Christ the Heart of Creation

includes index and biblioraphy

Introduction: Beginning in the middle (ages):Aquinas`s christological vision .......1 1. Jesus christ: infinite act and finite embodiment ......1 2. Summarizing a tradition: the christology of thomas aquinas ....12 3. The unity of christ ......26 4. Transforming humanity: christ as the ground of communion ......35 Part one Formulating the question: From paul to augustine ......43 1. New testament origins: history, faith and narrative .....43 2. From paul to Nicaea: The logos and the flesh .......56 3. Towards chalcedon .....65 4. A latin voice: Augustine on the unity of christ ......70 Refining the vocabulary: The contribution of early byzantine theology .....85 1. Chalcedon and its aftermath .....85 2. Terminological developments: Leontius of byzantium and leontius of jerusalem ....92 3. Maximus the confessor: Christology and the reconciled cosmos ......99 4. A Byzantine synthesis: John of damascus .....110 5. The story so far ....117 Part two Loss and recovery: Calvin and the re-formation of christology .....127 1. Dismantling Aquinas: The later medieval discussion .....127 2 The catholic calvin: A theological tradition renewed ......142 3. A new diversity: The varieties of protestant christology ......156 Christ, creation and community: Christology in the shadow of antichrist ......169 1. Barth, bonhoeffer and the legacy of protestant orthodoxy .....169 2. Bonhoeffer`s christology lectures .....185 3. Christology, ethics and politics: Discourses of transformation .....199 Conclusion: Christ, the heart of creation: The tension in metaphysics and theology .....219 Appendix: Concluding (Untheological?) Postscript wittgenstein kierkegaard and chalcedon ....255