CHRISTOLOGY IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Session 8Question:• How does our

particular “location” in life affect our experience of and witness to Jesus and the Gospel?

Objectives:• To understand how

one’s “location” in life (social, political, psychological, etc.) affects one’s experience of salvation and understanding of who Jesus is.

LIVING BETWEEN TWO AGESOld age New Age

Before God

Cross Resurrection

Before human beings

and creation

Creation New Creation

In

Crucifixion/ResurrectionJUSTIFICATION

WORD/SACRAMENT

VOCATIONKINGDOM OF GOD

Incarnation

CHRIST AS DIVINE AND HUMANChrist as human Christ as divine

Before God

CrossSACRAMENT

ResurrectionCHRISTUS VICTOR

Before human beings

and creation

CreationEXAMPLE

New CreationTHEOSIS

In

Crucifixion/ResurrectionJUSTIFICATION

WORD/SACRAMENT

VOCATIONKINGDOM OF GOD

Incarnation

CHRIST AS ONLY HUMAN?Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

CrossSACRAMENT

Before human beings

and creation

CreationEXAMPLE

CHRIST AS ONLY DIVINE?Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

ResurrectionCHRISTUS VICTOR

Before human beings

and creation

New CreationTHEOSIS

CHRIST AS THEOSIS ONLY? Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

Before human beings

and creation

New CreationTHEOSIS

CHRIST AS SACRAMENT ONLY? Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

CrossSACRAMENT

Before human beings

and creation

In

CHRIST AS EXAMPLE ONLY? Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

Before human beings

and creation

CreationEXAMPLE

CHRISTUS VICTOR ONLY? Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

ResurrectionCHRISTUS VICTOR

Before human beings

and creation

In

ONLY JUSTIFICATION? Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

CrossSACRAMENT

ResurrectionCHRISTUS VICTOR

Before human beings

and creation

In

Crucifixion/ResurrectionJUSTIFICATION

WORD/SACRAMENT

ONLY VOCATION? Christ as human Christ as divine

Before God

Before human beings

and creation

CreationEXAMPLE

New CreationTHEOSIS

VOCATIONKINGDOM OF GOD

Incarnation

CHRISTOLOGY IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Overview of Session 8

• ELAINE CRAWFORD: WOMANIST CHRISTOLOGY

• OSCAR A. GARCIA-JOHNSON: THE CROSS IN LATINO/A PERSPECTIVE

• MARCELLA ATHAUS-REID: “A CRITICAL CHRISTOLOGY OF HOPE AMONGST LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN”

• JOSÉ M. DE MESA: ASIAN CHRISTOLOGIES

• VICTOR I. EZIGBO: AFRICAN CHRISTOLOGIES

OUR MULTICULTURAL GOD

• “Our multicultural God calls on the church to communicate the love of God in Christ—in, with, and under the rich diversity that embraces us all. Mutuality of experience intermingles with God’s divine presence; we’re prepared for great commission work in our diverse nation and the world.”

ALICIA VARGAS, director of contextual education at Pacific

OSCAR A. GARCIA-JOHNSON ON THE CROSS IN LATINO/A PERSPECTIVE

Where I Stand in the Story of the Cross

• Put bluntly, the birth of Latin America is tied to the imperial program of the proclamation of the cross of Jesus Christ. The crucifix was used as God’s signature, authorizing the Iberian campaign of invasion, cultural devastation, appropriation of the land, colonization, massacring, and evangelization of the Americas during and after the European Conquest.

Trends in Latin American and Latino/a theology

1. Mimicking western methodologies and transplanting western ideas, models, and ambitions into a nonwestern environment

2. A counter-western direction or a postwestern horizon, in the interest of a theology that acknowledges the rupture between the old western ways and the new nonwestern ways.

3. Thinking in transwestern ways—that is, working to foster transcontextual, transcultural, transclassical, interdisciplinary, and ecumenical conversations.

CHRISTOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN LATIN AMERICAN AND LATINO/A CONTEXTS

The Conquest—The Cross as the Beginning

Conquest Christology: 1. Suffering is a God-giving

historical reality and inevitable

2. Christ illustrates and invites tragedy

3. God blesses the others-in-power and allows them to use violence to accomplish their mandate.

The Glorious Christ of Evangelicalism—Where Is the Cross?

