Fullness of Humanity (The Croall Lectures)

Professor Pollard explores a biblical theme which has become central in contemporary theological debate in christology, where the humanness of Jesus is being taken with utmost seriousness once again; in soteriology, where salvation is being interpreted in terms of 'humanization', of people becoming what God intends them to be, and in terms of liberation from all that prevents them from realizing their full humanness. The theme is explored in the OT, the Synoptic Gospels and in Paul, Hebrews and John. This leads to a discussion of the ideas of salvation as 'deification' in the Early Fathers, and of the contemporary attempt (especially in Catholic christology) to understand what it means to be human in the light of the humanness of Jesus