In the thirty years since Constructing Local Theologies first appeared, it has been the basic handbook for anyone interested in understanding the theological implications of cultural pluralism. While the themes of inculturation and contextualization have been increasingly familiar, the insights of this groundbreaking work remain startlingly fresh and original. The proliferation of local theologies and the emergence of voices from the margins continue to challenge traditional assumptions that the theology of the dominant culture is universal and undetermined by context.
Encompassing recent developments in anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and communication theory The New Catholicity explores the many aspects of globalization that challenge Christianity as it enters into its third millennium.
This essential introduction to contemporary constructive theology charts the most important disciplinary trends of the moment. It gives a historical overview of the field and discusses key hermeneutical and methodological concerns. The contributors apply a constructive perspective to a wide range of approaches, ranging from biblical hermeneutics and postcolonial studies to comparative, political, and black theology. What is Constructive Theology? shows how diverse and interdisciplinary constructive theology can be by exploring key themes in the field. The contributors explore the porous boundaries between Christianity and other religions, reflect on contextual, liberation and constructive theologies from Africa and from Black British perspectives, explore the connection between embodiment, epistemology and hermeneutics, and take a constructive approach to the dangerous memories and theologies of colonial histories in Belgium and Native Americans in the United States. This sampler of the field will help you rethink theologies and find constructive alternatives.
Stephen B Bevans's Models of Contextual Theology has become a staple in courses on theological method and as a handbook used by missioners and other Christians concerned with the Christian tradition's understanding of itself in relation to culture. First published in 1992 and now in its seventh printing in English, with translations underway into Spanish, Korean, and Indonesian, Bevans's book is a judicious examination of what the terms "contextual theology" and "to contextualize" mean. In the revised and expanded edition, Bevans adds a "counter-cultural" model to the five presented in the first edition -- the translation, the anthropological, the praxis, the synthetic, and the transcendental model. This means that readers will be introduced to the way in which figures such as Stanley Hauerwas, John Milbank, Lesslie Newbigin, "and (occasionally) Pope John Paul II" need to be taken into account. The author's revisions also incorporate suggestions made by reviewers to enhance the clarity of the original three chapters on the nature of contextual theology and the five models.
This updated edition of the classroom favorite confirms its place as the most important systematic theology reader available with a liberationist perspective. Global in its outlook, Lift Every Voice incorporates the voices of North American men and women: Native Americans, Anglos, Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians. Part 1, on theological method, includes a new chapter by Ada Maria Isasi Diaz on love of neighbor in the twenty-first century. Part 2 centers on God and has a new chapter by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite. Part 3 includes Rosemary Radford Ruether's classic essay on eschatology and feminism. Andy Smith contributes an exciting new essay, "The Spirituality-Liberation Praxis of Native Women" to Part 4, which also includes Mary Potter Engel's much-quoted essay on "Evil, Sin, and Violation of the Vulnerable." Part 5 opens with Mary D. Pellauer's and Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite's classic essay on grace and healing from the perspective of the movement to end violence against women. Part 5 also includes pieces by Carter Heywood and Jacquelyn Grant on christology, and concludes with Sharon Ringe and Kwok Pui Lan's essays on reading the Bible. The careful organization and choice of essays makes Lift Every Voice a valuable book for a wide variety of courses. Its breadth and timeliness makes it possible to show the liberationist implications of the classic theological curriculum.
Doing Local Theology presents the construction of "local theologies" as an enterprise that's not just for specialists. This exciting and practical book promises to become a standard in courses on theological method and foundations of ministry. Book jacket.
"Mission is handicapped without a sound biblical theology of mission and an understanding of the history of mission leading up to our current context. Constants in Context offers both of these elements. It is mission theology in historical perspective and/or a history of mission that is grounded theologically. The authors describe it as a systematic theology with mission at its core, and a church history shaped by the constant but always contextual Christian traditions. Furthermore it is a constructive contribution to how mission theology needs to be practical and lived out through today's church and in our world. Written collaboratively by Roman Catholic writers Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder, both Missionaries of the Divine Word (SVDs). It is a particularly insightful in regard to the history and the various streams of Catholic mission but it also addresses and learns from the other traditions of the church. In fact, one of the book's strengths is its attention to neglected aspects and hidden stories of church and mission history. As a result it is gratifying to be inspired by non-European mission, women in mission and various forgotten or often ignored branches of the church. The book is in three sections: first, there is a framework for cultural contexts and theological constants; second, an in-depth exploration of historical stages and different models for mission; and third, a presentation of theological frameworks for mission. The third section concludes with a case for 'mission as prophetic dialogue' being the most appropriate model for 21st century mission." -- Amazon.com.
