Christophany: The Fullness of Man. By Raimon Panikkar. Mary Knoll, New York, Orbis Books 2004. Pp. xxi + 214. $30.00
Raimon Pannikar hold doctorates in philosophy (1945), science (1958), both from Complutense University of Madrid, and in theology (1961), from Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He currently lives in Tavertet, outside Barcelona, Spain. Panikkar has written some 40 books and more than 900 articles. In this new book, Pannikar does not propose a new Christology as much as a renewed effort to penetrate into a living experience of the mystery of Christ, what Pannikar calls a “Chistophany,” which is the mystery of God-in-man and man-in God. According to Pannikar, Christianity does not need new or modernized dogmas, but rather a lived experience of the mystical reality behind the dogmas that have already been proclaimed. He does not mean to suggest that Christophany should replace Christology, but that Christophanic contributions deepen Christological reflection. Pannikar boldly suggests that we must strive for a perpetual experience of God’s presence within us, and us in God, that approximates the experience of Jesus himself.
Indeed, this study attempts to concentrate the pathos of an entire life (specifically of Jesus) into a few pages. Part I of this volume concerns the Christophanic experience, suggesting along the way a deepening of classical Christology, whereas part II relates Jesus’ experience, which illustrates the path of Christophany. Part III covers the Christic experience in nine sutras. The first part of the book primarily, and the remainder of the book in toto, interrogate twenty centuries of Christological tradition, all the while updating it and reforming it wherein Pannikar deems that necessary. Christophanic explorations, Pannikar notes, are open to dialogue with other religious traditions in the present, as well as in the past, which would include pre-Christian and non-Christian traditions.
The nine sutras, or theses, in part III of this volume, are the highlight, in my humble opinion. They include the notions that Christ is the symbol for the whole of reality, that a Christian recognizes Christ only in and through Jesus, that the identity of Christ is not the same as his identification, and that Christians do not have a monopoly on the knowledge of Christ. Moreover, they include the notion that Christophany transcends, but nevertheless includes Christology, that the protological, historical, and eschatological Christ are the one and the same, and that the incarnation is a historical event that is also an inculturation. Finally, Pannikar notes that the church is considered the site of the incarnation, and that Christophany is the mystery of God-in-man, man-in God, and God-in-the-world.
The central core of this book is the mystical experience of Jesus that is related in part II, which he examines by peering intently into three important utterances by Jesus Christ: Abba Father, The Father an I are One, and It is Good that I Leave. He attempts to interpret them in such a manner that could eventually bring one into the same mystical experience of Jesus. Above, in sum, Pannikar contends that, “Above all, Christophany is the symbol of the mysterium conjunctionis of divine, human and cosmic reality” (xvii). Pannikar asserts that it is the duty of the third millennium of Christendom to transcend Abrahamic monotheism without damaging the legitimacy and validity of monotheistic religions. In my humble opinion, Pannikar makes great strides in this direction with this volume. Indeed, the scholarship is impressive, if not at times perhaps overdone, which may be the only drawback of this work. I highly recommend it to graduate and postgraduate students in philosophy and theology.
Bradford McCall
Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA.