Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Part one Christian doctrine in the late twentieth century
- 1 Historical and systematic theology
- 2 On doctrine and ethics
- 3 The basis and authority of doctrine
- 4 The scope of hermeneutics
- 5 Christ and the cultures: The Jewish people and Christian theology
- 6 Christ and the cultures: Christianity and the arts
- Part two The content of Christian doctrine
- 7 The triune God
- 8 The doctrine of creation
- 9 Human being, individual and social
- 10 Redemption and fall
- 11 The church and the sacraments
- 12 Eschatology
- 13 Jesus Christ
- 14 The Holy Spirit
- General index
- Index of biblical references
10 - Redemption and fall
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 May 2006
- Frontmatter
- Part one Christian doctrine in the late twentieth century
- 1 Historical and systematic theology
- 2 On doctrine and ethics
- 3 The basis and authority of doctrine
- 4 The scope of hermeneutics
- 5 Christ and the cultures: The Jewish people and Christian theology
- 6 Christ and the cultures: Christianity and the arts
- Part two The content of Christian doctrine
- 7 The triune God
- 8 The doctrine of creation
- 9 Human being, individual and social
- 10 Redemption and fall
- 11 The church and the sacraments
- 12 Eschatology
- 13 Jesus Christ
- 14 The Holy Spirit
- General index
- Index of biblical references
Summary
The notion of redemption or salvation is a basic constituent in the plot of the story which Christian faith tells about human existence in God's world. The characteristic designation of this story as 'gospel', good news, already bears within it the assumption of a human race in some serious need or lack or crisis, whether it is aware of it or not. To unpick this central thread and seek to remove it in order to accommodate the more optimistic and comfortable stories furnished by the cultures of premodernity, modernity and postmodernity alike, would be to run the risk of the tapestry of Christian belief and self-understanding unravelling, so vital is it to the design and structure of the whole. Humans, Christians contend, need to be rescued from a plight which currently distorts and ultimately threatens to destroy their creaturely well-being under God, but which lies utterly beyond their control or influence. But just what sort of threat is this? And by what means are we to think of it as having been met?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine , pp. 189 - 206Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997
- 1
- Cited by