Abstract:
This article aims to present Christology not as an add-on to monotheism, but as its specific
Christian form. What Christ means can only be explained with reference to God and vice
versa; what God stands for in a Christian sense has to be explained with reference to Jesus
Christ and not with reference to generic religious terms. Christology thus informs and forms
the Christian understanding of how to relate God and reality. Therefore, Christology has to be
developed as combinatory Christology bringing different dimensions of reality including
scientific and evolutionary perspectives into creative interplay. Theology is an ‘art of
combination’ (Dalferth 1991:18), which in ever new ways relates traditions of faith with
theoretical and historical knowledge in order to find relevant ways of understanding God’s
presence in the world, to articulate the Christian faith in a meaningful way and to form our
ways of living in such a way as to conform to God’s passion for the life of God’s creatures. This
article wants to lay grounds for such an endeavour by re-evaluating the history of Christology
and combining this analysis with present day challenges.
Description:
Original Research: Volume 17 in the South African Science and Religion Forum Series, edited by Prof. Dr Cornel du Toit (UNISA) and
Prof. Dr Danie Veldsman, entitled ‘Creation, Consciousness and Christology: Evolutionary Perspectives’, Proceedings of the 20th
conference of the South African Science and Religion Forum (SASRF) of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion held at the
University of South Africa, Pretoria 16-18 September 2015.
