Carl Braaten’s memoirs tell the story of his life as a theologian, from his early years as a missionary kid in Madagascar to his years of study at the universities of Paris, Harvard, Heidelberg, and Oxford to his decades of teaching. Throughout the book, he delves into the many theological movements, controversies, and personalities that shaped his thinking and writing. Braaten’s fight for the faith is reflected in his theological work―spoken and written―that tangles with the “isms” of the surrounding culture of American religion. Because of Christ is more than simply a biography; it is a chronicle of the chief theological conflicts of the twentieth century that put the integrity of the gospel to the test.
Karl P. Donfried -- Smith College ""A penetrating analysis of western Christianity in crisis as well as an incisive and compelling guide for course correction. Written with clarity, insight, and conviction, That All May Believe is Braaten at his very best. A must-read for Christians in the northern hemisphere."" Gabriel Fackre -- author of The Church ""Who else but Carl Braaten could show us an ecumenical vision of theology as evangelical but not simply Protestant, catholic but not just Roman, orthodox but not only Eastern? Here is a needed call to share our ecclesial gifts with mutual affirmation on classical convictions and mutual admonition regarding teachable differences. Yet all this is done with a well-known Braaten 'edge' -- indictment of conventional Christianity and a drifting academic theology. We are in the author's debt for charting the right course toward visible unity and full communion for a church solid in its centralities and passionate about its mission."" Frank C. Senn -- Immanuel Lutheran Church, Evanston, Illinois ""Employing his gift for incisive analysis of theological movements and trends according to the criterion of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, Braaten affirms the catholic tradition with its canon of Scripture and historic dogmas as the indispensable bearer of the gospel. With evangelical passion for the missionary enterprise, he shows how the church must move toward ecumenical unity in order to bring the world to belief. He does not ignore the reality of the powers of evil that strive against the mission of the gospel. Nor does he shrink from saying that dialogue with the religions must not blunt the apostolic imperative to proclaim the gospel and bring converts into the community of faith in the crucified and risen Christ. This timely book, confessionally anchored and ecumenically hopeful, will engage theological readers from beginning to end."" Carl E. Braaten is one of the leading theologians in American Lutheranism. He taught Systematic Theology for a generation at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and was founding editor of the popular theological journal Dialog. He has written or edited many foundational works in Lutheran theology, among them is a two-volume Christian Dogmatics (1985) edited with Robert Jenson, and Justification: The Article by Which the Church Stands or Falls (1990). For thirteen years Braaten has been director of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology and editor of its journal, Pro Ecclesia.
The apocalyptic Jesus speaks directly to the crises of our time, Carl E. Braaten contends. Yet few modern theologians have come to terms with this aspect of Jesus' message. In these brief and provocative essays, Braaten reappraises theology and society from the point of view of apocalypticism. The author points out the relevance for contemporary Christians of the dualities found in apocalyptic thought: Christ and Counter-Christ, freedom and slavery, the present realm and future kingdom. People in today's counterculture are even seen to possess a vision of freedom similar to that in the apocalyptic sections of the Bible. The reader will discover that apocalypticism opens up fascinating new dimensions of such issues as ecology, revolution, and secular Christianity. Each chapter displays a double emphasis on theological concerns and on concrete problems facing Christians today. Those who read in the fields of religion, ethics, or American culture will find this book intriguing. The breezy style and careful thinking will appeal to everyone from college student to systematic theologian.
Carl Edward Braaten is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He served as a parish pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah in Minneapolis from 1958-1961. From 1961-1991 Braaten served as a professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. In 1992 he together with Robert W. Jenson founded the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology in Northfield, Minnesota. For fifteen years he served as the executive director of the Center, an ecumenical organization whose mission is to cultivate faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the churches, and also as the editor-in-chief of Pro Ecclesia, a journal of theology published by the Center. Braaten has authored and edited over fifty theological books, including Principles of Lutheran Theology (Fortress Press, 1983), The Future of God: The Revolutionary Dynamics of Hope (Harper & Row, Publishers, 1969), Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism (Fortress Press, 1998), Because of Christ: Memoirs of a Lutheran Theologian (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), and Who Is Jesus? Disputed Questions and Answers (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011), as well as hundreds of articles and editorials in various academic journals. Braaten was born on January 3, 1929 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He grew up on the island of Madagascar where his parents served as missionaries of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America. He graduated from Augustana Academy, a Lutheran high school in Canton, South Dakota. He received degrees from St. Olaf College (B.A.), Luther Seminary (M. Div.), and Harvard University Divinity School (Th.D.). In 1951 he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), in 1957 a doctoral student at the University of Heidelberg where he wrote his dissertation, and in 1967 a Guggenheim Fellow at Oxford University. In 1974 he spent a sabbatical making a worldwide lecture tour of various colleges and seminaries in Japan, China, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. This tour resulted in a book on the universal mission of the church entitled, The Flaming Center (Fortress Press, 1977).
