The Issues of Methodology by David R. Nichols

In any responsible study, the methodologies used to analyze the data and produce the conclusions must come under scrutiny. Methods that have been subjected to scrutiny will produce stronger studies than those that have not. The study of Christology suggests at least the following areas as frontier zones for methodology.

The couplet "doing verses being" raises the issues of functional versus ontological Christology. A Christology that primarily defines Jesus what He did is a functional Christology. A Christology that primarily defines Jesus by who He is is an ontological Christology. Traditionally, these two approaches have been aligned with two different kinds of theology. Functional Christology has largely been advanced by biblical theologians and exegetes, and ontological Christology has largely been advanced by systematic theologians. Since functional Christologies stress Jesus' action on the earth as a man, they tend to emphasize Jesus' humanity at the expense of His deity. Ontological Christologies stress the eternal existence of God the Son and tend to emphasize Jesus' deity at the expense of His humanity. Notice that these are tendencies, not absolute positions. Through careful balance of the statements of the Word of God, either approach could present an orthodox position.

One of the most profound mysteries of the Christian faith is the union of the divine and the human in Jesus Christ. No subject excited more controversy than this one in the time of the church fathers.

Our study of Christology would not be complete unless we considered the relationship that exists in the New Testament among Christology, salvation, and the prophesied kingdom of God. For the New Testament writers, Christology does not stand alone as an abstract category of knowledge. Their primary concern is God's salvation of humankind through the one Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2:38; Rom. 1:16). Therefore, from the exegetical point of view, the existence of God's salvation on earth creates a need for understanding the One who brought it. Once this fact is acknowledged, it is possible to take the theological point of view, wherein Christology is a discrete subject, worthy of investigation in its own right. Then, because salvation is the starting point in the New Testament's message, the cross of Christ should be taken as the central defining element, since, according to the New Testament writers, that is where our salvation was accomplished. The Cross therefore defines the organic relationship that exists between the doctrine of salvation and Christology, at least at the exegetical level.

There is also the issue of the prophesied kingdom of God in its relationship to Christology and salvation. When Jesus is called Christ (Messiah, "Announced One") we immediately are in the realm of prophesy. This title carried an enormous load of prophetic meaning for the Jews, both from the Old Testament canonincal books and from interestamental apocalyptic writings. The fulfillments of many Old Testament prophecies in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus show the inbreaking of the kingdom of God.

The importance of acknowledging prophecy's role here is that it helps us understand how Christianity differs from Judaism. While Judaism expected the Messiah to play a key role in the political deliverance of the nation, Christianity teaches that Jesus is truly God's Messiah, even though He declined political rulership in His first coming. In Christian theology this leads to the necessity of the Second Coming as future reality. Both of these truths are based, of course, on the teachings of Jesus reported in the New Testament. The two comings of Christ are two poles of God's plan, each necessary to the total picture of God's Messiah, Jesus. This split in prophecy is not possible in the theology of Judaism and remains one of the great barriers between these two religious systems.

Learning from our failures

When we fail, we shouldn't adopt the sour grapes attitude of the fox in Aesop's fable. Instead, we should analyze our failure to see what lesson we can learn from it #WilliamLaneCraig