The cosmic Christ is a view of

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Differ ...

which emphasises the extent of Jesus Christ's concern for the cosmos. The biblical bases for a cosmic Christology is often found in

Colossians The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately ...

Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to Paul the Apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as Deutero-Pauline, that is, pseudepigrapha written in Pa ...

, and the prologue to the gospel of John.

Early church

Irenaeus Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...

(c. 130 – c. 202 AD) offered one of the earliest articulations of a cosmic Christology in his ''

Against Heresies ''Against Heresies'' (Ancient Greek: Ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ''Elenchos kai anatropē tēs pseudōnymou gnōseōs'', "On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis"), some ...

''. In his theory of

atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ...

, Irenaeus speaks about how all of humanity was created good but tainted by sin, but that all of creation was " recapitulated" and restored under the new headship of Christ. This "cosmic" Christology would be a dominant view throughout much of the

patristic period Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

, as well as within

Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent a ...

, while alternative positions began to arise during the medieval period.

Modern ecotheology

In the modern period, a renewed interest in the cosmic Christ would arise among a number of Western scholars interested in developing an

ecotheology Ecotheology is a form of constructive theology that focuses on the interrelationships of religion and nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns. Ecotheology generally starts from the premise that a relationship exists between ...

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ( (); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher and teacher. He was Darwinian in outlook and the author of several influential theological and philo ...

was among the first to speak again of a cosmic Christ in the 1920s and 1930s. He understood the

Incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human. If capitalized, it is the union of divinit ...

as bringing the historical Christ into the material world and, through

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, leading all of creation towards perfection in the Omega Point. Later scholars, such as Joseph Sittler,

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned h ...

Richard Rohr Richard Rohr, (born 1943) is an American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970. In 2011, PBS called him "one of the most popular ...

and

Jürgen Moltmann Jürgen Moltmann (born 8 April 1926) is a German Reformed theologian who is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen and is known for his books such as the ''Theology of Hope'', ''The Crucified God'', ''God in Creat ...

, would likewise speak about the need to reclaim a cosmic Christology to speak about Christ's concern for creation.

Asian contexts

The cosmic Christ has also been of particular interest amongst Asian Christians. This was particularly poignant through debates that arose from the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

meeting in New Delhi in 1961, when the Indian Paul D. Devanandan argued from that a cosmic Christ united all things to himself; this, he claimed, included non-Christian religions. This would continue to be asserted by South Asian Christians such as

M. M. Thomas Madathilparampil Mammen Thomas (1916—1996) was an Indian Christian theologian, social thinker, and activist. He served as Governor of the Indian State, Nagaland (1990–1992), and as the Chairperson of the Central Committee of World Council of ...

from India and

D. T. Niles Daniel Thambyrajah Niles (4 May 1908 – 17 July 1970) was a Ceylonese pastor, evangelist and president of the Ceylon Methodist Conference. Early life and family Niles was born on 4 May 1908 in Tellippalai in northern Ceylon. He was the son of ...

of Ceylon as a rationale to dialogue with and work together with other religions. In China, it has been suggested that a cosmic Christology has been present in the early 20th century, among figures such as T. C. Chao and Y. T. Wu. The cosmic Christ has also been important for later Chinese Christians affiliated with the

Three-Self Patriotic Movement The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM; ) is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church (). The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriot ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. For instance,

K. H. Ting K. H. Ting, Ting Kuang-hsun or Ding Guangxun (; 20 September 1915 – 22 November 2012), was Chairperson emeritus of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and President emeritus of the China Christian Council, the government-approved Protesta ...

used the cosmic Christ as a basis for Christians to work with communists, and

Wang Weifan Wang Weifan (; 1927–2015) was an evangelical Christian leader of the state-sanctioned Protestant church of mainland China, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. He was well-loved as a preacher, theologian, and devotional writer. Biography Wang We ...

offers an

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

version of the cosmic Christ to work with non-Christians.

References

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