Rating: 
Summary: The Same Boring Old Story
Review: All the tired , old '60's radicals in the Church hail this book as an "exciting" and "fresh" perspective on the Lord and His ministry. Fr. Haight's thesis, however, is neither new nor interesting. Once you plow through his turgid, almost unreadable prose we are left with a combination of two philosophical elements. One of these elements is liberation theology: the discredited quasiCatholic facade that Communist theoreticians in the 1960's and 1970's used in order to read their socialist agenda into the cultural milieu of 1st century Palestine. Haight knows that this line of thinking has tried and failed in the past so he cloaks his discourse in vaguer and less controversial terminology - but essentially it is a rehash of Gutierrez. The second theme here, which complements and seeks to lend solidity to the neoliberationist claptrap, is that Catholic theology focuses too much on Christ as Word and Son (Christology "from above") to the detriment of Christ's humanity (Christology "from below"). Whatever the merits of this approach (and there are precious few) it is hardly "fresh" or "exciting" or "groundbreaking". A thousand writers have "searched" for the "historical Jesus" for almost two centuries now, and each one just happens to find Him and discover Him to be exactly what they wanted Him to be. Surprise, surprise - Fr. Haight finds a Christ very much to his liking. His murky idea here seems to be that Christ was taken "from below" up to God - again hardly an insightful or new idea. This concept was condemned as the heresy of Adoptionism in the 5th century - again hardly a "fresh perspective". In sum, this book may be pleasing to the shrinking and graying hippy contingent among Catholics, but has nothing of value to offer and nothing new to offer. It's a shame that Haight feels he can waste the reader's time with almost 500 pages of rehashed ideology masquerading as scholarship.
Rating:
Summary: Buyer beware
Review: Although the book claims to offer a Catholic Christology, it simply repeats the old Enlightenment view of Jesus as moral sage, the best man, the ideal prophet. A purely human Jesus and certainly not the one and only savior of the world.Tendentious misinterpretation of doctrinal history meets Blowing in the Wind theology.
Rating: 
Summary: Continues to Amaze and Challenge!
Review: It is amazing how this book has generated such discussion and even condemnation! Perhaps that's a good thing since the field of christology is like any other area of study: it needs to be refreshed and new ideas need to be generated to light the fire of new insight. When it was first published, I posted one of the first reviews of this item on Amazon. But that was by no means the last word because the book has continued to be a source of inspiration and learning for me. It is very challenging reading, but it contains untold riches to be dug out like gold in a mine. As I read the negative reviews the book has received, I find myself thinking that the reviewers simply don't understand what Haight is attempting to do. His mind runs deep and has a very sharp edge to it. Few are able to keep up, but I encourage anyone interested in the cutting edge of christology to buy this book and to study it. Don't be in a hurry, but taste every sentence and every word. And don't believe the charges against Haight that suggest that he's not faithful to the catholic tradition. He is very faithful and very orthodox. His criteria for authentic christology make that clear. But he's not afraid to ask difficult questions to bring christology to a meaningful place in the contemporary theological scene.
Rating:
Summary: Continues to Amaze and Challenge!
Review: It is amazing how this book has generated such discussion and even condemnation! Perhaps that's a good thing since the field of christology is like any other area of study: it needs to be refreshed and new ideas need to be generated to light the fire of new insight. When it was first published, I posted one of the first reviews of this item on Amazon. But that was by no means the last word because the book has continued to be a source of inspiration and learning for me. It is very challenging reading, but it contains untold riches to be dug out like gold in a mine. As I read the negative reviews the book has received, I find myself thinking that the reviewers simply don't understand what Haight is attempting to do. His mind runs deep and has a very sharp edge to it. Few are able to keep up, but I encourage anyone interested in the cutting edge of christology to buy this book and to study it. Don't be in a hurry, but taste every sentence and every word. And don't believe the charges against Haight that suggest that he's not faithful to the catholic tradition. He is very faithful and very orthodox. His criteria for authentic christology make that clear. But he's not afraid to ask difficult questions to bring christology to a meaningful place in the contemporary theological scene.
