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An international bestseller by one of this century's most prominent theologians, On Being a Christian is a work of exhaustive scholarship, born of the author's passionate belief in Jesus Christ as the center of existence. Hans Kung here assesses the impact of other world religions, humanism, science, technology, and political revolutions; and sifting through the theological controversies within the Christian community itself, he affirms the vitality and uniqueness of Christianity by tracing it back to its roots -- the reality of the historical Christ.
But more than history or theology, On Being a Christian reexamines what it means to be a Christian today: the role of Christian ethics in a social and political context, the relationship between Christians and Jews, the organization of a community of believers, and practical suggestions for dealing with personal crises of faith. This Image Books edition will reach even larger segments of the population for whom the book was written. Kung defines his audience as those: who do not believe, but nevertheless seriously inquire; who did believe, but are not satisfied with their unbelief; who do believe, but feel insecure in their faith; who are at a loss, between belief and unbelief; who are skeptical, both about their convictions and about their doubts; who are Christians and atheists, Gnostics and agnostics, pietists and positivists, lukewarm and zealous Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox.
A landmark work, for both scholars and educated laity, On Being a Christian has become a small "Summa" of the Christian faith. "This is not another gospel," Kung contends, "but the same ancient gospel rediscovered for today!"
Industry Reviews
List of Abbreviations | p. 15 |
Translator's Foreword | p. 17 |
Those for whom this book is written | p. 19 |
The Horizon | p. 23 |
The Challenge of Modern Humanisms | p. 25 |
Turning to man | p. 26 |
Secular world | p. 26 |
Opening out of the Churches | p. 28 |
Christianity for sale? | p. 31 |
Has Christianity lost its soul? | p. 31 |
No return | p. 35 |
No abandonment of hope | p. 37 |
Humanity through technological evolution? | p. 38 |
Humanity through politico-social revolution? | p. 43 |
Between nostalgia and reformism | p. 51 |
The Other Dimension | p. 57 |
Approach to God | p. 57 |
Transcendence? | p. 57 |
The future of religion | p. 60 |
Proofs of God? | p. 64 |
More than pure reason | p. 68 |
The reality of God | p. 69 |
The hypothesis | p. 70 |
Reality | p. 73 |
Ambiguity of the concept of God | p. 79 |
The task of theology | p. 83 |
The Challenge of the World Religions | p. 89 |
Salvation outside the Church | p. 89 |
Revalued religions | p. 89 |
Wealth of the religions | p. 91 |
Bewildering consequences | p. 97 |
Anonymous Christianity? | p. 97 |
Superior ignorance? | p. 99 |
Challenge on both sides | p. 100 |
No leveling down | p. 100 |
Helpful diagnosis | p. 104 |
Not exclusiveness, but uniqueness | p. 110 |
Christian existence as critical catalyst | p. 110 |
Common quest for truth | p. 112 |
The Distinction | p. 117 |
What Is Special to Christianity? | p. 119 |
The Christ | p. 119 |
Dangerous memory | p. 119 |
Taking concepts at their face value | p. 122 |
Which Christ? | p. 126 |
The Christ of piety? | p. 126 |
The Christ of dogma? | p. 129 |
The Christ of the enthusiasts? | p. 133 |
The Christ of literature? | p. 138 |
The Real Christ | p. 145 |
Not a myth | p. 145 |
In time and place | p. 146 |
Uncertainties | p. 149 |
The documents | p. 150 |
More than a biography | p. 150 |
Committed testimonies | p. 153 |
History and faith's certainty | p. 155 |
Counterquestions about Jesus | p. 156 |
Justifiable faith | p. 161 |
Historical criticism--an aid to faith? | p. 163 |
Christianity and Judaism | p. 166 |
The sufferings of the past | p. 166 |
Jesus the Jew | p. 167 |
A history of blood and tears | p. 168 |
Future possibilities | p. 169 |
Increasing understanding | p. 169 |
Diseussion about Jesus? | p. 172 |
The Program | p. 175 |
The Social Context | p. 177 |
Establishment? | p. 177 |
The religio-political system | p. 177 |
Neither priest nor theologian | p. 178 |
Not with the rulers | p. 179 |
Radical change | p. 180 |
Revolution? | p. 183 |
The revolutionary movement | p. 183 |
Hope of a liberator | p. 185 |
Not a social revolutionary | p. 187 |
Non-violent revolution | p. 189 |
Emigration? | p. 192 |
Apolitical radicalism | p. 192 |
Monasticism | p. 193 |
Not a religious | p. 195 |
Not for the elite, but for all | p. 200 |
Compromise? | p. 201 |
The devout | p. 202 |
Moral compromise | p. 204 |
Not a pious legalist | p. 206 |
Against self-righteousness | p. 209 |
Provocative on all sides | p. 211 |
God's Cause | p. 214 |
The Center | p. 214 |
God's kingdom | p. 214 |
Apocalyptic horizon | p. 216 |
Demythologizing inevitable | p. 218 |
Between present and future | p. 220 |
God is ahead | p. 223 |
Miracles? | p. 226 |
