MT510: Doing Theology in Context (4 units)

Charles Van Engen, Arthur F. Glasser Professor of Biblical Theology of Mission
Spring 2005 Pasadena

DESCRIPTION:

This course assumes that theology is not the same as the gospel. Rather, theology is the way we reflect upon and explain the gospel. Therefore, just as the Bible reveals God's word in a specific time and place and among particular people, so our theology is always in all places constructed in context. The aim of the course is to examine the theoretical, cultural and biblical realities through the lenses of a variety of models for doing theology to analyze and communicate the truth of the gospel in ways appropriate to specific contexts. Students will examine five perspectives on doing theology in context: communication, indigenization, translatability, local theologizing and epistemology and will consider their various implications for doing theology in a specific selected context with reference to a particular problem or situation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Gain knowledge of the purposes and objectives of a variety of approaches to contextualization and acquire some familiarity with the implications of those approaches for doing theology in context;
• Begin to understand how culture and worldview impact theological reflection and may be integrated with scripture to communicate and teach the gospel in contextually appropriate ways.
• Begin to do theology appropriately in response to a selected contextual situation or problem faced in a specific mission situation.

COURSE FORMAT:

Through reading, class lectures and group discussions/sharing students will be introduced to various perspectives on doing theology in context and how the various perspectives impact the way Christians reflect on selected contextual situations. Each student will select a specific situation or problem arising in a particular missional context and will be asked to reflect theologically, biblically, contextually, and missionally in response to the selected situation or problem. During the last one-third of the course students (individually and possibly in groups) will present to the class a summary of their project.

REQUIRED READING: Students should select texts that they have not read in another course at Fuller.

Stephen Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology. New York: Orbis, 2002.
Dean Gilliland, The Word Among Us. Dallas: Word, 1989.
Charles Kraft, Communication Theory for Christian Witness. Nashville: Abingdon; 1983; reprinted by N.Y.: Orbis, 1991.
Roland Allen, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church OR J. V. Taylor. Primal Vision. London: SCM, 1963.
Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1989; OR Andrew Walls, The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History. Maryknoll: Orbis, 2002; OR René Padilla, Mission Between the Times. G.R.: Eerdmans, 1985.
Charles Kraft, edit Appropriate Christianity. Unpublished text.
Shaw, Daniel, and Charles Van Engen. Communicating God’s Word in a Complex World: God’s Truth or Hocus Pocus? Lanham, MD. Rowman and Littlefield, 2003.

RECOMMENDED READING:

A selected bibliography of works relevant to the course will be distributed with the syllabus. Examples:
Harvie Conn. Eternal Word and Changing World: Theology, Anthropology, and Mission in Trialogue. G.R.: Zondervan
Hesselgrave, D., Contextualization. Michigan: Baker, 1989; Koyama, Kosuke, Waterbuffalo Theology. NY: Orbis, 1974; Schreiter, Robert, Constructing Local Theologies. NY: Orbis, 1985.

ASSIGNMENTS:

• Seven book reviews as per the required reading
• Reading reports on 200 additional pages of reading from the recommended reading and selected articles.
• Each student will select a contextual situation or problem, choose the appropriate perspective of contextual theology to apply to the situation, and reflect theologically on the situation/problem and suggest some biblical, ecclesial, cultural and missiological responses to it. This will be written up in a 15 to 20 page paper.
Th.M. Students: Th.M. students are asked to read 2 additional books, deepen and broaden their theological analysis of the contextual situation/problem and respond to it in a 25-30 page paper.

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective. Foundational for all work in contextualization.

FINAL EXAM: None.

Last Date Edited: January 10, 2005