2 - “But We Preach Christ Crucified”

Summary

But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

St. Paul¹

Since the locus where the notions of agape, justice, and conversion intersect and acquire a uniquely Christian meaning is the mystery of the cross, I contend that the answer to the question of Christian identity in a secular age is supplied by a revitalized theology of the cross. Such a theology seems to be even more urgently needed in today’s world, as it suffers from the multiple manifestations of political and racial violence and suffocates its biosphere by succumbing to greed and self-deception. To meet the exigencies of this culture, Christian theology needs a clear understanding of what Lonergan called the Law of the Cross, according to which the path to life lies in renouncing enticements of worldly wisdom and power for the sake of the Gospel. To that end, this chapter introduces the Law of the Cross as raison d’être for this project.