Christology is the science, knowledge, study about Christ, specifically Jesus Christ both as to who it is as a person as well as to what he did for us and especially for our liberation as genuine human beings. We know about Jesus Christ from the Bible and more specifically from the New Testament and especially from the four Gospels. How should we understand a message (the Bible purports to give messages from God as it contains His Word) originally communicated more than 2000 years ago and that too in cultural milieus far removed from ours? We are living in a scientific age when the scientists are building plans and methods how to reach the planet Mars and possibly colonize it for human habitation. Already in 1969, the scientific man succeeded in landing the first man on the moon followed by others. The mental make-up of such a generation would find it difficult to appropriate any message from centuries ago that were steeped in mythologies and superstitions in their thinking and ways of living. Attempts have been made by many Philosophers and Theologians to get over this problem so that the message intended by the authors of the Bible may authentically be communicated to us living in a world of scientific temper.
Before getting into the specifics of the problems of generation and cultural gaps, we would like to point out a general tendency even among reputed historians in accepting the historicity of the Bible and especially about the life of Jesus Christ. They seem to be too cautious about the genuineness of the Bible narratives and the pronouncements of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. They have no qualms in accepting the claims made by Julius Caesar in his book 'The Gallic War' written before 50 years of the birth of Jesus Christ! The earliest of the 10 copies or so was made after 900 years of the writing of the original text that is lost. The Gospels were written after a gap of only 40 years from the events narrated and that too directly coming from people who were constant companions of Jesus when the events took place. What must be the reason why some historians look at them with skeptical eyes in spite of the much better credentials enjoyed by the Gospels on a historical level? The main reason is that the message contained in the Bible and especially by the claims of Jesus Christ poses a personal challenge to those who accept them. This is not the case with the majority of the historical writings as they do not affect our personal life one way or the other. They can be safely accepted or rejected without any consequences. Not so in the case, especially of Jesus Christ, confronting whom is calling for a choice that may completely upset our world-views and life itself! The seemingly easier option is to deny the historicity and veracity of those events and narratives that may upset our entire life and relation to the world. It means that the writings that affect our personal life cannot be considered just as dead history, but are always alive and challenging and cannot be equiparated with history that has no demonstrable consequences for our lives. Keeping them sequestered from other historical records is a necessity because of their special nature and to avoid contamination from so-called 'pure history', which itself is a figment of our imagination. All histories, just like all 'facts' are laden with personal interpretations and so there is no 'pure' history as there is no 'pure' facts. This is why we need the science of 'Hermeneutics' (interpretation) for historical facts. This is applicable to all historical records including the Bible and the outcome of this exercise alone should be considered as meaningful and true.
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