Public Theology: Its Pastoral, Apologetic, Scientific, Political, and Prophetic Tasks

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-177
Author(s):  
Ted Peters
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Political Theology ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Constructive Work ◽  
The Church

Abstract This blueprint for a constructive public theology assumes that Christian theology already includes public discourse. Following David Tracy’s delineation of three publics—church, academy, culture—further constructive work leads to a public theology conceived in the church, reflected on critically in the academy, and meshed with the wider culture. Public reflection on classic Christian doctrines in a post-secular pluralistic context takes the form of pastoral illumination, apologetic reason, a theology of nature, political theology, and prophetic critique.

Politische Theologie und öffentliche Theologie

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-290
Author(s):  
Jürgen Moltmann
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Political Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Johann Baptist Metz ◽  
The Church ◽  
Christian Message

AbstractReferring to the discussions on »Public Theology« in issue 1 of this volume of EvTh, Jürgen Moltmann recalls the »new political theology« to which, together with Johann Baptist Metz and others, he contributed in the 60th and 70th of the 20th century. Unlike this »Political Theology«, according to Moltmann, »Public Theology« does not primarily focus on a libera­ting practice but rather on the Church’s Impact on public discourse. Moltmann reminds the Church, however, not to neglect the content of the Christian message by only aiming at public attention and Impact.

scholarly journals A Politics of Tending and Transformation

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Farneth
Keyword(s):  
Political Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Church

In Awaiting the King: Reforming Public Theology, James K. A. Smith gives us a liturgical political theology. The question posed here is whether that political theology attends to how the work of tending to the goods held in common by diverse democratic publics can also surprise and transform Christians and the liturgies of the Church.

scholarly journals “MELAMPAUI DUNIA LATIN : KEMURIDAN DAN KEWARGAAN DALAM TEOLOGI PUBLIK KEKRISTENAN ASIA”

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
James Haire
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Third ◽  
Asian Society ◽  
Pauline Theology ◽  
Christian Discipleship ◽  
Concrete Reality ◽  
The Church

Abstract: This article looks at the issues of discipleship and citizenship in the context of Asian Christianity in terms of “belonging”. The concept of discipleship refers to the concept of belonging within the church, while the concept of citizenship refers to belonging within the nation-state. Thus the issue of belonging within these two spheres is a sub-set of the questions relating to public theology within Asian Christianity. The first issue considered is the question as to what extent the assumptions of public Christian theology actually are the assumptions of post-Enlightenment western Christian theology alone, and therefore have only very indirect links with Asian Christianity. The second issue is the intercultural nature of Christian theology, and its implications for public theology, including discipleship and citizenship. The third issue is the reality of Asian society and Asian Christian theology, particularly public theology. Where Christianity is a minority (albeit, large minority), what is the contribution of a public Christian theology to the debates of civil society? In this section the author looks at the concrete reality of violence in Asia, and seek to analyse how the dynamics of Pauline theology frequently used in Asia engage with the fact of violence. Finally the article seeks to answer the question as to what we can learn from Asian Christian contexts on the interaction of faith and culture in relation to Christian discipleship and engaged citizenship. Keywords: kekristenan, budaya, teologi publik, gereja, lokal, global, Asia, reformasi.

Public Theology and Counter-Public Spheres

1992 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
The Past ◽  
Alternative Proposal ◽  
Special Revelation

In the past decade a number of influential theologians have claimed, based on the analogy of modern science, that Christian theology is or should be public discourse, a public discipline which is addressed to all people and which uses criteria acceptable to all. This claim is usually contrasted with a view in which theology is understood as private, subjective, authoritarian, based on faith or a special revelation, and limited to a particular community. In this essay I shall explore in particular David Tracy's claim that theology should be public discourse, point out some difficulties with regard to this claim, and make an alternative proposal.

scholarly journals Reading Karl Barth in Myanmar: The Significance of His Political Theology for a Public Theology in Myanmar

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 416-439
Author(s):  
David Thang Moe
Keyword(s):  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Political Theology ◽  
Church And State ◽  
Karl Barth ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Ethical Role ◽  
Two Kingdoms ◽  
The Church ◽  
Traditional Doctrine

Abstract This article pays particular attention to the three themes in Barth’s macro-political theology and their contextual significance for a micro-political theology for Myanmar. First, I explore Barth’s renewed doctrine of political Lordship in response to the traditional doctrine of two kingdoms. Second, I examine his hermeneutics of the dialectical relation between church and state and the ethical role of the church in the sociopolitical situation in the light of his theological document of the Barmen Declaration against the evil of Nazism and the errors of the church. Finally, I seek to show how Barth’s political theology and liberation theology are convergent and divergent in their synthetic goals of transforming unjust rulers and liberating the oppressed, reforming and renewing the ethnic church, and establishing an embracive and reconciled community in Myanmar.

