Theology's response to culture
Contextual theology or contextualizing theology refers to theology which has responded to the dynamics of a particular context.
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Contextual theology or contextualizing theology refers to theology which has responded to the dynamics of a particular context.
The term contextualizing theology was used in missiology by Shoki Coe when he argued that the Venn-Anderson three-self formula were inadequate in addressing the sociopolitical context of his native Taiwan. [1] [2] Coe popularized this notion through the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches. [3] While it was initially understood as part of a liberal approach to theology, it has grown in currency among evangelicals and Roman Catholics. [4] [5]
An individual may come from a particular cultural worldview, such as Arabic or Asian culture, or be faced with particular sociopolitical issues. Hence, examples of contextualized theologies include Latin American liberation theology, Minjung theology, and African theology. [6] [7]
The systematic theologian Regunta Yesurathnam sees contextual theology as including "all that is implied in indigenization or inculturation, but also seeks also to include the realities of contemporary, secularity, technology, and the struggle for human justice." [8] The missiologist Stephen B. Bevans argues that there is no such thing as normative theology, that "doing theology contextually is not an option" since it is a human enterprise which is created within a particular human context. [5]
According to Bevans, contextualization is a better term than indigenization to describe social location and particular experience because it "broadens the understanding of culture to include social, political, and economic questions," while indigenization merely focuses on the "purely cultural dimension of human experience." [5] Secondly, Bevans comments that indigenization tends to "see both the home culture and the culture 'out there' as good," while contextualization is usually "more critical of both cultures." [5] Thirdly, the term contextualization suggests that "theology needs to interact and dialogue not only with traditional culture value, but with social change, new ethnic identities, and the conflicts that are present as the contemporary phenomenon of globalization encounters the various peoples of the world." [5]
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In the field of Bible translation and interpretation, contextualization is the process of assigning meaning as a means of interpreting the environment within which a text or action is executed.
Contextualization is used in the study of Bible translations in relation to their relevant cultural settings. Derived from the practice of hermeneutics, it sought to understand the use of words borrowed into the Hebrew Scriptures, and later their Greek and Latin translations.
The word continues to be used theologically, mainly in the sense of contextualizing the biblical message as perceived in the missionary mandate originated by Jesus in the gospel accounts. However, since the early 1970s, the word's meaning has widened. It is now used by secular, religious and political groups to render their message into different settings by adjusting or accommodating words, phrases or meanings into understandable contexts in respondent cultures.
Hermeneutics is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication.
Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology. It began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century.
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible. For its theory and methods, the field draws on disciplines ranging from ancient history, historical criticism, philology, theology, textual criticism, literary criticism, historical backgrounds, mythology, and comparative religion.
The emerging church, sometimes wrongly equated with the "emergent movement" or "emergent conversation", is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century. Emerging churches can be found around the globe, predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. Members come from a number of Christian traditions. Some attend local independent churches or house churches while others worship in traditional Christian denominations. The emerging church favors the use of simple story and narrative. Members of the movement often place a high value on good works or social activism, including missional living. Proponents of the movement believe it transcends labels such as "conservative" and "liberal"; it is sometimes called a "conversation" to emphasize its developing and decentralized nature, its range of standpoints, and commitment to dialogue. Participants seek to live their faith in what they believe to be a "postmodern" society. Disillusionment with the organized and institutional church has led participants to support the deconstruction of modern Christian worship and evangelism, and the nature of modern Christian community.
Territorial spirits are national angels, or demons who rule over certain geographical areas in the world, a concept accepted within the Charismatic movement, Pentecostalism, and Dominionist Kingdom Now theology. This belief has been popularized by the novel This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti as well as by the ministry of C. Peter Wagner. The existence of territorial spirits is viewed as significant in spiritual warfare within these Christian groups.
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 all forms of communication, nonverbal and verbal.
In Christianity, inculturation is the adaptation of Christian teachings and practices to cultures. This is a term that is generally used by Catholics and the Orthodox, whereas Protestants, especially associated with the World Council of Churches, prefer to use the term "contextual theology".
Minjung theology emerged in the 1970s from the experience of South Korean Christians in the struggle for social justice. It is a people's theology, and, according to its authors, "a development of the political hermeneutics of the Gospel in terms of the Korean reality." It is part of a wider Asian theological ferment, but it was not designed for export. It "is firmly rooted in a particular situation, and growing out of the struggles of Christians who embrace their own history as well as the universal message of the Bible."
