Thecosmic Christ is a view ofChristology which emphasises the extent of Jesus Christ's concern for the cosmos. The biblical bases for a cosmic Christology is often found inColossians,Ephesians, and theprologue to the gospel of John.[1]
Irenaeus (c. 130 – c. 202 AD) offered one of the earliest articulations of a cosmic Christology in hisAgainst Heresies. In his theory ofatonement, 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 thepatristic period, as well as withinEastern Christianity, while alternative positions began to arise during the medieval period.[2]
In the modern period, a renewed interest in the cosmic Christ would arise among a number of Western scholars interested in developing anecotheology.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was among the first to speak again of a cosmic Christ in the 1920s and 1930s. He understood theIncarnation as bringing the historical Christ into the material world and, throughevolution, leading all of creation towards perfection in theOmega Point.[3]
Later scholars, such asJoseph Sittler,[4]Matthew Fox,[5]Richard Rohr[6] andJürgen Moltmann,[7] would likewise speak about the need to reclaim a cosmic Christology to speak about Christ's concern for creation.
The cosmic Christ has also been of particular interest amongst Asian Christians.
This was particularly poignant through debates that arose from theWorld Council of Churches meeting in New Delhi in 1961, when the IndianPaul D. Devanandan argued fromEphesians 1:10 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 asM. M. Thomas from India andD. T. Niles of Ceylon as a rationale to dialogue with and work together with other religions.[8]
In China, it has been suggested that a cosmic Christology has been present in the early 20th century, among figures such asT. C. Chao andY. T. Wu.[9] The cosmic Christ has also been important for later Chinese Christians affiliated with theThree-Self Patriotic Movement in the 1980s and 1990s. For instance,K. H. Ting used the cosmic Christ as a basis for Christians to work with communists,[9][10] andWang Weifan offers anevangelical version of the cosmic Christ to work with non-Christians.[11]
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