WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

Christology:
What it is & why it matters - studying Jesus
Christ and his teachings
Commonweal, March 22, 2002 by Robert A. Krieg
The biblical scene is well known. Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, "Who do people say that I
am?" Various people reply, "John the Baptist" or "Elijah" or "one of the prophets." Then Jesus
asks, "But who do you say that I am?" And Peter answers, "You are the Christ" (Mark 8:29).

Although this startling encounter first occurred two thousand years ago, the question remains
with us. To every Christian of every era, the Lord Jesus asks: "But who do you say that I am?"
And like Peter, we respond. Terminally ill, someone considers anew what she really believes
about the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Or preparing to marry, a couple
discuss how they see their marital lives in relation to the risen Lord. Or helping in a homeless
shelter, someone senses that he is meeting Christ among the women, children, and men in the
dining room. Jesus' question, "Who do you say I am?" has many correct answers, including: You
are the crucified Messiah, the Christ of Cana, and the Son of Man among the poor.

Whenever we try to say who Jesus is for us, we engage in Christology. Christology is the attempt
to understand the identity of Jesus as the Christ, as God's anointed one, as God's Son and the
Second Person of the Trinity. We do not take up this question as spectators. Like Saint Peter or
Martha (John 11:27), we are already deeply involved with the Lord Jesus. For us to reflect on
Jesus' identity is simultaneously to describe Christ's relationship with us, with his disciples, and
even with those who have never heard of him. What composes our belief in Jesus Christ is
crucial to our individual lives and to the church's life. Therefore, the fuller our answers to the
question of Jesus' identity, the fuller our lives as we face each day, care for one another, and
participate in the Mass.

Christology is, of course, a technical term. It denotes an area of scholarly expertise that often
seems hopelessly abstruse, even superfluous, to many believing Christians. Still, it is also a topic
of current creativity and conflict in the church. As many Commonweal readers know, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has inquired into the orthodoxy of some
Catholic theologians, most prominently the Jesuits Roger Haight and Jacques Dupuis. The
specific works in question are Haight's Jesus Symbol of God (Orbis, 1999) and Dupuis's Toward
a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism (Orbis, 1997). Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and the
CDF have expressed skepticism about the efforts of Haight and Dupuis to reconcile traditional
Christological doctrine with pressing issues related to contemporary culture and non-Christian
religions. I shall return to Haight and Dupuis, but first I want to sketch out the broader
theological context of the discussion.

Christology from above and from below Recent decades have seen the emergence of two distinct
ways of reflecting on the mystery of Jesus Christ. What is known as "Christology from above"
begins with the Second Person of the Trinity, with the preexisting divine Word in relation to the
Father and the Holy Spirit. This methodology then proceeds "downward" to the Incarnation, to
the event in which the Word or Logos became man in Jesus Christ. Finally, this approach to
Christology draws our attention to how the Word made flesh suffered and died for our sins, and
then rose from the dead and returned to God's "right hand." This more traditional way of thinking
about Jesus Christ is often called "high" Christology because of its emphasis on the divinity of
Jesus Christ. Prominent examples of this approach can be found in Joseph Ratzinger's
Introduction to Christianity (1968), The Person of Christ (1981) by Jean Galot, S.J., the
Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994), and in the CDF's declaration, Dominus Iesus
(September 5, 2000). A high Christology also pervades the writings of Romano Guardini and
Hans Urs von Balthasar.

The other way of reflecting on the mystery of Jesus Christ is called "Christology from below."
Theologians who espouse this approach start with the human figure of Jesus. Often the analysis
begins either by considering in general what it means to be human, or by reconstructing the
historical figure of Jesus as a Jew in Galilee during the reigns of Herod the Great (d. 4 b.c.) and
his son Herod Antipas (d. a.d. 39). This kind of theological thinking then proceeds "upward" by
reflecting on Jesus' singular union with God during his earthly life, as evident in his prayer to
God as Abba, in his teachings, in his extraordinary personal authority, and in his compassion for
others, including his miracles. Finally, Christology from below inquires into the mystery of
Jesus' suffering, death, and Resurrection, asking why Christ is more than one martyr among
others and also about the character of his Resurrection appearances. Christology from below is
also known as "low" Christology, and is characterized by the emphasis it places on the humanity
of Jesus Christ. It usually relies to some extent on the results of historical-critical studies of the
Bible. Monika Hellwig's Jesus: The Compassion of God (1983), Gerard Sloyan's Jesus in Focus
(1983), as well as Jesus: A Gospel Portrait (1992) by Donald Senior, C.P., and Christology
(1995) by Gerald O'Collins, S.J., are widely respected examples of this approach. Leonardo Boff,
Gustavo Gutierrez, Hans Kung, Karl Rahner, S.J., Edward Schillebeeckx, O.P., Elisabeth
Schussler Fiorenza, and Jon Sobrino, S.J., are all identified with Christology from below.