You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
For centuries, the global understanding of Church has been shaped by Western theological imperatives. Yet today, the decline of institutional religion in the West, and the extraordinary growth of the Church of the global South mean that a radical movement beyond such theologies is required. Paul Matheny argues that the Church would benefit by becoming more contextualized and less Western. Contextual Theology is an attempt to address that issue and to examine how a reassessment of the relationship of the Gospel to cultural context can advance this critical and necessary development. Through an accessible and critical approach, Matheny considers the historical background to contextual theology. In the same way, he aims to show how to use contextual methodsto think theologically and act missiologically in different cultural contexts.
Shoki Coe was among the first to speak of "contextualization" in theology. Coe argued that theology is not a reiteration of past formulas or doctrines but a response to the self-disclosing initiative of the living God in history and human experience. Yet he remains little known outside his native Taiwan. Wresting with God in Context introduces Coe's work and social vision and evaluates his contributions to the field of missiology and ecclesiology. Eager to offer a creative and critical witness to Christian faith, Coe worked tirelessly to liberate theology from its Western captivity and shaped a generation of theological reflection on God, culture, and history. For thousands of students and church members around the world, Shoki Coe was the spiritual father that guided their contextual theological pursuit to the living reality of God. In order to reflect on his legacy, the chapters in this volume--including original essays from Stephen Bevans, Dwight Hopkins, and Enrique Dussel--tackle the critical, methodological issues related to doing theology, reading the Scriptures, and being the church.
Alternative medicine. Quantum mechanics. Gaia. Near-Death Experiences. The New Age. Fundamentalism. Feminist and Liberation Theology. These are just some of the nine most significant spiritual/scientific movements analyzed by Mark Parent in his latest book Spiritscapes.
This book engages with a widespread contemporary dilemma--how do we do theology in a context where the cultures of the people are oral and not literate? The nations of the South Pacific, from their missionary beginnings, inherited an approach to theology that was dominated by Western cultural categories. The global movement of contextualization began to impact upon Pacific churches in the 1960s, and challenged this inherited approach. Significant changes have resulted, but the dilemma has remained. The dominant approach is still one that is defined by and better suited to literate cultures. The consequence is that theology remains an alien enterprise, distant from the life of the local churc...
This book is a theological-missiological study on the intercultural communication of Faith, drawing heavily from anthropological, sociological, and historical sources. The book is helpful to church workers in Latin America, to colleagues who teach both on college and seminary levels, to scholars who research the phenomenon of Latin American Protestantism, to students to Latin American studies, and in religion and culture in general.
With 'Theology from the Womb of Asia', Song continues to demonstrate that he is one of the most creative and important theologians of our time. He forces us to expand the horizons of our theological vision, not only by drawing on the resources of Asian thought and experience, but also by insisting that we do theology with passion. Here he offers images, fables, poems, parables, and visions, woven together with his own compelling prose. The biblical stories with which we thought we were familiar become new and more compelling stories when we revisit them with this able and wise guide. And our whole approach to life and living is transformed by the freshness he breathes into all that he survey...
The evangelical Mongolian church has experienced significant growth since the country opened to the world in 1990. Despite the growth and emergence of the evangelical church in Mongolia, relatively little has been written on the church from the perspective of the leaders themselves. This ethnographic study seeks to express the experience of male, evangelical, Mongolian church leaders in their own words. The book focuses specifically on the leaders' experiences of conversion, discipleship, navigation of Mongolian culture and traditions, and theological education. Readers will hear from evangelical church leaders why they became Christians and what their experience with discipleship was like for them. The issue of contextualization for evangelical Christians is also a central focus. In particular, the translation of the term for God in Mongolian and the perspective of the church leaders are explored. This book will be of interest to those exploring Christianity in Asia and post-socialist contexts as well as seeking to better understand contemporary Mongolian culture.
In the 1970s theologians in Asia and Africa showed an interest in the way different cultural contexts influenced the interpretation of Christian belief. Manifestations of contextual theologies have since appeared in many parts of the world; animated international discussion about expressions, methods and theories for contextual theology have continued with the spread of contextual theology from the South to the North.. The object of these theologies is to shed new light on the concept of incarnation. How does the incarnated God act in a liberating way? Contextual theology explores awareness of the interrelatedness of God and culture. This book surveys important concepts, positions and proble...
South African journalist John Allen movingly captures Desmond Tutu’s life in a commanding story that sheds light on the struggles and triumphs leading up to Tutu’s Nobel Prize for his leadership in the resistance against apartheid in South Africa. To be a rabble-rouser for peace may seem to be a contradiction in terms. And yet it is the perfect description for Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureate and spiritual father of a democratic South Africa. Tutu understood that justice—a genuine regard for human rights—is the only real foundation for peace. So, he stirred up trouble: courageously engaging in heated face-to-face confrontations with South Africa's leaders; he stirred up trouble in the st...