Christ And The End Of Meaning: The Theology Of Passion

251 Pages·1993·81.662 MB·English

by  Paul Hessert

'
OF MEANING
i. i '
The Theology
of Passion
Paul Hessert
CHRIST
and the
END of MEANING
CHRIST
and the
END of MEANING
The Theology of Passion
P A U L H E S S E R T
E L E M E N T
Rockport, Massachusetts • Shaftesbury, Dorset
Brisbane, Queensland
© Paul Hessert 1993
Published in the U.S.A. in 1993 by
Element, Inc.
42 Broadway, Rockport, MA 01966
Published in Great Britain in 1993 by
Element Books Limited
Longmead, Shaftesbury, Dorset
Published in Australia in 1993 by
Element Books Limited for
Jacaranda Wiley Ltd
33 Park Road, Milton, Brisbane, 4064
All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be reproduced or utilized, in any form or by any
means, eleclronic or mechanical, without permission
in writing from the Publisher.
Cover design by Max Fairbrother
Designed and typeset by ediType
Printed in the USA by Edwards Bros., Inc.
Library of Congress data available
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data available
ISBN 1-85230-406-5
To the memory of
John Baillie
I
i
•
"I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified."
— 1 Corinthians 2:2
Contents
PREFACE xi
1. RELIGION, CULTURE, AND THE SEARCH
FOR "MEANING" 3
The Structure of Meaning 7
Exploring Relationships in the Structure of Meaning 8
From One Circle of Reality to Another 11
Religion and Cultural Legitimation 13
Meaningful Christianity 15
2. "CHRIST CRUCIFIED" AND FAITH 18
The Crucified Christ 18
Faith and Gospel 24
Criteria of Faith 29
3. THE GOSPELS AND THE GOSPEL 36
The Core of the Gospel: "Christ Crucified" 36
"Christ Crucified" and the Presence of the Reign of God 40
"Christ Crucified" in the Liturgy of the Church 52
4. GOD IN CHRIST AND GOD OF THE WORLD 59
Human Life and the Idea of God 61
Human Life and the Confrontation with God 68
Organized Religion and God Confronted 75
IX
X CONTENTS
5. CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND THE LOSS
OF INNOCENCE 79
The Watchwords of Guilty Humankind 79
The Theology of Innocence and the Passion of Christ 89
Humanity apart from the Bondage of Meaning 103
6. THE JUSTICE OF GOD, SIN, AND FORGIVENESS Ill
The Deadlock of Meaning 113
Christ Crucified, the Justice of God 119
The Social Utility of Sin 127
Forgiveness 136
7. LIFE AS RESURRECTION 145
Resurrection and the Loss of Possibility 145
Sainthood 153
Poverty 160
Love 170
Prayer 178
8. INCORPORATION 188
The Body of Death 188
Creation and Incarnation 197
Incorporation 205
Love and Ethics 210
EPILOGUE:
"...AND HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT" 225
Popular Meanings of Hope 226
Hope as the Counterpart of Faith 230
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES 233
GENERAL INDEX
239
Preface
•0-
To understand and to control are the human drives underpinning society and
culture. Religion stabilizes the ground supporting them and reaffirms the
structural lines that hold them together. "Meaningful Christianity" — that
is, Christianity understood within the structure of the culture — offers the
meaning and power people seek. "We're okay. We're making improvements.
Just give us time and energy."
The Gospel as we have it from St. Paul and the Evangelists, however,
proclaims Christ crucified, messiah slain — and invites hearers to join Christ
in his Passion. In that break with the culture's circle of reality, where power
fails and meaning dissolves, God who is neither the culture's creation nor
its legitimator opens the reality of faith — living in the absence of meaning
and power.
Acknowledgments cannot pay the debt I owe to family, friends, teachers,
parishioners, students, and colleagues. Especially important was the year
spent as a Fellow of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research
at St. John's Abbey and University at Collegeville, Minnesota, and the
continuing encouragement and support of David Meyer and John Hinkle,
Jr. John Eagleson saw the book through the processes of production.
Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version except for
those marked JB, which are from the Jerusalem Bible.
xi
CHRIST
and the
END of MEANING