The Gospel of John and the Religious Quest. Johannes Nissen

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The Gospel of John and the Religious Quest - Johannes Nissen


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means that the eternal foundation and basic principle of life is not impersonal, but is met in person in a human life.89

      The Cosmic Christ—in the Midst of Human Beings

      Månsus is convinced that God uses many different means in his attempt to reach man. If the church proves unsuitable he will employ other means. Today the new religiosity and the new spirituality may be seen as a quest for sincere spiritual experience and a wish for a personal encounter with the cosmic Christ. Hence, the church should not isolate itself inside the walls of churches and chapels, but follow the example of the first Christians and meet people in public places, following Paul’s dialogue with the Athenians at the Areopagus in Acts 17:17–34.

      John’s theological intention is obvious: The cosmic Christ should not be isolated in churches, in false piety, or in religious dogma. God is not withdrawing himself from the earth into a religious reservation. On the contrary, in the gospel we meet the Creator himself as the cosmic Christ who descended into the fallen creature in order to liberate and heal creation from below. The cosmic Christ—“the true light, which enlightens everyone”—has incarnated himself in the world (John 1:9).

      The Role of Incarnation in the Encounter with Other Religions

      The preceding examples of modern interpretations of the Prologue raise the question of how far Christians should go in communicating with non-Christian religions. A similar question was addressed by John. The Fourth Gospel is the classic example of the challenges and risks that are posed by translating the Christian message into the languages and perceptions of other cultures. Some would say that in order to win over the Gnostics John almost became a Gnostic himself (cf. Part Two). Yet he differed from his audience on two decisive points: his insistence on the historicity of Jesus and on his human nature.

      It is essential for any dialogue today that Christians take the same movement as the Prologue: from the impersonal to the personal and from pre-existence to incarnation. In other words, we must do the same as the Gospel of John did: identify the Logos, the principle of life, with the person Jesus Christ. He is not just the core of life, but also life in all its fullness (1:16), for he gives life in abundance (10:10).


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