Christological Synthesis
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yam yuayan- Christological Synthesis
Christological Synthesis
In our time, the question of Jesus Christ has come to be raised with new
sharpness at the levels of both piety and theology. Many new elements are being
contributed by biblical studies and by historical research on the great
Christological councils. With fresh insistence, men and women in our time pose
the questions raised long ago: “Who is this man?” (cf. Lk 7:49) “Where did he
get all this? What kind of wisdom is he endowed with? How is it that such
miraculous deeds are accomplished by his hands?” (Mk 6:2). Obviously, no
answers to these questions will be found outside the discipline known as
Christology. Christology is composed of two words: Christos meaning literary
anointed one and technically is now a title – Christ. It is a Greek word but
translated from Hebrew mashiach designating purely Hebrew concept messiah.
Logos is a Greek word as well as Greek concept meaning word, the spoken word.
From that it developed into a term for that which is expressed in speech,
namely, human thought or reason. And so logos came to mean word, speech,
discourse, reason, meaning. Thus Christology is ‘Christ-talk’, ‘Messiah-talk’. The
word Christology is a combination of two different concepts – Hebrew and Greek.
Hebrew concept denotes appointment for a particular saving role in Hebrew
history; and Greek denoting reasoning, reflecting and discoursing. So the
definition of Christology is the systematic study of the person and work of Jesus1
of Nazareth. It is an attempt coherently to interpret the meaning and
significance for today of the life and message of Jesus of Nazareth. Christology is
critical theological reflection on the identity and significance of Jesus, but not a
neutral, detached scientific research. It is not worked out in some “faith-free
zone”. It involves personal commitment. Thinking and believing belong together.
The one has to light up the other. What is the task of Christology? The task of
Christology then is to articulate an appropriate, intelligible and coherent
interpretation of the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth that is meaningful
and life-giving for the men and women of today on whatever continent we find
ourselves in. Adequate Christology should be historically informed. It has to do
justice to Jesus – the earthly and historical Jesus, the whole Jesus. While
considering earthly person of Jesus of Nazareth, it has to include total Christ-
event which includes the resurrection and sending of the Spirit. The second point
that needs to be considered in doing Christology is, it has to be deeply grounded
in the Scripture. Thirdly Christology must seek to identify itself with the living
Christian Tradition – its history of the interpretation of Scripture and its
understanding of Jesus Christ. Christology is not simply Jesus research, it is
theology – the articulation of Christian faith. Christology is not simply private, it
is ecclesial – done in relationship to a community of believers itself receiving life
from a living stream of tradition. Lastly Christology sees itself as called into
ministry to the contemporary community. Christology is not only historically and
biblically conscious, it is also pastorally conscious. At the end we can say that
the task of Christology is always unfinished, never done once and for all, never
fully adequate, always open ended, always on-going.
Despite the diversity of Christologies which are available today, contemporary
Christology generally distinguishes two basic approaches: “Christology from
above” (Katabatic) and “Christology from below” (Anabatic). 2 Simply stated, a
Christology from above has a story-line that moves from heaven above down to
earth below: God “comes down” and becomes human, living among us. This is a
descending Christology. A Christology from below moves in the opposite
direction, from earth up to heaven; the man, Jesus of Nazareth, is seen to be or
becomes for us Lord and God. This is an ascending Christology.
Christology from Above- This approach represents the classical or traditional
way of speaking about Jesus Christ. It is the Christmas story. God’s Son took
flesh of the Virgin Mary and was born among us. Its starting point is the pre-
existent Logos, God the Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who
descended from Heaven into our world and became a human being. The
foundational Scriptural text of this approach is John 1:14 “The Word was made
flesh and lived amongst us”. This Son of God redeems humanity by suffering and
dying on the Cross, he then rises from the dead and finally returns to his exalted
state at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. This is the kind of Christology
that is traceable to John’s Gospel and some of the Pauline letters. It is a “high
Christology”. It is also associated with the School of theology in Alexandria and
its Logos-Sarx Christology, expounded by such early Fathers as Origen and Cyril.
The Logos-Sarx Christology of Alexandria held that in the Incarnation the Logos
assumes a general human nature (Sarx). In this classical katabatic Christology
“from above” the emphasis is firmly on the Incarnation - that earth shattering
event which united divinity and humanity in one person. In practice, however,
the most important thing about this person was that he was Divine. This
approach was consolidated by the early Councils of Nicaea (325) which declared
that Jesus of Nazareth was “of one substance with the Father” and Chalcedon
(451) which affirmed the one Person of Jesus Christ in his two natures, divine
and human: this man Jesus is God. Theologically, this approach’s energy
targeted the problem of the union of God and humanity in Jesus and was often
expressed in metaphysical or ontological terms. Katabatic Christology has three
stages: pre-existence of the Word, enfleshment of the Word, exaltation of the
Word. It seems fair to say that these classical dogmas from Nicaea and
Chalcedon determined the direction of Roman Catholic Christology right up to
the 1960s and that the dominant model or perception of Jesus of Nazareth was
as the Incarnation of the Eternal, only-begotten Son of God, the second Person
of the Blessed Trinity. The Incarnation was clearly the centre-piece.
Christology from Below- Reflecting the modern concern with historical
consciousness and challenged by the insights of contemporary biblical
scholarship, the majority of Christologists today prefer the approach “from
below”. This Christology starts with the “historical” Jesus, the man, Jesus - the
concrete Jesus of history, a human being like us in all things but sin, who
devoted his life and ministry in Palestine to proclaiming the Reign of God, whose
words and actions and behaviour (his praxis) eventually led him to being
executed on a cross, but who was raised to life again and exalted by the Father.
It stresses above all the implications of the Easter story. This is the kind of
Christology that is present in the Synoptic Gospels and especially in Mark, whose
starting point is the baptism of Jesus by John, followed immediately by all the
ministry in Galilee. It is a “low Christology”. This approach was also associated
with the School of theology at Antioch and its Logos-Anthropos Christology as
developed by Theodore of Mopsuestia and John Chrysostom. The Logos-
Anthropos Christology of Antioch held that in the Incarnation the Logos assumes
a specific human being (Anthropos). In anabatic Christology “from below”, the
emphasis is very much on the humanity of Jesus and his actual human history.
The focus is clearly on the content of his ministry and on his behaviour and
activity which leads to his death. It is a Christology expressed in functional
terms. Theologically, the Resurrection and its implications - not the Incarnation -
becomes the central focus. This approach is also taken up with salvation history.
It is a two-stage Christology: earthly history and post resurrection.
