Contextual Theology
Terri Martinson Elton
Acts 2:1-13
1
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound
like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where
they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and
came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each
one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all
these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our
native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea
and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of
Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans
and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some,
however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
New International Version, ©2010
“contextualization is at the
heart of urban youth ministry.
It is the locus, the place
where the work takes place.”
Arzola, Prophetic Youth Ministry, 60
“Contextualization gives
theology hands.”
Ibid., 61
What is contextual
theology?
“There is no such thing as ‘theology’; there is only
contextual theology: eminist theology, black
theology, liberation theology.
The contextualization of theology – the attempt
to understand Christian faith in terms of a
particular context – is really a theological
imperative.”
Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, 3
What is contextual theology?
It is both a new,
discontinuous and
continuous approach
to theology in comparison
with traditional or classical
theology.
ibid
New or
discontinuous
“contextual
theology
understands the
nature of theology
in a new way.
Classic theology
conceived theology
as a kind of
objective science
of faith.”
Bevans, Models, 3
Classic theology understood there to
be two loci theologici (theological
sources): scripture and tradition
(the content of which does not
change). Classic theology is
therefore above culture or being
historically conditioned.
Contextual theology acknowledges
those two loci theologici, but adds
another: present human
experience – or context.
Bevans, Models, 3-4
It is subjective in the fact that “the
human person or human society,
culturally and historically bound as
it is, is the source of reality, not a
supposed value- and culture-free
objectivity.”
Bevans, Models, 4
New or
discontinuous
As Charles Kraft says,
“God, the author of reality, exists outside any
culture. Human beings, on the other hand, are
always bound by cultural, subcultural, and
psychological conditioning to perceive and
interpret what they see of reality in ways
appropriate to these conditionings.”
as quoted in Bevans, Models, 4
Contextual Theology
Experience of Past
Experience of Present
Recorded in Scripture
Preserved, defended in
tradition
Personal/communal
Culture
Social location
Social change
Continuous
“every
authentic
theology has
been very
much rooted
in a
particular
context.”
Bevans, Models, 7
“contextualization is
also something that is
very traditional.”
Bevans, Models, 7
Why must theology be contextual today?
External
Internal
• Classical approaches are not
longer sufficient.
• Many of the older theologies
are seen as oppressive in
nature.
• Growing identity of local
church – demanding
contextualizing.
• Understanding of culture in
contemporary social sciences
is changing.
• Incarnational factor of
Christianity.
• Sacramental nature of
reality
• Nature of divine revelation.
• Catholicity of the church
• Heart of Christianity in the
Trinity
Bevans, Models, 12-15
Who does it?
• All people from within the
context, including but not
limited to a trained theologian “If theology is truly to take
culture and cultural change
seriously, it must be understood
as being done must fully by the
subjects and agents of culture
and cultural change.”
• In dialogue –
“Theology must … be an activity in
dialogue, emerging out of a
mutual respect between
‘faith-ful’ but not technically
trained people and ‘faith-ful’
and listening professionals.”
Bevans, Models, 18
What makes
contextual
theology
orthodox?
Robert Schreiter, in Constructing Local
Theologies, names 5 criteria:
• Inner consistency – do the claims
you make fit within the claims of
Christianity as a whole?
• Translate to worship – lex orandi,
lex credenda – does the way we pray
point to the way we believe, and vice
versa.
• Orthopraxis – do your actions fit
with your claims?
• Open to criticism from other
churches – are you open to criticism
from other “local” theologies?
• Strength to challenge other
theologies – and vice versa – can
your claims challenge others?
What are
models?
• Bevans uses model to mean:
a theoretical model.
“It is a ‘case’ that is useful in
simplifying a complex reality, and
although such simplification does
not fully capture that reality, it
does yield true knowledge of it.”
Bevans, Models, 31
• Each model represents a different
way of theologizing as it takes
context seriously, each has a
different starting point and makes
distinctive presuppositions.
• Six Models: Countercultural,
Translation, Anthropological,
Praxis, Synthetic, Transcendental,
Anthropological
A Map of the Models of
Contextual Theology
Transcendental
Anthropological
Praxis
Experience of present
(context)
Human experience
Culture
Social Location
Social Change
Synthetic
Translation
Countercultural
Experience of Past
Scripture
Tradition
Translation Model
- Most commonly employed, and often most thought of.
- Insistent that the gospel message is unchanging…just need to translate into culture.
- Any translation has to be a translation of meaning, not just words (or grammar)
Experience of Past
Experience of the Present
(context)
Scripture
Tradition
Human experience
Culture
Social Location
Social Change
Translation Model
Bevans, Models, 44
Alternative title:
Accommodation; adaptation
Basis in Scripture
and Tradition:
Revelation:
Acts 14:15-17; Acts 17:2-31; John XXIII – Vatican II
Scripture/Tradition:
Supra-contextual; complete
Context:
Basically good and trustworthy
Method:
Analogy:
Kernel/husk; know the context so as to effectively insert the
gospel
Bring seeds, plant in native ground
Legend:
“putting the gospel into” (Bruce Fleming)
Critique:
+ = takes Christian message seriously, recognizes contextual
ambiguity, can be participants and nonparticipants in a culture
- = naïve notion of culture and gospel, propositional notion of
revelation
Tends to be interpreted as propositional, context-oriented
Anthropological
Model
- Opposite end from the translation model.
- Culture shapes the way Christianity is articulated – and sees each context as unique
-Important to understand that Christianity is about the human person and her/his
fulfillment.
-Anthropological for two reasons:
Centers on the value and goodness of the human person
Makes use of insights from anthropology
- Starting point is human experience – so look to the individual person for key insights.
