The Existing Christ: An Existential Christology

It is not that God created or caused us; rather that God indwelling through Christ is creating or causing us. In the time we have and with what we are given in that time, it is for us to exist with ultimate existential significance, meaning and purpose. In the most simple of terms, reality for most people is not and will not be what it has been for most people for millennia. The few shreds of 'reality' that have survived the last few centuries are being disintegrated by the advances of science and philosophy and are not being credibly replaced. In our existence and existing, what is real and what is not? This question is the backdrop of personal existential significance, meaning and purpose. The answer is with God or Existence ("I AM".) Two theatres of being are before us: one experienced as the world of objects external to our person (biblically, the world after the flesh); the other experienced as the world of the things of God internal to our person (biblically, the world after the spirit). The latter is identified by Paul as the world according to Christ after the spirit. The world according to Christ after the spirit is the area of existential Christology. Existential Christology as approached in this book provides a practical framework for Christianity in the 21st century that securely stands the scrutiny of critical reflection and thought. More importantly Existential Christology establishes the ground on which Christian practice frees people from bondage and captivity. What could be more important to a Christian than scripture? The reality and accessibility of the existing Christ is more important. The former merely tells of the latter... as best it can. It is not that God created or caused us; rather that God indwelling through Christ is creating or causing us. The coming century promises that the grounding and framing of Christian living will move and shift. The challenges will cause faith to stumble, if not fall. In the infinite and eternal reality of Christ there is a Covenant --- a Christ Covenant --- that will ground and frame or form spiritual living. This book is about the reality Christ and how that presently existing reality forms our spiritual person. Drawing on some 17th Century Radical Protestant writings, as well as Quaker, Wesleyan and Reformist legacies of Light and Experimental Religion, this book delves into the pursuit and securing of salvation and holiness. It draws on the book of John and its Gospel message regarding the existing Christ, as well as the authenticated letters of Paul and the work of Spinoza. It reflects on some salient themes from the Gospel of John, presenting thought provoking and 'creative' reflections on some of those texts.