The Incarnation of Freedom and Love

How is it possible to write a Christology when so much is-in question: the traditional structure of Christian doctrine, the difficulties in establishing what can be known about Jesus of Nazareth, and the growing awareness of the validity of non-Christian religions as ways towards God? In this important new book, Ruth Page takes up the challenge, and in facing the problems squarely has produced a compelling and forward-looking answer. Central to her approach is a stress on the God who becomes incarnate, the God of freedom and love. Since freedom and love are God’s nature, they will also determine the circumstances of incarnation and how it is perceived. Jesus is to be sought imaginatively, presenting salvation in dramatic form. The history of Jesus contributes to the identity of Jesus Christ, through whose action the nature of redemption becomes visible and effective. To illustrate her central thesis, Ruth Page not only refers to the Gospels and Christian tradition, but draws on poetry and drama, experience and evidence from the realities of our modern world. With her we learn to read an over-familiar story of the Christ in a new light, and at the same time to apply new insights to our own time, its faiths and its despairs. Ruth Page was Associate Dean of the Faculty of Divinity in the University of Edinburgh.