Jesus and Creativity

"The most recent stage of Kaufman's thinking, as it is embodied in this book, has attained an admirable simplicity, power, and relevance to the needs of our day. He calls us to embody the creativity that came vividly to expression in Jesus and in the historical trajectory of his influence. Kaufman frees his Christian theology from every trace of mythological and supernaturalist thinking without diminishing its importance for today's world." John B. Cobb Jr. Ingraham Professor of Theology Emeritus Claremont Graduate University The lively interest today in the historical figure of Jesus is rarely matched by theological advances in understanding his person and significance for our own time and worldview. Gordon Kaufman takes up this challenge in this bold, speculative work. Despite the fabled difficulties of traditional Christological terms, Kaufman seeks to re-envision the symbol of Jesus within the contemporary scientific worldview. Building on his notion of God as simply creativity, he here locates the meaning of Jesus' salvific story within an evolving universe and a threatened planet. Outside the dualistic categories of the biblical worldview, he finds, the enormously creative and influential figure of the historic Jesus can have a vital role in the emergence and development of the cosmos and human history. Within that role, he argues, Jesus, his relation to God, and his centrality to Christian faith become clearer and our own lives and actions take on a new meaning. Gordon D. Kaufman is Professor of Theology Emeritus at Harvard Divinity School. His many important theological works include his Essay on Theological Method (1975, 3rd edition 1995), Theology for a Nuclear Age (1985), In Face of Mystery (1993), God-Mystery-Diversity (Fortress Press, 1996), and In the beginning . . .Creativity (Fortress Press, 2004).