Christ and Horrors: The Coherence of Christology

Current Issues in Theology

by Marilyn McCord Adams

Who would the Saviour have to be, what would the Saviour have to do to rescue human beings from the meaning-destroying experiences of their lives? This book offers a systematic Christology that is at once biblical and philosophical. Starting with human radical vulnerability to horrors such as permanent pain, sadistic abuse or genocide, it develops what must be true about Christ if He is the horror-defeater who ultimately resolves all the problems affecting the human condition and Divine-human relations. Distinctive elements of Marilyn McCord Adams' study are her defence of the two-natures theory, of Christ as Inner Teacher and a functional partner in human flourishing, and her arguments in favour of literal bodily resurrection (Christ's and ours) and of a strong doctrine of corporeal Eucharistic presence. The book concludes that Christ is the One in Whom, not only Christian doctrine, but cosmos, church, and the human psyche hold together.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, Philosophy, Religion

344 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 2006

Reviews

[Thomas Zwilling]

Alternates between the brilliant and the ridiculous as few books can. Has a lot of worthwhile stuff to say about Divine identification with people who have suffered horrendous evil and the incarnation, but its focus on our vulnerability to horrors leads it to neglect important questions around the fall and the need for atonement, which goes so far as to claim Jesus sinned, that "be perfect, therefore, as your Father in heaven is perfect" is an objectionable elitism, and that chewing on the Eucharist is a form of degradation that continues the act of solidarity on the Cross (the last one gets points for boldness, at least).

Like the previous books extended engagement with process theology, this spends a ton of time dealing with views that I just don't care about at all, like 19th century Anglo-Catholicism or impanation, but it's an author's right to focus on what she finds interesting.

[Ben Torno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read most, skimmed some.

"Horrendous evils" are Adam's unique spin off the classic Problem of Evil – "horrors are evils the participation in (the doing or suffering of) which constitutes prima face reason to doubt whether the participant's life could (given their inclusion in it) have positive meaning for him/her on the whole" (pg. 32).

Adams uses the framework of "horrendous evils" to explore how Christ – through his incarnation, death, and resurrection – participates in horrors in solidarity with us, and then redeems our horrors both in our ante-mortem, and ultimately, in our post-mortem existence. She touches on a wide swath of related issues – atonement theory, sacrificial understandings of Christ's death, resurrection metaphysics, eucharistic presence, etc – and many of the chapters work well as stand-alone essays.
Some parts got fairly technical (at least for me), but thankfully, Adams is a fantastically clear writer, so it was readable.

Adams is not a conservative by any stretch of the imagination. Many of her conclusions and presuppositions (her conception of God's nature, her discussion of the human nature of Jesus, her understanding of the Eucharist) were a little strange to my ears. Nevertheless, I think Adams brings a helpful and refreshing perspective to the conversation, but it's just that – one more new voice in the conversation.

I'll probably return to this book in the future.

[Sooho Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christ and Horrors, a sequel to her previous Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God, is an audacious and much needed endeavor for the coherence of Christology in our horror-stricken world. Horrors are, in short, what prevent positive meaning making in human beings. Horrors are, then, broader than sin or evil. Therefore, for Adams, horrors are the true problem and inhibitor towards God's ultimate ends for creation: assimilative (make creation as much as God-like as possible) and unitive (union between God and creation).

Dissatisfied with many modern conceptualizations of Christology, Adams proposes a medieval metaphysics retrieval with slight tweaks. As a result, Adams has a metaphysically high and materially low Christology. On the one hand, Jesus is God incarnate. On the other hand, Jesus is really human beset with horrors. Adams stages that Chalcedonian Christology has the most coherence and fruitfulness with dealing with our horror-stricken problems. Adams' Christ is, thus, a three stage horror-defeater. Stage-I: God, the incommensurate good, horror-participates with the horror-participant in Jesus. Stage-II: God restores the horror-participant's positive meaning making capabilities. Stage-III: God will rid of all horror-inducing forces completely. The first stage is completed in the incarnation. The second is worked in the indwelling of Jesus in the hearts of all believers. The third is the eschatological hope we endure for.

Christ and Horrors is a definite read for any students of theology or serious Christians willing to wrestle with horrors with Christ, our horror-defeater. There are some moves that she makes that I find unnecessary and, at times, wrong. Nevertheless, she and her work is monumental.

cf. www.sooholee.wordpress.com

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might give this 3.5 stars if that was an option. A provocative and creative book which employs analytic philosophical tools to enlist Christology to solve the problem of horrors. While stimulating, and worthy of consideration, but, more importantly, critical engagement, the core of her argument fails at some key points, which, in turn, undermines her thesis. This is due in part to her complete willingness to move beyond Scripture in her theological and philosophical formulations. While the depth and logical analysis of this work is something to be admired, there is also much that detracts from this work, and, as such, I would only recommend this to the discerning and theological grounded reader.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true test for any ideology is how well it can stand true as it looks squarely in the eye of our world's horrific evils. Adams seeks to write her theology with this level of gravitas, and it is much appreciated. After all, if Christian theology falls short in its message of hope in the face of horrendous evils... then what good is it, truly? Imagine a preacher speaking of Jesus... directly within a Nazi concentration camp's gas chamber, just as the gas is turned on. Can the Christ of Christianity offer more than mere sentimentality when facing this kind of evil? If the preacher's vision of Christ buckles at the knees when it locks eyes with this evil, the preacher's version of Christ is inadequate.

This is the sobering task that Adams embarks on. Is there a vision of Christ that not only can stand in the face of horrendous evil... but also defeat it? Adams traces the church's witness of Christ from era to era, illuminating the church's ebb and flow between Christ's divinity and humanity. Out of all witnesses to Christ, the Christ that is worthwhile is the Christ capable of facing horrendous evils eye-to-eye. Adams concludes that indeed, the Chalcedonian vision of Christ passes the test in looking at horrendous evils without flinching; and moreso, is adequate to defeat it.

[daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book. I got bogged down with her discussions of medieval Catholic theology, but her philosophy and theology makes you face the implications of theology.

A soteriology that doesn't deal with the problem of human vulnerability to horrific evil is short-sighted at best, downright terrible at worst.

[Andrew Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very stimulating work on Christology with strong ontological backing, clearly written. As far as I know, this is the first Christological study to focus so strongly on issues of theodicy, although one can argue that theodicy is a key issue in Christology.

[Eric Reitan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really quite brilliant. It deeply affected my thinking about the atonement and its bearing on the problem of evil.

[Billie Silvey]

An excellent study of the atonement and the problem of evil. A little deep for me, but I slogged on through and was well rewarded.