Christology today, waves of renewal in access to Jesus

It is safe to say that Christology today constitutes an excellent general introduction to Christology. It is a wonderful text, clear and accessible, designed both for the formation of adults in pastoral centres and university seminaries, and for study groups and Christian communities that wish to reflect on the very core of their faith. The author imagines the great amount of recent studies on Jesus as waves breaking on the beach: in the 1950s his humanity was rediscovered, and in the 1960s biblical studies flourished that encouraged criticism of the history of Jesus. A third wave was formed when the voice of the poor began to be heard in a theology made from the "reverse side of history" and that proclaimed Jesus Christ as Liberator. Almost simultaneously, the movement of feminist theology gave rise to another wave, whose size grew as women, for a long time excluded from debates on Jesus, began to articulate their contributions. In recent years, there has been a growing perception of a globalized world in which the universal influence of Jesus the Christ is being considered. And under the threat of ecological disaster, there is also the idea that not only human beings but all creatures on earth and the universe itself are destined for final blessing in Christ. Thus, pressures, needs, and new research, both within and outside the Church, have conspired to create wave after wave of new perspectives on Jesus Christ. Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, professor of theology at Fordham University (New York), is the author of What Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (Herder, Barcelona 2002).

ELIZABETH A. JOHNSON T

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