Relational Christology: An Effective Response to the Brokenness of the Church in India

The author attempts to provide a Christological response to existential brokenness of Indian Christian community. Referring to the term ‘Relational Christology’ used for Christology of Adolf Schlatter (1852-1938), He delves into the Gospels to see Jesus through the eyes of relationality. We ask: How does Jesus help the Christians in India in healing their own brokenness and guide the Church to respond to the existential brokenness in India? The paper is organized into four parts. The fi rst part deals the brokenness in the Indian Christian community in terms of her identity, her social existence and in the life of the Church leaders. The second part provides theological foundations for interrelatedness in the world. In the third part, we deal with Relational Jesus of the Gospels. Finally, I derive some social and ecclesial implications of the relational paradigm of Jesus for Christians in India. The method adopted is mainly contextual and analytical. The author has also made use of Adolf Schlatter’s theological method which contains three stages: seeing-act, thinking-act and living-act