Christological Foundation of the New Testament and Contemporary African Christology

Abstract

In this article, the author underscores the fact that every Christological discussion must begin with the New Testament foundation and evidence about Jesus the Christ of God. Following Reginald Fuller's trajectory of thought, the author sees the Christology of the New Testament Church developing the three phases upon which three Christological paradigms can be discerned. It is from these paradigms, says the author,
that 'we get the fullest pattern of Christology' and 'we are provided with the Christological foundations of the theologies of the New Testament writers'. The writer again points out that it was this same paradigm that the ontological statements of the Church Fathers followed at Nicaea and Chalcedon, and it is the same foundation that African theologians are following today in their search for who Jesus is and what He does for African. Taking the title 'Son of God' as an example, the author underlines that the African worldview and thought-forms are shedding great lights on New Testament Christological titles and concepts.