A nondocetic Christ of life and glory over against the “other Spanish Christ” of death– An exit from historical

tragedy, poverty, and spiritual emptiness, a Christ of glory

The Liberating Christ—From Inheriting the Cross to Choosing It for Life

Christology of Liberation• The locus theologicus

shifted from the European categories of reason, Sola Scriptura, the church, and individual subjectivism to a hermeneutics of communal suffering, poverty, and injustice in light of Jesus’ way to the cross.

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel: The Latin American Way of the Cross

U.S. Latino/a Christology—The Cross in the Story of a Pilgrim People

• The Latino/a experience of Mestizaje-Mulatez as a hermeneutic paradigm for understanding Jesus Christ as God among us.

• “We know viscerally what it is like to fully embody the tensions of disparate realities that may seem incongruent with one another. In a sense, the incarnation is the ultimate act of mestisaje and mulatez joining together humanity and divinity in one act. . . . By using the paradigm of Mestizaje-Mulatez we assert that Jesus identified with the oppressed and the marginalized, locating the presence of God in their midst.” (Luis Pedraja)

ELAINE CRAWFORD ON WOMANIST CHRISTOLOGY

M. L. KING: “I HAVE A DREAM”

Womanist theology• When the angel of the Lord found Hagar in the wilderness (Gen 16:8),

the angel asked her a question that is pertinent to the theological enterprise today. The angel asked Hagar, "Where have you come from and where are you going?"

• Womanist theology arose out of the need for a theology that would take seriously the perspectival lens African American women's experience brings to the theological enterprise. Womanist theology critiques the multi-dimensional oppression of African American women's lives, at a minimum, sexism, racism, classism, and heterosexism. It challenges structures, symbols, and socio-political realities that foster oppression/domination of black women in particular, as well as black men, humanity in general, and nature.

Questions for womanist theology

• "Can a white, male Jesus serve as a redemptive symbol for African American women?"

• "Who is Jesus Christ for the African American woman?"

• "How does Jesus address the plight of the marginalized and oppressed of society?"

The cross and abuse• Given the historic abuse of black

women's bodies, from Hagar through today, and the increasing awareness of domestic violence and child abuse in American society, how does one interpret Jesus' death on the cross?

• Does the death on the cross glorify violence?

• Does the cross sacralize abuse? • How are the Academy and the Church to

respond to the symbolism of the cross, juxtaposed with silence around the issues of abuse and violence in most churches?

• How does one teach and preach healing through the life, death, resurrection of Christ without romanticizing suffering?

Womanist understandings of God• The womanist understanding of

God is based upon God's revelation to them, as well as through the revelation and witness of scripture in the context of their experience. God is understood as being on the side of the oppressed. God is liberator, creator, and sustainer.

• God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are understood as the three persons of the Trinity and are used interchangeably, especially in the prayers of the African American.

• It is Jesus who is central and co-sufferer with the oppressed. African American women identify with Jesus because they believe he identifies with their struggle. Jesus, who is Immanuel, friend, present help, and comforter, is central to African American women's theology.

Womanist understandings of God• Womanists employ a very "high"

Christology. It is high, not in the typical western perspective meaning to emphasize his divinity, but high in the African American sense, indicating that Jesus has an integral place, a real consuming presence that empowers the life of the believer.

• To have a "high time" at church, in the African American vernacular, means the Spirit was very present, real, touchable, and tangible. This is the way African American women experience Jesus.

2 Cor 5:21

• As a human (representing both male and female) dying on the cross, how does Jesus' death condone violence against women?

• Does this death on the cross also validate the killing and imprisoning of African American males?

2 Cor 5:21• The Bible says that Jesus

became sin for us that we might experience the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).

• Though I understand the cross as the culmination of human evil, I suggest that Jesus became abuse, violence, dehumanization, and oppression so that we might experience wholeness, safety, full humanity, and agency.

• Thus, the cross does not sacralize abuse but is an example of it. The cross represents what God was willing to sacrifice so that no others would be sacrificed. It is not a shrine to violence that calls for torn flesh and bleeding bodies, but an eternal statement that humans should not be abused.

