The identity of Jesus Christ: The hermeneutical bases of dogmatic theology

This original, seminal, and subtle statement of Christology touches so many issues that it deserves to be read widely, pondered repeatedly, and assessed from multiple standpoints. Originally published eight years ago in serial form in Crossroads, the essays are followed by a meditation for Passion Week and prefaced by self-critical assessment showing how Frei's thinking has changed at certain points. Frei's Christology emerges from the interplay of three themes: hermeneutics (realistic reading of the Gospels), identity, and presence (resurrection). The thesis is clearly stated at the outset: "To have Christ present is to know who he is and to be persuaded that he lives" (p. 6). Frei, Professor of Religious Studies at Yale, is not at all interested in establishing the possibility or necessity of Christology; instead he resolutely explores the inner rationale of Christian faith, which includes the experience of Christ's presence. Therefore he assumes throughout that Jesus Christ is who the New Testament says he is-a unique person whose mode of presence is finally without real parallel. This, he contends, is given in Christian faith and hence, is subject matter to be clarified, not justified.