Editing Christology (section)

==Modern developments==
{{See also|Historical Jesus|Quest for the Historical Jesus}}

===Liberal Protestant theology===
The 19th century saw the rise of [[Liberal Protestant]] theology, which questioned the dogmatic foundations of Christianity, and approached the Bible with critical-historical tools.<ref group="web" name="EB.Christology.mCt">{{Cite web |title=Jesus - The debate over Christology in modern Christian thought {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus/The-debate-over-Christology-in-modern-Christian-thought |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=6 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406093555/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus/The-debate-over-Christology-in-modern-Christian-thought |url-status=live }}</ref> The divinity of Jesus became of less emphasis or importance, and was replaced with an focus on the ethical aspects of his teachings.{{sfn|Dunn|2003|p=ch. 4}}{{efn-la|Gerald O'Collins and Daniel Kendall have called this Liberal Protestant theology "neo-[[Arianism]]."{{sfn|O'Collins|Kendall|1996|pp=30–31}}}}

===Roman Catholicism===
[[Catholic]] theologian [[Karl Rahner]] sees the purpose of modern Christology as to formulate the Christian belief that "God became man and that God-made-man is the individual Jesus Christ" in a manner that this statement can be understood consistently, without the confusions of past debates and mythologies.{{sfn|Rahner|2004|pp=755–767}}{{efn-la|Grillmeier: "The most urgent task of a contemporary Christology is to formulate the Church's dogma – 'God became man and that God-made-man is the individual Jesus Christ' – in such a way that the true meaning of these statements can be understood, and all trace of a mythology impossible to accept nowadays is excluded."{{sfn|Grillmeier|1975|p=755}}}} Rahner pointed out the coincidence between the Person of Christ and the Word of God, referring to [[wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Mark#8:38|Mark 8:38]] and [[wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Luke#9:26|Luke 9:26]] which state whoever is ashamed of the words of Jesus is ashamed of the Lord himself.<ref>''Encyclopedia of Theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi'' by Karl Rahner 2004 {{ISBN|0-86012-006-6}} p. 1822</ref>

[[Hans Urs von Balthasar|Hans von Balthasar]] argued the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the "absorption" of human attributes, but by their "assumption". Thus, in his view, the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine.<ref>''The eschatology of Hans Urs von Balthasar'' by Nicholas J. Healy 2005 {{ISBN|0-19-927836-9}} pp. 22–23</ref> The same distinction is recorded in the [[Second Vatican Council]]'s pastoral constitution, ''[[Gaudium et spes]]'': "in Him, human nature was assumed, not absorbed".<ref>Second Vatican Council, ''Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spec'', 22, version quoted by Neuner, J. and Dupuis, J., ''The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church'', Revised Edition (1983), Collins: London, {{ISBN|0-00-599706-2}} p. 191</ref>

[[Pope Francis]], in his 2024 [[encyclical letter]] ''[[Dilexit nos]]'', refers to the "divinity and plenary humanity" of Jesus.<ref>Pope Francis, [https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.pdf Dilexit nos], paragraph 49, published on 24 October 2024, accessed on 11 December 2024</ref>