{"id":4871,"date":"2015-05-09T01:00:48","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T08:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=4871"},"modified":"2015-05-09T01:20:04","modified_gmt":"2015-05-09T08:20:04","slug":"developing-a-local-theology-asia-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/developing-a-local-theology-asia-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Developing a Local Theology \u2013 Asia and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the preface to Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the faith from the ground up<\/em>, Simon Chan heightens one\u2019s reading expectations. Although the title implies a study on Asian theology, Chan holds out the spectra of developing an \u201cauthentic\u201d and \u201cvibrant\u201d theology \u201cthat will yield a better theology for the Asian church and perhaps the global church as well.\u201d[1]<\/a> Chan notes the perspective of an ancient church father, St. Prosper of Aquitaine, that belief is expressed through worship and prayer. The church\u2019s participation in prayer and worship is the articulation of their belief or theology. Aquitaine\u2019s Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi<\/em>, is the church engaging \u201cbelief<\/em> in a way that simply thinking about God or studying the faith does not naturally do. In other words, in an act of worship, the faithful are in dialogue with God and are engaged in an active and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

It is significant that Chan provides more than a perception or an interpretation on Asian theology. The author\u2019s approach to \u201cthinking the faith from the ground up\u201d expresses well the concept of a \u201cgrassroots\u201d theology made up of \u201clived experiences.\u201d This is true in the context of Asian culture but in other world cultures as well. Chan states \u201cContextual theologies emerge as the church lives out its given script in new situations. In other words, theology is first a lived experience of the church before it is a set of ideas formulated by church theologians.\u201d[3]<\/a> The practice of prayer and worship should determine the statement of belief.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Chan\u2019s presentation on and application of methodologies opens an abundance of concepts that relate to contextualizing the gospel in local culture. How do we develop a local theology? What has theology and local culture to do with each other? We live in an era of globalization where culture, multicultural, crosscultural, multiethnic and contextualizing the gospel are concepts that communities of faith (the local church) encounter in everyday ministry. Theology must engage people in everyday life. To paraphrase<\/u> Chan, \u201ca local theology is the Christian Faith in a local context.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

These concepts are reminiscent of the faith and theology concepts in Who needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study of God<\/em> by Stanley Grenz and Roger Olsen. Grenz and Olsen recognize that \u201canyone who reflects on life\u2019s ultimate questions \u2026 is a theologian.\u201d In addition, \u201ctheology is seeking to understand with the intellect what the heart \u2026 already believes and is committed to.\u201d[6]<\/a> In a similar manner, Chan notes that \u201cTheology comes as much from the Laity \u2026 as it does from the theologian.\u201d[7]<\/a> In Who Needs Theology<\/em>, the authors present theology on a spectrum from folk theology to academic theology; authenticity is determined by the extent of deliberative reflection coupled with the willingness to pursue the goal to deeply understand one\u2019s beliefs.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Spectrum<\/a><\/p>\n

Deliberative theology leads to constructive contextual application. Theological beliefs are relevant to contemporary culture. \u201cGood theology is never content to remain on the theoretical level; it always affects life.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Chan presents a similar concept in relating \u201clived theology\u201d and \u201celitist theology.\u201d He notes that the ecclesial experience (meaning the lived-out beliefs of the church) ought to be central to primary theology. \u201cThe task of the professional theologian is not to tell the church what is good for it but to listen carefully what the Spirit of truth who indwells the church is saying through the people of God.\u201d[10]<\/a> Chan characterizes the Spirit\u2019s work in the lives of everyday Christians as \u201cperhaps the most successful contextualization of the gospel the world has ever seen.\u201d[11]<\/a>This is the application of a \u201cFolk Christianity\u201d that defines theological belief and tradition as the Spirit practice of the gospel in culturally diverse communities. \u201cChristianity as a lived reality among ordinary folks has the unique characteristic of both preserving tradition and also changing it as it adapts to new challenges.\u201d[12]<\/a> Grenz and Olsen express this same concept when they state, \u201cTheology does not invent beliefs; it finds beliefs already among Christians and critically examines them.\u201d[13]<\/a><\/p>\n

In chapters 2 through 6 Chan engages in presenting a grassroots Asian theology. Although not inclusive of all Christian belief, he presents the context for the following: God and the Trinity, humanity and sin, Christ and salvation, Holy Spirit and spirituality, and the church. He engages belief\/faith, lived theology, culture and context using the processes of \u201cressourcement<\/em> and aggiornamento<\/em>.\u201d[14]<\/a> By ressourcement<\/em>, Chan is referring to Christian tradition as the guiding resource in developing an authentic Christian theology. He cites his sources through the book as \u201ccatholic and orthodox.\u201d Perhaps this source gives creditability as an elitist (academic) bases for his Asian theology. He defines aggiornamento<\/em> as the \u201cadaptation and updating in light of the new situations in which the church finds itself\u201d[15]<\/a> in a postmodern deconstructionist era. Perhaps this gives creditability to the contextualized theology that is lived by the church in every cultural circumstance. It is through maintaining a tension between these two processes for developing a theology that Chan provides a model for local church theology. He concludes, \u201cThis way of construing theology is not only closer to the Asian spirit at the grassroots level but also consistent with the larger Christian tradition. It is this correlation that validates its claim to universality. An authentic Asian theology is not just for the church in Asia but for the worldwide church.\u201d[16]<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Simon Chan, Grassroots Asian Theology: Thin king the Faith from the Ground Up <\/em>\u00a0Kindle ed. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic Press, 2014),<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Fr. Rick Hilgartner, \u201cLex Orandi, Lex Credendi<\/em>: The Word of God in the Celebration of the Sacraments,\u201d The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops<\/em> (accessed May 6, 2015) http:\/\/usccb.org\/beliefs-and-teachings\/how-we-teach\/catechesis\/catechetical-sunday\/word-of-god\/upload\/lex-orandi-lex-credendi.pdf<\/a>, 1, emphases mine.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Chan, Ibid., 189<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Chan, Ibid. 80.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olsen, Who Needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study of God<\/em> Kindle ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 75.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 1430.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid., 1200.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Chan, Ibid., 423-424.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Ibid., 432.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Ibid., 436.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Grenz & Olson, Ibid., 680.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Chan, Ibid., 45.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Ibid., 3355.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the preface to Grassroots Asian Theology: Thinking the faith from the ground up, Simon Chan heightens one\u2019s reading expectations. Although the title implies a study on Asian theology, Chan holds out the spectra of developing an \u201cauthentic\u201d and \u201cvibrant\u201d theology \u201cthat will yield a better theology for the Asian church and perhaps the global […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[491,634,2],"class_list":["post-4871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lgp4-3","tag-chan","tag-dminlgp","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4871"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4876,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4871\/revisions\/4876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}