First published in 1983, Principles of Lutheran Theology has guided students into theological reflection on the landmarks of Christian faith as understood in the Lutheran confessional heritage for a generation. The book sets forth the main principles of classical Lutheran theology but with an eschatological accent. Canon, confession, ecumenicity, Christ-centeredness, sacrament, law/ gospel, and two kingdoms are all examined not only in terms of their original meaning and historical development but also in light of current reflections. In this new edition, Braaten takes stock of the research and reflection of the last twenty-five years and also adds a chapter on the distinctive, Archimedean Lutheran insight into the hiddenness of God as a fount or ground of all theologizing. This new edition, cross-referenced to key readings in Luther's Works and The Book of Concord, will both equip and facilitate the search for a contemporary articulation of Christian identity in light of the church's historic commitments.
Clara Agnes Braaten kept a diary from the year she married the author’s father, Torstein Folkvard Braaten, in 1922 until she was ninety-four-years old. Three weeks after they were married, they departed Minneapolis by train for New York City to board the Stavangerfjord, a fine Norwegian ocean libber, to cross the Atlantic Ocean on their way to Bergen, Norway. The author’s father had accepted a call from the Foreign Mission Board of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America to become a missionary to Madagascar. The couple decided to visit Norway on their way to Paris, France, where they were to spend one year learning the French language. In this book, the author draws on his mother’s diaries to highlight why his parents obeyed the Great Commission and how they lived it every day in Madagascar. The book includes excerpts selected from his mother’s diary as well as a brief narrative of what the author remembers about growing up in Madagascar. Whether you’re interested in missionary life, the Lutheran Church, the history of Madagascar, or genealogy, you’ll enjoy Living the Great Commission in Madagascar.
Carl Braaten has written an interesting book applying the eschatological perspective to different dimensions of the Christian faith, of the life of the church, and of Christian ethics. His extremely readable style leads to profound insight. I particularly like the chapter on the ministry and the wisdom of his reflections on ethical questions." Wolfhart Pannenberg, University of Munich "More than any other theologian today, Braaten successfully relates biblical faith and ethics to the whole spectrum of urgent current concerns." Richard H. Hiers, Dept. of Religion, University of Florida "Braaten rightly insists that the church has lost its eschatological 'bite,' and he does much toward recovering that loss." Gerhard O. Forde, Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota "This book continues Braaten's persistent effort to interpret vital human concerns by the promise that the Lord lives." Robert W. Jenson, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
This single volume of dogmatics is an introduction to the Christian faith as such, written from an intentionally ecumenical perspective. Although this book is written by a Lutheran, its aim is to draw from the deep wells of the Christian tradition, its creeds and confessions, common to all denominations. Denominational dogmatics tends to define and defend the teachings of the Christian faith from the perspective of a particular church, in distinction from others. Ecumenical dogmatics is a relatively new attempt to focus on the beliefs and teachings fundamental to all communities that call themselves Christian. Such a project aims to be more irenic than polemical, intent on seeking and serving reconciliation and unity in Christ. The trinitarian and christological confessions of the first five centuries are foundational for all Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Reformation churches and, despite all their subsequent differences and divisions, are quintessential in their journey toward reconciliation and reunion. These ancient creeds also suggest the appropriate outline for the organization of the contents of dogmatics even today, following the works of the triune God—creation, redemption, and sanctification.
