Tonight our instructor began by defining Verbo Incarnato as, "The Word Incarnet", and Soteriology, as the "Study of the Saving Word". Christology is the academic study of Jesus Christ, and it is the branch of theology concerned with the study of the nature, character, and actions of Jesus Christ. He noted that we are a people made for knowledge and communion, but he also pointed out that information itself is not equal to knowledge. For information to become knowledge, it must tell a story which allows us to associate it within our own lives. In a similar way we cannot define ourselves apart from who we are or what we do, because people are only understood through what they accomplish. This is also true of our Christian belief, because Christology hinges on a faith in Christ; so as Christology goes so goes our theology. We revere and worship Christ but that is not all there is; intellectual hunger is consummated in an act of love. Our point of reference for this class is Scripture and Tradition.
There is more to scripture than the Gospels of course, but apart from Christ scripture does not tell a story. The word Gospel means "good news", but originally the word evangelion was only used for the emperor’s "good news", whether it was actually good news or not ("Good news, we're raising everyone's taxes"). We understand that the Gospels are not biographies, and we understand that scripture seeks truth in what it says, and in what it does not say. Lots of things were written about Jesus, so why were only some of them "chosen", or why isn't there just one Gospel? The answer is that nothing can be told in just one story, which is the nature of truth. Separate from the fact that the Gospels were written for different audiences, Mark's story is that Jesus was the Suffering Servant; Matthew's story is that He was the Hope of Israel; Luke's story is that Jesus is the Savior of the World; and John's story is that He is the Word of God.
Tradition is essentially a handing over or handing on, and for Catholics' it's the "activity" of handing on. Scripture must become our story and we must pass it on to others. What makes us Catholic is what we have received and what we hand on. Scripture is a living word, and how scripture impacts us as individuals is part of the story. For instance, God handed Jesus on to the world, and then the world handed Jesus over to his enemies. The way a text impacts history is part of its meaning. The extensive treatise on political economy, Das Kapital (Capital) written in 1867 by Karl Marx, was a critical analysis of capitalism. In it no mention is made of secret police or forced labor, but for some reason every country that has adopted this work has also implemented secret police and forced labor. The point is that how Das Kaptial has impacted history cannot be separated from the meaning found in the text.
The spoken word has a privileged place in community, the words and actions of Jesus are inseparable from who He is. Jesus doesn't just proclaim the Word of God; He is the Word of God. Why was there such a long delay between Jesus' death (~33 AD) and the first Gospel (~70 AD)? It was probably the fear of loss that prompted the written text, a fear created by the passing away of the original witnesses; eventually of course the written word allowed normative tradition. It's interesting to note that Jesus begins his ministry with sinners at this baptism, spends most of his ministry associating with sinners as his mission, and ends his ministry with sinners on the cross. During his ministry He redefined the meaning of justice, the meaning of hope, the meaning of the Sabbath, the meaning of neighbor, and the meaning of worship.
We also discussed miracles, which are not simply unnatural events. They are something more than natural because they are accompanied by amazement, just as Science has the capacity to impart wonder and amazement. Without wonder there is no fascination and no love. Jesus offered hope at a time when the people didn't understand what they were missing. His task was to guide the people and redirect their desires. The purpose of miracles was to reignite the wonder and amazement that had been lost in the people, and to reignite their love for God and each other. This is still true for each of us today. Which is the greater miracle, The feeding the the 5000 or the feeding of 5 billion people today and every day? These are both wondrous and amazing and should continue to fascinate us, and it's a reminder that God is bigger than we can possibly imagine.
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