CHRISTOLOGICAL REFLECTION FROM ASIA-- Person and Work of Jesus-II

CHRISTOLOGICAL REFLECTION FROM ASIA

 Dalit Christology

It is emerges out of Dalit experiences which is the hermeneutical tools for developing dalit theology. Dalit theology interpret in the light of Dalit experience and issues. They tried to interpret in dialogue with dalit World and Biblical World.

A.P. Nirmal argues that Christ as Dalit in the light of Dalit experience. The experience of Jesus is the prototype of Dalit experienced, Jesus also share the experience of Dalit. As a Dalit Jesus underwent rejection, mockery, suffering, contempt, death. Jesus as Dalitness symbolise by the experienced on the cross. Jesus cross is his Dalitness. On the cross Jesus cried " My Lord why are you forsaken me" echoed the cried of the Dalit in the same home. Nazareth manifesto is the manifesto for the Dalit.

Jesus as approaches to sinners, tax collector and Samritan shows concern and care for Dalit. Jesus is the oppressed and the liberator. Jesus life gives hope for the oppressed and hope for one day a day of liberation.

1. V.Deva Shahayam

Dalit are the historical continuation of the suffering son of man, the crucified one, whom the sinful caste system does off their humanhood. 

2. M.E.Prabakar

Dalit think of Christ in relation to their marginalised situation or existence but see how in Jesus Christ.

3. James Massey

Jesus missions was mission of Solidarity. God expression is in solidarity of Jesus to human. The culmination of Solidarity can be seen in Jesus life.

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Tribal Christology

Tribal Christology is interpretating Christ in relation to tribal life, culture, traditions, customs, values, issues, identity and experienced all these helps for the hermeneutical tools to shape their theology. It also function as a sources of theologizing.

1. Renthy Keitzer argues that in order to make Jesus becomes meaningful to Nagas, Jesus must be a Nagas. Jesus must be presented as Naga, Jesus must be interpreted in terms of Nagas life. For him, Jesus is not a foreign but does Nagas life and speak Naga language.

2. Inato Aye says Alhou was one who the Sema tribes worship as Logos  and goddess for sacrifice is none other than Alhou, the logos.

3. Yangkahao Vashum in his book Christology in context. Jesus, the rooster, Jesus death and sacrifice of rooster have same significance in the life of Nagas.

1. The purification of the community

2. To heal the sick person

3. Rooster sacrifice had redemptive values as the rooster had in the past.

 Jesus died on the cross for the sin which is connected with the community sin and cleanse from the rooster sacrification. Jesus is like a rooster but not exactly not connected with Jesus death on the cross.

Jesus the ancestor

For The tribal ancestor play a meditating role between a spiritual world and the world of living. Jesus play the role of ancestor as Jesus works as mediator between the Father and the people. Jesus as ancestor represents the mystery of the invisible God. 

1. K.Thanzauva, In his book Theology of community interpreted Jesus as liberator.

1. Tribal are culturally alienated

2. Tribal are politically powerless.

3. Tribal are economically exploited.

4. Tribal are socially discriminated. We should be proud of our identity as a tribal.

2. Wati Longchar, in his book'tribal theology' he argues that Jesus liberate tribal from economic oppression and social discrimination.

3. H. Lalpekhlua edify Christ in the context of Mizo rich traditional and cultural background as Pasaltha (pronounce as Pasalthra) meaning great warrior. He explains the death of Christological formulates the north-east India tribal context and more relevant to the Mizo. 

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Adivasi Theology

Vanavasi, Gandhi called them Gurijan the sons of mountain. But they claimed themselves as Adivasi

They tried to interpreted in the light of Adivasi life realities, traditions, culture, oral traditions and myths, issues and identity.

1. Jesus as displaced Adivasi

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. 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 interpret.

Francis Minj Catholic father, Jesus as Paramadivasi, para- supreme, adi- primorial, vasi- dweller. Adivasi are original dwellers of this land, so can be interpreted as supreme primorial dweller. Jesus was the image of invisible God the first born of all creation (Gal.1:45) was the greatest ancestor ( Colossians 1:15). But he differentiate with tribal ancestor who encounter violent death. breaks the tribal taboo about the tribal ancestor.

Jesus as liberator

Jesus as high priest (Pahan)

Jesus as healer (deonra)

Kosuke Koyama

Japanese Protestant theologian developed his own theology from his experienced and his context and called it, Water buffalo theology.

Understanding Jesus within the framework of missions. His perspective is to preach the gospel in the context of the people. Three intentions-

1. Articulate Christ in their Buddhist context

2. In culturally and linguistically appropriate way.

3. To refine our reform the culture of that culture stands against the message of Christ. 

Salvation through Dharma over salvation through Jesus Christ. Buddhist society is not familiar with the idea of salvation through blood. According to them salvation is to achieved through Dharma or following the teaching of Buddha. Kosuke says we need to introduce a solution with the sacrificing death of Jesus. Jesus suffer and died to show us the way how to come out of Samsara.

