Christology and Eschatology

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

"The module examines the variety of ways through which the Gospels explore the identity of Jesus: Jesus is the Son of Man, Logos, Lord, the New Temple, the one who through whom the Spirit of God is poured out upon humankind. In the following centuries the Christological exploration continued with extraordinary passion and acuity, often fuelled by bitter controversy. The module will study these developments which culminate in the text of the Council of Chalcedon, always keeping in view how much was at stake, including the political identity of the protagonists. In the Catholic tradition the Conciliar definitions are normative, not in the sense that the matter is closed but in the sense that further explorations cannot be authentic if they are contradictory. Contemporary Catholic Christologies are studied. Particular attention is given to the Christology expressed at the Second Vatican Council, in documents such as Gaudium et Spes (no 24) and the ecclesiology that mirrors it in Lumen Gentium. In the New Testament the identity and the significance of Jesus is bound up with the presence of the Holy Spirit. Accordingly a study of Christology leads to a study of the theology of the Holy Spirit. This is also a study of the birth of a hope that endures and that leads to commitments that endure even when circumstances seem to invite despair. "