Christ: The Mystery in History

The book systematizes Panikkar's thought, offering a criticism, both positive and negative. Panikkar observes that Christ must not be limited to the Christian mythical context, a saviour in history. The Hindus speak of a transhistorical mediator having ten thousand echoes. Christ is not only Jesus, the symbol of the Unknown Christ of Hinduism. Panikkar's 'cosmotheandric mystery' can be helpful for an eco-Christology. The book, however, critically points out that sharing history is not shedding mystery. Christ is the mystery in history. Hinduism stresses the mystery of mediator Isvara. Christianity shares also the historicity of Christ. Moreover, the sense of history and the expectation of a saviour in history are not totally alien (if not central) to the Hindu religion. Jesus Christ can be the realization of the asvattha, an Upanishadic tree of life whose roots are in heaven, the divine essence, and the branches in the world.