POSTCOLONIAL THEOLOGIES IN A GLOBALISED WORLD (original) (raw)
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Mapping Postcolonial Theory: Appropriations in Contemporary Theology
Hapág: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Theological …, 2008
Appeals to the past are among the commonest strategies in interpretations of the present. What animates such appeals is not only disagreement about what happened in the past and what the past was, but uncertainty about whether the past really is past, over and concluded, or whether it continues, albeit in different forms, perhaps.
The case for Postcolonial Theology
2021
This draft paper provides an introduction to postcolonial theology and makes the case for postcolonial theology as a genuinely global theology. It challenges the centrality and dominance of the traditional systematic theology of the West which it argues should be set in its cultural context. This is a draft paper for an article published in Modern Believing 62:4 (Autumn 2021) 327-348
Identity, Postcolonialism and the Church
This paper examines the question of non-traditional identity using the postcolonial lenses of binary oppositions (pairs of opposites, for example black and white) and liminality (the place where so-called opposites can meet and mingle). Using Gilroy’s imagery of roots and routes, we note a tension in the Church between those who prioritise traditional biblical interpretation (roots) and those who look to see where God may be at work and follow where they believe he is leading (routes). We then turn to our three liminal case studies: cultural identity in the church (Do you need to become Russian to become a Christian?), new identities of Jesus-followers (Christian Muslim identity) and the homosexual discourse in the contemporary Western church (God created me gay and I worship him).
Postcolonial Studies in Practical Theology
International Handbook of Practical Theology
Ahugedisconnect existsbetween the orthodox, official theologyofthe ruling classes of religious institutions on the one hand,a nd the living faiths of believers on the other.Official church dogma is often not what most Christians live by.Whereas official statements emphasize the 'purity' of the faith, most Christians in the pews and practitionerso fo ther living religious faiths, live what can be described as am ixed, pragmatic version which is ac ombination of orthodoxy and heterodoxy,o fficial teachinga nd local cultural practices,r eligious understandings, and experiential realities. Thisp henomenon is observable in most if not all faith traditions. Christian systematic theologyh as focused on the statements of faith (creeds,c ouncils,a nd doctrines) of officialdom and the writingso fr ecognized authority figures whereas manyp ractical theologians have by and large grappled with the livede xperience and daily-life faith of ordinary believers. This historic divide has been the case down through the years and arguablylies at the heart of the reason for the Councils and Creeds of EarlyC hristianity, whose primary purpose was to clearly define the core, essential, pure, and true faith to which all believers weret ob ed irected and by which heresies could be detected and expunged, corrected, or punished. An example of this in contemporary times takes the form of the conflicts and controversies between purists who insist on the exclusive claims of Christian doctrine and the 'multiple religious belonging' thatc haracterize the liveso fm anyC hristians. It is also evident in postcolonial studies in practical theology. In this chapter Ishall be focusingonthe practical theological disciplines of pastoral theologya nd pastoralc are in tracing the trajectory of postcolonial criticism in the work of practical theology, especiallyemphasizing the work of those whose cultural and historicalh eritage, likem yo wn,i st raceable to the African continent.¹ Pathways in postcolonial thought and practice typicallyseek to enhance an engagement with the cultural heritageo ft he formerlycolonized in ways that lift up subjugated knowledge for the purpose of am ore authentic future in which suppressed ways of being and knowing are represented and clearlya rticulateda tt he table of all pastoralt heology. See Lartey(2018, 79-97). In this chapter,a si nt hat one, for the purposes of brevity and focus,I stayw ithin the discipline of pastoral theology understood as exploringt he theological underpinnings,implications,and practices of pastoral care and counselingasasub-discipline of practical theology.P ractical theology,a sawhole, Iw ould define as encompassing the four disciplines of Religious Education, Liturgy and Worship, Homiletics,a nd Pastoral Theology.
Post/decolonialism and Theology – A Short Survey and Critical Engagement
This paper critically surveys the similar yet independently-developed Postcolonial and Decolonial studies that have emerged in the last fifty years. I will begin by providing a short historical overview of the emergence of each school of thought. I will then compare and contrast highlighting primarily their differences. I will then survey their intersection with theology as Christianity played a crucial role in the colonial project. I will argue that building on the foundation of a critique of colonization of knowledge, Decolonial and Postcolonial theory must move beyond binary conceptions of power to take into account multiple relations of dependence and antagonism within postcolonial societies. This is especially true in their interaction with theology that continues to be tied to reductionist notions that Christianity is synonymous with colonialism. While this critique is still necessary as colonial tendencies persist in globalized capitalism; the emergence of a multi-polar world demands a greater understanding not only of the Western colonial legacy but also the inter-relationships between and within postcolonial nations. Only by doing so, can post/decolonial thinking transcend its deconstructive nature to truly become a constructive theory for alternative futures.
Verbum et Ecclesia
Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article focuses on how the mission was conducted, not taking cognisance of the worldview of those it preached to. This is the philosophical implication. The other issue is that contextualisation was not taken into consideration which means the socio-cultural issues were not addressed. This article brings forth that if the blending of both philosophy and social science could be infused in missiology, then missiological attributes like koinonia and evangelism would serve as an appropriate vehicle to transport missio Dei.
Introduction to the Essays of the Consultation on Preaching and Postcolonial Theology
Homiletic, 2015
The essays that follow were first presented as part of a consultation on preaching and postcolonial theology at Boston University in October, 2014, sponsored by the BU Center for Practical Theology. The consultation was an opportunity to bring together a leading scholar in postcolonial theology, Dr. Kwok Pui-lan of Episcopal Theological Seminary; two homileticians who have already started to grapple with postcolonial theory and theology in their work, Drs. Pablo Jiménez and Sarah Travis; and two Ph.D. students, Revs. Tim Jones and Lis Valle, from BU and Vanderbilt respectively. The goal of this interdisciplinary consultation was to jump start a wider conversation on today’s postcolonial context in North American homiletics for the sake of the practice of preaching. As an ad hoc research team for the fall term of 2014, we editors named above were all pleased to help bring this consultation together and are now excited to bring its fruits to you, the international and diverse body of ...
Responding to the incommensurability between the creedal affirmation of the ecclesial unity of one Church and the historical existence of many churches, John Howard Yoder and Lesslie Newbigin stand out as towering exemplars of the twentieth century ecumenical movement’s insistence that the absence of visible unity imperils the intelligibility of the gospel of reconciliation and undermines the visibility of the Church. Insisting on the integrity between speech and action, they contend that the Church does not have a mission or an ethic; it is its mission and ethic. Taken together, they suggest an as yet unfinished agenda for ecumenical catholic theology in the twenty-first century. By overlaying their fundamental theological motifs (mission and politics), this essay suggests how the Church might be, and bear its witness faithfully within the present conditions of late modernity. Stated directly, the missionary encounter of Western culture and disavowal of Constantinianism must be predicated on the witness of people and peoples who have always known that European modernity was insufficient, and whose Christianity has always resisted the demonic forces of white supremacy and imperialism. In short, white American congregations and denominations must undertake the costly labor of repentance and visible reunification with those congregations and denominations birthed by the exclusions and oppressions of white supremacist modernity. In so doing, the watching world would not only hear the enunciation of resurrection and reconciliation, but would also see its visible social and political effects.