Christocentric is a doctrinal term within

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, describing theological positions that focus on

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, the second person of the Christian

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

, in relation to the Godhead/ God the Father (

theocentric Theocentricism is the belief that God is the central aspect to existence, as opposed to anthropocentrism and existentialism. In this view, meaning and value of actions done to people or the environment are attributed to God. The tenets of theocent ...

) or the Holy Spirit ( pneumocentric). ''Christocentric'' theologies make Christ the central theme about which all other theological positions/doctrines are oriented.

Augustinism

Certain theological traditions within the Christian Church can be described as more heavily ''Christocentric''. Notably, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and

Paul of Tarsus Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, which have been very influential in the West, place a great emphasis on the person of Jesus in the process of salvation. For instance, in Reformation theology, the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

tradition is seen as more theologically ''Christocentric'', as it places its doctrine of justification by grace, which is primarily a Christological doctrine, at the center of its thought. Meanwhile, the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

tradition is seen as more theologically ''theocentric'', as it places its doctrine of the sovereignty of God ("the Father") at the center.

John Duns Scotus

Scotus is famous for his belief in the Absolute Primacy of Christ, whereby Christ would have become incarnate even had the Fall never taken place. Scotus writes "that God predestined this soul f Christto so great a glory does not seem to be only on account of edemption since the redemption or the glory of the soul to be redeemed is not comparable to the glory of Christ’s soul. Neither is it likely that the highest good in creation is something that was merely occasioned only because of some lesser good; nor is it likely that He predestined Adam to such good before He predestined Christ; and yet this would follow ere the Incarnation occasioned by Adam’s sin In fact, if the predestination of Christ’s soul was for the sole purpose of redeeming others, something even more absurd would follow, namely, that in predestining Adam to glory, He would have foreseen him as having fallen into sin before He predestined Christ to glory". As such, Scotus' theology is grounded in the claim that Creation exists for the sake of Christ, regardless of whether any individual chooses to sin.

John Paul II

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

magisterium The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the Word of God, "whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." According to the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Chu ...

has been called ''Christocentric'' by Catholic theologians. He further taught that the

Marian devotions Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of God, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orie ...

of the Rosary were in fact Christocentric because they brought the faithful to Jesus through Mary.{{Cite web, url=https://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02rd.htm, title=CATHOLIC LIBRARY: Rosarium Virginis Mariae (2002), website=www.newadvent.org

Biblical hermeneutics

The christocentric principle is also commonly used for

biblical hermeneutics Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, for ...

Interfaith and ecumenism

Christocentrism is also a name given to a particular approach in

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

and ecumenical dialogue. It teaches that Christianity is absolutely true, but the elements of truth in other religions are always in relation to the fullness of truth found in Christianity. The Holy Spirit is thought to allow inter-religious dialogue and to influence non-believers in their journey to Christ. This view is notably advocated by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the declarations ''

Nostra aetate (from Latin: "In our time") is the incipit of the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second Vatican Council. Passed by a vote of 2,221 to 88 of the assembled bishops, this declaration was promulgated ...

'', Unitatis Redintegratio and

Dominus Iesus ( en, The Lord Jesus) is a declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (previously known as the "Holy Office"), approved in a plenary meeting of the Congregation and signed by its then prefect, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later ...

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