The Metaphor of God Incarnate

by Hick, John

• ISBN13: 9780664230371
• ISBN10: 0664230377
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-16
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Pr

Summary

In this groundbreaking work, John Hick refutes the traditional Christian understanding of Jesus of Nazareth. According to Hick, Jesus did not teach what was to become the orthodox understanding of him: that he was God incarnate who became human to die for the sins of the world. Further, the traditional dogma of Jesus' two natures--human and divine--cannot be explained satisfactorily, and worse, it has been used to justify great human evils. Thus, the divine incarnation, he explains, is best understood metaphorically. Nevertheless, he concludes that Christians can still understand Jesus as Lord and the one who has made God real to us. This second edition includes new chapters on the Christologies of Anglican theologian John Macquarrie and Catholic theologian Roger Haight, SJ.

Table of Contents

Preface to First Edition	ix
Preface to Second Edition	xi
1. Today's Starting Point	1	(14)
2. Jesus' Life, Death and Resurrection	15	(12)
3. From Jesus to Christ	27	(13)
4. The Church's Affirmation of Jesus' Deity	40	(7)
5. Two Natures – Two Minds?	47	(14)
6. Divine Self-emptying?	61	(11)
7. Further Problems of Kenosis	72	(8)
8. Historical Side-effects of the Church's Dogma	80	(9)
9. Plural Incarnations?	89	(10)
10. Divine Incarnation as Metaphor	99	(13)
11. Atonement by the Blood of Jesus?	112	(15)
12. Salvation as Human Transformation	127	(7)
13. Salvation/Liberation as a World-wide Process	134	(6)
14. Christian Truth and Other Truths	140	(10)
15. New Anglican Thinking	150	(11)
16. New Catholic Thinking	161	(13)
17. What Does This Mean for the Churches?	174	(15)
Reference Bibliography	189	(12)
Index	201