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- Herausgeber: IVP Academic
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Serie: Missiological Engagements
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
Christianity is not only a global but also an intercultural phenomenon. The diversity of world Christianity is evident not merely outside our borders but even within our own neighborhoods.M Over the past half century theologians and missiologists have addressed this reality by developing local and contextual theologies and by exploring issues like contextualization, inculturation, and translation. In recent years these various trajectories have coalesced into a new field called intercultural theology. Bringing together missiology, religious studies, social science research, and Christian theology, the field of intercultural theology is a fresh attempt to rethink the discipline of theology in light of the diversity and pluriformity of Christianity today. Henning Wrogemann, one of the leading missiologists and scholars of religion in Europe, has written the most comprehensive textbook on the subject of Christianity and culture today. In three volumes his Intercultural Theology provides an exhaustive account of the history, theory, and practice of Christian mission. Volume one introduces the concepts of culture and context, volume two surveys theologies of mission both past and present, and volume three explores theologies of religion and interreligious relationships. In this first volume on intercultural hermeneutics, Wrogemann introduces the term "intercultural theology" and investigates what it means to understand another cultural context. In addition to surveying different hermeneutical theories and concepts of culture, he assesses how intercultural understanding has taken place throughout the history of Christian mission. Wrogemann also provides an extensive discussion of contextual theologies with a special focus on African theologies. Intercultural Theology is an indispensable resource for all people—especially students, pastors, and scholars—that explores the defining issues of Christian identity and practice in the context of an increasingly intercultural and interreligious world. Missiological Engagements charts interdisciplinary and innovative trajectories in the history, theology, and practice of Christian mission, featuring contributions by leading thinkers from both the Euro-American West and the majority world whose missiological scholarship bridges church, academy, and society.
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INTERCULTURAL THEOLOGY Volume One
INTERCULTURALHERMENEUTICS
TRANSLATED BYKarl E. Böhmer
For Andra, Julia, Sarah, and Ellen
Contents
Preface to the English Edition (2016)
In the twenty-first century, Christianity has become a global religious configuration with many regional variations. These variations within Christianity imply that local Christian actors are allowing local contexts to shape their message and way of life to a significant extent. At the same time, tensions arise because the values and behaviors of one context, such as West Africa, sometimes clash with those of a different context, such as India. This directs our attention to intercontinental and intercultural relationships between the various Christian churches and movements in Africa, Asia, the two Americas, Europe, Oceania, and elsewhere: Who gets to decide what is “Christian,” and on what basis? Does “Old Europe” possess the superior authority on the grounds of its centuries-old doctrinal tradition, or do the churches in other continents possess the superior authority because they have greater missionary vitality and are perhaps more contextual?
This brings us to the research area of the discipline that has come to be known in European countries as “intercultural theology.” What is intercultural theology all about? For starters, it is about developing awareness of the wealth of differences in the global scene when it comes to the Christian way of life. It begins with something as simple as appreciating and understanding the outlandishness of churches and congregations in other cultures. In other words, this is about the issue of intercultural hermeneutics. After all, differences exist not only between various confessions and denominations but also between various cultural forms of the same denomination, such as between Baptist entities in the Congo, Thailand, and North America. What do these forms look like? Is it possible for “theology” to be expressed in songs, dances, and rituals? To what extent may theological doctrines differ from each other?
But intercultural theology, understood as an intercultural hermeneutics of Christian entities worldwide, is about more than just appreciating the differences. It is also concerned with what constitutes the unity or at least the commonality within intercultural ecumenism. In this regard, we will need to address some issues which are being discussed in North America under the heading of “World Christianity.” Still, intercultural theology places a different emphasis, since its aim is not to play the Christianities of other continents off against the European history of Christianity but rather to help people progress beyond binary interpretive models and to come to a better understanding. But how is this to be substantiated theoretically?
The present first volume of my Intercultural Theology addresses issues of intercultural hermeneutics.1 It deals with contextual theologies from various continents and contexts, articulated in a variety of media. In addition, it addresses the issue of ecumenical cohesion. We must first become aware of the many differences between local Christianities before we can get a general idea of what constitutes Christianity as a global religious configuration (irrespective of what the individual observer may believe to be true or normal).
The second volume will proceed to cover the contextual diversity of Christian missions worldwide. Differences exist not only between various forms of Christian worship, ritual acts, ideas of moral values, and forms of socioethical-political involvement, but also between various configurations of Christian missions, Christian life witness, and Christian proclamation. Continental European universities locate the discipline of intercultural theology in the tradition of mission studies. Globally, the Christian religious configuration continues to exert a strong missionary influence and to cross boundaries to this effect. Never in the history of Christianity have there been as many missionaries as there are today. Never have there been such diverse modes of operation.
It is essential that people become aware of this in order to counteract stereotypes that tend either to see Christian missions in a negative light, as is often the case in European societies today, or to misinterpret them triumphalistically. Intercultural theology is tasked with studying these forms, analyzing them, and doing mission theology by attempting to come up with substantive, locally appropriate answers and by communicating these amid the wealth of different contexts and positions.
