Transformational Correlation: A Reformational Perspective on Cultural Theological Method in Conversation with David Tracy's and Paul Tillich's Correlational Approaches (original) (raw)

2006, That the world may believe: essays on mission and unity in honour of George Vandervelde Edited by M. Goheen and M. O'Gara

In this paper I shall interact explicitly with David Tracy's revised correlational approach as a potentially viable method for theology of culture. The first section describes Tracy's 1 approach and gives an initial critical assessment. Tracy owes his formulation to Paul Tillich, and thus, the reference to the latter as another conversational partner. What emerges as a constructive response is a dialogical Reformational perspective flowing from the fruits of my advanced theological training at Fuller Theological Seminary and my earlier years at the Institute for Christian Studies, where one of the formative influences in my theological journey was my indefatigable ecumenical and evangelical mentor, George Vandervelde. Tracy on Method: Mutually Critical Correlation of Bipolar Theological Sources This essay is adapted from the conclusion of my doctoral dissertation at Fuller Theological Seminary. See Timoteo 1 D. Gener, The Catholic Imagination in a Theology of Culture: A Conversation with David Tracy on Theology of Culture. I have chosen David Tracy's work for two reasons: First, he has made a fundamental contribution to the theology of culture. Oxford scholar F. W. Dillistone points to this. For him, Tracy's The Analogical Imagination ranks as "the most valuable contribution to theology and culture since the writings of Paul Tillich." ("Review of The Analogical Imagination," 325). Don Browning does the same and labels Tracy's approach as a "revised correlational approach to theology of culture." See his Religious Thought and Modern Psychologies, 15-16. Second, Tracy's correlational model of doing theology has been a congenial partner to the practice of theological inculturation in the Philippines. See Jose de Mesa, In Solidarity with the Culture, 1-42, esp., 20-21, 40-41; Cf. Stephen Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, 81-96; Lode Wostyn and Jose de Mesa, Doing Theology; Dionisio Miranda, Loob: The Filipino Within. ! 1