The Meaning of Christ reinterprets Christian tradition in the light of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Mahayana theology declares Christ to be empty of essence defined only in the dependently co-arisen course of his life death and resurrection. Keenan uses Buddhist thought to unveil facets of meaning in Christ not focused on in western thinking and to help western Christians reclaim their mystic tradition. The first part of the book studies the meaning of Christ as developed in the early church. Through primary sources Keenan brings to light the cumulative research interpretations and historical understanding of a broad host of Christian scholars. He considers wisdom in the Old Testament New Testament affirmation of faith in Christ the development of Patristic theology toward theoretical conciseness and the witness of mystic writers to the ineffability of the meaning of faith. To date he argues the Christian West has not been able to relate its own mystic thinkers to its doctrinal theoretical thinking.