Contextual theology or contextualizing theology refers to theology which has responded to the dynamics of a particular context.

Terminology

The term contextualizing theology was used in

missiology Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

Shoki Coe Shoki Coe (; 20 August 1914 – 28 October 1988) was a minister of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, erstwhile principal of Tainan Theological Seminary (1949-1965) and director of the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches. Th ...

when he argued that the

Venn Venn is a surname and a given name. It may refer to: Given name * Venn Eyre (died 1777), Archdeacon of Carlisle, Cumbria, England * Venn Pilcher (1879–1961), Anglican bishop, writer, and translator of hymns * Venn Young (1929–1993), New Zea ...

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

three-self formula The three-self formula or three-self principle is a missiological strategy to establish indigenous churches. Its principles are: self-governance, self-support (i.e., financial independence from foreigners), and self-propagation (i.e., indigenous ...

were inadequate in addressing the sociopolitical context of his native Taiwan. Coe popularized this notion through the Theological Education Fund of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

. While it was initially understood as part of a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

approach to theology, it has grown in currency among

evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

and

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. An individual may come from a particular cultural

worldview A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...

, such as

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n culture, or be faced with particular sociopolitical issues. Hence, examples of contextualized theologies include

Latin American liberation theology Latin American liberation theology (, ) is a synthesis of Christian theology and Marxian socio-economic analyses, that emphasizes "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". Beginning in the 1960s after the Se ...

Minjung theology Minjung theology () emerged in the 1970s from the experience of South Korean Christians in the struggle for social justice. It is a people's theology, and, according to its authors, "a development of the political hermeneutics of the Gospel in ter ...

, and

African theology African theology is Christian theology from the perspective of the African cultural context. It should be distinguished from black theology, which originated from the American and South African context and is more closely aligned with liberation th ...

. The systematic theologian

Regunta Yesurathnam Regunta Yesurathnam (16 October 1941 – 8 August 2011)Senate of Serampore College (University), ''Minutes of the Eighty-sixth meeting of the Senate of Serampore College (University) held on 9 and 10 February 2012 at the New Theological College, ...

sees contextual theology as including "all that is implied in

indigenization Indigenization is the act of making something more native; transformation of some service, idea, etc. to suit a local culture, especially through the use of more indigenous people in public administration, employment and other fields. The term is ...

inculturation In Christianity, inculturation is the adaptation of Christian teachings and practices to cultures. This is a term that is generally used by Catholics, whereas Protestantism, Protestants, especially associated with the World Council of Churches, p ...

, but also seeks also to include the realities of contemporary, secularity, technology, and the struggle for human justice." The missiologist Stephen B. Bevans argues that there is no such thing as normative theology, that "doing theology contextually is not an option" since it is a human enterprise which is created within a particular human context. According to Bevans, contextualization is a better term than indigenization to describe social location and particular experience because it "broadens the understanding of culture to include social, political, and economic questions," while indigenization merely focuses on the "purely cultural dimension of human experience." Secondly, Bevans comments that indigenization tends to "see both the home culture and the culture 'out there' as good," while contextualization is usually "more critical of both cultures." Thirdly, the term contextualization suggests that "theology needs to interact and dialogue not only with traditional culture value, but with social change, new ethnic identities, and the conflicts that are present as the contemporary phenomenon of globalization encounters the various peoples of the world."

Biblical studies

In the field of

Bible translation The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and ...

and interpretation, contextualization is the process of assigning meaning as a means of

interpreting Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous inter ...

the environment within which a text or

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

is executed. Contextualization is used in the study of Bible translations in relation to their relevant

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

settings. Derived from the practice of

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

, it sought to understand the use of words borrowed into the

Hebrew Scriptures The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

accounts. However, since the early 1970s, the word's meaning has widened. It is now used by

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

, religious and political groups to render their message into different settings by adjusting or accommodating words, phrases or meanings into understandable contexts in

respondent {{unreferenced, date=February 2012 A respondent is a person who is called upon to issue a response to a communication made by another. The term is used in legal contexts, in survey methodology, and in psychological conditioning. Legal usage In ...

cultures.

References

{{Liberation theology Christian missions Biblical exegesis World Christianity

Terminology

Biblical studies

See also

References