But there is more. The third volume of this textbook will speak to another issue, namely to that of interreligious relationships. The quest to understand the Other should not only be pursued among Christians of different cultures with respect to the forms of Christian churches, congregations, and movements, nor only with respect to the modes of operation and the goals of different Christian missions, but also with respect to other religious configurations and their followers. From a religiocultural perspective, societies are becoming more and more pluralistic today. But how are we to deal with this diversity? How can we appreciate the religious Other and at the same time be sure of our own respective faith traditions and ways of life? What do we mean when we speak of dialogue, identity, witness, recognition, and plurality? What factors actually play a role in interreligious relationships—various media, perhaps? What claims to validity are people making, for instance, when it comes to civil society? In a globalized world, people of different religions and cultures can no longer avoid each other. They have no choice but to work together respectfully. But this does not mean surrendering one’s own principles of faith.
The three volumes of this textbook are written in the awareness that the discipline of intercultural theology2 will fundamentally determine the future of theological education in all parts of the world. It is not sufficient merely to describe global Christianity from a historic perspective. This is about much more than that. It is about seeking to understand as far as possible the variations among local Christianities, their forms and contexts, and their missions and interreligious relationships. This calls for a descriptive approach. Then again, this is about factoring ourselves into the equation and taking a theological position with respect to these discourses. This in turn calls for a normative approach. After all, if the intercultural theologian were to refuse to take a position, then she might well be accused of attempting to take a neutral position from which to study all the other phenomena as mere “research objects.” This would factor her own views out of the equation and eliminate the possibility of criticism by other brothers and sisters. That is to say that, in this sense, intercultural theology thrives on the tension occasioned by a descriptive and a normative approach. For this reason, it resorts to an academically responsible methodology, drawing from the fields of religious studies, mission studies, and cultural studies. At the same time, it uses approaches from the theology of mission, the theology of religion, and the theology of ecumenism. This means that intercultural theology takes a new approach that builds on the tradition of mission studies and pursues it in a new way.
At this point I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the translator of this book, Dr. Karl E. Böhmer, and to InterVarsity Press for publishing it under the IVP Academic imprint.
Henning Wrogemann
Wuppertal, Germany
Epiphany 2016
Preface to the German Edition (2011)
Christianity is a global religious configuration, yet the mainstream media seldom take notice of its diversity and beauty, its problems and profundities, and its strengths and challenges. But the same is also true with regard to Christian churches and congregations. In Europe, Christianity is regarded as a religion that has more or less grown old and stale, to which the poor church attendance, the many churches that have been sold, and the declining membership figures bear eloquent witness. At the same time, fairly little notice is taken of the presence of Christians in other continents in general. In the area of theological studies, the discipline dedicated to both the study of the outward appearance taken by the Christian presence outside Europe and its subject matter also led a marginal existence until very recently. It is only as of recently that change has begun to take place.
This new emphasis was long overdue for a number of reasons. First, today’s globalized world demands knowledge and awareness of both transnational and transcontinental interrelationships as an essential part of basic education, be it in the areas of history, politics, or economy (to name just three). Correspondingly, for the purpose of theological orientation the student must become familiar with Christianity as a global religious configuration with many cultural- and context-specific variations, of which the formative vigor often clearly transcends the older categories of confessional profiles. Besides, there is no need to emphasize that taking notice of foreign brothers and sisters accords with an ecumenical orientation of the Christian faith. Many interrelationships, such as political and societal events in countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania, are almost impossible to understand without knowledge of the religiocultural agents that are at work—including the Christian congregations and churches. A look at European societies and their contexts in turn reveals that a plurality of Christianities is already present there too in the form of immigrant congregations. It is estimated that in the urban area of Hamburg, for instance, more Christians from Africa, Asia, and Latin America attend the worship services of their congregations on any given Sunday than German Christians do those of the state churches and of other German churches. From the perspective of intercultural ecumenism on a transcontinental and intercultural level, the question at issue is one of ecumenical scope, perception, and solidarity; closer to home, in terms of local and regional proximity, the question at issue is one of on-site intercultural-ecumenical cooperation.
A particular expertise is needed for the observation and analysis of these phenomena, an expertise that is introduced into the spectrum of theological disciplines by the subject of intercultural theology/mission studies. It goes without saying that research methods from the areas of cultural and religious studies are brought to bear as well. At the same time, this subject concerns itself with researching the dissemination modalities of various religious configurations as well as their mission awareness. Thus it studies mission as an interreligious phenomenon (even though the term mission has only limited application to other religious configurations or to various movements or institutions within them). By providing analyses in this domain, the subject contributes both to the analysis of society and, in a more general sense, to the research of conflict and conflict resolution from the perspective of mission and religious studies. In the context of culturally and religiously pluralistic societies, the scientific analysis of the agents of civil society in this sense (religious groups, movements, or institutions may certainly be understood to be such) and of their specific motives, self-justification, behavioral patterns, and networks makes an indispensable contribution to the perception of societal realities. Furthermore, mission studies research is of singular importance for the understanding of societal processes in other countries and continents. It is astonishing to observe that, in the European context, the subject of mission leads a marginalized existence and that the term is still shunned in many places, while in other countries and contexts, expansion efforts by religious agents have increased dramatically. Religious agents and their missions are therefore of considerable relevance, not only socially but also politically (in very diverse forms). There is a significant need for research in this area.
Beyond what was said above, there is a growing interest in the issue of relationships between the religions. In the past, such issues were frequently discussed under the rubric of a “theology of religion.” The subject of intercultural theology/mission studies has long made important contributions to this subject area in the form of field research and individual studies. Such research continues to be of considerable significance for the future, since it presents a correction to the tendency that continues overly to predominate in the European context, namely to discuss such issues merely on the level of intellectual reflection. In this regard it is possible to open up new, more comprehensive, more up-to-date, and often more realistic perspectives on the basis of material from the intercultural-interreligious domain.
