Christus Totus – Different Ways of Interpretation

Włodzimierz Wołyniec

doi:10.18290/rt.2016.63-2-3en

Włodzimierz Wołyniec Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rt.2016.63-2-3en

Keywords: Christus totus; the Church; the Head and the Body; social person; Adam; cosmic Christ

Abstract

The christological title Christus totus seldom appears in modern theology. It seems that the reason for this stems from the lack of precise understanding and interpretation of the very title. Therefore, the article: “Christus totus − different ways of interpretation” is an attempt at the presentation of theological wealth hidden behind it. From ecclesiological aspect, Christus totus expresses the unity of Christ − the Head and Body of the Church. Without covering over the identity of the Divine Person, Jesus Christ must be eternally and inextricably perceived with the Church, which takes over and borrows from its Divine Head new subjectivity. Christus totus, in the anthropological perspective, is a paradigm of the new man. On the one hand, He is the new Adam, a social, corporate being, yet on the other hand, He is a Personality characterized by His total openness to others. Jesus Christ is a man who does not exist for Himself but for others, opening wide the boundaries of His existence. From the cosmic perspective Christus totus is finally cosmic Christ, because He remains in the relation of cause and effect of the entire creation. However, Christ does not fade away in the Universe in any pantheistic sense, but remains in it, being present as the incarnated Son of the Father, performing real transformation of the Universe into New Heaven and New Earth.

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