Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines a key Christological problem: the place of Judas Iscariot in Christology. MacKinnon, however, takes the contrary view that tragic discourse can offer important insights and correctives for the theologian. Tragedy as a category, deriving as it does from a wide variety of theatrical and literary works, is more difficult to define than providence. The key point is that attention to the bitterness of Christ's engagement with history will be misunderstood if it is not seen in the light of the triune God's incarnational 'transcription' into a human life. The book also explores that, as exemplified in the writing of Barth and MacKinnon, this tension is the key to the interpretation of biblical texts concerning Judas, and the place of Judas in Christology.