The vertical plane is the plane of Eternity which intersects the horizontal plane of Time from above. It reveals itself by revelation as a gift of grace and cannot be taken by storm. Within history, Jesus as the Christ can be understood only as Problem or Myth. As the Christ, He brings the world of the Father. But we who stand in this concrete world know nothing, and are incapable of knowing anything, of that other world .
Historical scholarship is thus powerless to offer a theologically relevant commentary on the Bible.
Historical-critical scholarship can, at most, only be a preparation for a true interpretation of the Bible. Grace is the gift of Christ, who exposes the gulf which separates God and man, and, by exposing it, bridges it. To stand here is to stand truly at the foot of the cross. The true crisis is present. In the Resurrection the new world of the Holy Spirit touches the old world of the flesh, but touches it as a tangent touches a circle, that is, without touching it.