Divine Self-Investment: An Open and Relational Constructive Christology

When saying the word "God" doesn't come easy, what does it mean to call Jesus "the Christ?" Tripp Fuller offers a robust constructive Christology that engages three theological registers - historical, existential, and metaphysical. Beginning Christology not from above or below but from within the Disciple's confession of Jesus as the Christ, Fuller constructs a powerful Open and Relational Christology. At the heart are three pairings of contemporary thinkers who share a thematic center with distinct trajectories. Fuller weaves each into a vision of God's self-investment in history and the person of Jesus. The constructive proposal not only uses an Open and Relational vision but reshapes it in light of God's self-investment in Christ. The significance of Fuller's proposal is wide-reaching, engaging revelation, divine power, evil, the cross, hope, the imago dei, and the Spirit. What They're Saying... "This ambitious Christology marks Tripp Fuller as one of the most significant young systematic theologians to emerge on the scene in recent years. One can profitably read this book as an introduction to Open and Relational Theology; as a refresher on Logos Christology, Spirit Christology, and the quest for the historical Jesus; or as a primer on his six theological discussion partners. But the brilliance of the volume is actually the blending of biblical, classical, and process insights into a single moving vision of God's self-investment in creation, Israel, and Jesus. Rarely have I encountered a young theologian who writes with this level of systematic depth." -- Philip Clayton, Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology "Tripp Fuller masterfully engages the crucial Christian question: Who do we say Jesus is? Engaging history, philosophy and theology, Fuller offers a vision of Jesus that weds evangelical convictions with progressive insights. His work stands alone side that of John Cobb, David Griffin and Elizabeth Johnson for required reading in Christology. " -- Monica A. Coleman, Professor of Africana Studies, University of Delaware, author of Making a Way Out of No Way: a Womanist Theology