The cross mandates a theology of risk rather than a theology of sacrifice

• A theology of risk is the God-consciousness and God-confidence to risk all to fight against injustice and oppression, even if it means that one may be called upon to give one's life. A theology of risk employs a liberating message of the cross that breaks the cycle of violence in black women's lives. The message of the cross is not one of resignation to violence or demands for revenge, but it is a passion for justice. It is an awareness of the Christ-presence in one's life that empowers one to seize the personal agency to act against, rather than acquiesce to, victimization and oppression. A theology of risk breaks the cycle of violence and counter-violence by moving one toward a new humanity that is self-loving, other-affirming, and community-creating.

JOSÉ M. DE MESA ON ASIAN CHRISTOLOGIES

THE REALITY OF JESUS CHRIST

On what an Indian religious man said to missionaries to

India: “You say that you bring Jesus and new

humanity to us. But what is this 'new humanity' you are proclaiming? We would like

to see it, touch it, taste it, feel it. Jesus must not be just

a name, but a reality. Jesus must be illustrated

humanly". Yes! “All human beings are cultural beings.

Jesus must be culturally relevant if he is really to be

understood and appreciated. This is a most obvious fact unfortunately

only too often overlooked.“Supper at Emmaus; He Qi; Art in the Christian Tradition

A TRIPLE DIALOGUE IN ASIAN THEOLOGIZING

Jesus and . . .the poor in Asia,

the religions of Asia, the cultures of Asia.

Oil on Canvas, part of a dyptich of the Dalit Jesus. Collection of the Missions Prokura sj Nuerenberg.http://jyotiartashram.blogspot.com

DALIT THEOLOGYThe dalits (from the root word dal in Marathi

language which means to crack, open and split), especially the women, are poor and discriminated

in society and in the church. They are forced to live separately from the common people, they are barred from using common wells, roads and other

common facilities and dalits converted to Christianity have separate seats in the church and separate cemeteries for the dead. Liberation from

the dehumanizing caste system in all aspects has been and is the deepest longing of the dalits.

Dalit theology provides us with a vivid description of the marginalization and depredation of the

dalits who are despised and exploited outcasts within the Hindu caste system. It unveils the

ideology both in the hierarchical and the ecclesiastical caste system through social analysis,

and articulates the hope and the struggle of the dalits for liberation.

Jesus the folk healer. Oil on Canvas. Part of a dyptich of the Dalit Jesus. Collection of the Missions Prokura sj. Nuerenberg.http://jyotiartashram.blogspot.com

FILIPINO FOLK CHRISTOLOGY

In the Philippines this sort of exchange is taking place

between official and popular Catholicism. Benigno Beltran, who looked for elements for

his Christology in the folk religiosity of scavengers living and working at a huge dump

site, discovered that the traditional dogmatic teachings

on Christology have been re-interpreted according to the local worldview. As a result

Jesus is mainly the Child Jesus (Santo Niño) on the one hand,

and the Suffering Christ (the Black Nazarene) on the other.

However, many of the changes which the people have

introduced into their Catholicism seem to be closer

to the thinking of the bible than to the Western dogmatic

tradition. These elements constitute valuable material

for the construction of a Filipino Christology in the

future.

Ruben Enaje, right, who has been nailed to the cross for 24 times, grimaces as actors dressed as centurions pound a nail on his feet during yearly religious rituals in San Pedro Cutud village, San Fernando town, Pampanga province, northern Philippines. Filipino devotees re-enacted Jesus Christ's suffering by having themselves nailed to the cross in yearly Good Friday rites frowned upon by church leaders in Asia's largest predominantly

Roman Catholic nation. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila); http://my.opera.com/irczas/archive

THE ASCENSION BY BAGONG

KUSSUDIARDJA, INDONESIA

Jesus said to the disciples: "When the Holy Spirit comes

upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be

witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all Judaea and

Samaria, and to the ends of the

earth." After saying this, he was

taken up to heaven as they watched him and a cloud hid

him from their sight. Acts 1:8f

Copyright © 2002, Asian Christian Art Association permission pending from

http://www.asianchristianart.org/

K.C.S. PANIKER'S “SORROW OF CHRIST”

This sculpture expresses the compassion of Christ, identifying with

the misery of suffering people.

“His nose is distorted. His mouth is mis-shapen and his eyes pop out.”

When asked what led [the artist] to do this sculpture, he replied, "I am a

Hindu. We contemplate, and pray and fast. We meditate on the way of

compassion. I read the Bible at Madras Christian College where I studied. I

was impressed to find that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, not only prayed for,

but actually related himself to the misery of marginalized people, such as

those who suffered from leprosy."