These few remarks touch on only a limited number of aspects that will be discussed in this three-volume textbook on intercultural theology/mission studies. The present first volume is dedicated to the subject of intercultural theology and hermeneutics. It is soon to be followed by a second volume on mission theologies of the present and by a third on a theology of interreligious relations. The textbook is intended for those studying to become pastors or teachers; for interested readers in congregations, churches, schools, and institutions in the area of intercultural social work; for colleagues in the area of ecumenical mission work, such as those serving in academic departments or in mission institutes; and beyond that for the general public.
At this point, I would like to thank the people who accompanied me during the past two decades on my journeys in the area of intercultural ecumenism and local interreligious relationships, including many longstanding friends and colleagues. They helped me again and again to see the world with different eyes. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to my coworkers in two mission institutes, first the Evangelical-Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM), where I served for six years, and then also the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), with which I am currently cooperating extensively. Many of you provided me with insight into the issues of your life and your work. I would also like to thank my doctoral and habilitation supervisor, Heidelberg scholar in mission and religious studies, Prof. Dr. Theo Sundermeier, who was and continues to be a source of inspiration and encouragement to me.
For their many pointers and proofreading efforts, my gratitude goes to my former assistant, Dr. Gudrun Löwner (Bangalore); to my doctoral candidates, Sören Asmus and Detlef Hiller; and also to my current assistant and habilitation candidate, Dr. John Flett. The complete work is dedicated to my family, who have patiently endured up until now the times of my absence and who accompany my work with loving interest.
Henning Wrogemann
Wuppertal, Germany
November 2011
PART I
Intercultural Theology
What Does This Mean?
1
The Gospel of Life in the Midst of Cultures
An African Case Study
The research area of intercultural theology comprises worldwide Christianity, i.e., that religious configuration that is currently represented by more than two billion followers in all parts of the globe and that has found its expression in a plethora of regional and local varieties of Christianity. Intercultural theology/mission studies focuses its attention on those processes of exchange in which new forms of Christianity arise in a given place, on the one hand, and in which Christian churches, congregations, and movements exert an influence on the cultures, contexts, and societies in that place, on the other. In addition, it investigates how these various Christianities—in the form of churches, congregations, networks, and individual people—enter into a relationship with one another, be it on a local, regional, or transnational level. A striking example from the area of intercultural encounters will preface the subsequent explanations by way of illustration. This example will serve as the basis for an introduction to important, determining issues for the subject of intercultural theology/mission studies.
HOW PASTOR MASTAI DRIVES OUT EVIL SPIRITSIN HIS CONGREGATIONIN DARES SALAAM
The Kimara Lutheran Parish is located in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Dar es Salaam is a large port city near the island of Zanzibar on the Indian Ocean, a city of currently about four million residents. The Kimara Lutheran Parish is located near the city next to a major arterial highway. It comprises a modern edifice, containing both the church building on the second floor and various congregation rooms on the first. The façade is white, the roof a radiant light blue. From the spacious parking lot, we enter the lower part of the building, proceeding through a hallway into an anteroom. Around thirty persons are gathered here, mostly women, generally young and middle aged, and also a few men and a few elderly people. We pass through the waiting room and enter the pastor’s office. Reverend Willy Samuel Mastai is a young man in his early thirties, perhaps, of the athletic type, wearing plain clothing, shirt not tucked in. The room conically tapers toward the pastor’s desk owing to the form of the building. While the more spacious part is tiled, the tapering part is carpeted. A few chairs line the otherwise bleak walls; the many barred windows are open. It is sunny outside. Palm fronds sway in the breeze. The desk is rather cluttered; behind it stands a shabby cupboard with a few files, on top of it a few trophy cups.
All day long people have been calling on the pastor, looking for advice and help. We—a colleague from Germany, a local pastor of the Lutheran church, and myself—are briefly greeted as guests, followed by a likewise brief introduction to what is about to happen. Then Reverend Mastai again turns to his tasks: pastoral care, prayers for healing, and exorcisms. The next person seeking help is allowed to enter. Some of the people outside have been waiting for four hours already, as the pastor briefly explains. The middle-aged woman is smartly dressed; rings and earrings reveal that she probably belongs to the middle class. She takes off her shoes and positions herself in front of the pastor with a touch of bashfulness. A short conversation in Kiswahili follows. We three visitors are invited to stand in a circle and lay hands on the woman, on her shoulders. The pastor says an audible prayer for healing, perhaps two minutes long; a brief exchange of words takes place, and the woman leaves. A young man comes in; after a brief explanation, a prayer for blessing is spoken over him, and he leaves. It seems he did not want anything more than a blessing. In the meantime, the pastor’s phone, which he had deposited on his desk, keeps ringing every few minutes. The pastor is in great demand. A middle-aged woman enters; the pastor sits down on his chair, the woman next to him. A somewhat more extensive exchange takes place, and then the pastor dismisses the woman. While she leaves he explains that it concerns relationship problems, it would take a while, and a special session would be necessary.
