Rumah-Ku, Rumah Doa Segala Bangsa: Telaah terhadap Yesaya 56:1-8 sebagai Hasil Interkultural Israel Paska Pembuangan

Intercultural is a necessity when we meet other people or other communities. Awareness of building relationships in a spirit of equality. In intercultural encounters, the horizon for culture will experience renewal. Text is also a product of culture, which can also experience intercultural encounters. One of the intercultural texts is Isaiah 56: 1-8. This text is important in intercultural theology because it’s contains a theology that is different from ancient Israel. This research was conducted in order to investigate the intercultural processes that occur in the text of Isaiah 56: 1-8. In order to elaborate on the theme, i will present of the pre-exilic community, the exile community and the post-exil community. The description of the three communities is important in the context of detecting intercultural texts. After becoming clear the intercultural process of the text, the text will be used as a foothold in formulating intercultural missions that are relevant to the church in Indonesia. AbstrakDalam sebuah perjumpaan dengan individu atau komunitas lain, interkultural adalah sebuah keniscayaan. Kesadaran akan teologi interkultural menjadi penting, dalam rangka membangun kesadaran membangun relasi dalam semangat kesetaraan. Dalam perjumpaan interkultural, horizon terhadap budaya akan mengalami kebaharuan. Teks sesungguhnya juga adalah produk budaya, yang juga bisa mengalami perjumpaan interkultural. Salah satu teks yang mengalami interkultural adalah Yesaya 56:1-8. Teks ini amat menarik karena mengandung teologi yang berbeda dengan Israel kuno. Penelitian ini dilakukan dalam rangka menelisikproses interkultural yang terjadi pada teks Yesaya 56:1-8. Dalam rangka mengelaborasi tema tersebut, maka penulis akan menyajikan gambaran komunitas pra-pembuangan, komunitas pada masa pembuangan dan komunitas paska pembuangan. Gambaran ketiga komunitas tersebut menjadi penting dalam rangka mendeteksi interkultural pada teks. Setelah menjadi terang proses interkultural pada teks, teks tersebut akan dijadikan pijakan dalam merumuskan misi interkultural yang relevan bagi gereja di Indonesia.

Intercultural Theology as In-Between Theology

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the term intercultural theology has been gaining more and more traction. At the same time, the terms world Christianity and anthropology of Christianity have also become established. This article inquires into the profile of intercultural theology against the other two terms and defines the subject as in-between theology with regard to such factors as audience, media, power, methodology, plurality, and connectivity. Looking forward, the author identifies current challenges and proposes that intercultural theology should be understood as a both descriptive and normative discipline, that the driving force behind it is the universal-missionary truth claim of the New Testament message of salvation, and that—as a subject with a primarily systematic orientation—it is committed to a comprehensive understanding of reality and theology.

Bridging Divides, Building Relations, and the Proposal for Intercultural Theology

This is a revised version of my Presidential Address, presented to the Canadian Theological Society. In it, I present and offer a proposal for intercultural theology. I start with a recent remark by Pope Francis about bridges (and walls), which leads to the notion of intercultural theology. I then say something about the ways in which intercultural theology has been understood and argue for a specific, concrete approach. I argue that, while such a theology can be part of what it is to do theology in general, it is also a personal task and vocation. After replying to some concerns about what intercultural theology may involve, I offer some concrete illustrations of how one might concretely engage in intercultural theology or theologizing. I conclude that, while intercultural theology may be disruptive, it can be of constructive service to theology today.

Being Othered, Embracing Others

This essay spotlights the experiences of otherness and marginalization of ethnic roots migrants in today’s South Korean society. It argues that their sense of liminality and rejection by both societies (diasporic and ethnic home), when examined through the concept of mestizaje, reflects their unique capacity to be bridge builders between the dominant majority and the excluded minority, including themselves. Also, using intercultural theology as a frame of theological reference to interpret the presence of roots migrants as both insiders and outsiders, the essay unmasks the overall fear of otherness and pride in homogeneity in Korean society that seldom problematizes the alienation of those labelled as the “others.” Finally, it discusses the importance of a genuine theological interpretation concerning the issue, so that it can construct spaces for an alternative understanding of identity and otherness that does not lead to exclusion but to embrace.