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eraKUpaqWhU/SaJj2qm14lI/AAAAAAAAAMo/_jgLtcrUEQI/s320/scan0002.jpg

THE CHRISTOLOGICAL PROCESS IN THE KHASI CONTEXT (INDIA)

“The cock prefigures and symbolizes Jesus because for us Christians He is the only one who is really UBahok who brings true life, peace, harmony, righteousness, justice, truthfulness, right relationship with God, fellow human beings and fellow creatures. Moreover, Jesus is much, much more than the rooster or the cock. He is not only a sacrificial victim who mediates with God through signs and oracles, but he is himself divine and human. He is not only the ladder or the ‘umbilical cord’ of heaven, but in him God and people meet. He is God-with-us, Emmanuel.”Kwai trees in the town / Photo credit: Frontline:

http://southasia.oneworld.net/todaysheadlines/rains-a-downer-in-worlds-wettest-place

VICTOR I. EZIGBO ON AFRICAN CHRISTOLOGIES

AFRICAN CHRISTOLOGIES“African Christologies must, in some intelligible ways, seek to

bridge any gap between an abstract conception of Jesus and

the pictures of him that are informed by the experiences of the African peoples. The socio-

religious issues facing Africa today are massive. These include religious pluralism and conflicts,

political structures that perpetuate poverty and

dehumanize people, and constant fears of the malevolent spirits which those who are not properly informed have simply

dismissed as empty superstitions.”

JESUS MAFA. Jesus absolves the pentitent sinner, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

JESUS AND PEOPLE’S REAL LIFE EXPERIENCES

“The images of Jesus in the Bible are not divorced

from real life experiences. The New

Testament authors wrote their testimonies about

Jesus from their personal experience of him and

their society at large. Like them, Africans are to

seek to articulate Jesus Christ not only from the recorded experiences of the early Christians that are recorded in the New Testament but also from

their own experiences. The power of Jesus to

liberate people from their spiritual and

physical poverty (Luke 4), for instance, needs to be

tested and approved in African contexts. This is not to suggest that the

validity of Jesus' power depends on the

experiences of African peoples, but rather that

the Christology that is designed for Africa must

reflect a rigorous interaction with the daily

realities of the peoples of Africa.”

The Poor Invited to the FeastJESUS MAFA

Art in the Christian Tradition

JESUS AS LIBERATORAs Laurenti Magesa has

pointed out, “To consider Jesus as

Liberator in the African situation is therefore

much more than just a metaphor. It is

important to present the only Jesus that can

be comprehensible and credible among the

African rural masses, urban poor and

idealistic youth. In the long run, it is only Jesus

that can evoke the admiration of the rich

and powerful in the land. This is Jesus who

actually calls individuals and peoples to freedom by his word and action.”

The Mission to the WorldJESUS MAFA

Art in the Christian Tradition

JESUS AS LIBERATOR

An African christological model that represents Jesus as a liberator should be located deeply in the daily struggles of Africans. Speaking of

the specific matters for liberation in Africa and to which Jesus Christ is to be constructed

to address, the theologian must include diseases, poverty, torture and all forms of

dehumanization

JESUS AS HEALER

The PossessedJESUS MAFA

Art in the Christian Tradition

#1: WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL WITNESS TO CHRIST? (CF. “FAITHFULNESS”)

“The biblical representations of the Christ-Event should function as the parameter within which the African christological discourses can occur. They should provide an elastic circumference for testing the validity of Africans'

representations of Jesus.”

Jesus and Mary and Martha: JESUS MAFA, Art in the Christian Tradition

#2: WHO IS CHRIST IN AFRICAN TERMS?(CF. “COHERENCE”)

“While the biblical portrayals of Jesus

provide us with the standard to

measure what is and is not

qualified as the 'Christian

depictions of Jesus', they do not

limit us from encountering

newer meanings and terminologies

to express him.”