With perceptive insight and vigor, Dr. Braaten addresses today's crisis in ministry in Protestant and Catholic communities. Numerous studies reveal widespread confusion about the nature and scope of the church's mission. There is a split consciousness in the church at all levels between evangelism and social action, and between lay and ordained forms of ministry. The Apostolic Imperative summons the church to embody the apostolic norms of primitive Christianity in its theology and practice. "A misinterpretation or neglect of the apostolic norms in the life of the church makes the church captive to narrow traditions or victim of fashionable trends," says Braaten. "The aim of this book is to ground our theological thinking in the essentials of apostolic faith, its witness to the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and its obedience to his command to convey his message to all the world." The theology of mission in this book is biblically based, evangelically motivated, ecumenically oriented, and practically posed to grapple with the issues of the immediate future.
A recent movement in modern religious thought believes that the place to start in theology is at the end--eschatology. At a critical time in history, when many are unsure of the future of faith in a secular age, here is a call for believers to participate in God's activity in the future tense. The basic theme in these pages is the idea of the future--in the language of Christian hope and in the interpretation of history. The rediscovery of the role of eschatology in the preaching of Jesus and of early Christians, says Dr. Braaten, has been one of the most important events of recent theological history. Eschatology has not always been taken seriously. Theologians have often defined it so that the dimension of the future was allowed to slip into an eternal present. God was thus viewed only in vertical terms--as being "above us." The author feels that this loss of hope in the future precipitated the crisis known as the death-of-God movement. In this book Dr. Braaten joins those thinkers who are looking to eschatology as a point of departure for a total recasting of the Christian message. He presents a constructive and systematic outline of the theology of the future, and puts forth an understanding of God--shared with early Christianity--as being "ahead of us." The thrust of this theology of the future is an ethic of revolutionary change, derived from the Christian vision of the kingdom of God. Christianity's eschatological faith is shown to be closely connected to the revolutionary concerns of the modern world, both as the sponsor of its driving images and as a companion in the struggle for its realization. The final chapter turns to an ethic of revolution, based on the politics of hope.
With increasing awareness of the permanence of religious pluralism and increasing acceptance of other religions as valid ways to God, some theologians have argued that Christianity needs to abandon its traditional, biblical claim that Jesus is the unique, normative, decisive and final self-revelation of God and the salvation of the world. Braaten's response is an unequivocal reassertion of the exclusive claim of the gospel. To do so, he surveys the range of current options and dives into questions of the uniqueness of Christ, the absoluteness of Christianity, and the universality of salvation. Working with concepts of justification, eschatology, and Trinity, Braaten affirms that the gospel relativizes other religions. The gospel, however, also relativizes Christianity. Thus Christianity's strong claims for Christ need to be tempered by acknowledging that Christians do not know beforehand the final outcome of God's unfolding plan for the world. Although not all will agree, this book is an important call to Christian conscience from a theologian who sees Christian theology teetering on the brink of confusion.
New Testament scholars have long debated the historical identity of Jesus and the development of Christology within the church's history. In Who Is Jesus? Carl Braaten reviews the various historical Jesus quests, arguing that it is time for the current ("third") quest to admit failure. Against the implication that "the real Jesus has been lost and needs to be found," Braaten maintains that the only real Jesus is the One presented in the canonical Gospels and that "any other Jesus is irrelevant to Christian faith." He draws on a wealth of historical resources to address such contentious questions as these: What can we actually know about Jesus of Nazareth? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Is Jesus unique -- the one and only way of salvation? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Was Jesus the founder of the Christian church? What does Jesus have to do with politics?
In another "last book," Carl Braaten traces his ecumenical journey from the "Braaten brouhaha" of the early 60s -in which he was mistakenly interpreted as commending an immediate return to Rome- through his (and others) founding of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology to the current agreements on justification forged in 1999.
Carl Braaten’s memoirs tell the story of his life as a theologian, from his early years as a missionary kid in Madagascar to his years of study at the universities of Paris, Harvard, Heidelberg, and Oxford to his decades of teaching. Throughout the book, he delves into the many theological movements, controversies, and personalities that shaped his thinking and writing. Braaten’s fight for the faith is reflected in his theological work―spoken and written―that tangles with the “isms” of the surrounding culture of American religion. Because of Christ is more than simply a biography; it is a chronicle of the chief theological conflicts of the twentieth century that put the integrity of the gospel to the test.
