Reflections on Human and Divine Authority: History, Christology, Omnipotence

Abstract

There have been several recent attempts to suggest that Christian doctrine and ethics are afflicted by a notion of authority rather alien to the Christian gospel. The history of this infection is often located in the official recognition of the church by the Roman Empire under Constantine in the fourth century—one effect of which was a widespread nominal Hellenisation of Christianity, especially in its understanding of political authority. While such suggestions are somewhat convincing—often born of a keen understanding of the critical function of Christology to notions of authority—this essay nevertheless argues that these proposals are misguided in their understanding of divine omnipotence, in their inattention to historical particulars, and in their overemphasis of a ‘kenotic ethic’. It will be the task of this article to highlight such errors methodologically––errors, that is, made in contemporary reflections on the Christian understanding of human and divine authority.