Decolonizing the Body of Christ

Decolonizing the Body of Christ Postcolonialism and Religions The Postcolonialism and Religions series by its very name bridges the secular with the sacred through hybrid, interstitial, and contrapuntal inquiries. The series features the scholarship of indigenous scholars working at the intersec- tions of postcolonial theories, theologies, and religions. The editors welcome authors around the world in an effort to move beyond and interrogate a historical North American and Eurocentric postcolonial studies disciplinary dominance. The series seeks to foster subaltern voices especially from Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the liquid continent. J. Jayakiran Sebastian is a presbyter of the Church of South India and H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He has served as professor and chair- person of the Department of Theology and Ethics at the United Theological College in Bangalore. Joseph F. Duggan is a presbyter in The Episcopal Church and an Episcopal Church Foundation Academic Fellow. He is the founder of Postcolonial Networks and the Journal of Postcolonial Networks. Decolonizing the Body of Christ: Theology and Theory after Empire? Edited by David Joy and Joseph F. Duggan Decolonizing the Body of Christ Theology and Theory after Empire? Edited by David Joy and Joseph F. Duggan DECOLONIZING THE BODY OF CHRIST Copyright © David Joy and Joseph F. Duggan, 2012. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-1-137-00289-1 All rights reserved. First published in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-43405-3 ISBN 978-1-137-02103-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137021038 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Decolonizing the body of Christ : theology and theory after empire? / edited by David Joy and Joseph F. Duggan. p. cm.—(Postcolonialism and religions) Proceedings of a conference held May 2, 2008 in Manchester, England. 1. Religion and politics—Congresses. 2. Christianity and politics— Congresses. 3. Postcolonialism—Congresses. 4. Political theology— Congresses. I. Joy, David II. Duggan, Joseph F., 1966– BL65.P7D43 2012 202—dc23 2011050881 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: July 2012 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 United Theological College (UTC) was established as a mark of ecumenical thinking in 1910 along with Edinburgh. It produced many national and international theologians and leaders who influenced the thinking of postcolonial theologies. It passed through three main stages, namely, colonial leadership, nationalistic leadership, and the postcolonial era. UTC always listens to indigenous voices and cultures. This page intentionally left blank C o n t e n t s Acknowledgments ix Preface xi Duncan B. Forrester Introduction to Postcolonialism and Religions Series xiii Joseph F. Duggan Introduction xxi David Joy Part I Decolonizing the Sources 1 Decolonizing the Bible, Church, and Jesus: A Search for an Alternate Reading Space for the Postcolonial Context 3 David Joy 2 Decolonizing Marital Gender Norms in Eph. 5:21–33 25 Jayachitra Lalitha 3 “ Pierced by the Curved End of a Rainbow” : Decolonizing the Body of the Martyr 35 J. Jayakiran Sebastian 4 Decolonizing the Formulation of Scripture: A Postcolonial Reading of Genesis 12, 20, and 26 53 Naveen Rao Part II Decolonizing Relations Between Theology and Theory 5 Postmodernity, Postcoloniality, and Religious Cultures 67 Simi Malhotra 6 Theologies of, for, and by Asians: Reformulating Dialogue 79 Sharon A. Bong viii Contents 7 Allama Muhammad Iqbal: Poet-Philosopher and the Dangers of Appropriation 107 Masood Ashraf Raja Part III Decolonizing Contexts 8 Diaspora and Kenosis as Postcolonial Themes 127 Mark G. Brett 9 Discourses of Learning and Love: Sufi Paths in Pakistan 141 Mahwash Shoaib Part IV Respondent Chapters 10 Postcolonial Theory and Theology: On Educating Ourselves to be Planetary Subjects 161 Mrinalini Sebastian 11 Decolonizing the Body of Christ: An Initial Response 179 Anthony G. Reddie Notes on the Contributors 197 Acknowledgments Special thanks are due to several organizations and people: The Lincoln Theological Institute (LTI) of the University of Manchester in England under the leadership of its director, Peter M. Scott. LTI was instrumental in providing support for several scholars involved in this project, including Joseph Duggan, one of the series editors, for their travels to Bangalore, India. The Episcopal Church Foundation generously funded Joseph Duggan as an Academic Fellow. Jason Craige Harris, a general editor of Postcolonial Networks, who meticulously edited the manuscript and advised its authors prior to its submission to Palgrave. Joseph Duggan will always be grateful for Annie Vocature Bullock, who, excited about the potentiality of the Postcolonial Theology Network, gave him her appointment with Burke Gerstenschlager, the Religion Editor at Palgrave, during AAR Montreal. Thank you Annie and Burke for your passionate commitment to the youthful Postcolonial Networks. This page intentionally left blank P r e f a c e Duncan B. Forrester Colonialism in its many forms produced a great variety of religious and theological justifications of imperialism. These provide an important prelude to the discussion of the various forms of postcolonial theology that flourish today. A good example is represented by a remarkable painting by Thomas Barker in the London National Portrait Gallery. A young and beautiful Queen Victoria delivers a Bible to an African chieftain who kneels abjectly at her feet. The mes- sage of the painting is clear: Christian mission is an element of the imperial project; colonialism and evangelism belong together; and the expansion of empire is providential, part of God’s plan, the fulfill- ment of which has been delegated to the imperial power. The chieftain who kneels and cowers before the queen apparently receives the Bible from her hand with awe, reverence, and gratitude. That striking picture captures something of the complex and important interweav- ing of imperialism and Christianity, which, for long, was considered by many as essential to both. There were, of course, many other ways of exploring the relation- ship of mission and empire. The earliest Scottish missionaries to India in the early nineteenth century, for example, came to the Indian Presidency towns directly from the exciting intellectual turmoil of the Scottish Enlightenment. They believed that their task was to stimulate in India a movement of intellectual renewal and religious reform on the model of the European Reformation and Renaissance. This could be done only by Indian converts to Christianity who would lead a process of national religious and secular renewal. Alexander Duff, the pioneer Scottish missionary, believed that his task and that of his col- leagues was to raise up Indian Christian leaders who could play the role that Luther, Calvin, and Knox had played in Europe. Ultimately under the leadership of these Indian converts to Christianity, all India would become free—or so the missionaries believed and hoped. xii Preface This was a rather different colonialism from that represented by the painting of Queen Victoria and the African chieftain. But it was colonialism nonetheless. Many forms of colonialism were particularly savage and aggressive. Others seem to have been moved at least to some extent by an impulse to improve the lot of the colonized people. And in between there were varieties of forms, processes, and objec- tives. Christian theologians need to take this diversity into account as they relate constructively to the postcolonial scene in which empire continues, often in disguised fashion, but powerful and destructive nonetheless. All theology engages with its changing context, at least to some degree, though theologians often deny or neglect this. And there are many ways of relating, ranging from outright rejection of a particular cultural dimension to the sanctification of some part of the context, as when religion is treated in an unqualified way as a necessary and subtle tool of government. The chapters in this important book address constructively and rigorously key issues for the church and for Christians in today’s complex postcolonial world. The focus of many of the chapters is on India, but their relevance goes far beyond Southeast Asia. All of us can be challenged and can learn from these chapters much about the responsible reading of scripture, about relevant ways of being the church in today’s tempestuous world, about the centrality of liberation in Christian thought and practice, about the continuing relevance of insights from the fathers of the church, and more recently from the liberation theologians, about the challenge of the poor and marginalized, particularly the Dalits in India—and much else besides. Postcolonial theology thus has

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