Book: Contextual Theology and Revolutionary Transformation in Latin America

Just published: Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell, "Contextual Theology and Revolutionary Transformation in Latin America: The Missiology of M. Richard Shaull" (Pickwick Publications, June 2010):

http://wipfandstock.com/store/Contextual_Theology_and_Revolutionary_Transformation_in_Latin_America_The_Missiology_of_M_Richard_Shaull

Publisher's description: "U.S. audiences know Latin American liberation theologies largely through translations of Latin American Catholics from the 1970s and beyond. Most of the few known Protestant authors were students of Richard Shaull, whose critical thinking on social change, prophetic Christianity, and dialogue with Marxism and Christian use of Marxist analysis precedes the emergence of the formal schools of liberation theology by two decades. His own education at Princeton, and the education he provided in Brazil, charts the course of Protestant influences into this stream of theological reflection that became a global phenomenon in the latter decades of the twentieth century. Also, Shaull's career roughly parallels the emergence of the World Council of Churches and the engagement of the Catholic Church – in Latin America and around the world – after the Second Vatican Council. He himself was engaged, and became the flash point, in some of the major conferences, movements, and institutions of the 1960s and beyond.

"Santiago-Vendrell documents the entrance of the ecumenical movement in Brazil, among the most dramatic transformations in Catholic-Protestant relations around the globe, as well as Shaull's role in that development. Along the way he notes Shaull's prophetic and destabilizing role in the worldwide student movement in the 60s and 70s, charting decisions that mark the ecumenical movement. Shaull's contributions are important for an understanding of the ethical debates in the worldwide, ecumenical Protestant and Orthodox communities. Santiago-Vendrell examines primary, secondary, and historical documents that shine a light on Shaull's transformation into a contextual theologian of the poor. He offers a definitive view of this North American Protestant missionary who wrote extensively on Latin American liberation theology, the base Christian communities, and how conversion to solidarity with the poor offers transforming possibilities for the mainline churches' theological identity and practical faith."

Endorsements: "Long before there was such a thing as liberation theology, the 'revolutionary theology' of Presbyterian missionary Richard Shaull was heralding a new and more just world born out of solidarity with the poor and the oppressed. This biography of Shaull fills a gap in understanding a complex man who sought to hold the church accountable while inspiring Christians to a more radical and biblical form of social engagement. A wonderful adventure in contextual theology." (Bryan Stone, Boston University)

"We can be grateful to Dr. Santiago-Vendrell for making available to us a story that has required research in both Spanish language and American resources not widely available to the U.S. reading public. Probably nothing has done more to change perspectives on U.S. foreign policy and journalistic knowledge about the realities of Latin American politics and the plight of its peoples than the presence of U.S. missionaries during the crucial mid-decades of the twentieth century. This theological biography will be as interesting to those concerned about interAmerican politics and economic policy as it will be to theologians and church historians." (Jeffrey Gros, Memphis Theological Seminary)

Angel D. Santiago-Vendrell is Assistant Professor of Mission at Memphis Theological Seminary.

Book: Through Us, With Us, In Us: Relational Theologies in the Twenty-First Century

Just published: "Through Us, With Us, In Us: Relational Theologies in the Twenty-First Century", edited by Elaine Bellchambers and Lisa Isherwood (SCM Press, April 2010):

www.scm-canterburypress.co.uk/bookdetails.asp?ISBN=9780334043669

Publisher's description: "Relational theologies, such as feminist theology, ecotheology and liberation theologies of various kinds, turn our traditional starting point for theology on its head. They ask what it is that we experience and where it is that we intuit God manifests and creates in and through our relation and lack of relation with ourselves, others and the cosmos. This book aims to explore the concept of the emerging divine within human and non-human relationality. It is relationship and the relationality that enable knowledge of the divine to emerge. The editors and contributors make the concept of relational theology more widely understood and stimulating theological debate in this area [sic]. The collection is an excellent teaching resource for courses in liberation theology, feminist theology, ecotheology and Christian doctrine at upper undergraduate and MA level. The book offers new and original contributions by well-known authors such as Carter Heyward, Catherine Keller, Mary Grey, Ursula King, Beverley Clack, Diarmuid O'Murchu and Mary Condren."

Elaine Bellchambers is Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at the University of Winchester.

Lisa Isherwood is Professor of Feminist Liberation Theologies at the University of Winchester.

Book: Public Theology in an Age of World Christianity: God's Mission as Word-Event

Just published: Paul S. Chung, "Public Theology in an Age of World Christianity: God's Mission as Word-Event" (Palgrave Macmillan, April 2010):

http://us.macmillan.com/publictheologyinanageofworldchristianity

Publisher's description: "This book aims to rearticulate and reinterpret a Christian concept of God's mission and evangelization in light of the universal, irregular, and transversal horizon of God's narrative as it pertains to the realities of public sphere. Paul Chung maintains that mission serves the Word of God which is revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit for all. It is salient to develop a theology of Trinitarian mission through the perspective of God's living 'word-event' in a hermeneutical, intercultural fashion. Here, a Trinitarian concept of missio Dei is deepened and refurbished in light of God as the Subject of speaking: through Israel, the church, and the face of innocent victims and religious outsiders. This perspective contextualizes and widens the mission of God's narrative and deepens its universality in light of the word event."

Paul S. Chung is Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Luther Seminary.

