Is Jesus Christ A “Symbol” Of God?

This is a critical review of the book by the American Jesuit theologian Fr. Roger Haight, Jesus Symbol of God. The terms symbol and symbolic are used frequently in Haight’s book, Jesus Symbol of God. For Christians, as Haight states, the Incarnate Logos of God is “a concrete” or “a classic symbol of God”. By accepting Jesus Christ as a concrete symbol of God, it follows that we need also to accept that Jesus Christ both is and is not God, because according to Haight “a symbol both is and is not what it symbolizes”. With language appropriate to postmodern culture, Haight thinks that he has brought a new light to Christology, but actually he goes too far in reinterpreting core and traditional doctrines about Christ and salvation. Unfortunately, Roger Haight’s work creates confusion among those Christians who do not have strong faith in Jesus Christ. He creates confusion even for Christians of strong faith. Haight’s Christology tries to make the Son of God a simple human, just Jesus but never the Christ, who revealed God to humanity through His Incarnation.