Then an older woman comes in, poorly dressed, thickset, and corpulent. The pastor already knows the woman. He estimates that this is the fourth time she has come. It seems that she suffers from the indwelling of evil spirits. The woman positions herself in front of the pastor. He instructs her in a few words to look him in the eyes, while he himself stares at her with a very grave expression. Half a minute. One minute. One and a half minutes. The woman repeatedly evades his gaze; she looks at the floor or past him. Abruptly, Reverend Mastai then lifts up his hand and places it on the woman’s forehead and the upper part of her face. The exorcism begins, for only if she had matched his gaze would it have been an unmistakable sign that the spirit had left the woman already. The state of possession is not yet over; the evil spirit is still present within her. Therefore the pastor begins to say the prayer of exorcism.
He prays out loud; his voice sometimes grows louder and then softer again. Again and again the demand is repeated for the evil spirit to depart in Jesus’ name: “In the name of Jesus, the mighty Savior”—the same words are repeated eight times, ten times, fifteen times. The woman’s body is seized with convulsions; she hugs herself, contorts herself, with her eyes closed or occasionally rolling about. She falls backwards; we bystanders catch her, only just managing to prevent her from hitting the floor. Choking noises ensue; sometimes she emits a loud scream; the woman is again seized with convulsions as if trying to spit something out. She is foaming at the mouth, trembling and contorted. Then she comes to again, takes four steps sideways, bent over, to where a little plastic bowl with sand is ready; she spits. Presumably, this kind of spitting out takes place frequently. The cellphone on the desk rings and rings. No one pays any attention to it. Again and again the pastor casts a searching look at the woman, continually saying new prayers of exorcism over her, accompanied by the murmuring of his colleague, who is also a pastor but who maintains a low profile except for the murmured prayer. After a few minutes, the exorcism is over. The pastor asks the woman whether she feels any better; she nods casually, does not say much—and leaves. All of a sudden, everyday normality resumes—or at least, that is how I experience it as an observer.
More persons are led in and treated in a similar fashion.1 For the most part, these are women. Besides the prayers of exorcism, which sometimes transition into a loud, intermittent series of commands, little physical contact occurs; when it does, then it does so especially in the area of the forehead and head and in the form of laying hands on the upper abdomen of the female patients or by pressing on this area with the hand. The female patients repeatedly sink backwards or fall all the way to the floor. After a number of such treatments, Pastor Mastai takes a break. When asked why women in particular make use of these treatments, he answers that this is probably due to the women being under stress in this country’s social system, which remains a patriarchal one. He establishes a connection to the activity of the spirits by pointing out that these strains impose suffering on the women and that this suffering in turn makes them vulnerable and therefore receptive for the activity of evil spirits. After these impressions, we now leave Reverend Mastai and his congregation in Dar es Salaam and ask some pertinent questions.
AN OBSERVER ASKS CRITICAL QUESTIONSFROMA EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
Let us imagine a European person observing these events. It may be assumed that the scenario that was just depicted would initially cause some disconcertment for her. There was the trembling by someone who was “possessed,” the screaming, the choking, the spitting—she might think it was slimy and rather disgusting. Dealing with demons is not an everyday occurrence in Western society, but rather something relegated to the domain of horror movies, a marginalized topic barely good enough for the often bloodthirsty spine-chillers of the cinema. But even in these movies, the subject of demons is usually depicted as restricted to a few persons, while here in Dar es Salaam it is obviously something that concerns many people. This raises the question of the doctrine of demons and society: Is this not a matter of having relapsed into the ritual language of the old tribal religions? Is this not a case of a conventional, traditional, and almost “medieval” devotional practice? Or is this not somehow also a modern phenomenon—after all, it occurs not in the country but in a city with more than a million inhabitants? And if the latter is the case, then in what sense is it modern? With regard to the people involved, our observer could go on to ask: Does this constitute an irrational or a rational manner of action? In short, from a European perspective one might well ask: Is this ordinary or extraordinary? Backward or modern? Irrational or rational?
Now our observer hails from the realm of a Christian environment. In addition, as a church elder, hers is a decidedly ecclesiastical perspective. She asks herself: Is this practice actually still Christian? Or is this a case of an illegitimate commingling of religions (which would need to be labeled with the corresponding technical term, syncretism)? Does this not constitute a reemergence of the religious practice of the old tribal religions, which had been overcome by Christianity long before? With regard to her congregation in Germany, she asks herself: Is this practice actually still Lutheran? As far as she knows, no exorcisms are performed in the German Lutheran mainline churches anymore, and especially not in connection with pastoral care. What value does this religious practice then have for the larger reality of the Lutheran church in Tanzania? Is this not something practiced by the Pentecostal churches (our German church elder once heard a presentation about the Pentecostal movement), in which healing, miracles, and the exorcism of spirits play a far greater role worldwide than in other Christian churches? Or, put more critically, she might ask herself: Is what is happening here “authentic”—or is it not rather some form of charlatanry? In short, from a European Christian perspective, one might well ask, Is this syncretistic or Christian? Pentecostal or Lutheran? Authentic or fake?
These questions reflect a European preconception strongly determined by the thinking of the Enlightenment. The basic assumption is that practically every phenomenon of our realm of experience may be explained scientifically. Physical suffering may be explained by means of an examination and treated with surgeries and medications; mental illness may likewise be explained by means of anamnesis and treated with corresponding psychological or medicinal therapy. This way of thinking determines not just everyday life in Western society but also life in the church: in worship services, congregation activities, and diaconal institutions, a “rational” manner of action sets the tone throughout—that is to say, one that does not account for the interference of any evil powers (spirits, demons, etc.). This is the reason for our church elder’s impression that Pastor Mastai’s “treatments” constitute a premodern, irrational, syncretistic, and perhaps disingenuous practice, one that is in no way “Lutheran” in the normal sense, “Reformed,” or somehow “evangelical.”