Experience of Past
Experience of the Present
(context)
Scripture
Human experience
Tradition
Culture
Social Location
Social Change
Anthropological Model
Bevans, Models, 61
Alternative title:
Indigenization; ethnographic model
Basis in Scripture
and Tradition:
Revelation:
Matt 15:21-28, Mark 7:24-20, John 3:16; Justin Martyr
Scripture/Tradition:
Culturally conditioned, like all human expressions, incomplete
Context:
Basically good and trustworthy, equal to scripture and tradition
Method:
Know the culture to “pull the gospel out of it”
Analogy:
Seeds are already in the ground; just need to be watered to
sprout.
“take off your shoes” (Max Warren)
Legend:
Critique:
Tends to be understood as “personal presence”
+ = takes context seriously; provides fresh perspectives of
Christianity, starts with where people are
- = prey to cultural romanticism
Praxis Model
- “the praxis model of contextual theology focuses on the identity of Christians within
a context particularly as that context is understood in terms of social change.” Bevans,
Models, 70
- Theology formed through reflective action.
- It is about discerning the meaning and contributing to social change.
- Inspiration not from classic texts or classic behavior, but from present realities and
future possibilities.
- Theology defined in way of being, way of acting.
- Key notion – God’s revelation.
2) reflection
- analysis of context
- rereading of
scripture and tradition
3) committed and intelligent action
(praxis)
1) Committed action
Praxis Model
Bevans, Models, 77
Alternative title:
Basis in Scripture
and Tradition:
Revelation:
Scripture/Tradition:
Context:
Method:
Analogy:
Legend:
Critique:
Situational theology, theology of the signs of the times, liberation
model
Prophetic tradition, James 1:22; Irenaeus, Barth
Envisioned as God at work in the world, calling men and women
as partners.
Culturally conditioned, like all human expressions; incomplete
Basically good and trustworthy but can be distorted; should be
approached with some suspicion, can be equal to scripture and
tradition.
Practice/reflection/practice – in unending spiral
Garden needs to be constantly weeded, the work never ends,
practice makes one a better gardener.
“to know Christ is to follow him” (Alfred Hennelly)
+ = strong epistemological basis, provides an ‘alternative vision’,
influence on theology
- = critiqued for close connection with Marxism
Transcendental
Model
-The task of constructing a
contextual theology is not about
producing a particular body of any
kind of texts, it is about attending to
the affective and cognitive
operations in the self-transcending
subject.
- Reality is not “out there” but
knowing the subject is intimately
involved in determining the reality –
the quest.
- Begin with one’s own religious
experience and one’s experience of
one’s self.
- Move from personal to general and
then to divine revelation.
Experience of Past
scripture
Tradition
Authentic subject
(individual and communal)
Contextual Theology
Experience of the Present
Human experience
Culture
Social Location
Social Change
Transcendental Model
Bevans, Models, 109
Alternative title:
Subjective model
Basis in Scripture
and Tradition:
Revelation:
Mark 2:21-22
Scripture/Tradition:
Context:
Method:
Analogy:
Legend:
Critique:
Tends to be understood as personal presence, encountered in
subjective (personal, communal ) experience
Culturally conditioned, incomplete
Good and trustworthy, individual experience is clue to wider
experience, individual experience is conditioned by the radical
communal nature of humanity
Sympathy and antipathy
If I cultivate my garden, another will be inspired to cultivate his or
hers
“the most personal is the most general” (Carl Rogers)
+ = emphasizes theology as activity, recognizes contextual
nature of all theology
- = too abstract, false claim to universality, too ideal to be
practical
CounterCultural
Model
“Good contextualization offends.”
Darrell Whiteman.
-Takes context seriously and recognizes some contexts are antithetical to the gospel and need to be challenged.
- Draws on the rich and ample sources of scripture and tradition and can be a powerful way to communicate the
gospel with new freshness and genuine engagement.
- Counter culture is not anti-culture. It more of a strong critical function of context.
-The gospel must be communicated with both faithfulness and relevance, but in order to be truly
both it needs to be
experienced as something
1. Conversion
Acceptance of the experience of the past (scripture and tradition) as clue to the
contradictory to the human
meaning of history (supernatural sociology)
condition, only then will
humanity find healing and
fulfillment.
2. Perspective
- Calls forth “the church” to
Using the experience of the past as a lens
be a witness in society – to be
a contrast community – to
live a countercultural lifestyle
3. Interpretation, critique, unmasking, challenging
and embody Christian
Experience of the Present
practices. Congregation as a
Experience
hermeneutic of the gospel
Culture
(Newbigin)
Social location
Social change
Countercultural Model
Bevans, Models, 126
Alternative title:
Basis in Scripture and
Tradition:
Revelation:
Scripture/Tradition:
Context:
Encounter model, engagement model, prophetic model, contract model,
confessional model
Prophetic tradition, monastic tradition, Anabaptist tradition
Narrative and story, the ‘fact’ of Jesus Christ
The ‘clue’ to the meaning of history, complete, even though human understanding
of it is not, can be understood more completely through the understanding of other
cultures.
Radically ambiguous and resistant to the gospel, unequal to scripture/tradition
Analogy:
Commitment to Christian story as clue to history, use story as lens to interpret,
critique, and challenge context.
The soil needs weeding and fertilizing so that the seeds can be planted
Legend:
‘challenging relevance” (Hogg)
Critique:
+ = strong engagement of context and fidelity to gospel, relevant in western
context
- = danger of being anticultural, danger of sectarianism, tends to be monocultural,
danger of exclusivism
Method: