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This essay studies the treatment of Jesus' crucifixion in contemporary theology. After presenting four influential systematic conceptions, it isolates four historical issues with immediate systematic implications and concludes with some reflections on principles for constructing and evaluating theologies of the cross.

In the years surrounding the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) questions concerning the Church dominated theological literature. Then came Wolfhart Panncrr berg s seminal Jesus—God and Man, which served as a timely reminder that more fundamental christological issues could not be even temporarily forgotten. More recently theologians recognizing the need for serious reexamination of the very foundations of Christianity, have increasingly directed their attention to the center of Christian faith Jesus Christ himself. Such prominent figures as Walter Rasper, Hans Rung, Jiirgen Moltmann, Karl Rahner, and Edward Schillebeeckx have published major works devoted largely if not entirely to christology; and numerous less renowned authors have also made significant contributions to an intense discussion that shows no signs of abating.Despite important differences among themselves, these recent christologies generally exhibit certain basic traits that distinguish them from most christologies of the immediate past. First contemporary authors usuallv envision their christologv as part of an overall effort to provide an integrated account of the whole of Christianity; christology is one element of an attempt to express anew the meaning of the gospel in the modern world.