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A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

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A <strong>History</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Christian</strong> <strong>Doctrine</strong><br />

revelation, with a view to which, if there is to be faith,<br />

love, obedience and service, so the nations are to be<br />

made disciples, summoned to conversion, and led to<br />

enter and pursue the way <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ. The words<br />

Father, Son and Holy Ghost, in their inseparability and<br />

distinction, together indicate the expansion <strong>of</strong> the one<br />

name, work and word <strong>of</strong> God. . . .<br />

The Father is the basis <strong>of</strong> the history <strong>of</strong> Jesus<br />

Christ, <strong>of</strong> the history <strong>of</strong> Israel and <strong>of</strong> all world history.<br />

. . . [Jesus] is invested with the glory <strong>of</strong> His<br />

name, work and word, with His exousia [authority]<br />

in heaven and on earth. . . .<br />

“And <strong>of</strong> the Son”: . . . The one work and word <strong>of</strong> God<br />

which forms the goal <strong>of</strong> baptism is decisively the work<br />

and word <strong>of</strong> this Servant <strong>of</strong> God, <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ. . . .<br />

“And <strong>of</strong> the Holy Ghost”—this is, from the centre,<br />

the forward extension: God’s one act <strong>of</strong> salvation and<br />

revelation in the dimension which points to future<br />

time. . . . The name, work and word <strong>of</strong> the Holy Spirit<br />

is again the one name, work and word—now in its<br />

future and eschatological aspect—which is the goal <strong>of</strong><br />

baptism.<br />

Rudolf Bultmann and Form Criticism<br />

Toward midcentury, the influence <strong>of</strong> Barth was<br />

eclipsed by Rudolph Bultmann (1884-1976), a German,<br />

who perhaps had the greatest impact on theology <strong>of</strong> anyone<br />

in the twentieth century. He stood in the Neo-<br />

Orthodox tradition, but he pushed it toward Liberalism.<br />

He criticized Liberalism, yet his theological system is<br />

clearly unacceptable to conservatives.<br />

An important critical tool that Bultmann employed<br />

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