Introduction:
Liberation Theology of Aloysius Pieris:
Aloysius
Pieris was confronted with two of the most pressing and complex situations
facing most religions. He encounters the reality of Asian poverty and many
Asian religious. And in his conclusion he stated that Christianity must respond
to both problems together. If the Christian does not address the problem of
Asian poverty in the context of dialogue with Asian religions and does not
really base his dialogue on the upliftment of the poor in Asian countries, it
will be difficult or almost impossible for Asian countries to understand
Christology or formulate theologies.
According
to Aloysius Pieris, the Asian Christ is found sitting on the knees of peasant
women, the wives of the laborer (Mt. 2:10-11). In Pieris' Christological
reflection of Asian countries, the search for Christ is deeply rooted in
Matthew 2:2, which says: “Where is the child who is born king of the Jews? For
we observed his star at the rising[b] and came to worship him.” And so what
Pieris is advocating is that Matthew laid the theological foundation for Asian
religions.
According
to Pieris, Asian countries are crushed by poverty and therefore it was
necessary to recognize Christ as a deliverer or to identify with the poor. It
was also necessary to deal with the multifaceted religiosity of Asian countries.
He identified poverty and multifaceted religiosity as the two main factors for
formulating a true Asian theology. And so Pieris combined the theology of the
liberation of Asian countries.
Pieris'
main challenge that the Asian theologian would face was the theologizing of
theology in English. According to Franklin J. Balasundaran in his book The
Prophetic Voices of Asia (Part II) as reported by Aloysius Pieris,
"In
the Asian context, there are no Latin idioms like European and liberation
theology. Linguistic idioms and other cultural legacies will be important in
creating an Asian theology.
An
Asian Perspective of Jesus Christ:
Pieris
understood that an integral approach to religious pluralism in Asian countries
is necessary because of the multifaceted religiosity. Such an approach will
create positivity and respect for another religion. The question now arises as
to how the theologian will relate Christ Jesus to Asian countries considering
their context of extreme poverty and many religions. According to Pieris, the
Asian search for Christ has its theological basis in Matthew 2:2, and he argues
that Matthew laid the foundation for an Asian theology of religion, which has
six theological strands:
1.
A light appeared in the east. Therefore, the East is not helpless with regard
to the process of liberation;
2.
It was his light that he saw. Christ's coming is revealed in the East before
even Jerusalem hears about it;
3.
He knows it as his light;
4.
They realize that it is a sacramental pointer to a mystery that tempts them to
seek deeper; they are not satisfied with light, so they seek its source;
5.
Hence the long journey through deserts and lonely roads. Orientals do not know
abbreviations; their journey is tiring and ascetically demanding!
6.
The light leads them to the West, to the city on the mountain.
Simply
put, the Asian Christ is found in the worker's hut, and therefore Christ is
found in the house of the poor who sit or carry peasant women. The Asian
perspective of Christ is not someone who sits gloriously on a throne, but lives
among the poor and sets them free. Christ is seen as a worker's son who
struggles with people. “Asian wisdom humbled itself before the sons of common
people. This is true worship, the highest liturgy: that they worship the Savior
by placing their goal at the threshold of his tabernacle (Mt. 2:11).
According
to Pieris, Asian theologies would take their rise from the struggle and
experience of the people, which can be expressed through their cultural
linguistic idioms. In such a belief, "talking about God will be related to
knowing God. He summarizes: "Theopraxis is already the formulation of
theology".
Kwok
Pui Lan:
Organic
model of Christology:
As
Kwok-pui-Lan mentioned in her book Introducing Asian Feminists Theology:
The
figure of Christ, interpreted as the savior of humanity redeeming believers
from sin and corruption, is completely alien to Chinese thought. Chinese
culture has no equivalent concept of sin understood as human depravity in the
religious sense, but includes the concept of shame or guilt in the social
sense.
Kwol
Pui-lan wants to say that in Asian countries like China, the Western concept of
Christ's saving act cannot be understood or grasped because it is completely
foreign. Sometimes Western Christology has little or no meaning in Asian
countries. Therefore, it is necessary to look beyond the anthropocentric image
of Christ. Kwok Pui-lan uses inhuman metaphors to explain Christology.
It
would be unthinkable in Chinese culture for a father to sacrifice his own son
as a symbol of ransom. According to Chinese culture, as stated by Kwok-pui-Lan,
it is considered "bad karma and disturbs the sense of harmony, peace and
Serenity in Chinese" belief in the sacrificial act of Jesus sketch of
beating and mutilation on the cross.