All of this leads to another dilemma, namely to the ethical question: Can the practice of Pastor Mastai be condoned? From a European perspective, should the man not be made to understand that what he is doing is profoundly prescientific? Should one not insist that these poor people do not need some strange arcane rites but rather psychological treatment, and that they need it not from a pastor but from an academically trained psychotherapist? Is this not, more than anything else, an ostensible case of deferring the problems? Could it not be that many symptoms even result from mental illnesses, which are impossible to diagnose medicinally? Is it not irresponsible summarily to administer “spiritual” help to the people when real help is needed instead? Is it not necessary first to consider the social causes that might be behind the mental disorders of many women, such as the unemployment of the husband who constantly beats his wife, or the excessive demands made on her as a result of too many children, or something similar? Would social programs not therefore be much more effective than this kind of pastoral activity? And, if nothing else, is it not one’s Christian duty to help people by (among other things) helping them come to know the truth, and does this not also mean interpreting the actual state of affairs correctly? Are people not delivered from their fears when they come to understand that it is not evil spirits that are the cause for certain phenomena, but simply a complex of interrelated factors that may be described scientifically?
These ethical questions might well lead to the formulation of ethical challenges for ecclesiastical cooperation, and our church elder, who simultaneously also serves as a delegate of her church body (and, being a church parliamentarian, she therefore also has a vote), wonders whether she should not propose this to a committee as a topic for discussion: in the framework of the worldwide Christian community (global ecumenism), this might serve as an example to demonstrate the value of mutual assistance. Thus, for instance, one might invite the pastor to study in Germany in order for his views on spirit beliefs to be corrected by means of scientific theory construction. Or one could design projects to facilitate development cooperation with the intent of addressing the social problems that evidently either give rise to or reinforce the belief in possession. One could help the Lutheran churches in Tanzania augment their diaconal activities, and one could contribute to their theological education by deploying European theologians in order to maintain the Lutheran profile of these churches or to reclaim it. We now leave our church elder to her further deliberations and turn to the Tanzanian pastor.
HOW PASTOR MASTAI EXPERIENCES GERMANY: RECIPROCAL QUESTIONSFROMAN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
Pastor Mastai comes to Germany on a theological scholarship program. He stays for a few weeks. Germany, the land of Martin Luther and the Reformation. Pastor Mastai is very excited. After settling in, he observes that there are many things that impress him. The scope of diaconal activity in Germany is wide: hospitals, welfare service centers, and consulting centers—everything seems well organized. The buildings are in good shape, and everything appears very professional. True, he had also heard that the Christian faith life in Europe leaves much to be desired, and he also knows congregations in Tanzania and other African countries that have already sent African missionaries to Europe,2 but his firsthand impressions leave him with questions.
Worship services in his congregation are attended primarily by young people. There is always a large group of children present, and most of them take part in Sunday school. In Germany, children are seldom seen at worship services, according to his impression, and although the church buildings are beautiful and sometimes awe inspiring, those attending are usually in their sixties or older. And the worship services are very orderly, quiet, predictable, and—as far as he is concerned—exceptionally brief. Pastor Mastai wonders what the believers actually expect from God. Germany is a Christian country, but on Sunday mornings, the streets are deserted. Pastor Mastai begins to ponder. During a conversation he picks up on a term that he heard in a presentation and asks me whether Christianity in Germany is not “syncretistic.” He explains,
It says in my Bible that Jesus drove out evil spirits, healed people, and performed miracles—that Jesus helps us! But the people in this country do not believe that anymore, not even those in the churches. But if the Bible proclaims the truth, how then can you not believe in it any longer? You believe in science, not in the Bible anymore! You have exchanged the truth of the Bible for technology. And that is syncretistic.
These few observations suffice to show how difficult intercultural encounters can be. After all, the persons in our case study both accuse each other of syncretism, taken to mean either an illegitimate “commingling of religions” (the accusation that African Christianity adopts aspects of traditional superstitions) or alternatively a commingling of the Christian message with elements of other worldviews (the accusation that by their blind faith in science, European Christians abandon the truth claim of the Bible).
ONTHE RELEVANCEOFTHE SUBJECTOF INTERCULTURAL THEOLOGY/MISSION STUDIES
The case study demonstrates how different the perspectives of two people can be who both belong to one and the same Christian denomination (the Lutheran denomination), while each belongs to a different culture (Tanzanian culture, German culture). The relevance of the subject of intercultural theology/mission studies thus also lies in the need for an analysis of these contrasting perspectives and for them to enter into conversation with each other. This is a matter of intercultural and interreligious understanding as a prerequisite for mutual appreciation, for peace, and for cooperation in societies marked by already great and ever-increasing cultural plurality. This subject devotes itself to these topics and thereby introduces an intercultural, interreligious, and ecumenical perspective into the instruction of theology. This perspective flows from the self-understanding of the Christian faith traditions themselves, inasmuch as the declaration by Jesus Christ that the kingdom of God is at hand exercises a claim on all people.
