ABSTRACT
There are a number of different ways in which the task of exploring and probing claims about the contextual nature of Christian theology might be approached. One possible approach would be to map out a broad chronological spectrum of Christian theological history and examine the ways in which different theologies have responded to specific contextual circumstances and have been shaped by these circumstances. Here different theologians could be focused on for the ways in which their own contexts might be seen to have influenced their theologies. Bearing in mind that the focus here is Western Christian theology candidates for just such a project must be the key influential theologians who have determined the shape of Western Christian history, theology and practice with their specific theologies. Theologians here include Paul, Tertullian, Athanasius, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karl Rahner, Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, Jürgen Moltmann, Gustavo Gutiérrez, James Cone, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and many others. Certain theologians, groups or theologies might be identified as, in effect, case studies for the analysis of the relationship between the lives of theologians and the situation, cultural context and the theologies that they develop. Any list would of course vary depending on the person choosing such a list and on the geographical and religious context being studied. Wide variation in the selection of theologians must be expected to be seen, especially post-reformation. This methodology might well be one to be used at another time. Here, one particular group of theologies has been chosen, that of Christian liberation theologies, as the way into understanding both the nature of explicitly contextual theology as well as exploring the fundamental claim that all Christian theologies are necessarily contextual. This first chapter aims to provide a general introduction to the concept of
contextual theology. It will trace the emergence of contextual theology as a theological discipline that is now a focus of study in its own right. As it is possible to argue that Christian theology has always been contextual, why then attempt to identify any particular group of theologies to demonstrate the nature of Christian theology as contextual? This is an important question and brings to light a significant distinction that lies at the heart of this book – between the
claim that all theology is contextual and the claim that some Christian theologians and Christian theological communities are explicitly and fundamentally incorporating their own context into their theologies. This latter theological claim stresses that specific situations, concerns, cultures, socioeconomic situations and political experiences are explicitly and purposefully incorporated into some Christian theologies. Both the claim that all theology is contextual and the claim that some Christian theologians and Christian theological communities are explicitly incorporating context into their theologies will be explored here but the distinction between these will be maintained. In this first chapter the arguments and claims of those texts that have acknowledged and explored this emerging consciousness that is a key characteristic of contextual theology, and indeed of Christian theology generally, will be examined. These texts will form a significant base for critical interrogation and reflection in this chapter. These texts are those which are influencing the way in which contextual theology is being understood and as such they are not so much examples of ‘doing contextual theology’ as texts which have contributed to the understanding of the ways in which contextual theologies operate, their methodologies, presuppositions and key arguments.