Jesus as Arahant

Arahant is a Buddhist term which simply means a perfected one, the one who completed the path of enlightenment. Jesus is the personification of enlightenment. Jesus life shows his values of Nirvamic mind (life of Nirvana).

Jesus as symbol of perfect self denial

Self denial is the highest virtue in Buddhism. Jesus shows life with simplest perfect self denial. Cross is the mark of Jesus self denial. It is also a sign of Jesus denial. In Buddhism self denial is practice as a part of duty and as a part of obedient to elders. Jesus self denial is out of his life and freedom Jesus denial has happen between God and humanity and Buddhist self denial happen between human.

Jesus as crucified God

God involvement in human history is manifested in and through Jesus incarnation. God participated in history in and through Jesus is in order to change the world. How can we know that? attempt to change the world by the idea or message of Jesus.

Crucified God is critic of history- the critic of absolute religious and political power. Jesus life was primarily a paradox of being crucified God. It is a paradox of loss and found and dead and alive. That paradox is overcome in the cross.

Neighbourology (1Jn.4:29; Jn. 17:18)

Jesus is the neighbour for all Asia. Our sense of the presence of God will be distorted of we fall to see God's reality in terms of our neighbour. Our sense of neighbour will be disfigured if we fall to understand the neighbour reality in God realities.

a. Face his neighbour and never run from them.

b. Accepted that claims of neighbour

c. We need to present message in neighbourological language.

Particular Orbit Theology (phi. 4:8ff)

Every culture every history, locality can give something which is honoured, pure, lovely. Therefore Christology can be developed based on particular history, culture and locality. Jesus must not centred around but Asia culture can be a centred of Orbit.

Cross, Resurrection and Ascension

Jesus became a curse for human sake. 2 Corinthian 8:9 Jesus became poor to save our humanity. The death of Jesus poverty is manifested in the cross. Cross is the moment of God supreme agape revelation. Resurrection is the proved of justification of sinful humanity.

For him Ascension does not mean temporary absence of human history but participation of the risen Christ in God's rule over of human history.

Chickenelogy v/s Theology

Unlike chicken, God cannot be put on the table and observed. The logy of theology i.e. knowledge of theology a special theology developed in our hearts, soul, mind Mt.22:37 when you hope, repent, love, worthy of God.

Theology can only stammer about Christ because the lord of agape is the subject of theology. The theology should lead to the missiology.

C.S.Song (Chinese Theologian)

Stories of poor and oppression are the main sources of Christology for Asian context. Asian experiences are the hermeneutical tool.

Doing theology in Third Eye.

The concept comes from Zen Buddhism who beliefs that we need to open eye to see our original nature. When ignorance opens disappears from us the third eye will be open. Asians should do theology from the third eye because the theology of Christology we recieved comes out from the product of one or two eye(s) from Western thought and Western lifestyle.

According to C.S.Song Third Eye means seeing Christ with the Asian cultural experienced. 

Who is for him is the supreme expression of God pain love, the love that emerges out of God love. Pain love is the entry point into the hearts of God. In God reveals himself as pain love in human relation, society and in history. For C.S. Song salvation is an event in which God pain love winning people back to him. Salvation is home coming of human or people or humanity to the love of God.

The nature of Jesus Christ

In Jesus Christ, divine love and human love meet each other to create new person and that new person is God humanity. This is the love of God- in- action and the love of action became flesh in Jesus Christ. The love God in Jesus had power to accept, empower, transform any action in human history. is the expression of intimate community of God. This communion is the love of God between God and human.

Suffering God

According to C.S. Song, God is the power that transform suffering into hope. It is in the suffering that God as power of hope that manifested. In suffering we are grasped by the power of hope. Only the power of hope can only redeem us because it is rooted in love. Redeeming God is suffering God. Incarnation is all about God who commit himself to the suffering of the world.

Understanding of incarnation

According to C. S. Song, incarnation tells us how God is acted upon and moved by human beings, the prisoners of sin. It also talks about how God is capable of changes and transformation for the sake of human salvation. The God of pain love is the God of changes. 

Jesus as crucified people

On the cross God identified with human through the suffering and dead. The suffering people the heart of Jesus because Jesus identified human suffering. In the cross the people touch the best of God and the suffering people only touch the heart. Jesus represents the crucified people as Jesus embraced their suffering through that they touch the heart of God.

Understanding of cross

Cross is the symbol of pain - love. The compassionated body was broken on the cross. Today, the suffering people are the location of the cross. Cross does not explained why we need to suffer but Cross reveal violent human nature. On the cross God does not suffer for us but God suffers with us. On the cross we see a God who suffers our suffering.

Jesus missions

For C.S.Song sin makes us homeless and God lonely. Jesus mission is the mission of God lonely God who continuously search for the homeless human beings. Jesus mission was a mission of God's agape love that fills in every human beings.

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Aloysius Pieresis, Sri Lankan Theologian

There are two main realities: Religiosity and Poverty. We need to interpret Jesus in our context and Christology must developed in terms of Asian realities. Classical Western christologies is not relevant because they do not address the challenges of Asia.