In what follows, a number of the subject’s analytical perspectives will be discussed against the backdrop of the case study provided earlier (naturally without being exhaustive). It should be noted here already that the discipline of intercultural theology/mission studies initially utilizes descriptive methods. That is to say, methods of analysis deriving from the areas of religious and cultural studies are brought to bear. In a second step, an inquiry is made on the basis of these findings into how the phenomena that were described may be interpreted from a theological perspective. Value-oriented (normative) aspects play a significant role in this regard. Methodologically, however, the two perspectives remain separate from each other.3 Let us then consider some of the issues raised, doing so from the perspectives of religious studies, mission history (especially in the sense of the history of the theory of religion and mission theology as well as of its practical implementation), intercultural theology, and intercultural hermeneutics.
With regard to the phenomena of possession and to exorcistic practices in the region of the megacity of Dar es Salaam, intercultural theology/mission studies initially makes use of religious studies analyses. These include the following questions: (1) What form did the traditional religion presumably take in a certain area (such as that of a certain ethnic group in the region of present-day Dar es Salaam) and at a certain point in time (since religiocultural configurations constantly change)? Furthermore, which social structures and which family relationships were present? Which types of economy prevailed? Which ecological factors played a decisive role? Which rites were carried out? How was the social hierarchy structured? Which symbolisms were in place? To which mythological narratives was the origin of the ethnic group or the tribe attributed? How did the structures change in the context of colonial history and after meeting representatives of both Muslim and Christian religious configurations? (2) Which elements of the belief in demons and of exorcistic practices may be observed today, and from where precisely might they derive? If the older tribal traditions have for the most part ceased to exist, if only certain set pieces of these traditions continue to feature in the lifeworldly knowledge of people, and if at the same time set pieces from Islamic and Christian traditions have been added, then what meaning do people perceive in certain symbolisms, or what do they even perceive to be meaningful? For instance, the figure of a “Satan” as a counterpart to the divine power was unknown in most African tribal traditions; Islam and Christianity introduced the concept and thereby also the contraposition between good (God) on the one hand and evil (Satan) on the other, which is a comparatively recent phenomenon in Africa, religiohistorically speaking.
Having raised these few issues, let us turn now to the theological ones. We will initially examine them from the perspective of mission history. The following will need to be analyzed: (1) Which religiotheological and missiological preconceptions prevailed among the various denominations and their missions in this area (Tanzania)? How did Baptists, Lutherans, members of Roman-Catholic religious orders, Presbyterians, and others perceive and interpret the tribal religions that were foreign to them? Which methods of operation did they adopt in order to enter into a relationship with the members of these religious traditions? And which methods of operation verifiably remain in use by various denominations to this day? (2) Or did a fundamental change take place in recent years? And if yes, from where do the corresponding influences derive? Conservative Lutheran missionaries, for instance, firmly repudiated exorcisms and the belief in spirits. The permeation of exorcistic practices into Lutheran congregations may be observed to have taken place only long after Tanzania’s independence, predominantly under the influence of growing Pentecostal groupings and churches in Tanzania.
From the perspective of mission history, then, the central question of this theological issue may be formulated as follows: Which theology of religion and which mission theology did the European missionaries advocate, and how were they received and implemented in the churches? In addition, we also need to raise the genuinely theological (i.e., normative) primary questions of intercultural theology/mission studies, namely: (1) Which texts of the Christian tradition (the Bible) do the representatives of various Christian religious configurations (in this instance, Tanzanian Lutherans vis-à-vis German Lutherans; naturally, dialogues between Tanzanian Lutherans, Pentecostals, and Roman Catholics are also conceivable) cite in order to substantiate their practice? Moreover, is this citation warranted? Thus, which Christian practice is legitimate, permitted, acceptable, and valuable—or, alternatively, which is questionable or even inadmissible? (2) And what happens, or what would happen, if Christians of the same cultural tradition but of different denominations dissented strongly on a given topic? How about if they came from diverse cultural backgrounds?
This problem introduces the issue of intercultural hermeneutics. First, (1) we must inquire into the basic hermeneutical and cultural-semiotic interpretation: What exactly does a member of one culture perceive to be a sign when encountering a different culture? For instance, did our German church elder notice that a sign system of looks is present during such an exorcism? The exorcist looks into a person’s eyes for a long time; if the person looks elsewhere and avoids the exorcist’s gaze, then he interprets it as a certain sign that the person is possessed. But there are also other, entirely different sign systems that are normally of no interest to European observers. Thus the earth itself can serve as a sign system, one that cannot be charted, subdivided, sold, or possessed qua land registry office, but that rather constitutes the life and the tradition of a tribe. Another example is that of time, which for other cultures does not advance in regular units, as it does according to European conceptions, but which has the power to determine outcomes for better or for worse, depending on the time of day or celestial alignment. (2) Thus one issue is the question as to what precisely is perceived to be a sign, i.e., as conveying meaning; in addition, whenever misunderstanding or lack of understanding occurs between cultures, the special problem presents itself of how intercultural understanding is actually possible in the first place. (3) A further challenge arises especially in the area of intercultural relationships between, say, Christians from Germany and those from Tanzania, namely the challenge of determining who actually has the authority to interpret the exchange. If, for instance, there are two different interpretations of exorcistic practice, both representing commonly held, culturally accepted interpretations and both claiming to stand on the authority of the witness of the biblical and Christian traditions—who then gets to decide which side is right? And if no such authority exists, what form could the process take in which both sides attempt to reach an understanding? And if it should happen that no understanding can be reached, how then could ongoing intercultural-Christian, i.e., ecumenical, relationships be sustained?4 At what degree of separation can one still speak of “one” Christian religion? Or is there rather a plurality of Christian religious configurations?
