Being Salvation

Atonement and Soteriology in the Theology of Karl Rahner

Karl Rahner's theory of how Jesus saves has garnered criticism. Rahner's portrayal of Jesus has been described by Hans Urs von Balthasar as merely notifying the world of God's salvific will. Others have doubted whether Rahner thinks Jesus “causes” salvation at all. Even Rahner's advocates style his Jesus as a kind of sign, albeit an effective one, the primal Sacrament. But another major and yet underappreciated dimension to Rahner's christology is his identification of Jesus as Representative—both our representative before God and God's before us. As such a Representative, Jesus is not a redemptive agent who accomplishes human salvation simply through an act, and even less is he a mere exemplar or notification. This Jesus does not only “do” our salvation—rather, he is the locus of salvation itself. He not only “opens” heaven's gates, but he creates heaven with his own resurrection. Being Salvation uncovers this dimension within Rahner's theology, relating it to other historical examples of representative soteriology (e.g. Irenaeus's theory of recapitulation) and to Rahner's more familiar sacramental soteriological categories. It gives special attention to Rahner's intense attention to the church fathers early in his career, including Rahner's untranslated theology dissertation, E latere Christi(“From the Side of Christ”).