The Power of the Cross

In a postmodern world the church cannot escape the question of power. The contemporary critique of the church suggests that it reigned for so long in Western society not because it was more true than its rivals, but because it was more powerful. Is the Christian claim to truth merely a veiled bid for power? Has not the church regularly abused its power during the years of Christendom? Does Christian theology have the resources to answer these charges? This book argues that it does, in the quiet but recurrent theme of the theology of the cross. It explores the origins and contours of this kind of theology in three of its major exponents -- St. Paul, Martin Luther, and Blaise Pascal -- showing how each of them turned to a theology of the cross to combat the abuse of power within the church. It concludes by considering how such theology might do the same in the postmodern context. Of interest to anyone concerned with the role of the church in a postmodern world, or in the theology of the cross itself, this book explores vital themes for the church's life and thought both today and in the future.