Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book address generic issues arising from the research, such as the characteristics of ordinary Christology and the ongoing hermeneutical process at its heart, before concluding with some reflections on the vexed question of how to respond to ordinary Christology. It must also be subject to careful theological analysis and critique in the same way that academic theology is. The Christological dogmas of Nicaea and Chalcedon are the touchstone for all orthodox Christology and the doctrinal norms against which ordinary Christology must be tested. One factor which has not influenced or shaped the Christology of the sample is academic theological study. Atonement theories attempt to give an account of how reconciliation between God and humanity is realized through Jesus. Christological doctrine and Christological learning are clearly both complex subjects.