An Augustinian Christology
Completing Christ

Uses the christology of St. Augustine to argue that Jesus becomes who he is through his relations to the world.

Joseph Walker-Lenow (Author)

9781009344425, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 November 2023

474 pages
22.2 x 14.6 x 3.4 cm, 0.75 kg

'As a work of constructive theology, [this work] will appeal to those interested in probing the often mystifying intersection of Christology, ecclesiology, and the doctrine of creation, even if, owing to the potential bedimming of the distinctions and systematic relations between various Augustinian dogmata, the conclusions reached by the author seem to cut against the grain of Augustine's thought, and to unsettle any easy identification of this Christological project as 'Augustinian.'' Jerome Falk, Reading Religion

In An Augustinian Christology: Completing Christ, Joseph Walker-Lenow advances a striking christological thesis: Jesus Christ, true God and true human, only becomes who he is through his relations to the world around him. To understand both his person and work, it is necessary to see him as receptive to and determined by the people he meets, the environments he inhabits, even those people who come to worship him. Christ and the redemption he brings cannot be understood apart from these factors, for it is through the existence and agency of the created world that he redeems. To pursue these claims, Walker-Lenow draws on an underappreciated resource in the history of Christian thought: St. Augustine of Hippo's theology of the 'whole Christ.' Presenting Augustine's christology across the full range of his writings, Joseph Walker-Lenow recovers a christocentric Augustine with the potential to transform our understandings of the Church and its mission in our world.

Introduction
Part I. The Divine-Human Life: 1. The life of God
2. The human life of God
Part II. The Incarnation of the Word: 3.The work of incarnation
4. A historical icon
5. Christ among us
6. The regime of signs
7. The work of the cross
Part III. The Body of Christ: 8. The spirit of Christ
9. A crucified people
10. A resurrected body
11. Extending the incarnation
Conclusion
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Theology [HRLB]