New Bring in Christ unites God and the whole creation
The connection between New Being in Christ and the rest is the divine grace of Christ, who acts through man and unites God and all his creations. It is “Pentecost, Justification, New Being, Regeneration, Sanctification, according to which aspect is emphasized.” (Mollegen, 1952, p. 241) According to Tillich’s Christology, the theological propositions of both Barth and Brunner are flawed. This is so because they tend to “reduce the Logos to Divine speaking and the image of God in man to communion with God.” (Mollegen, 1952, p. 241) For Tillich, the Logos is “not merely the spoken Word; and the image of God in man is his rational structure, his logos. The human logos is the structure of freedom implying potential infinity. Man can transcend every static structure of himself and his world. It is man’s “nature” to transcend his “nature.”” (Mollegen, 1952, p. 241) The implication of this assertion is that man (especially the White man) can overcome racism if so ever such tendencies were part of his ‘nature’.
Sin and salvation in the context of racial oppression
It is common for 20th century Christian theologians to contextualize a philosophical or phenomenological analysis of ‘the human condition’ with a Christian understanding of sin and salvation. Kierkegaard is one of the recent Christian philosophers who brought clarity to the subject. His method of correlation implies an anthropology that “accurately portrays the individual’s sinful self-estrangement”. (Mahn, 2011, p. 148) They also characterize the restoration of New Being in Christ. Kierkegaard is also interpreted by later theologians to stand for an “infinite qualitative distinction between humanity and Christ to call into question human diagnostics, insisting that sin is revealed by Christ alone.” (Mahn, 2011, p. 148)
References
- Kegley, C. W., & Bretall, R. W. (Eds.). (1952). The Theology of Paul Tillich. New York: Macmillan.
- Littlefield, M. B. (2005). The Black Church and Community Development and Self-Help: The Next Phase of Social Equality. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 29(4), 687+.
- Mahn, J. A. (2011). Fortunate Fallibility: Kierkegaard and the Power of Sin. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Marty, M. E. (1997). Response to “Seeking the Religious Roots of Pluralism.” (Articles in This Issue, Pp. 385-417)(seeking the Religious Roots of Pluralism; Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum Foundation Special Issue). Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 34(3), 418+.
- McRae-McMahon, D. (1998). Called to Emerge as the Children of God: Hope in God and the Renewal of the Church. International Review of Mission, 87(347), 466+.