Jesus Heals the Paralyed ManJESUS MAFA

Art in the Christian Tradition

#3: HOW DOES CHRIST CONFRONT THE ISSUES AFFECTING AFRICAN

CHRISTIANS? (CF. “EFFECTIVENESS”)“Since all interpretations of Jesus, including the images of him in the Bible, are not only culturally laden but also contextually driven, constructive African Christologies must seek seriously to present Jesus Christ in the ways that can allow him to vividly confront the social injustice, poverty, genocide, and dehumanization that stem from international and local policies, diseases, and the challenge of religious pluralism that African peoples face.”

Jesus Drives out the MerchantsJESUS MAFAArt in the Christian Tradition

MARCELLA ALTHAUS-REID ON “A CRITICAL CHRISTOLOGY OF HOPE AMONGST LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN”

CONTEXTUAL CHRISTOLOGY: LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN

“To do a contextual Christology, in this case of

Latin American women, we must identify the

feminine body as a privileged place of desire and its appropriation and control by the systems of

power. The body of the poor Latin American

woman, malnourished, exposed to continuous

pregnancies, violence and hunger speaks to us of the

community which Christ came to save and for

which he died, tortured and thirsty.”

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA - DECEMBER 2008: The former home of Catherine Michelle, who died aged 6 after being savagely raped and stoned to death by her 22 year old neighbour. She who was from a very poor background. Her mother Adriana, 42, had 10 children and a few grandchildren. The surviving ones live together in this single room, in a slum on the outskirts of Guatemala City. There is no running tap water, and Sharon, who is Adriana's latest granddaughter, has to bathe in the sink. Currently, less then 1% of femicide cases are solved in Guatemala, where 2 women are murdered every day. (Photo by Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images)

JESUS AND THE HEMORRHAGING

WOMAN (MARK 5)

“The text in Mark 5 used by the women does not give by

title the name of its protagonist but she is

identified by that which the text gives us to understand is an excessive menstrual flow.”

Fresco of Christ healing the Woman with an Issue of Blood. Catacomb of Saints Pietro e Marcellino, late third century,

Rome.Art in the Christian Tradition

#1: THE BODIES OF WOMEN AS INTERPRETIVE CLUE (CF. “FAITHFULNESS”)

Francisca Megia with her her son Daniel, left, along with Graciela Megia and her daughter Isabel, center, and Leonila Sanchez Cruz, work at creating women's clutches, shoulder bags and hip belts out of candy wrappers, potato chip bags and cookie packages the nonprofit Group for the Promotion of Education and Sustainable Development, or Grupedsac, an organization that since 1987 has helped poor Mexican Indians become self-sufficient through development projects that also aim to preserve the environment in the town of La Soledad, Mexico on Feb. 15, 2006. The products they make, are now selling on Web sites and in upscale U.S. boutiques and department stores for up to $200 apiece. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

#2: A CHRISTOLOGY MUST BE OPEN AND IN PROCESS

(CF. “COHERENCE”)

“This dialogue between Christ and real women, that is to say women, who in this symbolic collocation to which we have referred previously,

confront the past and in the present nearly always begin with the

question, 'Who do you say I am?' The question which Jesus directed to

Peter in the text of Mark 8:29, however, is the reverse of this; and now it is the poor women who ask Jesus, 'Who do you think we are?’”

This is the Virgin of Guadalupe. It's in the public domain because it dates to the 16th century. This version has been slightly darkened.

Wikipedia Commons

#3: SALVATION MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AS A COMMUNITARIAN

PROCESS (CF. “EFFECTIVENESS”)

“This praxis is a communitarian praxis where salvation is an

integral concept which includes the economical polity and respects the

natural dialogical process of the communities. We should note how

the Latinas always use biblical texts as referents of the dialogue. However the shift which has been produced in recent years amongst

Latina women doing popular theology goes well beyond the

traditional dialogue between two situations (the present of the

community and the text where Jesus speaks), because it

challenges the static and idealistic conception of Christ. Christ becomes a communitarian

Messiah, made in the midst of a historical process and in dialogue

with the people, part of which are the women he engaged in his

ministry.”

Photo from International Indigenous Women's Symposium DECLARATION FOR HEALTH, LIFE AND DEFENSE OF OUR LANDS, RIGHTS AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

QUESTIONS FOR YOU

• How do you interpret these diverse christologies in light of Scripture and the theological traditions you have been exposed to so far?

• How do your own cultural assumptions inform what lies at the heart of your confession of faith in Jesus Christ?

• How have cultural assumptions influenced the development of the history of theology?