Christology in Cultural Perspective

Christology defines the very heart of the Christian faith. Traditionally the study of the person and work of Christ has been understood largely as an exercise in biblical exegesis or historical and doctrinal analysis. Rarely, if ever, has Christology focused on the changing cultural paradigms that have deeply influenced the development of human knowledge and self understanding. This unique volume by Colin Greene reverses that trend and, in line with developments in modern cultural theory, explores the interlaces between successive cultural contexts and the story of Jesus to which the Scriptures bear witness. Starting with an examination of the three main Christological trajectories that have dominated the history of Christology–cosmological Christology, political Christology, and anthropological Christology–Greene proceeds to concentrate on the subtle and complex linkages between Christology and the sociopolitical paradigms that have bolstered the epistemological assumptions of modernity. Greene's wide-ranging study closes with a creative exploration into how Christology might once again provide us with a Christ-centered vision of reality. ""Colin Greene's magisterial work is far more than a conventional survey of what theologians have done with Christology, though it takes that in on the way. It is a challenge to several of the major assumptions that underlie the work not only of theologians but also of cultural critics, politicians, and opinion-formers in today's world. It is, in other words, doing for today something of what the Gospel writers did for their day–telling the story of Jesus in such a way as to blow open existing worldviews and propose fresh, startling perspectives in their place."" –N. T. Wright, Former Bishop of Durham ""Greene draws on a wide variety of theological, historical, and conceptual resources to explore a constructive approach to Christology and successive cultures. He rightly avoids exclusive alternatives between cosmological, anthropological, and political trajectories and underlines their complementary character as indicating continuities with biblical and historical formulations relevant to our own day. This book repays careful study."" –Anthony C. Thiselton, University of Nottingham Colin Greene is Programme Director for Theology, Imagination and Culture at Sarum College, Salisbury, England and Director of Metavista Associates. He was educated at Cambridge University, Queen's University, and Nottingham University, and was formerly Professor of Theological and Cultural Studies at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. In addition to numerous essays on Theology, Culture, and Scripture, Dr. Greene was an editor and co-founder of the acclaimed, nine-volume Scripture and Hermeneutics seminar series, and co-author of Metavista: Bible, Church and Mission in an Age of Imagination.