This single volume of dogmatics is an introduction to the Christian faith as such, written from an intentionally ecumenical perspective. Although this book is written by a Lutheran, its aim is to draw from the deep wells of the Christian tradition, its creeds and confessions, common to all denominations. Denominational dogmatics tends to define and defend the teachings of the Christian faith from the perspective of a particular church, in distinction from others. Ecumenical dogmatics is a relatively new attempt to focus on the beliefs and teachings fundamental to all communities that call themselves Christian. Such a project aims to be more irenic than polemical, intent on seeking and serving reconciliation and unity in Christ. The trinitarian and christological confessions of the first five centuries are foundational for all Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Reformation churches and, despite all their subsequent differences and divisions, are quintessential in their journey toward reconciliation and reunion. These ancient creeds also suggest the appropriate outline for the organization of the contents of dogmatics even today, following the works of the triune God—creation, redemption, and sanctification.
Clara Agnes Braaten kept a diary from the year she married the author’s father, Torstein Folkvard Braaten, in 1922 until she was ninety-four-years old. Three weeks after they were married, they departed Minneapolis by train for New York City to board the Stavangerfjord, a fine Norwegian ocean libber, to cross the Atlantic Ocean on their way to Bergen, Norway. The author’s father had accepted a call from the Foreign Mission Board of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America to become a missionary to Madagascar. The couple decided to visit Norway on their way to Paris, France, where they were to spend one year learning the French language. In this book, the author draws on his mother’s diaries to highlight why his parents obeyed the Great Commission and how they lived it every day in Madagascar. The book includes excerpts selected from his mother’s diary as well as a brief narrative of what the author remembers about growing up in Madagascar. Whether you’re interested in missionary life, the Lutheran Church, the history of Madagascar, or genealogy, you’ll enjoy Living the Great Commission in Madagascar.
Leading theologians speak out on the crisis in the role of biblical authority and the interpretation of the Bible in the church. 'The various chapters in this excellent book, summarised as to leading themes by editors in the introduciton, orginated as conference papers which addressed the question: can the Bible still speak to the Church in an age of critical historical awareness? It is a book which will repay careful reading by all those concerned to maintain or restore an intergral connection between Bible and Church while retaining also a personal integrity of intellect and spirit. There are eight essays in all, each addressing the central question in its own unique manner.' Colm O Baoill, University of Aberdeen, Scottish Journal of Theology
Karl P. Donfried -- Smith College "A penetrating analysis of western Christianity in crisis as well as an incisive and compelling guide for course correction. Written with clarity, insight, and conviction, That All May Believe is Braaten at his very best. A must-read for Christians in the northern hemisphere." Gabriel Fackre -- author of The Church "Who else but Carl Braaten could show us an ecumenical vision of theology as evangelical but not simply Protestant, catholic but not just Roman, orthodox but not only Eastern? Here is a needed call to share our ecclesial gifts with mutual affirmation on classical convictions and mutual admonition regarding teachable differences. Yet all this is done with a well-known Braaten 'edge' -- indictment of conventional Christianity and a drifting academic theology. We are in the author's debt for charting the right course toward visible unity and full communion for a church solid in its centralities and passionate about its mission." Frank C. Senn -- Immanuel Lutheran Church, Evanston, Illinois "Employing his gift for incisive analysis of theological movements and trends according to the criterion of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, Braaten affirms the catholic tradition with its canon of Scripture and historic dogmas as the indispensable bearer of the gospel. With evangelical passion for the missionary enterprise, he shows how the church must move toward ecumenical unity in order to bring the world to belief. He does not ignore the reality of the powers of evil that strive against the mission of the gospel. Nor does he shrink from saying that dialogue with the religions must not blunt the apostolic imperative to proclaim the gospel and bring converts into the community of faith in the crucified and risen Christ. This timely book, confessionally anchored and ecumenically hopeful, will engage theological readers from beginning to end.
Carl Braaten here issues an energetic call for a truly ecumenical church, including a Lutheran rationale for recovery of the historical episcopacy and papal primacy as servants of the gospel. Braaten writes of the church's place in the divine scheme of things and of the various modern isms that distort or hide the classical Christian tradition. Tracing his own ecumenical journey, he outlines an ecclesiology of communion and advances specific proposals for enhancing Christian unity in liturgy, spirituality, and church polity. The confessing movement named after Martin Luther he views in terms of its basic intent to reform and renew the church, not to start a new Christianity in a multiplicity of separate denominations.