Book: Doing Contextual Theology

Angie Pears, "Doing Contextual Theology" (Routledge, September 2009):

www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415417051/

Publisher's description: "Christian theology, like all forms of knowledge, thinking and practice, arises from and is influenced by the context in which it is done. In Doing Contextual Theology, Angie Pears demonstrates the radically contextual nature of Christian theology by focusing on five forms of liberation theology: Latin American Liberation Theologies; Black Theologies; Feminist Informed Theologies; Sexual Theologies; Body Theologies. Pears analyses how each of these asserts a clear and persistent link to the Christian tradition through The Bible and Christology and discusses the implications of contextual and local theologies for understanding Christianity as a religion. Moreover, she considers whether fears are justified that a radically contextual reading of Christian theologies leads to a relativist understanding of the religion, or whether these theologies share some form of common identity both despite and because of their contextual nature. Doing Contextual Theology offers students a clear and up-to-date survey of the field of contemporary liberation theology and provides them with a sound understanding of how contextual theology works in practice."

Reviews: "Written with crystal clarity Angie Pears has provided an accessible, detailed and critical study of contemporary contextual theologies. This book will be an essential text for both students and tutors seeking to understand both the appeal and limitations of contextual theologies. I hope too that contextual theologians will find pause for thought in some of the questions Pears raises about the nature of these theologies." (Elizabeth Stuart, University of Winchester)

"Her interpretations are accurate and generous. She asks the right questions and offers wise answers. Her work does what the best of syntheses do: it takes us to a new place." (Stephen Bevans, Catholic Theological Union; here and above bold removed)

Angie Pears is now Learning and Development Officer in the Equality and Diversity Team at Nottingham Trent University, this following a decade as a Senior Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.

Book: A Protestant Theology of Passion: Korean Minjung Theology Revisited

Just published: Volker Küster, "A Protestant Theology of Passion: Korean Minjung Theology Revisited" (Brill, March 2010):

www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=31210

Publisher's description: "Minjung Theology is introduced here through theological biographical sketches of its main representatives. They formulated a protestant liberation theology under the South Korean military dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s. Their strong emphasis on the suffering (han) of the people (minjung) led them to the formulation of a genuine theology of the cross in Asia. Volker Küster explores the reception of Minjung Theology and raises the question what happened to it during the democratization process and the rise of globalization in the 1990s. Interpretations of art works by Minjung artists provide deep insights into these transformation processes. Prologue and epilogue abstract from the Korean case and offer a concise theory of contextual theology in an intercultural framework."

Endorsements: "This important book provides the first thorough academic discussion of Korean Minjung theology in any Western language, introducing key Korean theologians in the movement, in relationship to one another and to contextual theological developments elsewhere. A unique feature of this study is Küster's use of visual art as an inculturated expression of Minjung theology in its own right. His contention that contextual theologies are 'open systems' suggests the continuing relevance of Minjung theology for our 'glocalized' future." (Philip L. Wickeri, San Francisco Theological Seminary/Graduate Theological Union)

"'A Protestant Theology of Passion' chronicles an important movement in Korean theology that has significance far beyond the borders of that country. True to Minjung method, Küster includes not only texts, but art and poetry as sources for this theology as well. In doing so, he makes an important contribution to the wider discussion of contextual theology today." (Robert Schreiter, Catholic Theological Union; here and above bold removed, here italics removed)

Volker Küster is Professor of Crosscultural Theology at the Protestant Theological University in Kampen, the Netherlands.

Book: Constructing Irregular Theology: Bamboo and Minjung in East Asian Perspective

Quite pricey: Paul S. Chung, "Constructing Irregular Theology: Bamboo and Minjung in East Asian Perspective" (Brill, October 2009):

www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=31367

Publisher's description: "The project of constructing Asian irregular theology in East Asian perspective, based on life-word of Bamboo and social political reality of minjung, embraces Dr. Chung's cross-cultural existence as he develops his long-standing interest and expertise in Christian minjung theology in new ways with the image of bamboo as a symbol for the theological perspective of grass roots marginality. Using the ancient Chinese story 'The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove,' Dr. Chung engages with Christian eschatological discourse to support an aesthetical-utopian theological ethics that is opposed to an ethics concerned with legitimation of a socio-economic status quo. In addition, Dr. Chung's develops [sic] his deep commitment to the Lutheran theology of the cross and the suffering Christ through the Buddhist concept of dukkha (suffering) to create, in the end, a genuinely East Asian contextual theology".

Endorsements: "Paul Chung once described himself as having a Confucian mind, Taoist guts, Buddhist heart, and Christian body. This book embraces Chung's whole being as he appropriates and develops the ancient Chinese story [...] of scholars who fled the accommodation of Confucian ethics in support of the tyranny and political chaos of the third century. Asian irregular theology, built on the image of bamboo and minjung, marks a new model in constructing Asian contextual theology in light of the irregularity of God's speech event and from the perspective of grass roots marginality." (Elizabeth A. Leeper, Wartburg Theological Seminary)

"Chung constructs an interpretive and irregular theology provocatively in a global context. He is a creative, original, and thought-provoking pioneer [...], making a great contribution for a contemporary discussion of inculturation and emancipation." (Wang Zhicheng, Zhejiang University)

"One of the major issues facing the Christian Church today has to do with a right understanding of the relationship between Christ and Christian faith on the one hand, and the other great world religions on the other. The tired trilogy of exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist is woefully inadequate, but nothing has come along to replace it. In our multi-cultural and postmodern world of many religions and worldviews, the gospel itself calls us to imagine creative, new theological proposals. The Korean-American theologian Paul S. Chung has developed such a creative theological proposal which he calls 'irregular theology,' that is, a theology of God's irregular grace which moves beyond the walls of Christendom to speak a fresh word to us in the religious wisdom of other cultures (especially Asian). This book explores and develops his proposal in several important directions. The resulting synthesis of many voices and traditions is bracing, controversial, and rewarding. The careful reader will come away with new insights and new questions." (Alan G. Padgett, Luther Seminary; all endorsements originally in italics)

Paul S. Chung is Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Luther Seminary.