Abstract

This dissertation examines the christological essays of the Freiburg theologian and philosopher of religion Bernhard Welte . Although little-known in America, Welte's theological and philosophical writings have been influential in European Roman Catholic theology. In particular, both his christology and its fundamental theological presuppositions have made notable contributions to the renewal of Catholic christology which began in the 1950s. This dissertation argues that Welte's christological writings are important for having provided a critique and subsequent overcoming of the extrinsicism and ahistoricism within the Roman Catholic systematic christology which was generated from Neo-Scholastic theological principles and which dominated the christological discussion in the first half of this century. Welte's endeavors helped to elevate the humanity of Jesus to its important role in the contemporary christological discussion. ;Chapter one lays out the fundamental theological context for the earliest of Welte's christological essays, and examines the extrinsicism and ahistoricism predominant in the Roman Catholic christology of Neo-Scholasticism. Chapter two provides a detailed analysis of Welte's earlier "metaphysical" christology, as evidenced in his important 1954 essay on Chalcedon's "homoousios hemin". This chapter focuses particularly upon his theological anthropology, his fine-tuning of Neo-Scholastic philosophy and theology by means of an emphasis on an ontology of participation, and his early attempt to make christology more responsive to historicity. Chapter three examines certain fundamental theological themes in Welte's writings from the period between 1954 and the later christological essays . These themes help clarify his shift away from the more metaphysically-based thinking of the Chalcedon essay to a position more responsive to historicity and epochal shifts in knowledge. Chapter four presents an analysis of Welte's later "post-metaphysical" christological essays and emphasizes the role which Martin Heidegger's critique of metaphysics plays in Welte's evaluation of the Christian tradition and in his conclusions as to what constitutes the "essence" of christology. Chapter five concludes by arguing that Welte's thinking manifests both continuity and change between 1954 and 1980, and that his christological writings contribute to the recent renewal in christology by demonstrating the reciprocal interdependence between an historically-conscious fundamental theology and christology