With perceptive insight and vigor, Dr. Braaten addresses today's crisis in ministry in Protestant and Catholic communities. Numerous studies reveal widespread confusion about the nature and scope of the church's mission. There is a split consciousness in the church at all levels between evangelism and social action, and between lay and ordained forms of ministry. The Apostolic Imperative summons the church to embody the apostolic norms of primitive Christianity in its theology and practice. "A misinterpretation or neglect of the apostolic norms in the life of the church makes the church captive to narrow traditions or victim of fashionable trends," says Braaten. "The aim of this book is to ground our theological thinking in the essentials of apostolic faith, its witness to the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and its obedience to his command to convey his message to all the world." The theology of mission in this book is biblically based, evangelically motivated, ecumenically oriented, and practically posed to grapple with the issues of the immediate future.
The apocalyptic Jesus speaks directly to the crises of our time, Carl E. Braaten contends. Yet few modern theologians have come to terms with this aspect of Jesus' message. In these brief and provocative essays, Braaten reappraises theology and society from the point of view of apocalypticism. The author points out the relevance for contemporary Christians of the dualities found in apocalyptic thought: Christ and Counter-Christ, freedom and slavery, the present realm and future kingdom. People in today's counterculture are even seen to possess a vision of freedom similar to that in the apocalyptic sections of the Bible. The reader will discover that apocalypticism opens up fascinating new dimensions of such issues as ecology, revolution, and secular Christianity. Each chapter displays a double emphasis on theological concerns and on concrete problems facing Christians today. Those who read in the fields of religion, ethics, or American culture will find this book intriguing. The breezy style and careful thinking will appeal to everyone from college student to systematic theologian.
Carl Braaten has written an interesting book applying the eschatological perspective to different dimensions of the Christian faith, of the life of the church, and of Christian ethics. His extremely readable style leads to profound insight. I particularly like the chapter on the ministry and the wisdom of his reflections on ethical questions." Wolfhart Pannenberg, University of Munich "More than any other theologian today, Braaten successfully relates biblical faith and ethics to the whole spectrum of urgent current concerns." Richard H. Hiers, Dept. of Religion, University of Florida "Braaten rightly insists that the church has lost its eschatological 'bite,' and he does much toward recovering that loss." Gerhard O. Forde, Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota "This book continues Braaten's persistent effort to interpret vital human concerns by the promise that the Lord lives." Robert W. Jenson, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
A recent movement in modern religious thought believes that the place to start in theology is at the end--eschatology. At a critical time in history, when many are unsure of the future of faith in a secular age, here is a call for believers to participate in God's activity in the future tense. The basic theme in these pages is the idea of the future--in the language of Christian hope and in the interpretation of history. The rediscovery of the role of eschatology in the preaching of Jesus and of early Christians, says Dr. Braaten, has been one of the most important events of recent theological history. Eschatology has not always been taken seriously. Theologians have often defined it so that the dimension of the future was allowed to slip into an eternal present. God was thus viewed only in vertical terms--as being "above us." The author feels that this loss of hope in the future precipitated the crisis known as the death-of-God movement. In this book Dr. Braaten joins those thinkers who are looking to eschatology as a point of departure for a total recasting of the Christian message. He presents a constructive and systematic outline of the theology of the future, and puts forth an understanding of God--shared with early Christianity--as being "ahead of us." The thrust of this theology of the future is an ethic of revolutionary change, derived from the Christian vision of the kingdom of God. Christianity's eschatological faith is shown to be closely connected to the revolutionary concerns of the modern world, both as the sponsor of its driving images and as a companion in the struggle for its realization. The final chapter turns to an ethic of revolution, based on the politics of hope.
