ARTICLE GUIDE
At a Glance
This essay evaluates Rudolf Bultmann’s demythologizing program, examining existential interpretation, faith, and the proclaimed word of the cross. It contrasts Bultmann’s approach with the author’s emphasis on historical redemption, canonical promise, and Christ’s victory over spiritual powers.
What happens to the cross when salvation is interpreted primarily as an existential encounter?
This guide introduces the argument developed in the complete article and its main lines of investigation.
Key Claims
- The study situates Bultmann’s theology within the encounter between modern scientific assumptions and the New Testament’s supernatural worldview.
- It examines the influence of Heideggerian categories on accounts of sin, self-reliance, and authentic existence.
- The essay recognizes Bultmann’s concern to protect faith from self-securing achievement while questioning his treatment of historical events.
- The author argues that the promise-plan requires continuity between Israel’s story, the historical cross, and bodily resurrection.
- The study also considers the public and ethical implications of different accounts of salvation.
Primary Textual Anchors
- 1 Corinthians 1:18–25; 15:3–8
- Genesis 3:15; 12:1–3
- Jeremiah 31:31–34; Romans 11:17–29
Scripture Connections
1 Corinthians 1:18–25; 15:3–8; Genesis 3:15; 12:1–3; Jeremiah 31:31–34; Romans 11:17–29
Selected Scholarship
- Bultmann, R. (1984). New Testament and mythology and other basic writings (S. M. Ogden, Ed. & Trans.). Fortress Press.
- Brondos, D. A. (2007). Fortress introduction to salvation and the cross. Fortress Press.
- Kaiser, W. C., Jr. (2008). The promise-plan of God. Zondervan.
Related Guides
- The Logic of History and the Climax of Promise: Historiographical Method, Epistolary Bedrock, and the Historical Jesus within Canonical Theology
- The Historical Bedrock of the Crucifixion
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