ABSTRACT
Ordinary Christology tends to eschew metaphysical speculation. Ordinary Christology is thought of a type of narrative theology in that it too emphasizes the story of Jesus. It is more metaphorical and imagistic than conceptual, preferring concrete images and concrete ways of thinking rather than their conceptual language and thought forms. Theological educators frequently report being appalled at the vacuity of students' Christological statements and complain of them arriving at theological college with an unformulated, even uninformed, set of beliefs. In academic Christology, response to the story usually takes a cognitive turn as it seeks to understand, clarify and explain via hard-headed, critical and cognitive reflection. Harvey Whitehouse has explores the problems of habituation and the difficulties of learning and remembering complex theological concepts. Speech-act theory highlights the complexity of religious language and shows how rarely it consists simply of descriptive statements. The analytic chapters show that the majority of the sample is effectively liberal in Christology and soteriology.