In
Chinese cultural and religious thought, the balance between heaven and earth,
yang and yin, sun and moon, and father and mother is emphasized. Rather than
binary opposites, they are seen as complementary in Chinese cultural and
religious thought, there is an emphasis on the balance of heaven and earth,
yang, mutually reinforcing and influencing each other.
Kwol
Pui-lan adds that the Chinese religious view needs "symbolization of
Christ using both feminine and masculine metaphors" and that man and woman
will witness the reflection of the divine in their experiences.
Asiat
compares Jesus as a figure to the teachings of Confucianism, which includes
"natural symbols such as the plant and the gardener, the cycle of the
seasons, and the stream and water." It also includes teaching wisdom
through proverbs, parables and aphorisms.The teachings of the wisdom of
ecological justice can be transmitted by both women and men in both Taoism and
Buddhist traditions.
The
organic model of Christology relativizes the meaning of Jesus as the revelation
of God in a finite, historically specific human form. Jesus as the
manifestation of God is only one manifestation or revelation of the divine.
Kwok
Pui Lan further mentions that the manifestation of God in Christ can be
encountered in various ways in God's creation as a whole. It can also appear in
both women and men who display "great wisdom and compassion and in other
forms of existence than humans".
There
are many different examples mentioned about Jesus in the Bible. Metaphorical
symbols of organic substances in the reconstruction of Christology. Jesus as a
vine and branches that describe his relationship with his disciple (Jn 15:5).
Jesus is also considered the bread of life and living water. He also used the hen
and brood to describe Christ's suffering and anguish for Jerusalem (Matt.
23:37). Such was the use of Pui-Lan as symbols and metaphors to describe the
Christology of Jesus.
These
are the ways in which Kwok Pui-Lan describes Christology as organic models. It
shows that Christ's love is much wider and does not only apply to man, but also
to the entire universe. That Jesus taught about the right life and about his
relationship with nature, about his death and resurrection, about his wisdom
over the universe, all this lies in his struggle and justice for all. The
resurrection of Christ Jesus is seen as the rebirth of new hope for all
creation. Salvation should therefore include a right relationship with each
other as well as with all of creation.
Kwok
Pui-Lan on the birth of Christ:
As
a feminist theologian, Kwok Pui-Lan also laid her hand on the necessity and
struggle for the very debate that evokes Christ. Feminists, who could not
tolerate the debate about the manhood of Christ, left the church and continued
to call themselves post-Christian.
The
challenge of Kwol Pui-lan was to transform the colonial symbol of Christ into a
Christ who is for a subordinate community who professes life, dignity and
freedom for its believers. Pui-Lan believes that the image of Christ in the New
Testament is largely pluralistic and hybridized in nature, influenced by the
different mainstream culture and subculture of the time. There are many
different concepts of who Christ Jesus is, and one such example is the Black
Christ, who represents black people during the onset of the Black Consciousness
era, Black Jesus became a symbol of the black movement in the 1960s. Another
symbol is Corn, the mother of the American Indian, who were deprived of their
own land and discriminated against by the Americans who were the colonists. The
term Shakti was used, which is also a feminine term, which is the principle
that depicts the life energy of the universe. This is an Indian term that
describes Christ as the life-giving force that energizes and vitalizes the
entire cosmic realms. Kwok Pui-Lan also mentions the theology of transvestites
who describe Christ Jesus as a cross dresser who challenges the boundaries of
gender and tradition. And finally Jesus as bi/Christ. "It aims to disrupt
monogamous relationships, challenge dyadic commitment and subvert 'normative
visions' of heterosexual difference."
Conclusion:
The
Asiatic Christ, according to Aloysius, is identified as the poor who is
designated as the victim-judge, Christ himself relates to the poor and not as
worldly kings on thrones. For Asians, they are not looking for an explanation
of who Christ is, but rather they are looking for him through experience.
Christ is of the poor and for the poor. His good news is meant for the poor and
downtrodden community. And Jesus Christ paid for it all through the cross.
Kwok
Pui-Lan, on the other hand, emphasized her Christology with various symbols to
connect it with the culture and tradition of Asian countries. He argues that
the Western concept of Christ and his redemptive act cannot be understood by
Asian countries, and therefore theology and Christology need to be reformed to
better connect it with people from third world countries. She used terms like
the organic model of Christ as well as the begetting of Christ in a different
perspective to help understand the concept of Christ in Asian countries.
Bibliography:
Balasundaram Franklyn J. The prophetic voices of Asia-Part II. Sri Lanka: the centre society & religion. 1994.
Pui-lan Kwok. Introducing Asian Feminist Theology. Sheffield:
Sheffield Academic press Ltd. 2000.
Kwok Pui-Lan, Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology, (Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press. 2005.
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