Concealing embarrassment | p. 226 |
What really happened | p. 229 |
What was transmitted | p. 231 |
Christian science | p. 233 |
Indications, not proofs | p. 236 |
The supreme norm | p. 238 |
No natural law | p. 238 |
No revealed law | p. 240 |
God's will instead of legalism | p. 241 |
The meaning of the Sermon on the Mount | p. 244 |
Man's Cause | p. 249 |
Humanization of man | p. 249 |
The changed awareness | p. 249 |
What God wills | p. 251 |
Relativized traditions, institutions, hierarchs | p. 252 |
Action | p. 255 |
Both God and man | p. 255 |
The person who needs me here and now | p. 256 |
Even enemies | p. 258 |
True radicalism | p. 262 |
Solidarity | p. 265 |
Partisan for the handicapped | p. 266 |
Which poor? | p. 267 |
The moral failures | p. 271 |
The law of grace | p. 273 |
The Conflict | p. 278 |
The decision | p. 278 |
Those who were for him | p. 278 |
A Church? | p. 283 |
Without office or dignity | p. 286 |
The advocate | p. 291 |
The debate on God | p. 295 |
Not a new God | p. 295 |
The God with a human face | p. 300 |
The God with qualities | p. 304 |
Revolution in the understanding of God | p. 309 |
Not an obvious form of address | p. 314 |
The end | p. 318 |
In face of death | p. 319 |
A last meal | p. 322 |
Stages | p. 325 |
Why? | p. 334 |
In vain? | p. 339 |
The New Life | p. 343 |
The beginning | p. 343 |
Introduction | p. 343 |
Clarifications | p. 348 |
The ultimate reality | p. 356 |
Legends? | p. 361 |
Origin of faith | p. 370 |
The criterion | p. 381 |
Justified | p. 381 |
Honorific titles | p. 384 |
Representation | p. 389 |
The definitive standard | p. 392 |
The ultimate distinction | p. 396 |
Revaluation | p. 396 |
Beyond fanaticism and rigidity | p. 399 |
By faith alone | p. 402 |
No other cause | p. 406 |
Interpretations | p. 411 |
Discriminating interpretation | p. 411 |
Limits to demythologization | p. 412 |
Truth is not simply facticity | p. 415 |
Narrative presentation and critical reflection | p. 416 |
Interpretations of death | p. 419 |
No uniform theory | p. 419 |
Slain for us | p. 421 |
Sacrifice? | p. 424 |
God and suffering | p. 428 |
Interpretations of the origin | p. 436 |
Become man | p. 436 |
Deification or humanization? | p. 440 |
True God and true man | p. 444 |
Born of a woman | p. 450 |
Mary | p. 457 |
Community of Faith | p. 463 |
Inspired and inspiring word | p. 463 |
Inspiration? | p. 463 |
Word of God? | p. 466 |
The one Spirit | p. 468 |
Unholy and holy Spirit | p. 468 |
Trinity | p. 472 |
The pluriform Church | p. 478 |
Assembly, congregation, Church | p. 478 |
Community in liberty, equality, fraternity | p. 481 |
Charisms, offices, ministries | p. 484 |
The diverse constitutions | p. 488 |
A Petrine ministry? | p. 494 |
The great mandate | p. 502 |
Catholic-Protestant | p. 502 |
Provisional Church | p. 504 |
Serving Church | p. 505 |
Guilty Church | p. 507 |
Determined Church | p. 508 |
Practice | p. 511 |
The Practice of the Church | p. 514 |
Decision for faith | p. 514 |
A personal decision | p. 514 |
Criticism of the Church | p. 517 |
Decision for the Church | p. 521 |
Why stay? | p. 522 |
Practical suggestions | p. 525 |
Against discouragement | p. 527 |
Why can we hope? | p. 529 |
Being Human and Being Christian | p. 530 |
Norms of the human | p. 530 |
Human autonomy | p. 531 |
Man's theonomy | p. 534 |
The unconditioned in the conditioned | p. 536 |
Uncertainty of norms | p. 539 |
The criterion for deciding what is Christian | p. 540 |
Specifically Christian norms? | p. 541 |
Concrete person instead of abstract principle | p. 544 |
The distinctive Christian element in ethics | p. 549 |
The basic model | p. 551 |
Being Christian as Being Radically Human | p. 554 |
Social relevance | p. 554 |
No political short cuts | p. 555 |
Social consequences | p. 558 |
Commitment to liberation | p. 562 |
No uncritical identifications | p. 565 |
Coping with the negative side | p. 570 |
Misused cross | p. 571 |
Misunderstood cross | p. 573 |
Understood cross | p. 576 |
Liberated for freedom | p. 581 |
Justification or social justice? | p. 581 |
What is not ultimately important | p. 583 |
What is ultimately important | p. 586 |
Suggestions | p. 590 |
Freedom in the legal order | p. 590 |
Freedom in the struggle for power | p. 593 |
Freedom from the pressure of consumption | p. 595 |
Freedom to serve | p. 598 |
Human existence transfigured in Christian existence | p. 601 |
Basic Theological Literature | p. 603 |
Notes | |
Section A | p. 607 |
Section B | p. 620 |
Section C | p. 630 |
Section D | p. 678 |
Index | p. 688 |
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780385192866
ISBN-10: 038519286X
Published: 1st February 1984
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 720
Audience: General Adult
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE US
Country of Publication: US
Edition Number: 1
Edition Type: New edition
Dimensions (cm): 23.0 x 15.5 x 4.0
Weight (kg): 0.97
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