CHRISTOLOGY IN INDIAN CONTEXTUAL APPROACH
Adivasi Christ
Francis
Minj, is an adivasi theologian who has
written on the contextualization of Christology in the adivasi community, which
he presents as “the first Christian theology developed explicitly from an
Adivasi perspective, for Adivasis, and written to nourish the Christian faith
of the local Adivasi church.” He interprets Jesus Christ as “Paramadivasi” in
the context of five tribes in the state of Jharkand in central India: Munda,
Oraon, Kharia, Ho, and Santals. He explains that the word “Paramadivasi” is his
own creation, based on the three Sanskrit roots: “param” means
“supreme”; “ādi” means “primordial”; and “vasi” means “dweller.”
“Just as the adivasis are the original dwellers, so too Jesus the word can be
metaphorically construed as Paramadivasi, the Supreme Primordial Dweller, the
image of the invisible God, and the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15). As
firstborn of all creation, Jesus is “the greatest ancestor,” but he also
revises the received notion of ancestorship: “Through his violent death Jesus
challenges Adivasi cultural taboos. His murder would disqualify him
ancestorship, but he defies the Adivasi taboo of denying ancestorship to those
who die violently.”
Minj
observes that traditionally, adivasi communities had no king or central ruling
authority, but today they yearn for liberation from the dominant forces in
society that enslave and demean them. Minj interprets Jesus Christ as the
Liberator, “the voice of the voiceless” and the bringer of freedom: “Jesus
Christ, the persecuted and the mutilated one, demonstrates his solidarity with
the suffering Adivasis, instilling hope that their daily ‘death’ by
exploitation will turn into liberation, if they follow his praxis.” In
traditional Sarna mythology, the horse is a symbol of “hostility, power,
anti-life, and disharmony”; and Minj proposes in response that “Jesus Christ
Liberator conquers the horse. A construal of Jesus as the highest, the noblest,
and the best horse tamer, the one who forces the horse to acknowledge his
Sonship, seems relevant.” The images of Jesus as High Priest (pahan) and as
Healer/Exorcist (deonra) also speak powerfully to adivasi society. In the Sarna
religion, the pahan offers sacrifices of animals or food to propitiate God, to
establish harmony, and to gain protection from evil. The pahan also offers
sacrifices to spirits. Minj see Jesus “as the highest pahan,” citing the Letter
to the Hebrews. An adivasi myth tells of God dying in the disguise of a leprous
boy to abolish sins; Minj proposes that Jesus transforms this myth and presents
a new vision of salvation. While adivasis look to exorcists (deonras) to
protect them from evil spirits, these powerful figures can also do harm and
thus are feared. Jesus as the divine exorcist is “a new kind of deonra.” Indian
society has long stigmatized the adivasis; Jesus’ touching of the sick and the
“untouchables” in his society (Mk 1:31, 1:41, 5:38– 41, 8:22–25, 10:3; Lk 6:19)
is a very moving image for adivasis. Minj concludes that the image of Jesus
Christ as Paramadivasi, including the four roles of Ancestor, Liberator,
Priest, and Healer, can effectively convey the gospel to the adivasi community.
A.S.
Hemrom argues that Jesus was displaced
Adivasi. Displaced life realities of Adivasi. Because of developmental project
in Adivasi places and Forest, Adivasi
are displaced from one place to another. From CNI writers, Nirmal Minz argues
that Jesus incarnation itself is displacement of God. God was displaced from
the cry of people especially the Adivasi. He says that in Jesus we meet a
displaced God and gone through the experience of displacement right from his
birth.
Jesus
as suffering servant. From the experience of Munda Ashur Kahani ( traditional
story) tribe. Munda suffer under the money lenders, by the suffering boy who
was thrown to a fire furnace but alive and liberate many Adivasi. This
suffering boy is regarded as Jesus Christ. They used their myths or community
story to interpret.
Feminist Christ
Feminist theology tries to solve the puzzle of relevance of Jesus
to the context of women. Can a male figure like Jesus can emancipate women’s
cause? There are various answers to this Christological issue, for some the
tradition itself is affected by patriarchy thus the need is to reject idolatry
of Christ but there are many theologians who view Jesus as promoting the cause
of women liberation.
R.L.
Hnuni evaluates Jesus’ concern for women,
Jesus’ attitude for women comes across from every source, and in every form,
every parable, miracle, story, discourse and his actions. Luke is often
presented as the gospel writer who has a particular concern to present Jesus as
caring for women that are not related to other gospel writers (Lk. 7:36-50,
13:10ff). Nevertheless, all the gospel writers give us the same picture of
Jesus as one who not only showed concern for the well-being of women but gave
them their full worth and dignity as full human beings. In spite of the
indifferent orthodox Jewish’ attitude of the day, it is quite remarkable that
Jesus is presented as showing no reluctance in outwardly showing his concern to
women. When Jesus is presented as the one who has concern for women, it does in
no way imply that he has a particular liking for women, he loves them and shows
sympathetic attitude towards them because they are one of the oppressed and
down-trodden groups of the society. One can find Jesus acting on behalf of
women to provide dignity and equality.
In
today’s world violence against women and girls is the most pervasive human
rights violation. It can be seen in every corner of the streets, in families
and in places of work. It is a grave social problem that threatens the safety,
equality and bodily integrity of every woman. It is one of the cruelest social
mechanisms to suppress women. Gender violence manifests itself in multiple
forms – selective female foeticide and infanticide, sexual abuse, incest,
molestation, sexual harassment at work and on the streets, marital rape,
domestic violence in the form of wife assault and women battering. Violence
against women is part of our society and in this context women liberation
requires rejection of all forms of violence. All these oppressive and
suppressive experiences can be emancipated in Christ through his liberating
power and his concerns for women.
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