# Christology: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Study of Jesus

Christology: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Study of Jesus is a 2009 theological book by the Australian Jesuit priest and academic Gerald O'Collins. This work was originally published in 1995 with the title Christology: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Study of Jesus Christ, but the author thoroughly revised the whole text in 2009 to take account of the numerous biblical, historical, and systematic studies of Jesus that appeared following its first edition.

## Synopsis

In this revised and updated second edition of his account of systematic Christology, O'Collins critically examines the more authoritative biblical and historical scholarship before confronting some key questions about orthodox faith and free will as applicable to Jesus in his person, being, and activity. In seeking to clarify the essential truths about him, the book investigates who Jesus was/is and what he did/does.
O'Collins attempts to answer some difficult questions: Was Jesus both human and divine? If so, how is that possible and not a blatant contradiction in terms? "Surely - he writes - we cannot attribute to one and the same subject the attributes of being simultaneously finite (as a human being) and infinite (as Son of God)?" The author proposes that one should envisage Jesus' revealing and redeeming 'work' as having an impact not only on all men and women of all times and places, but also on the whole created cosmos. Recognising the difficulty in describing or even minimally explaining Christ's salvific 'work', the book is built around the resurrection of the crucified Jesus, highlights love as the key to redemption, and proposes a synthesis of the divine presence through Jesus.
The second edition includes fresh material on current discussions in the study of Christology: the use of 'near-death' and bereavement experiences as analogies to the post-resurrection appearances of Christ; contemporary philosophical theology and the case for the theological coherence of the Incarnation; the universal redemptive activity of Christ; and the place and possibilities of 'presence' as an organising category in Christology.
Furthermore, the author covers specific theological approaches including Martin Luther's theology of the cross and liberation theology.

## Contents

Chapter 1 - Some Major Challenges
    History
    Philosophy
    Language
    Content, Emphases, and Context
Chapter 2 - The Jewish Matrix
    Five Titles
    Two Closing Comments
Chapter 3 - The Human History
    Some Preliminaries
    Proclaimer of the Kingdom
    Personal Authority
    Son of Man
    Self-Identity
    Faced with Death
    Conclusion
Chapter 4 - The Resurrection
    The Claim
    First Ground for the Claim: The Appearances
    The Appearances Challenged
    A Secondary Sign
    Other Factors
    The Resurrection as Revealing
    Resurrection as Redemptive
God's Activity Chapter 5 - The Son of God
    Dating the Title
    The Title's Meaning
    Naming the Son of God
Chapter 6 - Lord, Saviour, God, and Spirit
    Lord
    Further Appropriations
    Saviour and God
    Spirit
    Trinity
Chapter 7 - To the First Council of Constantinople
    Four Queries
    Ambiguities and Intimations
    Divinity and Humanity
Chapter 8 - Ephesus, Chalcedon, and Beyond
    After Chalcedon
    Into the Middle Ages
Chapter 9 - Medieval and Modern Christology
    Thomas Aquinas
    To the Reformation
    The Background for Today
Chapter 10 - Divine and Human
    Divinity
    Humanity
    Divine and Human
    One Divine Person
    Personal Pre-existence
    Further Issues
Chapter 11 - Faith, Holiness, and Virginal Conception
    The Faith of Jesus
    The Sinlessness of Christ
    The Grace of Christ
    The Virginal Conception
Chapter 12 - Redeemer
    The Human Need
    Christ's Saving Work
    Saved by Love
Chapter 13 - Universal Redeemer
    The Redeemer of All
    Grounds for a Universal Claim
    The Salvation of the Non-evangelized
    A Coda
Chapter 14 - The Possibilities of Presence
    Chapters 2-13 on Christ's Presence
    A Philosophy of Presence
    The Revealing and Saving Presence of Christ
    Three Further Advantages
    Conclusion
Bibliography - Index of Names - Biblical Index