Asian Jesus

Jesus is primarily an Asian and he is not Western but eastern based on Mt.2:2-5. The arrival of Jesus was first revealed to the Asian nations. It is from the sages of the East that Jerusalem came to know about the birth of Jesus. That reflects the relationship of Asian and Jesus. That Jesus is Asian Jesus.

Mt.2:2b what satisfied their thirst is their experienced not their explanation, so Christology should come out of our experienced. Mt.2:10-11 based on this in Asian Jesus we can see Jesus on the hands of peasants women. We need to developed the Asianess of Jesus.

Jesus life

Aloysius argues that Jesus opted for traditions of prophetic asceticism. While being an ascetic he raise a prophetic voice (against oppression, injustice, religious). Jesus life was not limited to spiritual sphere but touch every aspect of human life. Jesus identify as religiously poor of his time through his baptism. Jesus humble himself to John the Baptist as a manifestation of his identification of his religiously poor. Jesus baptism under John the baptism was a sign of starting point of his preaching of the gospel to the poor. Jesus had a decisive confrontation in three things wealth, power and prestige from Mt.4:1-11. As a laborer (coolie) son knew the realities of common people. Jesus life was a calculated strategy against Mammoth god of rivals.

Jesus mission

Jesus mission was prophetic mission. The mission by the poor and for the poor. A mission motivated by the life reality of poor people. A mission destined for  the liberation and salvation of the poor. Jesus mission started at Jordan and culminated at the cross.

According to Aloysius, cross must be planted on Kalvari, wherein money is polluting Religiosity of that time. Cross is the protesting against the money polluted religion.

Jesus baptism

Jesus had two baptism. Jesus at Jordan, Jesus was identified as the poor, religiously poor. Baptism of the poor; price paid for the proclamation of the gospel. This baptism of the cross is the basis of all through discipleship.

Jesus had to Baptist in the Religiosity of  poor and Poverty of religious. 

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Kwok Puilan (Hong Kong Theologian)

Dialogical imagination

The dialogue between the realities of people and the life realities and stories of the Bible.

Jesus as liberator

Jesus is the one who strives for human dignity, respect and equality. For women, gives them a hope of life in its fullness.

Jesus as priest of Han/Shaman

Han is a Korean word that express the deep feeling that arises out of the experience of injustice by the women. According to Kwok, women are ridden with the Han, they seek for Shaman. Through the powerful dances, rituals, the Shaman will exercise the Hans. Restore the body of the women also restore them life and the health of her. This Shaman reminds Jesus ministry.

Jesus as Sage

The image save is more relevant to Chinese more than the images of Messiah, the image of priest and suffering servant. Jesus as the redeemer who redeems people from some is alien to Chinese people. In Chinese culture there is no concept of sin in religious but they have the concept guilt and shame in social sense.

Confucianism teaches us that human being can achieve moral perfection without external help. Human moral faculties can help humanity to achieve moral perfection. Chinese societies was also influence by Mahayana Buddhism-human beings can achieve buddhahood or enlightenment nirvana.

In Chinese societies influence by Confucianism, the son is the one who had to continue family line. In that sense, the father who gave his son as sacrifice for the ransom is unthinkable for the Chinese societies. Therefore Kwok says we need to portray like a sage like Confucius who teach and leads people to perfect morality. Jesus as a sacrificial lamb is not comprehensible so Jesus as to introduce like a sage.

Jesus as wisdom teacher

He says that is a wisdom teacher, personification of Sophia. The Chinese value the wisdom of people, so introducing Jesus as wisdom teacher is more relevant. Jesus nature sayings in the gospel can be compare with Confucius who use nature as symbolic to explain or teach his people. Images can be drown from plants, gardener, seeds, birds, etc.

Organic model of Christology

1. Christ must be interpreted in terms of both make and female metaphors or images. Both make and female can experienced divine in Jesus. Meaning of divine in Jesus can be understood more clearly.

2. Non human metaphor can be used like bread of life, living water, door, the way, etc. Recovering non human metaphor.

3. Jesus as the only way must be mystified. Jesus as the epiphany of God but one of the manifestation or revelation of God. It help us to see Jesus in other human beings in nature in whole entire creation.

Jesus/Christ as hybrid concept

According to Kwok Puilam the message of Jesus in NT had pluralistic and hybridized. These ideas are emerges of the intermingle of the culture of Palestine, Hellenistic Jewish diaspora and wider Hellenistic world. Most hybridized weird in NT is Jesus/Christ. The space between Jesus and Christ is unsetting or fluid and this space is contact Zone between human and divine. This is the contact Zone between the one and many. Also a contact zone between historical and cosmological. Further between Jewish and Hellenistic. Jesus question who do you say i am? is an invitation to fill the space with new meaning, insight, new possibilities. The richness and vibrancy of faith community will be reduced when the space between Jesus and Christ is fixed.