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Homebrewed Christianity

Paul Capetz: The Two Paths of Liberal Christology

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this session, we are joined by historical theologian, Dr. Paul Capetz. Dr. Capetz, a minister in the United Methodist Church and former theology professor at various Protestant seminaries, discusses liberal Christology and its limitations. While identifying as a liberal theologian who seeks to reconcile Protestant heritage with Enlightenment thinking, Capetz argues that traditional liberal Christology is fundamentally flawed. He explains that liberal theologians like Friedrich Schleiermacher attempted to reconstruct the historical Jesus using modern historical analysis, but this approach faces insurmountable challenges. Following Rudolf Bultmann, whom Capetz considers the greatest New Testament scholar of the 20th century, he contends that a biography of Jesus cannot be written due to limited reliable historical sources. More importantly, Capetz argues that Christology shouldn't be based on speculations about Jesus's relationship with God, but rather on the apostles' witness to Jesus as the decisive revelation of God's love. Despite his fascination with the historical Jesus question, Capetz believes that the liberal approach of grounding Christology in historical reconstruction is both historically impossible and theologically misguided. You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube Join the class & watch Paul's lecture-> The Many Faces of Christ Today!⁠ Paul E. Capetz is professor of historical theology emeritus at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and is currently minister at Christ Church by the Sea in Newport Beach, California. He is the author of God: A Brief History and co-editor of James Gustafson’s Moral Discernment in the Christian Life. This episode centers on his recent book,  Recovering Protestantism’s Original Insight. Previous Episodes w/ Paul Capetz Protestantism’s Radical Insight from Luther to Bultmann Recovering Protestantism’s Original Insight Existentialist Philosophy, Politics, & Theology Calvin’s 500th Birthday The Big Theological Throw Down with John Cobb & Paul Capetz ONLINE CLASS ANNOUNCEMENT: The Many Faces of Christ Today The question Jesus asked his disciples still resonates today: "Who do you say that I am?" Join our transformative 5-week online learning community as we explore a rich tapestry of contemporary Christologies. Experience how diverse theological voices create a compelling vision of Jesus Christ for today's world. Expand your spiritual horizons. Challenge your assumptions. Enrich your faith. As always, the class is donation-based (including 0), so head over to ⁠ManyFacesOfChrist.com⁠ for more details and to sign up! _____________________ ⁠Hang with 40+ Scholars & Podcasts and 600 people at Theology Beer Camp 2025 (Oct. 16-18) in St. Paul, MN. ⁠ This podcast is a ⁠Homebrewed Christianity⁠ production. Follow ⁠the Homebrewed Christianity⁠, ⁠Theology Nerd Throwdown⁠, & ⁠The Rise of Bonhoeffer⁠ podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our⁠ Substack - Process This!⁠ Get instant access to over 45 classes at ⁠www.TheologyClass.com⁠ ⁠Follow the podcast, drop a review⁠, send ⁠feedback/questions⁠ or become a ⁠member of the HBC Community⁠. ⁠Theology Beer Camp | St. Paul, MN | October 16-18, 2025⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:31.2

All right. Hello everyone. This is Trip. And today's a part of our series on the many faces of Christ.

0:41.1

I'm joined by my friend, the Reverend Dr. Paul Capitz, and I'm pumped to have you back

0:47.1

and getting to answer some amazing questions. They really were. They were some of the best questions

0:52.7

I've ever been asked. And I wish I could have a seminar for an entire semester with all of these people.

1:00.6

Yeah, it is.

1:02.6

I mean that.

1:03.8

I'm not just saying that.

1:05.1

I was just blown away when I, I mean, these are,

1:07.6

these are exactly the questions that I need to be pushed on because they're,

1:14.2

they're hard to answer.

1:16.5

They're not easy.

1:18.1

Well, I've attempted to organize them.

1:21.1

And for those of you that sent long versions, I made them short enough that they can pop up on the screen.

1:27.9

And so we're going to try to get there quickly.

1:30.4

But for those of you who are watching this and going, whoa, whoa, what is this an amazing lecture on liberal and existentialist?

1:39.9

Christology that inspired these questions from Paul.

1:43.4

Well, you can get it at many faces of Christ.com, along with a host of other lectures.

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