Political Dimension of Reconciliation (2009), A Theology of Life: Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Religionless Christianity (1998), and Theology in Dialogue: The Impact of Arts, Humanities, and Science on Contemporary Religious Discourse (2002).