This thesis addresses the fundamental problem of whether Jesus Christ can still be
thought to be that very decisive, absolute and unsurpassable revelation of God. And you
may rightly ask: If this is the case, then what has gone so drastically wrong about that
which was taken for granted for so long in the Christian world?
The truth of the matter is that today Christianity is remembered mostly by its systematic
destruction of the other-me than by its perennial preaching of love of neighbour. Yet only
yesterday Christianity seemed to make the whole world go round as âthe only reliable
religionâ capable of answering adequately the very deep spiritual recesses of the human
heart and human finitude in general. Today that privileged position has drastically
changed. Christianityâs traditional bold claim of being a unique kairos moment in human
affairs, in which Godâs self-communication cannot be surpassed in anyway by any other
religion, is seriously challenged. But lovers of this religion or this âNew Way of Lifeâ,
with their immense faith; and in their hope against hope, refuse to throw in the towel no
matter the cost. They are now doing their level best to save authentic Christianity from
the systematic and rigorous onslaught, which opposes the Christ event as a âvery specia l
and absoluteâ theological locus classicus in human affairs. While these concerned, honest
and committed Christians try to restore the healing face of the Christian faith, critics of
religion (with their many faces), especially those of the Democratic Rule, give them
sleepless and anxious nights. Indifference among the latter towards âwho Jesus Christ isâ
is well pronounced; while confusion, divisions and scandals among the former about how
Jesus Christ ought to be understood, are today well documented and are making
headlines on regular intervals in the media and even within churches themselves.
This research joins these lovers of Christianity by proposing an alternate route in
answering the perennial double question: âWho do people say that I am?â and âWho do
you say that I am?â (cf. Mk 8:27-30). This alternate route is built on Godâs Promises to
Abraham without whom the universal uniqueness of Jesus the Christ = the Messiah
would be concealed, disfigured and seriously betrayed. Godâs Promises to humanity through Abraham are the historical theological foundation of human salvation in all its
mysterious beauty. And within this amazing mystery of Godâs Plan of our salvation,
Sarah, Hagar, Mary, and Khadija 1 , equally play a crucial role.
In addressing this problem of Jesusâ uniqueness in the totality of human history, this
thesis contrasts and juxtaposes three pillars of authentic revelation namely, the reality of
our fallen human nature, the incarnation of the Christ = the awaited Messiah in Jesus of
Nazareth, and Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), to date, as the last Witness (Prophet) of Godâs
revelation. These trinitarian pillars of our salvation are firstly pressed and shaken
together, and are then put into a serious healing tension with each other for the
enrichment of all peoples of the human race. The thesis argues strongly that the universal
salvific truth lies in the fact that the theological watershed of human salvation has already
been sealed irreversibly between Godâs covenant with Abraham and Godâs covenant with
humanity at Pentecost; and that Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) is the last reliable
Testament/Witness of this universal, historical truth. Constantinian Christianity, in its
many faces, is here held responsible for corrupting this universal truth up to our own
time. Byzantine, papal and colonial evangelism will go down in history as the most
heretical and corruptive Christian traditions that have ever emanated from that
Constantinian Christianity.
This thesis concludes by calling all Christians of goodwill from Orthodox, Protestant and
Roman catholic communities firstly to authentic acceptance of Kubler-Ross, and then
repentance of John the Baptist in order to stop the further corrupting of Jesusâ name
where it is still being used to mean anything, everything and nothing today and beyond.
The sin of Supersessionism, the sin of Hagarism and the sin of ecclesiastical timocracy
(idolatrous sin of seeking first the kingdom of the Church), are here exposed as heresies
and setbacks in the universal enrichment of all peoples of the human race. These are sins
that have systematically concealed, disfigured and seriously betrayed (like Judas) the true
universal meaning of âwho Jesus of Nazareth really isâ concerning the salvation of every
human being from primordia l time of the Fall to our generation of today and beyond.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-03282006-085003 |
| Date | 28 March 2006 |
| Creators | Mosoeu, Emmanuel Maphoma |
| Contributors | Prof SA Strauss |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-03282006-085003/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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