Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the significance of
the historical Jesus in contemporary Christologies. Since the
Enlightenment the quest of the 'historical Jesus' has influenced
the shape of Christology not only in Europe but also in the Third
World. We deal with the Christologies which have been formed in
different backgrounds so that the roles of the historical Jesus
in the Christologies of different cultures could be clear and
comparable.
Chapter I concentrates on Bultmann's Christology; firstly it
approaches the figure of the historical Jesus reconstructed by
authentic sayings based on form criticism, secondly it seeks to
grasp the exact meaning of the kerygma of the death and
resurrection of Christ based on the demythologizing programme.
It compares the content of the message of the historical Jesus
and that of the post-Easter Church, and examines whether there
is any real continuity between the two.
any real continuity between the two.
Chapter II is confined to examining how Kasemann, Fuchs and
Ebeling have developed these issues which have been left
unexplained in Bultmann; e.g. for Kasemann we look at how much
and in what manner Paul and John were interested in the
historical Jesus, and for Fuchs and Ebeling at the faith of Jesus
and its meaning in the primitive Church. Focus is given solely
to the relationship between the history of Jesus and the Christ
of faith. In Chapter I and II, the guiding principle is to see
whether there is a contact point between history and faith.
Chapter III deals with the Christologies of Boff and Sobrino
in Latin America. Through the figure of the historical Jesus
in their Christologies, the perspective of liberation Christology
and the role of the historical Jesus in society are examined.
It tries to understand how a radical image of Jesus in socio¬
political dimension can be compatible with traditional dogma.
Therefore, the concern is primarily on the relationship between
the present-historical liberation of Jesus and the future
salvation of God.
Chapter IV deals with minjung Christology which has been
formed in Asian culture. In Asia peoples have had their own
messianic figures in historical and religious traditions, while
Christianity there has had a relatively short history.
Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between
the Jesus-event and other messianic movements in traditional
religions and in their history.
Chapter V examines different perspectives, Christological
structures, and hermeneutics. In the pluralistic world, we
attempt to understand the 'uniqueness' of the historical Jesus
and the Christian faith in a new way. We attempt to encounter
the uniqueness of Christian faith from the historical Jesus.
