For many centuries, the theological enterprise focused on defining doctrine for the benefit of the Church. In other words, theology was concerned with having Christians define their self-identity in terms of what they believed and practiced. For many Christians, theology was a way for the Church to till its own garden. Christians tended to think in terms of theology being "the queen of the sciences," i.e. the source of all truth found in the different branches of human knowledge such as the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Whatever truth was found in these branches of human knowledge was considered to be derivative from and subservient to theology. It is safe to say that for a long time, the world (at least the Western part of it, i.e. Euro-America) was dominated by the arrogance of theological imperialism.
In the latter part of the twentieth century, there was a paradigm shift. The Church changed its posture. Instead of maintaining the attitude and mindset that society had to learn from the church, the notion that the Church had to learn from and interact with society came into vogue. Theology, instead of addressing issues which were almost exclusively church-related, began to address issues which were society-related. While the early part of the twentieth century witnessed the "Social Gospel," it was in the latter part of the century that theology began to seriously engage with social issues such as classism, sexism, and racism. It came to the point where social issues were interpreted in the light of theological postulates, that theology began to emerge from the experiences of of oppressed and suffering people. Liberation Theology, which emerged in the latter half of the 1960's in Latin America, and subsequently in other parts of the so-called "Third World," began to emphasize that oppression and suffering should be the starting point for biblical interpretation and theological reflection. No longer, was the thinking of its adherents and proponents, that theology should be used to shed light on these realities, but rather, that these realities should be used to shed light on how divine revelation was to be interpreted and understood.
Three questions come to mind as we continue to carry out the theological task in the twenty-first century. They are the following:
1. How open should we be in our theological views? If I may use the analogy of the mosquitoes and the window, I would ask, should we keep the window completely shut, even at the risk of suffocation, so that the mosquitoes (false doctrine and heresy) don't come in, should we have a screen on the windows, so that we can have a degree of fresh air, and still prevent the mosquitoes from coming in, or should we open up the windows without a screen and risk the mosquitoes and other elements to come in, in the name of "open-mindedness?" We need to be constantly wrestling with these options.
2. What socio-economic and socio-political system is our theology aligned with.? Do we subscribe to a theology which blesses and sanctions the existence of oppressive systems in the name of "stability?" Do we continue to allow for the celebration of Memorial Day, and Veteran's Day in our worship services, therefore directly or indirectly sanctioning the continuation of economic and military imperialism? Do we continue to fly our national flag alongside the Christian flag, not realizing that we are promoting an alliance between the Cross and the Sword? Or do we align our theology with a system which is seeking justice for all of its citizens by implementing free education, free health care, and at the very least, subsidized housing?
3. Should our theology be constructed, determined, and defined by the latest social trends? Is doing theology the task of the secular society or of the Church of Jesus Christ? Do we advocate for a "theology of accommodation," so that we can maintain large numbers of people and good finances in the Church? Is our theology determined and defined by the divine initiative of God's self-disclosure in Christ, or should it be socially engineered and constructed?
There are no easy answers to these questions. Nevertheless, as long as we seek to be faithful to Christ and to the message of the Gospel. we need to continue wrestling with them. The task of constructive theology is a never-ending one. We must constantly act and think theologically. There is no escape from this conondrum. I invite you to the continuous adventure of action-reflection.
In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer. Amen.
Dr. Juan A. Carmona
I like to think I have core beliefs as a Christian and a citizen. I think we should respectfully consider the ideas in society's marketplace. We should examine how these ideas relate to our core beliefs in determining which to accept and which to reject. In that way, any social engineering we do should follow directly from God's self-disclosure in Christ.
ReplyDeleteI have beliefs about the best socio-economic and socio-political systems, and they are related to my Christian beliefs that we should seek justice and have compassion for oppressed peoples. Other Christians have ideas that are very different than mine. What are we to make of that? I don't have an answer.
As citizens, we always have the duty to question how our county uses our military. But I strongly feel we should thank our veterans and remember those who have died and laid their lives on the line for the rest of us.
In Christ,
Gary Dudley
Dear Bro. Gary: Thank you so very much for this response. As always, your input is very thought-provoking and valuable. I agree with you on the need for Christians to have a well-defined and well thought out core of beliefs. On the other hand, what we believe as Christian ¨citizens¨ can be very complex, depending on the country that we live in. In the U.S.A, there is the tendency to think in terms of God and country;"i.e. a civil religion where we believe that American and Christian are ¨one and the same.¨ That, in turn, leads to the idea that God has favoritism for America. Regarding ¨gratitude¨ for the veterans, that is also complex, as from a historical standpoint, the only war in which we can say that many of them put their life on the line was the American Revolutionary War, and maybe, just maybe the Civil War. The other wars that we´ve been involved in were not so much wars of self-defense, but wars that were generated by our imperialistic ambitions and actions. Any honest, rigorous, and serious study of American history will reveal that. I concur with you that Christians should seek justice and have compassion for oppressed peoples. Once again, thank you very much for your insights.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace,
Juan Carmona
Asalaam-Alaikum Bro. Raul. Yes, absolutely! Here in the West, we tend to focus on ẅhat´s been done to us,´ by so-called ¨terrorists,¨ but very rarely, if ever, do we stop to ask or think about what we did to contribute to to that situation. We tend to think of ourselves as the ¨victims of terrorism," but we don´t ponder on how we sow the seeds of ¨terrorism." That is why I constantly raise the question, ¨which socio-economic and socio-political system is our theology aligned with?¨ Unfortunately, we tend to align our theology with oppressive governments and with state-sponsored terrorism in the name of Christianity. And then, when the ¨poop hits the fan," we cry ¨poor us.¨ Thank you for your very valuable contribution. Asalaam-alaikum.
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