Doctrine became increasingly less important, giving way to the second form of the conservative quest: the turn to culture as the defining feature of Christianity. The third chapter traces the development of postliberalism through the lens of mainline Protestantism’s interest in the authority and interpretation of scripture, beginning with biblical theology and concluding with the postliberal project of theological interpretation of scripture. This development explains how the norms of Christianity became understood as cultural norms, thus paving the way for orthodoxy becoming a form of culture war.

This chapter argues that the distinction between “low” and “high” Christologies as well as the assumed incompatibility of the Synoptic Christologies and that of the Fourth Gospel both need drastic revision. Instead, this chapter argues that a discernable measure of compatibility of the Synoptic witness to the Johannine does exist, but it can only be seen and understood where a twofold condition is met: 1) the Synoptics are interpreted first and on their own terms, and 2) John is not read through the lens provided by the fifth-century Christological dogma. One of the greatest needs – if Chalcedonianism is to become more widely respected outside the circles of “orthodox” dogmaticians – is for a Christology that does not suppress the all too human character of the Jesus born witness to in the first three Gospels especially.

Both this chapter and the next try to find a biblically funded picture of the self-humiliating God in an effort to repair Chalcedon. This chapter focuses on Paul’s theology of kenosis, particularly found in the “Christ hymn” of Philippians 2:6–11. In assessing the dogmatic uses authorized by scripture, this chapter asks, first, what are we required to say as dogmatic theologians? Second, does it rule anything out? And, third, what does it permit us to say? In addition to the “Christ hymn,” this chapter makes use of material found in Paul’s wider corpus of writings. It also examines the relevance of the Christology of the Epistle to the Hebrews for elaborating a dogmatic construction of divine kenosis.

Biblical theology is the systematic theological interpretation of the Bible, and Jewish biblical theology is the systematic theological interpretation of the Jewish Bible (Tanak). The Jewish Bible appears in its uniquely distinctive form as the Tanak, which enables the Jewish Bible to function as the essential and foundational work of Jewish thought and practice. In order to provide an overview of Jewish biblical theology, this essay treats several fundamental concerns, viz., the unique form of the Jewish Bible in contrast to the distinctive forms of the Christian Bible; the dialogical character of the Jewish Bible in relation to itself and to the larger context of Jewish thought; the eternal covenant between G-d and the Jewish people; the construction of the Jewish people and its institutions, such as the land of Israel, the holy Temple, and the monarchy; and the problem of evil, particularly the exile and potential destruction of the Jewish people, that calls the eternal covenant between G-d and Israel into question.