Rating:
Summary: Best available scholarly survey of contemporary Christology
Review: Let me qualify my title for this review by saying that I am not a trained theologian! This book was recommended to me by my (Episcopal) priest, as I had asked him for something scholarly yet still reasonably accessible which could help me further "understand my own understanding" of Jesus Christ. Though I am not a Catholic, I think Haight's work has appeal for all Christians, from Catholics to mainlines to Evangelicals. I confess that I have only read about 2/3rds of the text (it is weighty), but I have been challenged and inspired by each chapter. Haight does a superb job of discussing the ways in which Jesus has been understood in other, non-western cultures. For an evangelical Anglican, it is not always easy to understand what Christ means in an Asian, or African, or South American context. We proclaim Christ to be universal -- but how Jesus, as symbol of God is understood in other cultures is not necessarily how He is understood by prosperous, over-educated Britons and Americans! This is the sort of text I intend to have on my bedside table for a long time -- read in small snippets (I digest slowly), I know it will continue to provoke and inspire, and, it is to be hoped help me to clarify my own ongoing relationship with Christ.
Rating:
Summary: Best available scholarly survey of contemporary Christology
Review: Let me qualify my title for this review by saying that I am not a trained theologian! This book was recommended to me by my (Episcopal) priest, as I had asked him for something scholarly yet still reasonably accessible which could help me further "understand my own understanding" of Jesus Christ. Though I am not a Catholic, I think Haight's work has appeal for all Christians, from Catholics to mainlines to Evangelicals. I confess that I have only read about 2/3rds of the text (it is weighty), but I have been challenged and inspired by each chapter. Haight does a superb job of discussing the ways in which Jesus has been understood in other, non-western cultures. For an evangelical Anglican, it is not always easy to understand what Christ means in an Asian, or African, or South American context. We proclaim Christ to be universal -- but how Jesus, as symbol of God is understood in other cultures is not necessarily how He is understood by prosperous, over-educated Britons and Americans! This is the sort of text I intend to have on my bedside table for a long time -- read in small snippets (I digest slowly), I know it will continue to provoke and inspire, and, it is to be hoped help me to clarify my own ongoing relationship with Christ.
Rating:
Summary: Stale Arianism
Review: Nothing new here. Just a rehash of old Arian tunes about Jesus revealing God but not really being God. Save your time and money. You'd probably need No-Doze to get through this dense prose anyway. Curl up with the Nicene Creed instead.
Rating:
Summary: A Christological tour de force!
Review: Once in a while a masterful book comes along in the field of Christology ... this is one of those books! In Jesus Symbol of God, Roger Haight offers his written insights in the same manner he uses in the classroom: with clarity, precision and a grasp of catholic tradition which is mind-blowing in its universality. This book is so well-informed as to be a struggle at times, but it is worth the intellectual investment for anyone who wants to know the state of Christology for today or its implications and possibilities for tomorrow. Haight's grasp of the field is incomparable. This work is truly on the cutting edge as it brings catholic tradition into dialogue with postmodern realities. Haight seems destined to ask the difficult questions and one worries that this penchant may well find him in "hot water" with those short-sighted minds who claim the prerogative of preserving Roman Catholic doctrine in the curial halls of Vatican City. The theological world is indebted to Roger Haight and I am proud to have learned from him personally.
Rating:
Summary: A Christological tour de force!
Review: Once in a while a masterful book comes along in the field of Christology ... this is one of those books! In Jesus Symbol of God, Roger Haight offers his written insights in the same manner he uses in the classroom: with clarity, precision and a grasp of catholic tradition which is mind-blowing in its universality. This book is so well-informed as to be a struggle at times, but it is worth the intellectual investment for anyone who wants to know the state of Christology for today or its implications and possibilities for tomorrow. Haight's grasp of the field is incomparable. This work is truly on the cutting edge as it brings catholic tradition into dialogue with postmodern realities. Haight seems destined to ask the difficult questions and one worries that this penchant may well find him in "hot water" with those short-sighted minds who claim the prerogative of preserving Roman Catholic doctrine in the curial halls of Vatican City. The theological world is indebted to Roger Haight and I am proud to have learned from him personally.
Rating:
Summary: reader beware
Review: Reader Beware! As of December 13, 2004, the author of this book, Fr. Roger Haight has been forbidden to teach or present himself as a Catholic Theologian. This book has been condemed by the church for teaching doctornal error regarding Christ and redemption. The condemntation of this book and its auther came from Cardinal Ratzinger with approval of its condemnation by the pope on Dec 13, 2004.
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