Jesus Christ: Fundamentals of Christology

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books on Christology
Review: Fr. Roch Kereszty, O.Cist., a Catholic priest and a professor of theology at the University of Dallas (and one of my professors) has written an excellent book on the theology of Jesus Christ.

The book has three parts.

Part 1 - Christology of the New Testament: this part analyzes the various understandings of Jesus Christ found in the NT -- namely, the Synoptic Gospels, the writings of John, and the letters of Paul. Fr. Kereszty begins with Christ's death and resurrection and then develops a "theological history" of Christ's life. Why? Because Fr. Kereszty understands that the sacred writers interpreted the life and work of Christ in a deeper and fuller way because of (1) their faith in the resurrection and (2) the illumination of the Holy Spirit ("And he will teach you all things").

Part II - Historical Christology: this part traces the theology of Christ throughout Christian thought. He begins with the Patristics -- which he deals with at length -- and the early Christological controversies of the 5th century. He then offers three examples of medieval Christology (St. Bernard, St. Anselm, and St. Thomas Aquinas) before moving on to the Christologies of major Protestant thinkers -- e.g., Luther, Calvin, Kant, Hegel, Schleiermacher, Bultmann, Barth, and Bonhoeffer. He does this because his own treatment of Christology in Part III is heavily influenced by the Catholic theological tradition.

Part III - Systematic Christology: this part takes what we have learned in Parts I and II and brings it into dialogue with modern concerns. Topics include "Sin as a Threefold Alienation"; "The Mystery of the Incarnation"; "The Humanity of the Son"; and, "Redemption as Assumption of Mankind into Trinitarian Communion." He also treats the Feminist Critique of the Christian Mysteries and the consciousness of Christ.

In the two Appendixes, Fr. Kereszty treats the universal nature of Jesus Christ. "Appendix I" treats non-Christian religions, and "Appendix II" is a serious treatment of the relationship of Christ's saving work on earth with the possibility of other universes and Extraterrestrial Intelligent Beings.

As Fr. Kereszty says in the introduction: "My wish is, then, to present a Christology which, in spite of its limitations, is truly catholic. I hope that, on the one hand, Roman Catholics will find it in the integral faith of the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand, I trust that it is sufficiently universal so that Orthodox and Protestant Christians as well may recognize in it an articulation of our common faith."

I highly recommend this book. And if you want to use it for serious study, then get the Supplement which contains questions and additional material to help you understanding the greatest mystery of the Christian faith: Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent, very readable work. Well done.
Review: I first encountered this book at a Roman Catholic Seminary. All of us very much enjoyed it and it was commonly agreed it was one of the best books we had to buy. After several years out of seminary, it is one volume that comes in handy and also for spiritual reading.