Indian Christian Theology—The Humanity of Christ and the New Humanity

Abstract

Indian Christian theology has developed in a number of different directions. As we analyse those directions we can detect two main patterns of advance. On the one hand, there is the concern with inwardness and spirituality, the interiority of the Gospel; on the other hand, there is a concern for the outward world and its future as the venue of the new creation brought into being by Christ. Both these concerns have been mirrored in modern Hinduism as it has sought to transmit to modern India the deep spirituality of classical Indian religion and also to reinterpret Hindu doctrines in the light of the context of modern India. Śri Rāmakrishna represents the first concern within modern Hinduism, and Gāndhi represents the other. Indian Christian theology has developed within a culture wherein a concern for the inwardness of one's own spiritual life and a concern for the outward development of the nation were both living issues. In ‘contextualising’ the Gospel in India, Indian Christians have naturally been influenced by both these concerns. Indian Christians have made a contribution to total Christian theology in the areas of inwardness and spirituality. Our particular concern now is to see what they have to say to us on the subject of the humanity of Christ and the new humanity that he has made possible.