Economista

Christology in William Adams Brown’s Theology

Youngshin An
November 12, 2012

“Let no theology call itself Christian which has not its center and source in Him.” This was the corereligious appeal of Ritschlian liberalism. (Dorrien, p. 30) Since the liberalism theology emerged in the history in the 19th century, liberal theologians challenged understanding of Jesus as a redeemer fromour sin in orthodox theology. Instead of saying, “challenged” they were confused. As human’s rationalism, science matured more and more, even theologians fell into the confusion who is Jesus, who weare, and what do we have to do with Jesus. New movement in theology started to see Jesus not as himself as a redeemer, but as an example of one’s life. How did they understand Jesus in their theologyand their life? How did they practice their Christology?

One stream of liberal theology was Ritschlian theology. The founder of Ritschlian theology, Albrecht Ritschl, he emphasized thecentrality of the kingdom of God in Christianity. He interpreted the kingdom in ethical terms. Ritschl worried that modern individualism, rationalism, and science were eroding the moral authority andsocial cohesion of the state, including its religion. Ritschlian theology released the tense between religion and science. He argued that science explains matter of fact but religion is about values.Science describes the way things are, or appear to be, but theology is about the way things should be. For Ritschl goal of true religion, the kingdom of God, is the attainment of the highest possiblepersonal and social good. (Dorrien, p. 25)

He explained that the Ritschlian understanding of Christianity does not invest Christian doctrine with authority or embrace the letter of Christ’s teaching oreven imitate Christ’s conduct. To be a Christian, he insisted, is to yield oneself to the Spirit of Christ.

Ritschl stressed that the kingdom is valued as absolute only by those who follow Jesus....