Vorster, Nicolaas2013-09-192013-09-192012Vorster, N. 2012. A critical assessment of John Milbank’s Christology. Acta Theologica, 32(2):277-298. [http://www.ufs.ac.za/templates/journals.aspx?journal=5]1015-8758http://hdl.handle.net/10394/9146http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/actat.v32i2.16http://apps.ufs.ac.za/journals/dl/system/docs/5/159/1314/16%20Vorster_1.pdfJohn Milbank is well known for attempting to develop a participatory theology.This article specifically assesses his Christology. The first section provides a synthetic explication of his Christology by focussing on his notions of participation,paradox, poesis, incarnation, the cross, and ecclesiology. The second section provides a critical assessment. The central argument is that Milbank’s Christology is inadequate in a participatory sense, because it lacks particularity and personal relationality. This inadequacy is probably due to the way in which he fuses Neo-Platonism and postmodern lingualism in order to construct his ontology. In orderto maintain his non-violent and poetic ontological position, Milbank needs to revert to a general, “high” and impersonal Christology, and disregard “low” Christology.However, if one’s ontological construction leads to a detached Christology, whichdoes not adequately affirm the central notion of one’s theology, serious doubts arise concerning the legitimacy of one’s method.enChristologyChristologieJohn MilbankParticipationPartisipasieParadoxParadoksArticle