Volker KÜSTER. The Many Faces of Jesus Christ: Intercultural Christology, revised edition. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2023 (1999, German; 2001, English). pp. 263 + xxxvi. $35.00 pb. ISBN 9781626985148. Reviewed by Calvin MERCER, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858.

Just over two decades ago, Volker Küster published the first edition of this book, and it has, deservedly, become a classic, required reading for anyone serious about contextualized theologies and Christology in particular. The major update in the revised edition is the addition of a substantial chapter on third-world feminist Christologies, which “holds up a mirror to the grand old men” (p. xxiv), and a 16-page introduction where the author describes how the contexts have changed since the first edition. Those changes include political shifts, increased economic disparity, and structural transitions, i.e., monoculture to hybridity, localization to deterritorialization, and community-centeredness to multiple affiliation. The revised edition, a welcome addition to a topic growing in importance in an increasingly globalized world, also makes some editorial adjustments and updates the footnotes. While well documented, the lack of a bibliography, easily included, is puzzling.

Currently professor of comparative religion and missiology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, Küster wrote the first edition as lecturer in comparative religion, missiology, and ecumenics at the University of Heidelberg. He is well qualified to author this book. He received in 2000, e.g., a prize for his outstanding contributions to the theory and praxis of intercultural dialogue from the Academy for Intercultural Studies and has delivered numerous invited lectures.

An interesting and welcome feature of Küster’s work is the inclusion of examples of contextual representations of Christ. With expertise in Christian art, he promises a “large-scale compendium” on Christian art in intercultural perspective. He also plans to write an introduction to diaspora theologies in the United States.

In this revised edition, in excellent fashion Küster surveys and critically evaluates representative Christologies from many nations. His reach includes Latin America (Leonardo Boff, Jon Sobrina), Africa (Bénézet Bujo, Charles Nyamiti), Asia (Ahn Byung-Mu, Kosuke Koyama, Teruo Kuribayashi, Arvind P. Nirmal, Stanley Samartha, Choan-Seng Song, Katsumi Takizawa, M. M. Thomas, Seiichi Yagi), and black (James H. Cone, Allan A. Boesak). This second edition includes robust evaluation of feminist contributions (Marcella Althaus-Reid, Rita Nakashima Brock, Kelly Brown Douglas, Musa Dube, Ivone Gebara, Jacquelyn Grant, Chung Hyun-Kyung, Ada María Isasi-Diaz, Wonhee Anne Joh, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Kwok Pui-lan, Elsa Támez, Delores Williams). All theologians discussed in the first edition were male; clearly, the second edition richly expands the conversation.

Although appreciative of the important contributions to constructive theology and intercultural conversation, Küster observes that most of the biblical work utilizes the synoptic gospels at the expense of input from Paul, the pioneer boundary crosser. Paul’s theological formulation allowed the new religion to expand beyond Judaism into the Hellenistic world and, Küster contends, can be valuable to contextual theologians. Küster attempts to correct the overemphasis on the synoptic gospels, giving focus to the Pauline doctrine of justification. Critics will likely vary on how well Küster accomplishes it.

Küster’s contribution is much more than a series of discreet critiques of intercultural theologians. He compares, uncovers common themes, and sets theologies and theologians in larger historical, political, and social contexts. The reader learns about the contextual construction of Christology and, along the way, gains a deeper appreciation of the various cultures. In the African tribal context, for example, Küster adeptly shows how Jesus is the chief, master of initiation, ancestor, and healer.

This second edition, probably a stretch for undergraduates, should be welcomed by scholars and would serve a graduate class well.