Inviting and Hosting a Stranger in the Experiences of the Faith Communities: An Experiment in Constructing an Ethical-Poetical Christology

Abstract

The numerous 'faces of Christ' in Africa, as well as those resulting from historical study in the West, call for a rereading of the event of Jesus. From the inquiry into the origin of the numerous faces, and the biblical evidence for the 'process and purpose of naming God' which are textually introduced by Exodus 3 and again taken up by the 'ego eimi' sayings of Jesus, it is suggested that the event of rereading is to be seen as an integral-incarnatory socio-historic dynamic. This dynamic is theologically understood and construed in an ethical-poetical Christology which will function within comtemporary contexts as an invitation of Christ into the experiences of the faith communities.