I think theology gets a bad wrap. For some people theology generates images of portly men in academic regalia debating questions fit only for ivory towers. If that’s all there is to theology then theology is irrelevant. For other people theology conjures up thoughts of unbending traditions that over time supplant the authority of Scripture. To the extent that this is true, theology is oppressive. For me, however, theology takes place where Gospel meets culture. And I’ve found few things in life more exhilarating!
The Gospel met culture in the Bible. H. D. Beeby wrote a wonderful little book called Canon and Mission. In this book he argues that throughout the long history of the Bible the unchanging message of God encountered a multitude of different cultures. The context may have changed but the message stayed the same. Perhaps that’s why we have four books in the New Testament called gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). God had one Gospel message for four different contexts. The Bible is filled with good theology.
The Gospel met culture throughout history. The Gospel first encountered Jewish culture. It quickly encountered Greek culture. In time, the Gospel encountered Roman culture. There is even compelling evidence that the Gospel made it to India before close of the first century. All along the way, theology changed so the message of the Gospel could stay the same. History is filled with good theology.
The Gospel met culture in the modern missionary movement. Modern travel and technology exposed the western world to a previously unimaginable variety of peoples. This led to an explosion of Bible translations and missionary societies. This also led missionaries to wrestle with the best ways to communicate the unchanging message of the Gospel to a host of different cultures. Modern missions is filled with good theology.
The Gospel still meets culture today. In our cities, towns, neighborhoods, and schools, cultures cascade one over the other. Formerly, travel and technology carried us to distant shores; today, they bring those distant shores to our doorsteps. More than ever, theology needs to change so the message of the Gospel can stay the same. We can learn a lot about good theology from the Bible, from history, and from missions. In all honesty, it behooves us to learn these valuable lessons from the past. But nothing is more exhilarating than doing good theology anywhere Gospel meets culture.
Cris Alley, PhD
2 Comments
Brian · January 24, 2018 at 9:26 pm
Cris,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Based on what you’ve written, I think we can agree that historically changes to theology have been both good and bad for the Gospel. In your opinion, do you think there have been more good changes to theology than bad? Furthermore, is the modern western church promoting or preventing good theological change?
admin · January 25, 2018 at 5:06 pm
Brian, nice questions.
For your first question, I think changes to theology have been good when several ingredients are in place. One, you have a community of believers devoted to the authority of the Bible. Two, this community of believers strives to understand the meaning of Scripture in the context of God’s mission and endeavors to apply the meaning of Scripture in the context of their own mission to the world. Three, the community is open to constructive criticism from other similar communities of believers. David Clark outlines such a relationship in his work To Know and Love God in his chapter on Theology in Cultural Context.
For your second question, the answer for me is mixed. The western church has a very rich theological tradition. This is a treasure. However, we tend to think that our theology is the best theology. Sometimes we act like it’s the only theology. To the extent that we approach theology with a superiority complex, we prevent good theological change. You can see from the blog that my simplified view of theology is that point where Gospel meets culture. We have a growing number of non-western cultures doing and making valuable contributions to theology today. Who better to bring the Gospel into contact with these cultures than the believing cultural insiders? We prevent good theology when we impose our cultural application of Gospel onto theirs. We promote good theology when we come along beside one another.
Comments are closed.