scholarly journals Public Moral Discourse

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Robin Lovin
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Practical Interest ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Moral Theology ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Moral Discourse ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Moral Concepts ◽  
Christian Worship ◽  
The Church

Public moral discourse encompasses open discussions in which moral concepts of good and right are brought to bear on questions of public policy and on broader issues of basic rights and the goals and rules that guide social institutions. These public questions also raise practical, apologetic, and political concerns that are central to Christian ethics and moral theology. Public discourse frames legal and political understandings of religious freedom, and Christian ethics has a practical interest in ensuring that these choices do not limit Christian worship and formation or unduly restrict the institutional life of the church. Public discourse also engages apologetic theology in a moral task because the questions raised in public discourse involve conceptions of human good, human nature, and human community that have been discussed in Christian theology across the centuries. Christians have a distinctive understanding of persons in society that they hope to make effective, or at least to make understood, in a wider public discussion. Finally, public moral discourse gives rise to a moral responsibility for Christian participation in politics to create a public consensus on the creation of shared human goods.

Power, Knowledge and Authority in Public Theology

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Graham
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Generation ◽  
Theological Discourse ◽  
The Church

AbstractOne of the most distinctive movements within Christian theology to have emerged over the past generation has been the various theologies of liberation which originated in Latin America but which now span a diversity of styles, including feminist and womanist, Black, Asian and lesbian/gay/bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) theologies. All theologies of liberation purport to give a voice to the experiences of those formerly silenced or marginalized by society and/or the Church. This is essentially an issue of power, since one of the authenticating marks of such theologies is the extent to which they enable such groups to move from powerlessness to empowerment. Yet theologies of liberation also represent, potentially, another redistribution of power, by enabling previously excluded groups to bring their interpretations and testimonies into theological discourse. This article examines the background to this intersection of power and knowledge in theology, and asks how public theology might assist such a process of theological empowerment.

scholarly journals Prophetic witness and public discourse in European societies – a German perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
The Public ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
Pluralistic Societies ◽  
Prophetic Witness ◽  
The Church

The role of prophetic witness of the churches in the public discourse of modern civil societies is analysed on the basis of three public memorandums of the German Protestant churches on economic questions and their impact on the public. Among the ten systematic conclusions which are drawn from this case study is the importance of the specific context for the role of prophetic statements. The article tries to show how prophetic witness is a necessary element of a public theology, which is not based on fundamental criticism, but develops both critical and constructive perspectives for politics and society. If such public theology is liberation theology for a democratic society it is the task of the church to get involved in the public debate in a ‘bilingual’ way, that is, on the basis of its biblical-theological sources but at the same time with the ability to engage in the secular language of pluralistic societies.

Is Sino-Christian Theology Truly “Theology”? Problematizing Sino-Christian Theology as a Public Theology

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-119
Author(s):  
Jason Lam
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Past ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
The Church ◽  
Chinese Public

Abstract Most participants in the Sino-Christian theology movement are not affiliated with the church. This state of affairs naturally raises the question whether what scholarship arises is really a kind of theology or merely writings on public and/or political issues with reference to Christian themes. And yet the movement is more influential than the church in the Chinese public realm in terms of its ability to produce a Christian voice. The purpose of this article is first to examine the historical development of Sino-Christian theology over the past several decades. Some particular themes of this movement are then explored. These themes are intertwined with the discussion of polytheistic values, nationalism, and self-identity in times of cultural conflict: all of these matters are of wide public concern. There are evident tensions within the Sino-Christian theology movement: the intention is to show points of difference can be transformed and become a creative drive behind the construction of a new kind of theology in the Chinese public realm.

scholarly journals Plurality in the Theological Struggle against Apartheid

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-134
Author(s):  
George J. (Cobus) van Wyngaard
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Theological Anthropology ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Significant Marker ◽  
The Church

AbstractThe church struggle against apartheid remains a key case study in ecumenical public theology, with particular relevance for the Reformed tradition. The importance of Christian theology in both the justification of and opposition to apartheid is well known. Also, the process of ecumenical discernment for responding to apartheid became a significant marker in global ecumenical reflection on what today we might describe as public theology. However, the idea of a theological struggle against apartheid risks ironing out the different theological positions that oppose apartheid. This article highlights some of the attempts to analyze the theological plurality in responses to apartheid. Then it proceeds to present an alternative way of viewing this plurality by focusing on the way in which different classic theological questions were drawn upon to analyze apartheid theologically. Using as examples the important theologians David Bosch, Simon Maimela, and Albert Nolan, it highlights how apartheid was described as a problem of ecclesiology, theological anthropology, and soteriology. It argues that this plurality of theological analyses allows us to rediscover theological resources that might be of particular significance as race and racism take on new forms in either democratic South Africa or the contemporary world. Simultaneously, it serves as a valuable example in considering a variety of theological questions when theologically reflecting on issues of public concern.

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