Toward a Priestly Christology

Abstract

Toward a Priestly Christology is a constructive theology on the person and work of Christ from the standpoint of a systematic thinking about his priesthood. This priesthood is usually discussed in biblical scholarship on the Christology of Hebrews and also explored in historical or systematic theology, with its connections with soteriology and ecclesiology. However, there is a scarcity of studies that attempt to systematize this topic in its basic components and their ontological foundations in order to provide conceptual clarity for a constructive discussion of the priestly Christology in systematic theology. The book makes a contribution to this discussion by engaging firstly with the main models of Christ’s priesthood in Christian theology and, then, with a theological reading of the letter to the Hebrews. In both steps, the author conceptually articulates the priesthood in terms of need, agent, actions, and goal. Then, he observes the conceptual articulation from the macro-hermeneutical point of view of ontology, especially noticing how assumptions on time and space impact the internal logic of Christ’s priesthood. By using existing models of this priesthood as heuristic tools for systematic thinking, the work attempts to push Christian theology toward a more dynamic understanding of Christ’s priesthood, especially regarding the relationship between the ascended Christ and our Christian life.