Ancient, postmodern, and prophetic: How Haight's symbol theory (almost) does it all

The achievements of Roger Haight's provocative book Jesus Symbol of God rise and fall according to the strengths - and weaknesses - of Haight's symbol theory as applied to his christological project. While this essay expresses a largely positive view of Haight's overall project, it focuses on two key shortcomings pertaining to Haight's symbol theory as it shapes his Christology: first, that his notion of symbol is too low to serve traditional Christology; second, that Haight strips religious symbols of their prophetic power by conceding too much to his audience. Drawing on the symbol theories of Karl Rahner and Paul Ricoeur, to whom Haight is deeply indebted for his understanding of symbol, a path is indicated by which Haight's model could more adequately wed symbol theory and Christology in yielding a more fruitful understanding of Jesus as symbol of God.