The market for historical Jesuses has never been hotter. A mob of Jesus books have hit the bookstore shelves recently, whose authors star on videotapes, chat on radio talk shows, and appear on transcontinental live video programs. While interest in Jesus flourishes, however, there is no consensus about what Jesus was really like. The scholars who have landed mass-market publishers are not necessarily the most widely-respected representatives of their fields of inquiry; indeed, there is considerable scholarly resistance to the recent spate of Jesuses.

Many traditional Protestants are rereading their heritages through the Church catholic. That includes reading them through Eastern Orthodoxy. To bring forward the best of any particular Christian heritage for the whole Church or to enrich such a heritage by drawing from the whole Church, we need to be keen students of church history, scripture and contemporary situations. Every effort to restate the gospel for the next century must recognize that people see through their participation in communities. All Christians worship together in some kinds of congregations. We may try to get distance from what we believe and how we act, but if we move outside the circle, we take up a stance within another community. As Christians we read and understand from within the Church.

This article will utilize some of the letters of Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) and several of the autobiographical passages included in her Vita to demonstrate how she constructed herself in these writings as a prophetess, a woman imbued with the authority of spirit, which could, at times, override the authority of office of the male ecclesiastics around her.

In The Christian Faith Schleierrmcher offers three critiques of miracles—a pragmatic, an epistemological, and a metaphysical critique. Of these three critiques, by far the most important is Schleiermacher's metaphysical critique. In his own day, it was this critique that decisively distinguished Schleiermacher's account of miracles from the traditional orthodox account. In contemporary theological debates over contingency and divine action, it is this critique that underlies much of the continued skepticism towards miracles. Now as then, Schleiermacher's metaphysical critique of miracles continues to be a live issue

Arthur C. Cochrane has spent a lifetime recalling the Christian church to its vocation: confessing faith in Jesus Christ as the one Lord and Savior proclaimed in Holy Scripture; confessing sin; and submitting in freedom to the ethic which springs from sole reliance on Christ. The vocation has given focus to many concerns. He has worked to invigorate Christian understanding of the role of confessions of faith, to revive careful study of Reformation theologians, and to develop appreciation of the contribution of Karl Barth. He has engaged in ecumenical dialogue, fostered ecumenical relationships, and worked to arouse Christians to ethical response concerning the poor, worship, the state and war. He has been acutely sensitive to the constant need to determine a Christian response to challenging contemporary events, whether horrors or opportunities.