Polanyi and Christological Dualisms

Extract

The problem which this article addresses comprises representative Christological dualisms, long in the making, which have come to a head in the twentieth century. They include the Jesus of history and Christ of faith dichotomy, Christology from above as opposed to Christology from below, and ontological Christology over against functional Christology. Behind such dualisms are genuine and fundamental dualities whose integration has been severely damaged in modern theology through the compounding of longstanding dualisms in Western Thought with modern critical thought as shaped by rationalism, empiricism, and scepticism. In this essay I wish to show how Michael Polanyi's theories of being and knowing have much to offer in overcoming the above dualisms. The prospect of such was already made evident to me several years ago in the work of Thomas F. Torrance, and more recently in the work of Colin Gunton. My present purpose is not just to repeat what they have already said, but rather to carry this project forward by applying major theories of Polanyi especially to Christological dualisms. While Torrance has made extensive use of Polanyi in addressing dualisms in theology, it is not in such Christological texts as Space, Time and Incarnation or Space, Time and Resurrection, that Polanyi is especially utilized. However, in The Mediation of Christ Polanyi's influence seems implicit where Torrance addresses the dualist, including gnostic, threat to Christology in the early centuries of the Christian church.