Introduction | 5 | Doing Contextual Theology | Angie Pears

ABSTRACT

Christianity is a religion in transition. As part of a constantly changing world that progresses, develops, renews and reinvents itself, Christianity is subject to the changes of human cultural and social existence. In the last half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-ﬁrst century Christianity has been inﬂuenced by a number of cultural shifts. One of these is the shift from a perspective which views truths and human knowledge as universal to a perspective which views them as shaped, determined and even validated by speciﬁc cultural, social and political contexts. This shift is informed by the insights and criticisms of poststructuralism and postmodernism and whilst it is not always played out or followed through to its full conclusions it is nevertheless having a profound impact on the place of Christian theology and the Christian Church in the world today. It has also given rise to an explicit critical awareness that is inﬂuencing the shape of contemporary theology – that Christian theology is and has always been contextual. This claim, its implications and outworkings, are the focus of this book, which is concerned in particular with investigating the ways in which the theologian’s or the theological community’s own context inﬂuences Christian theology. The term ‘contextual theology’ is in some ways an evasive and ﬂuid term to

which a number of meanings, some contrasting, could and do attach themselves. As a general rule ‘contextual theology’ is used here to refer to that theology which explicitly places the recognition of the contextual nature of theology at the forefront of the theological process. Such theology understands all Christian theology as being inﬂuenced and indeed determined by the context of those engaged in the theological enterprise, but recognizes that not all Christian theologies explicitly acknowledge or signify this in their theologies. ‘Contextual theology’ is used very clearly here to refer to Christian theology which is explicitly shaped, if not driven, by the recognition of the contextual nature of theology with all of its potentially controversial and problematic implications. This is diﬀerent from the claim that all theology is contextual. One is a theological stance which places and celebrates context at the centre of the theological enterprise, and the other an epistemological claim about the contextual nature of all theology. This book will engage in an analysis of the relationship between context and

the theologian or the theological community. It is interested to explore the ways

in which the speciﬁcity of a particular contextual theology interacts with the traditions of Christianity through the engaged reﬂection of the theologian and the theological community. It raises the question of the distinction between theological content and context, asking if such a distinction is really possible. It recognizes that both context and human experiences along with other more traditional theological sources are signiﬁcant components of contemporary Christian theologies. In doing this it will probe the relationship between diﬀerent components of contextual theology and very importantly between the diﬀerent expressions and instances of contextual theology. Given that context is so important to understanding these types of Christian theology and given that context is so varied and that there are many, many diﬀerent Christian theologies then the question arises of what exactly all of these theologies have got in common, as is claimed, if they have emerged from a particular situation or in response to a particular situation. An approach that takes a very radical interpretation of Christian theology as contextual sees that theology as inextricably tied to its context. One of the aims of this book is to examine the implications of a reading of Christian theology as radically contextual. Such a reading sees Christian theology as not only arising out of a speciﬁc context but also as in some senses bound to the very context fromwhich it arises because of its speciﬁcity and because of its particularly embedded relationship to that context. This then gives rise to questions such as is Christian theology in this sense really bound by context or does it somehow transcend context? Also, what is the relationship between the many diﬀerent theologies that exist? Does there in fact need to be a relationship between them in terms of Christian identity? In the face of the great pluralism that is Christian theologies is there a Christian ‘orthodoxy’ or a Christian ‘core’ that can be identiﬁed within these diﬀerent theologies, regardless of context? Within a pool of such questions it is persistently the place and signiﬁcance of context in contemporary theology which is the concern of this book. Whilst the study of contextual theology could be said to be in its relative

infancy there are nevertheless a number of existing texts that are signiﬁcant for the ways in which contextual theology is being understood and studied as a contemporary Christian theological enterprise. These texts will be examined in order to understand the way in which thinking about the relationship between human context and Christian theology has developed so far and for how contextual theology has been understood. Most signiﬁcant here is Stephan Bevans’ Models of Contextual Theology, published in 1992, which engages with the key elements and typologies of contextual theology as interpreted by Bevans. Its signiﬁcance in terms of the understanding of contextual theology lies with its fundamental and persistent stress on the nature of Christian theology as contextual. As will be seen in Chapter 1, in many ways Bevans’ text despite being written nearly 20 years ago holds its position as the main study in this ﬁeld. Other texts to be examined include Robert Schreiter’s 1985 Constructing Local Theologies, The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology which was published in 2000 and edited by James Woodward and Stephen Pattison and also Sigurd Bergmann’s God in Context: A Survey of Contextual Theology

published in 2003. Doing Contextual Theology diﬀers in its approach and concerns from those texts that will be examined in Chapter 1. In that, rather than arguing that theology should be contextual, it takes forward the claim that Christian theology is necessarily contextual and explores this identity and raises questions about the limits of this identity. Beyond Chapter 1 the approach that will be taken to the study of contextual theology will be through the study of liberation theologies as clear and conscious examples of contextual theologies. A number of liberation theologies will be studied in depth to determine how it is exactly in relation to this particular group of theologies that context impacts Christian theology. The nature of contextual theology, then, is explored in relation to speciﬁc theologies, rather than in the abstract. A grounded theology such as contextual theology demands of any study of it an appropriately grounded approach. Why is it that liberation theologies are being used as the focus for this study

of contextual theology rather than any other theologies? Justice-seeking theologies or liberation theologies, as they are now widely known, have emerged within Western Christianity since the 1960s and provide a diverse and theologically rich resource through which the study of the nature of Christian theology as contextual can be made. In one sense this is an easy choice, as these theologies make explicit their political, cultural and social standpoints. An alternative might have been to take key theologians whose inﬂuence on Christianity and Christian theology can be clearly demonstrated and explore how their theologies might be said to be shaped and determined by their own speciﬁc contexts. This may be the focus of another book. The tapestry that is the spectrum of liberation theologies demands contextual analysis. Liberation theologies have embedded in them the critical insight that all Christian theology is contextual but that theology has traditionally failed to make its interests explicit. With liberation theologies we see the implications of a sometimes radical reading of all Christian theology as contextual played out in fascinating and sometimes painful detail. Speciﬁc, focused and local theologies have developed in response to the needs of particular contexts. Liberation theologies will be explored for the ways in which they uncover in

their critique of ‘traditional’ theologies the bias of all Christian theology with the claim that all theologies are informed and inﬂuenced by their context and shaped, if not driven, by particular concerns. From this the mechanisms by which liberation theologies weave their contexts and contextual awareness into the very fabric of their theologies can then be explored. Having explored the ways in which context impacts on Christian theology this study of contextual theology will also include an analysis of liberation theologies as contextual theologies and raise the crucial question of whether a radical contextual reading of Christian theologies necessarily leads to a relativist understanding of Christianity. It will ask if contextual theologies are bound in relevance and meaning by the very contexts that inspire them. It will also ask if all theologies are not only necessarily limited and local but also dynamically ﬂuid because just as diﬀerent aspects of the contexts out of which they emerge change so these theologies must also change.