E-Book Overview
The Myth of God Incarnate proved to be a controversial book second only to "Honest to God" in the interest it caused, in order to take the questions discussed in it a stage further, the seven original contributors arranged an extended meeting with a group of their leading critics. This volume is the result of their discussion. In an extended opening essay, Maurice Wiles surveys the main issues in the debate. To make them easier to follow through, succeeding contributions have been arranged in such a way that they can be seen to tackle seven clearly defined questions. Are the authors of The Myth still Christians? How far has ‘incarnation’ changed its meaning in modem discussion? Is the doctrine of the incarnation still logically coherent? Do all Christian doctrines stand or fall together? Is the New Testament evidence of the incarnation clear or ambiguous? Is a satisfactory compromise possible between the centrality of Christ and the claims of other faiths? Granted the cultural conditioning of all Christians, including ourselves, can we believe in the incarnation? As chairman, Basil Mitchell sums up the discussion. Other contributors are: Don Cupitt, Michael Goulder, Brian Hebblethwaite, John Hick, Leslie Houlden, Nicholas Lash, C.F.D. Moule, Lesslie Newbigin, John Rodwell, Graham Stanton, Stephen Sykes and Frances Young. Editor Michael Goulder was (at the time) Staff Tutor in Theology in the Department of Extramural Studies at Birmingham University Recommended books (written by M.D.Goulder) Type and History in Acts Midrash and Lection in Matthew Luke: A New Paradigm Evangelists' Calendar http://gen.lib.rus.ec/search.php?req=M.D.%20Goulder&column[]=author And as a very good introduction to the Goulder's stance and midrash in the New Testament: Liberating the Gospels: Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes John Shelby Spong http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=34EF4864BA60CD0FFF3BD3D16E01F404
E-Book Content
Incarnation and Myth: The Debate Continued Edited by Michael Goulder SCM PRESS L TO Editor' s Foreword and arrangement © Michael Goulder 1 979 Remaining material © Don Cupitt, Michael Goulder, Brian Hebblethwaite, John Hick, Leslie Houlden, Nicholas Lash, Basil Mitchell, Charles Moule, Lesslie Newbigin, John Rodwell, Graham Stanton, Stephen Sykes, Maurice Wiles, Frances Y oung 1 979. All rights reserved. No pan of this pu blication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electrical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of t he p ublisher, S CM P ress Ltd. 334 00660 0 First published 1 979 by SCM Press Ltd 58 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1 Typeset by In put Ty pesetting Ltd and printed in Great Britain by Billing and Son Ltd Worcester, Guildford and London Contents Foreword Michael Goulder Myth Debate A Survey of Issues in the vii Maurice Wiles 1 1 Are the Authors of The Myth still Christians? The Myth and Christian Faith Brian Hebblethwaite 15 2 Are We Speaking of a Literal Incarnation? 19 A Interpretation and Imagination Nicholas Lash B The Incarnation and Modern Theology Brian Hebblethwaite 27 3 Is the Doctrine of the Incarnation Logically Coherent? (i) Jesus and the Meaning of ' God' Don Cupitt A (ii) B (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) Jesus and the Meaning of ' God' - A Comment Nicholas Lash Don Cupitt John Hick Is there a Doctrine of the Incarnation? Paradox and Mystification Michael Goulder Mr Hebblethwaite on the Incarnation The Logical Coherence of the Doctrine of the I ncarnation Brian Hebblethwaite Frances Young (vi) What sort