The case study above may have shown that the area of discussion of the subject of intercultural theology/mission studies requires a methodologically varied toolset to arrive at an analysis, whereby a clear distinction needs to be made between a descriptive approach and a reflection about normative subject matter. Furthermore, it has become clear that the area under discussion potentially comprises all the places where the Christian presence is located on earth. At the same time, just as in all other scientific domains, a single individual is only able to acquire in-depth knowledge about a small segment, even if many basic themes of the subject of intercultural theology/mission studies have a broader importance, since they serve as cross-cutting themes for a variety of otherwise different cultural contexts. Before addressing a representation of these basic issues in the course of this treatise, we will first need to discuss the term intercultural theology.
2
Intercultural Theology
A Primer
First-time students of intercultural theology will initially want to know what the general definition of the term is and which books are useful for an in-depth study of the topic. The following remarks are thus conceived as an introduction that provides an initial elucidation of the term and that points out some important book series and publications at the same time. Naturally, the wealth of material allows only a very limited selection in this regard. The overview is intended to provide interested readers with an initial introduction, enabling them then to pursue their specific interests.
INTERCULTURALTHEOLOGY: THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTIONSFROMTHE THIRD WORLD?
Since the mid-1960s, the book trade has featured an increasing number of books on the subject of what is termed “intercultural theology” (Interkulturelle Theologie) today. For the most part, these books are about “local theologies,” thus for instance specifically about African or Asian Christian theologies. As far as the literature goes, these theologies are in many respects a relatively recent phenomenon. For the study of the subject of intercultural theology, this literature is groundbreaking indeed. Whether it is also sufficient will need to be discussed at a later point. For now, a brief overview of some selected publications will suffice.
The volumes from the 1970s and 1980s especially document the wealth of contextual theologies, thus for instance Asian theology as evidenced by Choan-Seng Song’s (b. 1929) Third-Eye Theology,1 South Korean Minjung theology as represented by Byung-Mu Ahn (1922–1996),2 African theology as represented by John S. Pobee (b. 1937),3 or the politically themed Black Theology in the context of the South African apartheid regime.4 The same objective is pursued by Roman Catholic theologians such as the Africans Jean-Marc Ela (1937–2008)5 and O. Bimwenyi-Kweshi (b. 1939),6 the Sri Lankan Aloysius Pieris (b. 1934),7 and the South African Charles Villa-Vicencio (b. 1931).8
It is evident that around the mid-1990s, after about thirty years of intensive theological labor of writing contextual works and about twenty years after the founding of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians (EATWOT) in the year 1976, it was possible to make an initial appraisal. For an exchange between theologians from the Third World, the reader is referred to the anthology Third World Theologies: Commonalities and Divergences.9
Of course the titles presented here constitute only a very small selection, which is not surprising in light of the magnitude of world Christianity and the corresponding plurality of its contexts.10 Besides, we provided only references to source documents of what may be described by the broader term “intercultural theologies.” However, in order better to be able to systematize and thus understand such theologies, more comprehensive analyses of the relevant cultural and contextual interrelationships are needed from the areas of mission studies and religious studies. This raises the question as to how the most comprehensive definition of the term intercultural theology might be obtained.
INTERCULTURAL THEOLOGY: ECUMENISMIN FULL, PLEASE,NOT JUSTIN PART!
Speaking with people interested in global ecumenism, one may easily get the impression that the readers of representative literature (i.e., of books from a certain area that have been translated) often tend to come away with very one-sided appraisals of country-specific contexts. Thus in the 1980s there was strong interest in the Korean Minjung theology in particular, a political liberation theology that arose in the context of the South Korean military dictatorship. The great number of publications on the subject could easily lead one to believe that the majority of South Korean Christians belong to the political Minjung theology movement. This was and continues to be an error, however, since the overwhelming majority of Korean churches are characterized by a staunch conservatism that might be described as ranging from “evangelical” to “fundamental,” to use Western nomenclature. Yet these churches have not received any significant attention, neither by the German nor by the English book market. The most probable reason for this is that scholars from the German and Anglo-Saxon sectors considered these churches to be less than spectacular and that during these years they did not fit in well to the atmosphere of liberation theology favored by the ecumenists associated with the World Council of Churches.
Naturally, this should not be seen as a challenge to the propriety of such theological movements and characterizations. Yet there are clearly communication barriers present here that impede an appreciation of ecumenism as a whole. The theological positioning in the so-called conciliar process, which called for a commitment to justice, peace, and the integrity of creation, for example, easily led people unilaterally to become critical of or completely disregard other forms of Christian faith and life, of congregation activities, and of ecclesiastical structures. Efforts to engage other Christians or to challenge them to mutual conversation despite or even precisely because of their frequently very different positions fell by the wayside. Typical examples include the stereotype held by European Christians that the churches in the Pentecostal movement lack sufficient sociopolitical engagement and are thus partly to blame for the injustice in many contexts. Conversely, a widespread prejudice exists among Christians from Pentecostal congregations and churches to the effect that faith in the historic churches is “dead” and that those belonging to them remain Christian in name only.
