Chapter Six: Jesus Christ

Part 3: Transcendental Christology

Transcendental Christology is the central concept of Chapter VI. It refers to Jesus as the human being who first entered into a union with God so completely that God finally and irrevocably affirmed Jesus' transcendence. And it refers to Jesus as the one to whom we look for a sign that God's offer of transcendence is real. Rahner begins by overcoming the objection that his Christology substitutes a reflection on Jesus for a relationship with him (A). He then argues that such a transcendental Christology is important to our age because it enables us to distinguish the truth existing within the mythological expressions of Jesus' encounter with God (B). The presupposition is that all human beings are oriented toward this encounter and able to experience it in their concrete lives (C). Finally, Rahner traces the development of transcendental Christology. It springs from our unsatisfied longing for an ever-deeper encounter with God.

A. Some Objections to Transcendental Christology (VI.3.A, p. 206). Some will object that a transcendental Christology cannot supply the lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is as true as to say that a theology cannot supply the lack of faith. One cannot deduce a relationship from a reflection. But there is more to the objection than that. By asking about the difference between Christology and faith, we raise a transcendental question. It is the question of how we can transcend a merely theoretical approach and enter into a more genuine relationship.

Transcendental Christology inquires about how a person can hear God's Word and obey its summons. To be sure, this question is logically prior to an actual relationship with Jesus Christ. There must be the possibility of a relationship before the relationship itself. That is a valid objection to transcendental Christology. But the question of logical priority is misleading. One cannot even understand such a thing as transcendental Christology until one has a concrete relationship with Jesus.

Section 3.A continues in the printed version of The Foundations of Karl Rahner, now available from the Crossroad Publishing Company.