MM

can the struggles and conflicts to bring human dignity to the poor and the
“How
even the power politics which oppose institutionalized violence with
oppressed,
be kept within the spiritualframework of the ultimate power of the
counter-violence,
Christ and the ultimate goal of recognition of all people in Christ?”(30)
crucified
him it was important to see that our struggles, even our struggles for justice, have a
For
nature. He quoted the Latin American liberation theologian J. MiguezBonino:
penultimate
of our battles is the final battle. None of our enemies facing us is the final enemy,
“None
ultimate evil. … Similarly, it prevents us from seeing our achievements in absolute
the
He also went back to Beryaev, affirming that “Christians know that social justice
terms”.
not solve all human problems”. For Thomas the key question, so relevant for the
will
in the Nairobi assembly, was: “How can the Church be the visible expression of
debates
double awareness, that of the significance and urgency of all politics of justice, on
this
one hand, and that of the ultimate tragic character and the inescapable relativity of all
the
achievements, on the other?” He wondered how the church can participate in
historical
struggle for justice with this awareness and concluded that “We need a theology of
the
engagement that will help Christians and churches in such participation, a
political
that will clarify the dialectical relation between faith and ideology in the light of
theology
cross and resurrection”.(31)
the
dialectics between the ultimate and the penultimate was developed further by him in
The
reflections on the meaning of cross and resurrection in relation to the human
his
up elements of his early theology, he stressed the need to look at the cross and
Taking
as a revelation of the divine way of addressing dehumanising forces in their
resurrection
manifestations. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ has to be
manifold
as one event or movement. Resurrection is not God’s victoryover the cross,
understood
as the victory of God’s way of the cross. “The Cross is the Kingdom of God moving
but
power into the history of mankind, taking control of the powers of this world, bringing
with
men the righteousness of God in which every man becomes a brother for whom Christ
to
died.”(32)
the two dimensions, as described earlier, are coming together from the
Here
of the overwhelming life-giving power of the way of the cross, affirmed by
perspective
in the resurrection. He developed this thinking further from the perspective of the
God
Christ as the first fruits of the new creation.
risen
reading of the letters of St. Paul and the influence of the reflections at the WCC
His
in Uppsala, 1968, especially around the document ‘Renewal in Mission’,
assembly
him to deepen his understanding of the meaning of cross and resurrection for
helped
for human self-understanding.
quest
foundation, the source of judgement, renewal and ultimate fulfilment of the
spiritual
of mankind today for its humanity.”(33)
struggle
self-understanding.
increasingly used the phrase ‘new humanity’ as he articulated inSalvation and
He
“Jesus Christ and the New Humanity offered in Him are presented as the
Humanisation: