I was reading John Robinson's Honest to God on the train to work today. I confess I'd never read it as a whole before - dipped into it yes - but not started at the beginning and carried on. It is interesting to see how much is still topical and how much seems dated.
Christianity is a faith founded upon Jesus of Nazareth understood as the Christ. Otherwise it is nothing. However, the Jesus of Honest to God is an unconvincing figure. He appears as an empty vessel, lacking personality or any humanity, into which 'Godness' is poured. It is a Christ as a cold, theological construct, manufactured to meet a doctrinal need. It is in fact less satisfactory than the 'Godhead veiled in flesh' of Wesley.
Of course, we all have to understand Christ and his significance using concepts with which we are familiar if we are to find meaning in his life. So Anglo-Saxons could portray him as a warrior, Victorians as a muscular Christian, Bishop Robinson as an idealised Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and some contemporary progressive theologians as a left wing Democrat and anti-Iraq war activist.
What matters is whether we are trying to understand Christ as he was and accepting where that leads us today, or whether we are reconstructing him, intentionally or not, to suit our own agenda.
Christianity is a faith founded upon Jesus of Nazareth understood as the Christ. Otherwise it is nothing. However, the Jesus of Honest to God is an unconvincing figure. He appears as an empty vessel, lacking personality or any humanity, into which 'Godness' is poured. It is a Christ as a cold, theological construct, manufactured to meet a doctrinal need. It is in fact less satisfactory than the 'Godhead veiled in flesh' of Wesley.
Of course, we all have to understand Christ and his significance using concepts with which we are familiar if we are to find meaning in his life. So Anglo-Saxons could portray him as a warrior, Victorians as a muscular Christian, Bishop Robinson as an idealised Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and some contemporary progressive theologians as a left wing Democrat and anti-Iraq war activist.
What matters is whether we are trying to understand Christ as he was and accepting where that leads us today, or whether we are reconstructing him, intentionally or not, to suit our own agenda.
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