Carl Edward Braaten is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He served as a parish pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah in Minneapolis from 1958-1961. From 1961-1991 Braaten served as a professor of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. In 1992 he together with Robert W. Jenson founded the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology in Northfield, Minnesota. For fifteen years he served as the executive director of the Center, an ecumenical organization whose mission is to cultivate faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the churches, and also as the editor-in-chief of Pro Ecclesia, a journal of theology published by the Center. Braaten has authored and edited over fifty theological books, including Principles of Lutheran Theology (Fortress Press, 1983), The Future of God: The Revolutionary Dynamics of Hope (Harper & Row, Publishers, 1969), Mother Church: Ecclesiology and Ecumenism (Fortress Press, 1998), Because of Christ: Memoirs of a Lutheran Theologian (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), and Who Is Jesus? Disputed Questions and Answers (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2011), as well as hundreds of articles and editorials in various academic journals. Braaten was born on January 3, 1929 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He grew up on the island of Madagascar where his parents served as missionaries of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America. He graduated from Augustana Academy, a Lutheran high school in Canton, South Dakota. He received degrees from St. Olaf College (B.A.), Luther Seminary (M. Div.), and Harvard University Divinity School (Th.D.). In 1951 he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), in 1957 a doctoral student at the University of Heidelberg where he wrote his dissertation, and in 1967 a Guggenheim Fellow at Oxford University. In 1974 he spent a sabbatical making a worldwide lecture tour of various colleges and seminaries in Japan, China, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. This tour resulted in a book on the universal mission of the church entitled, The Flaming Center (Fortress Press, 1977).
It's time that the body reassumed its rightful place of importance in Christian life, according to Carl and LaVonne Braaten in The Living Temple. In this sourcebook for a healthier way to live, the authors discuss the body, the foods we put into it, and how Christians are to regard it. Although often slighted in Christian tradition, the body was not regarded by Paul and the early Church as "vile flesh" to be transcended, but as a living metaphor of Christ and his people and as the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. The body is thus to be cared for and revered. Later thinkers, including Luther, upheld this view. But today it is increasingly difficult to fulfill this biblical ideal. "Junk" food and drink can ravage the temple. Among the many practical aspects of the Braatens' discussion are: - What vital nutrients are currently being processed out of our foods and how they can be replaced - Natural medicine's to Christianity and the foods we eat - Common myths about American nutrition and why they just aren't true - The principal vitamins and minerals and the function of each in proper nutrition Select bibliographies for further reading and continuing discussion follow each chapter. The Living Temple is a sensible Christian application of one of our most vital concerns.
First published in 1983, Principles of Lutheran Theology has guided students into theological reflection on the landmarks of Christian faith as understood in the Lutheran confessional heritage for a generation. The book sets forth the main principles of classical Lutheran theology but with an eschatological accent. Canon, confession, ecumenicity, Christ-centeredness, sacrament, law/ gospel, and two kingdoms are all examined not only in terms of their original meaning and historical development but also in light of current reflections. In this new edition, Braaten takes stock of the research and reflection of the last twenty-five years and also adds a chapter on the distinctive, Archimedean Lutheran insight into the hiddenness of God as a fount or ground of all theologizing. This new edition, cross-referenced to key readings in Luther's Works and The Book of Concord, will both equip and facilitate the search for a contemporary articulation of Christian identity in light of the church's historic commitments.
This volume interprets the lost decade of theological research and reflection on the relation of Christian faith to history. The theological development of this period is depicted as a struggle to go beyond Barth and Bultmann in stressing the centrality of history for revelation and faith. Dr. Braaten deals with new hermeneutical approaches to achieve a theological synthesis of revelation and history. He describes the theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg, which calls for a more radical interpretation of revelation along historical lines, as a pivotal point in the present situation. He goes on to outline current thinking on revelation, the historical-critical method, the historical Jesus, resurrection, salvation, redemption, and eschatology.
New Testament scholars have long debated the historical identity of Jesus and the development of Christology within the church's history. In Who Is Jesus? Carl Braaten reviews the various historical Jesus quests, arguing that it is time for the current ("third") quest to admit failure. Against the implication that "the real Jesus has been lost and needs to be found," Braaten maintains that the only real Jesus is the One presented in the canonical Gospels and that "any other Jesus is irrelevant to Christian faith." He draws on a wealth of historical resources to address such contentious questions as these: What can we actually know about Jesus of Nazareth? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Is Jesus unique -- the one and only way of salvation? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Was Jesus the founder of the Christian church? What does Jesus have to do with politics?
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