The Cross of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the human being

Abstract

This article discusses the modern problematic of the interpretations of the death of Jesus that emerged mainly in the European context since the Enlightenment, in criticism of the doctrinal formulas of the church regarding the death of Jesus. The problems that arise in those traditional propositions that attempt to understand human death itself are initially addressed. Starting from the understanding of human life and death, we then try to evaluate the conditions of possibility of obtaining an adequate understanding of Jesus’ death with modern self-understanding. Based on this criterion, three commonly used models of interpretation are evaluated, aiming at identifying in this analysis its strengths, but also its weaknesses. Finally, an image of Jesus is drawn which unites the meaning of his earthlyhistorical life with its eternal and divine meaning, in the greater hermeneutic horizont of modern self-understanding.