Paradigmi di integrazione dell’alterità nel Nuovo Testamento: i Magi e i Corinzi

The article is placed in the context of the research about the communicative impact of the text on the reader, and shows how two New Testament narratives – the story of the Wise Men in Matthew, and the topic of body as developed in 1 Corinthians – help the reader to undergo a paradigm shift of interpretation of reality. This new perspective illustrates a new approach for the proclamation of the Gospel. The method which has been followed is a three-step inductive one: objectification of pre-comprehension of the text and starting question; analysis of biblical texts; theological synthesis to answer the initial question. These texts can be taken as a model of integration of the other as they compel the reader beyond their own boundaries. The approaches for the proclamation of the Gospel can be arranged in four areas: the relation between individuation and universalization (the meaningful transmission of one’s own experience of Christ); the reversal of perspective (the centre of the Kingdom is the periphery, and the periphery is the centre); Christ as the Centre; periphery as the dynamic context revolving around a centre (our very being a periphery leads us to a dynamic other-oriented approach of encounter). The outcome of the research is that Christian mission is an ongoing integration paradigm in Christ, who is the Meta-Paradigm. Keywords: paradigm, integration, otherness, centre, periphery.