In addition to the two factors discussed above—a distorted perception of respective contexts arising from a one-sided representation in the literature, on the one hand, and an unwillingness to recognize the validity of other Christian positions, on the other—one may also list as a third factor the internal dynamics of the academic pursuit of theology. Discussing intercultural theology in the sense of a fully developed theological discipline is a distinctive aspect of theological instruction at institutions of higher learning, i.e., colleges and universities. In this regard, theologians from both the southern and northern hemispheres are eager to demonstrate that their own theological efforts are compatible with the international academic discussion. This calls, first, for the adoption of succinct positions (frequently stated in an exaggerated fashion); second, for their presentation in the form of academic articles or monographs; third, for the adoption of internationally established jargon (often including very abstract terminology); and last, for the effort to attract attention within the structures and idiosyncrasies of the international theological “market” and, along with it, the effort to be recognized as belonging to the theological elite.
These efforts are laudable, for they benefit the Christian religion; by stimulating an intercultural theological dialogue, they provide a countermeasure to the centrifugal forces prompted by Christianity’s ever-increasing differentiation. Otherwise the various local Christianities would be in constant danger of absolutizing themselves, taking themselves and their particular cultural and contextual profiles for granted. Let us take the interreligious dialogue, for example. At times, Christians in Germany see the parameters of the dialogue between Christians and Muslims very differently from Christians in Egypt. Thus I have frequently heard the criticism that Egyptian Christians do not hold a “real” dialogue but that they just “curl up into a ball” and assume a defensive posture. What was meant was that dialogues on the subject of theological doctrine seldom took place in Egypt. My impression was that a superficial and “very German” understanding of dialogue predominated, one that was oriented primarily to the exchange of arguments, to rationality, and to theological content. Yet these people did not consider the possibility that dialogue may also refer to something entirely different, something that does not take place on a rational level; that nonverbal dialogues, for instance, might take place by means of the symbolism of official meetings.11 It will suffice to point out that it is only possible to counteract and revise the absolutizing of one’s own understanding (in this case that of dialogue) by means of intercultural exchange. In this regard, intercultural theological discourses play a significant role on the international level, yet at the same time they constitute only a fraction of what is meant by intercultural theology, as this example may demonstrate.
The subject area of intercultural theology has to do with the fundamental issue of what precisely is meant by theology. This in turn means: It has to do with the question of the forum—of the media—in which theology manifests itself. Thus the research topic for intercultural theology also includes the attempt to define the term theology. This book intends to show that theology may not only be condensed into rational theorems, speeches, sermons, articles, books, creeds, and written texts. Such an understanding of theology would be insufficient and would contribute little toward the understanding of intercultural phenomena. Rather, theology expresses itself in the proverbs of everyday life and in certain rituals like, say, festivals, processions, forms of meditation, and others. The inner space of a Reformed church, painted white and empty except for a table and a pulpit, breathes theology and is an expression of theological convictions. The same goes to the same extent for an Orthodox church, filled for its part with an overabundance of icons, candles, crosses, billows of incense smoke, polyphonic singing, and a worship event that—almost like a theatrical play—is a figurative representation of the events of salvation, with a story that is portrayed and roles that are played by actors such as priests, deacons, and assistants. When seen as a whole, the latter constitutes a highly complex ensemble of symbols, a particular sign language of faith. How much more careful, then, should we not be—to go beyond these examples of European Christian traditions, with which we are more or less familiar—when observing the expressions of Latin American, Oceanian, African, or Asian Christians, so that we may begin to comprehend what they mean?
What, for instance, is the theological meaning of Christian social structures? Or consider the interpretation of church as the community of Christians as expressed in the form of tribal kinship relations: Is it possible for aspects of the gospel to be expressed within these affiliations? Or what about Western congregations, in which Christians interact not as members of family groups but rather as individual persons, almost like separate atoms constituting one corporate society? How about the titles and honorifics used for Jesus Christ? May a title used in the New Testament such as “Son of God” be applied to Christ in a context where a categorical distinction is made between the status of father and son, i.e., where the son always occupies a position below that of the father? What is to be done in those contexts where people do not conceive of God as being “up there” somewhere but rather view the earth as representing the divine? How about the position of women, the role of rituals such as fasting and tithing, the understanding of Christian involvement in society, issues of war and peace, the nature of love and justice, the way the Bible is understood, or the understanding of what a “brother,” a “soul,” or “salvation” is? Fundamental differences exist with regard to these things that depend on one’s cultural context, religious environment, and particular Christian confession or denomination. And of what then does the Christian essence consist that unites all Christians worldwide? One of the fundamental tasks of the subject of intercultural theology/mission studies is to take into account the broad scope of world Christianity. This prohibits it from being limited to a particular confession’s concept of ecumenism, and it also prohibits it from being limited to certain forms of the Christian essence associated with the milieu of the World Council of Churches (no matter how significant these may be). That which is different, otherwise, or offensive (such as fundamentalist movements, congregations, or churches) must also be investigated in order to ascertain its particular views. In this regard, it is not uncommon for the conventional approaches of intercultural theology to fall short.
INTERCULTURAL THEOLOGY: A NEW TECHNICAL TERM,ITS POTENTIAL, AND ITS LIMITATIONS
From the wealth of literature on the term intercultural theology we will survey only a small selection at this point. The identity of the person who popularized the term remains a subject of debate. The term undoubtedly gained in popularity through the work of Birmingham mission scholar Walter Hollenweger, especially through his three-volume anthology of essays, Interkulturelle Theologie.12
