Not a very snappy title but one which expresses something that is important to remember. Division in the church is not only a domestic problem internal to the church but is a disaster for the world.
Reformation Day (31/10) and Guy Fawkes Night (5/11) come so close together, it always makes me reflect sadly on division. On the 31st October 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral sparking what has come to be known as the Protestant Reformation. On the 5th November, 1605 a group of Roman Catholic dissidents wanted to kill King James and set up his daughter Elizabeth as a Catholic Queen by blowing up Parliament. Now it is clear that Luther did not want to start a separate church but the result was another split in an already divided church. The gunpowder plot was a symptom of that division and its consequences.
We live in a world wracked by division. Racial divisions, social divisions, religious and philosophical divisions lead to violence and war all around the world. More than ever before our world needs to hear a message of reconciliation, but more than hear it they need to see it.
When Jesus prayed for us in John 17 he linked the unity of believers to belief in him. Unity is linked with mission. If God's ultimate purpose is, as Paul expresses it in Ephesians 1:10, to bring all things in heaven and on earth under Christ, then if the church is divided then the world does not have a model of what "all things under Christ" looks like. There is a very close link between church unity and universal reconciliation.
So, what to do about it?
Ethiopia
Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Monday, March 10, 2014
Global Theology or World Theologies
As you may know my major interest professional interest is in mission and theology. I have been writing a module called "Methods and Models of Contextual Theology" and time and again the issue has been raised in my mind over whether we should be talking about Global Theology or World Theologies.
Evangelicals have tended to talk in terms of the unity of theologies and therefore Global Theology (sing.). See Jeffrey P. Greenman and Gene L. Green (eds.) Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective: Exploring the Contextual Nature of Theology and Mission (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2012) or the older Craig Ott and Harold Netland (eds.) Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an era of World Christianity (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2007). The danger, which both of these books seek to avoid is homogenization of theology. The globalizating power of economic, social and cultural forces are slipping into church life and theology.
Is a way to combate this to emphasise diversity of theologies. A good Evangelical example is A. Scott Moreau's Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models (Grand Rapids: Kregal, 2013). The fear for most Evangelicals is how do assess this diversity in theologies? The other related fear how do we maintain orthodoxy and avoid syncretism? The question that lies behind both of these is "how do we assess world theologies"?
José Míguez Bonino suggested the way forward is to move beyond dialogue to mutual accountability. He proposes that mutual accountability should be applied at both international and ecumenical levels in the context of a ‘disciplined, continuous and committed conversation at each level of life and thought in the worldwide Christian community’. There should be accountability in three areas; ‘our hermeneutical approach and our understanding of the authority of scripture, the way theology is related to the ‘manifold tradition of the church,’ and in interpretation of reality ‘as an economically, socially and politically structured system’.
Evangelicals have tended to talk in terms of the unity of theologies and therefore Global Theology (sing.). See Jeffrey P. Greenman and Gene L. Green (eds.) Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective: Exploring the Contextual Nature of Theology and Mission (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2012) or the older Craig Ott and Harold Netland (eds.) Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an era of World Christianity (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2007). The danger, which both of these books seek to avoid is homogenization of theology. The globalizating power of economic, social and cultural forces are slipping into church life and theology.
Is a way to combate this to emphasise diversity of theologies. A good Evangelical example is A. Scott Moreau's Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models (Grand Rapids: Kregal, 2013). The fear for most Evangelicals is how do assess this diversity in theologies? The other related fear how do we maintain orthodoxy and avoid syncretism? The question that lies behind both of these is "how do we assess world theologies"?
José Míguez Bonino suggested the way forward is to move beyond dialogue to mutual accountability. He proposes that mutual accountability should be applied at both international and ecumenical levels in the context of a ‘disciplined, continuous and committed conversation at each level of life and thought in the worldwide Christian community’. There should be accountability in three areas; ‘our hermeneutical approach and our understanding of the authority of scripture, the way theology is related to the ‘manifold tradition of the church,’ and in interpretation of reality ‘as an economically, socially and politically structured system’.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)