African theology is Christian theology from the perspective of the African cultural context. It should be distinguished from black theology, which originated from the American and South African context and is more closely aligned with liberation theology. Although there are ancient Christian traditions on the African continent, during the modern period Christianity in Africa was significantly influenced by western forms of Christianity brought about by European colonization.
The Senate of Serampore College (University) is an unaccredited ecumenical regulatory and affiliating body for Christian theological education, which works in partnership with Bible colleges, seminaries and theological research institutes in the Indian subcontinent that comply with its regulations and standards. It is located in Serampore in West Bengal, India. Serampore was granted the status of university by King Frederick VI of Denmark in 1829.
Rev. Fr. Duraiswami Simon Amalorpavadass was a Catholic South-Indian theologian who played a vital role in the renewal of life and mission of the Roman Catholic Church in India, particularly after Vatican II. He was fluent in Tamil, French and English. He was the younger brother of Cardinal Lourdusamy.
Christianese refers to the contained terms and jargon used within many of the branches and denominations of Christianity as a functional system of religious terminology. It is characterized by the use in everyday conversation of certain words, theological terms, puns and catchphrases, in ways that may be only comprehensible within the context of a particular Christian sect or denomination. The terms used do not necessarily come from the Bible itself. They may have come into use through discussions about doctrine, through the social history of the Christian church at large, or in the unique history of a specific denomination or movement.
Lynn de Silva's theology began at an early stage in Lynn de Silva's ministry, when his interest in Buddhism and its culture began to increase. He believed that the credibility of Christianity depended on its ability to relate to Buddhism, which was the faith of the majority of the Sri Lankan population. His objective was to develop a richer appreciation of the similarities between Buddhism and Christianity, in particular, to communicate the Christian message in a manner that the Sri Lankan culture understood, and to construct a theology that is focused towards the Buddhist cultural environment. To this end, he used Buddhist concepts to communicate Christian beliefs in a language understood from the Buddhist context, and he aimed at extending Christian theology with Buddhist concepts in order to gain a more thorough understanding of Christianity. In his book The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity, de Silva states the following:
There is a growing body of opinion within Christianity that its theology is shop-soiled and needs drastic revision in order first, to re-root it in the basic biblical teaching, secondly, to bring it into harmony with new insights and modes of thought coming from other faiths, ideologies and modern science and thirdly, to relate it to social realities... What I have attempted is to help this process of transformation in Christian thinking. However, theological thinking in order to be meaningful and relevant must be contextual. The context of this book is Buddhism.
Models of Contextual Theology is a book written by Stephen B. Bevans which argues that all Christian theology is contextual and identifies six dominant models of contextual theology.
In Christian missiology, an insider movement is a group or network of people from a non-Christian religion who consider themselves followers of Jesus while remaining relationally, culturally and socially a part of the religious community of their birth. Though members of insider movements do not typically join Christian churches in their area or region, they may see themselves as part of the wider Body of Christ. It has been observed that as members of these groups follow Jesus and the Bible, they personally reject, reinterpret, or modify the non-biblical beliefs found in their religious communities. This process makes them different in some ways from their co-religionists, yet when groups can faithfully follow Jesus without formally disassociating themselves from their religious communities, insider movements can occur. Such movements have been observed among a number of religious groups, most notably among Jews, Muslims and Hindus.
Israel College of the Bible, also known as ONE FOR ISRAEL Bible College is a private Hebrew-speaking Messianic Bible college in Netanya, Israel. It is an independent academically accredited institution not recognized by the State of Israel.
Paul Gordon Hiebert was an American missiologist. He was "arguably the world's leading missiological anthropologist."
Roger E. Hedlund is an American pastor who has spent more than three decades in India as a theological teacher and researcher with major contributions to missiology with special reference to Indian ethos.
Shoki Coe was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, erstwhile principal of Tainan Theological Seminary (1949-1965) and director of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches. Through the Theological Education Fund, he is widely known for his coinage of the notion of "contextualizing theology," later better known as "contextual theology," which argues for theology's need to respond to the sociopolitical concerns of a local context. He was named by Kosuke Koyama as the latter's spiritual father.
Postcolonial theology is the application of postcolonial criticism to Christian theology. As is in postcolonial discourse, the term postcolonial is used without a hyphen, denoting an intellectual reaction against the colonial, instead of being merely sequential to it.
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