Date of Award

Summer 1995

Document Type

Dissertation - Restricted

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Theology

First Advisor

Muller, Earl

Second Advisor

Dabney, D. L.

Third Advisor

Hinze, Bradford E.

Abstract

The idea that the Divine, the one Christians refer to as "God," intruded into human history-in the form of a man at a particular time and a particular place is a radical one. Indeed, the Scriptures for the Christian faith contend that, in the man Jesus of Nazareth, God has revealed not simply information about Himself, but His very self. Few deny that a Galilean named Jesus walked this earth we inhabit some two thousand years ago. The issue of debate is the identity of this man who, by all accounts, was quite human, and yet unique in his humanity. That is to say, scores of lives were changed and continue to be changed by this Jesus, the one Christians confess as the Christ. Who was he? Who is he? It is this question of Jesus' particularity with specific reference to divine revelation that lies at the heart of the present project. Karl Barth and Edward Schillebeeckx are two theologians who represent diverse theological and ecclesiological traditions: the former a staunch Protestant in the Reformed tradition, the latter a Dominican priest in the Roman Catholic tradition. Though their backgrounds are seemingly worlds apart, they share many theological concerns which are constitutive of their respective programs. Revelation is an important focal point for both. In drawing attention to the doctrine of revelation we are given the opportunity to ask of these two individuals: Who do you believe Jesus to be? And why does this figure stand at the center of your theological program? This is to ask of Barth and Schillebeeckx: Why Jesus in particular?...

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