Jesus’ gospel is having a difficult rebirth. Harnack (1851-1930) made the breakthrough. What is called “the quest for the historical Jesus” developed from stirrings in the later 18th century in Europe. As inquiry continued into the 19th century, some professors of theology in German universities (Harnack was one of these) studied the New Testament Gospels with the critical tools of modern history. Harnack’s conclusion: the core gospel of Jesus was the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. A third theme was the infinite value of the individual human soul. Harnack’s popular book What Is Christianity? is probably the best place to begin; but his History of Dogma Book I, chapter 3 is full of beautiful insights.
But Harnack rejected Jesus’ divine Sonship, and generally dismissed John’s Gospel. His one-sidedness made him more vulnerable to the critique of Karl Barth (1886-1968). The idea of the brotherhood of man did not have much intuitive appeal after two world wars, and Barth, a fearless opponent of Hitler, hammered Harnack in favor of the idea that the scope of the family of God does not extend beyond Christianity defined as evangelicals would. (Barth’s neo-orthodoxy was the source for evangelicalism.)
Then in the 1960s, as feminists were doing important work standing up for the equality of women with men, some theologians made a very influential attack on the fatherhood of God as inherently sexist.
Today we can put the pieces together, learn from everyone, love everyone, and find truth to embrace in every position. We do not force language upon anyone. We understand that some people have been so abused by their fathers that the very word conjures up horrible associations. But neither do we bury the Jesus’ revelation of the personality of God. We can embrace Jesus’ original concept of the universal family while including in the full gospel the truth of his divine Sonship. On that basis, we can find new unity and discover effective ways to communicate it with this person and that group. To equip ourselves for that work, we devote ourselves to continual growth in spiritually realizing all sides of Jesus’ gospel. He unified these sides in his life, and he helps us do the same.
The 8:44 video . The audio file
