Contextual Theology; Skills and Practices of Liberating Faith
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The authors of this volume have taken contextual theologising to a new level. While each essay is rooted in its own particular context – South Africa, Costa Rica, northern Finland, India, parts of Europe – each is also rooted in a World Christianity, postcolonial, and postmodern context as well. They demonstrate that contextual theologising needs to be and is indeed an integral, guiding perspective of any theologising today. –Stephen Bevans, SVD, Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD Professor of Mission and Culture, Emeritus, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, United States By focusing “on those modes of doing theology that place and celebrate the context at the centre of the praxis of theology”, this book dares to call everyone who is preoccupied by God-talk to be able to put into words their daily encounters with the divine. It acknowledges what people of faith from all walks of life, especially the indigenous people with their rich experiences of the Divine, have always known and lived as theologians of life – even when the so-called classical Christian dogmatic theologies ignored or undermined their existence. In this age of the Anthropocene, this book calls us once again to listen to the heartbeat of the Creator. This heartbeat is indeed experienced by humanity and creation as a whole in their situatedness. S/He calls us to live in respect of compassionate service to our interconnectedness and interdependence. The theologies contained in this book espouse the importance of our diverse identities living, reflecting, and engaging in praxis for justice, dignity and peace so that all the inhabited earth can live in a kinship of diverse species in a living cycle orchestrated by the communion of the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, Three in One. This book is a must and timely read, especially since 2020 has provided another level of situatedness in response to the Covid-19 [pandemic]. Wherever we find ourselves, we have an encounter with God that is contextual as well as universal as we fight for life and new normalcy. –Fulata L. Moyo, Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, Executive Director, STREAM, United States “Contextual Theology”, the editors hold, is “that theology which explicitly places the recognition of the contextual nature of theology at the forefront of the theological process”. With this volume, they push the agenda of contextual theology beyond methodological considerations and offer a rich resource for exploring how such situated theologies take place in practice. Well-selected contributions from different geographical, cultural, and confessional contexts take a wide range of thematic approaches to demonstrate what it means to do theology in the face of contemporary challenges. Together, they allow for a deeper understanding of the significance of a contextual model for theology: what emerges is a theological practice that proceeds in collaborative, critical and engaged ways. –Judith Gruber, Research Professor, Research Unit Systematic Theology and the Study of Religions, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Apartheid theology understood itself as a return to the “old paths” of reformed orthodoxy – but was subsequently recognised as a deeply contextual theological legitimation of settler colonialism. As this volume recognises, it is therefore important to place the recognition of the contextual nature of theology “at the forefront of the theological process”. Would this recognition suffice for a “liberating faith”? Not by itself, since doing theology requires the kind of skills, practices and virtues illustrated by the contributing authors. This does require imagination and a constructive approach – but also some vulnerability – perhaps to be deconstructed and reconstructed by a liberating God making this world a home for all. –Ernst Conradie, Senior Professor, University of the Western Cape, South Africa Contextual Theology The notion of “contextual theology” has a long and rich history, stretching back to the 1970s. This book advances that history by exploring stories, images, and dis- courses across a worldwide range of geographical, cultural, and confes- sional contexts. Its 12 authors not only enrich our understanding of the significance of the contextual method, but also produce a new range of original ways of doing theology in contemporary situations. The authors discuss some prioritised thematic perspectives with an emphasis on liberating paths, and expand the ongoing discussion on the methodology of theology into new areas. Themes such as interreligious plurality, global capitalism, ecumenical liberation theology, eco-anxiety and the Anthropocene, postcolonialism, gender, neo-Pentecostalism, world theology, and reconciliation are examined in situated depth. Additionally, voices from indigenous lands, Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe and North America enter into a dialogue on what it means to contextualise theology in an increasingly globalised and ever-changing world. Such a comprehensive discussion of new ways of thinking about and doing contextual theology will be of great use to scholars in theology, religious studies, cultural studies, political science, gender studies, environmental humanities, and global studies. Sigurd Bergmann is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim; Visiting Researcher at the Faculty of Theology, Uppsala University; and Fellow at the Rachel Carson Center at Munich University. His research covers religion and the environment, and religion, arts, and architecture, and among his multiple books and articles are Weather, Religion and Climate Change (2020), Religion, Space and the Environment (2014), In the Beginning Is the Icon (2009), and God in Context (2003). Mika Vähäkangas is Professor of Mission Studies and Ecumenics at Lund University, Sweden. He is Research Fellow at the Faculty of Theology of Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and Adjunct Professor (docent) of Dogmatics, Helsinki University, Finland. His research covers Christianity in Africa, intercultural and interreligious relations in World Christianity, and bridging empirical studies and systematic theology. He is the author of multiple publications in Theology and Religious Studies including Context, Plurality, and Truth (2020), and Between Ghambageu and Jesus (2008). Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies The Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies series brings high quality research monograph publishing back into focus for authors, international libraries, and student, academic and research readers. This open-ended monograph series presents cutting-edge research from both established and new authors in the field. With specialist focus yet clear contextual presentation of contemporary research, books in the series take research in important new directions and open the field to new critical debate within the discipline, in areas of related study, and in key areas for contemporary society. Racism and the Weakness of Christian Identity Religious Autoimmunity David Kline Past and Present Political Theology Expanding the Canon Edited by Dennis Vanden Auweele and Miklos Vassányi Schleiermacher’s Theology of Sin and Nature Agency, Value, and Modern Theology Daniel J. Pedersen Investigating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ A New Transdisciplinary Approach Andrew Loke Catholic Social Teaching and Theologies of Peace in Northern Ireland Cardinal Cahal Daly and the Pursuit of the Peaceable Kingdom Maria Power Contextual Theology Skills and Practices of Liberating Faith Edited by Sigurd Bergmann and Mika Vähäkangas For more information about this series, please visit www.routledge.com/ religion/series/RCRITREL Contextual Theology Skills and Practices of Liberating Faith Edited by Sigurd Bergmann and Mika Vähäkangas First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Sigurd Bergmann and Mika Vähäkangas; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Sigurd Bergmann and Mika Vähäkangas to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis. com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-36530-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-34800-6 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of figures ix List of contributors x Foreword xiii ROBERT J. SCHREITER Acknowledgements xv 1 Doing situated theology: introductory remarks about the history, method, and diversity of contextual theology 1 SIGURD BERGMANN AND MIKA VÄHÄKANGAS 2 Can contextual theology bridge the divide? South Africa’s politics of forgiveness as an example of a contextual public