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The Changing Christology

© Michael P. Spencer

As far as I understand it, Christology is the study of the nature of Christ. Issues such as the historical person of Jesus, the matter of his divinity, his virgin birth, his miracles, sayings and death are all part of this fascinating field of study. As with everything Anglican, there is a wide variance of opinion on this topic amongst our bishops, clergy, theologians, scholars, and laity.

Two key terms I need to define just briefly are High- and Low-Christology. High Christology places emphasis on the divinity of Jesus as God among Men. Most traditional doctrines such as the virgin birth are embraced by High Christology. An example of High Christology is the Roman Catholic Church. Low Christology looks more to the human definitions of Christ. In fact, some adherents to Low Christology hold suspect the divinity of Jesus, calling him a mystic, a prophet, or a "spirit-person," a la Marcus Borg. An example of Low Christology is the Unitarian Universalist Church.

This topic comes to mind as we approach Easter. Under heavy fire by today's theologians and biblical scholars is the long-held belief in the actual, physical Resurrection of Christ from the dead. Post-Enlightenment thinkers have a hard time reconciling the science and physics involved in the resurrection of a dead body with the stories told in the Bible about the return of Christ to earth after he was crucified. Justifiably so, I believe. (I'll tell you why I understand their position while able to disagree with them later.) Hence, we would label these "liberals" as having a low Christology.

I remember when I was first presented with the idea that some of our best minds in theology no longer believed in the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. I was aghast. And the messenger, a priest, made it all the more incomprehensible to me. How could this person, someone whom the Holy Church has ordained to her clergy, not believe in the Resurrection? Wasn't that what it was all about? Wasn't that why we were Christians today and not Reform Jews or something? I immediately ran to another priest, one I trusted more deeply, and presented my dilemma. Without condemning the message or the messenger (who could have been more gentle about it), she explained to me that I was experiencing something called a crisis of faith, and that it signified the start of a new spiritual maturity.

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