RETHINKING “CONTEXTUALIZATION”

Abstract

Recent theology missiology have argued that the Christian religion must not only be lived in each cultural situation, but its theology must also be rethought in each such situation. This goes beyond the dimension of application and moves to Christian doctrine. Thus for example, the meaning of the Gospel in each new cultural context must be rethought by drawing up local catechisms and doing theology from out of that particular context.In a forthcoming book, Richard Mouw of Fuller Theological Seminary notes that both Charles Hodge and Sojourner Truth were raised within an “Amsterdam Christianity,” one a man of considerable prominence in 19th Century America, the other a woman and slave. While both of them drew on Amsterdam theology as a resource, they did so from very different economic, cultural, social, and gender locations. The resulting theologies were related but different.