1. The Chalcedonian formula was produced by the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451 and is generally regarded as settling for all time the conflict between the humanity of Jesus and the divinity of Jesus: “recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the Union.”
2. Temporary remissions have been known in the disease, but they have always been of short duration.
3. This is the title of one of Dr. Paul Tillich’s great works.
4. This point is defended by Prof. Hans Kung in his book On Being a Christian.
5. The most exhaustive analysis of the role and myth of Mary in Western church life is found in Marina Warner’s work, Alone of All Her Sex.
6. A much more complete treatment of this development can be found in Chapter 7 of my book The Living Commandments (New York: Seabury Press, 1977).
7. The reader may be interested to know that Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 5:9 support this contention.
8. This is true whether these words are literal or not. Most New Testament scholars would not treat the Johannine Doubting Thomas story as history, but the fact remains that this story does complete the revolutionary thought process.
9. C. B. Moss is the author of the standard theological text used for years in many seminaries. It was a book noted for its dullness even if it attempted to encompass all theological truth.
10. Prof. Raymond Brown suggests that these verses, while not original with Mark, are in fact another early resurrection tradition, and he urges us not to dismiss them because they are not Markan. I agree with him.
11. When I say Luke, I mean not just the gospel that bears his name but also the book of Acts; together, these are generally thought to constitute the Lukan corpus.
12. There are those who believe that this transfiguration account is a misplaced resurrection narrative. If this is so, an entirely different light would be thrown upon the narrative.
13. Maurice Goguel, La foi a la résurrection de Jésus dans la Christianisme primitif (Paris: E. Leroux, 1933).
14. Trying to embrace this distinction, C. H. Dodd suggests that one lived inside Easter as if one had a foot in both ages.
15. The only thing that might keep this from being stated even more strongly is the Johannine hint that Jesus’ baptism by John was a Judean and not a Galilean event.
16. I’m sure that if Irenaeus had lived today, he would have said, “The glory of God is man and/or woman fully alive.”
17. I am deliberately treating the gospel narratives as a whole and neglecting the formal critical insights into each unit. There are many books around that will help the reader with the formal critical details. It is my hope to create a sweeping impression of the whole life without getting lost in the historicity of the formal critical details. Canonical criticism rather than form criticism is my deliberate method.
18. From John S. Spong, Christpower. Free verse by Lucy Newton Boswell (Richmond, Virginia: Thomas Hale Publishing Co., 1975).