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Christus Praesens: A Reconsideration of Rudolf Bultmann's Christology
Now back in print! This volume reintroduces Rudolf Bultmann's exegetical work into today's theological conversation. Seeking to enliven the act of preaching in our postmodern world, James Kay shows how Bultmann's approach to proclaiming the gospel renders Christ present to hearers today.
187 pages, Paperback
First published March 27, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 12, 2019
David Congdon's overview of Bultmann's theology brought me to this book, and I'm pretty thankful. Bultmann's approach isn't too dissimilar from Kierkegaard; one can't really get a good grip on what either thinker thinks just from one or two works from their oeurve (and their individual works often apparently contradict each other, although for entirely separate reasons). I frankly don't have the time (or honestly the intellectual resources at the moment) to comb through Bultmann's output, so this book immediately establishes itself as valuable.
As it turns out, Bultmann's Christology is rather tricky. Many just pay attention to his theological writings while neglecting his exegetical works, which skews representations of his ideas to either seem more Docetist or liberal than he actually is (he in fact is neither). The irony with ignoring his exegetical works is that he may be the greatest exegete of the 20th century - and certainly the most impactful and important.
Kay does a good job summarizing and synthesizing Bultmann's exegetical and theological works, with considerable emphasis on his commentaries, particularly the Johannine works and 2 Corinthians. The main thrust of the book is that Bultmann's Christology is largely based around the Christus praesens (the presence of Christ) in the context of the kerygma. Bultmann's contention is that the presence of Christ is not mediated through historical or literary means, but through the preaching of Him - specifically Him on a Cross. When Christ is preached, He manifests Himself in the situation of the proclaimer; in Bultmann's words, "the Proclaimer becomes the proclaimed" while Himself also doing the proclaiming. The presence of Christ is also eschatological in that it brings about the end of the existential quest of humans by providing us with authentic existence via saving faith.
The book does a good job of demonstrating Bultmann's dialectical theology, and it seems to imply that much of the weirdness Bultmann exhibits comes from his staunch opposition to objectifying God. His whole project of demythologizing emerges from his belief that we cannot grasp God (especially historically). I will say that I do take issue with Bultmann's fixation on the modern worldview, especially since we've seen that the Enlightenment project he so heavily relies on has been deemed a failure. In a postmodern world, the idea that the miraculous must be discarded because they are beyond my experience sounds quaint and even dangerous - how can I discard possible realities just because I don't know them?
I really appreciated the three criticisms of Bultmann at the end of the book, if only because they turned me on to the work of Dorothee Sölle. I'm really excited to check out her work!
As it turns out, Bultmann's Christology is rather tricky. Many just pay attention to his theological writings while neglecting his exegetical works, which skews representations of his ideas to either seem more Docetist or liberal than he actually is (he in fact is neither). The irony with ignoring his exegetical works is that he may be the greatest exegete of the 20th century - and certainly the most impactful and important.
Kay does a good job summarizing and synthesizing Bultmann's exegetical and theological works, with considerable emphasis on his commentaries, particularly the Johannine works and 2 Corinthians. The main thrust of the book is that Bultmann's Christology is largely based around the Christus praesens (the presence of Christ) in the context of the kerygma. Bultmann's contention is that the presence of Christ is not mediated through historical or literary means, but through the preaching of Him - specifically Him on a Cross. When Christ is preached, He manifests Himself in the situation of the proclaimer; in Bultmann's words, "the Proclaimer becomes the proclaimed" while Himself also doing the proclaiming. The presence of Christ is also eschatological in that it brings about the end of the existential quest of humans by providing us with authentic existence via saving faith.
The book does a good job of demonstrating Bultmann's dialectical theology, and it seems to imply that much of the weirdness Bultmann exhibits comes from his staunch opposition to objectifying God. His whole project of demythologizing emerges from his belief that we cannot grasp God (especially historically). I will say that I do take issue with Bultmann's fixation on the modern worldview, especially since we've seen that the Enlightenment project he so heavily relies on has been deemed a failure. In a postmodern world, the idea that the miraculous must be discarded because they are beyond my experience sounds quaint and even dangerous - how can I discard possible realities just because I don't know them?
I really appreciated the three criticisms of Bultmann at the end of the book, if only because they turned me on to the work of Dorothee Sölle. I'm really excited to check out her work!
September 15, 2007
This book was hard to get through, but well worth my time (even if I did disagree with him on some of the fundamental stuff).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews