Evangelical Postcolonial Conversations

How can the church respond to issues of imperialism, race and globalization? Constructing an evangelical postcolonial theology may be the solution to dealing with these ever-growing issues. Gathering together essays presented at the 2010 Postcolonial Roundtable at Gordon College, this groundbreaking volume seeks to reconcile the ugly history of cultural dominion and colonialism with new perspectives on global society. Rethinking and reimagining the concepts of identity, power, interpretation and historiography through the lens of Christianity, the editors provide readers with new ways of understanding and bettering the world. "The Christian faith of the future must be a joint enterprise in which the descendants of the colonized and the descendants of the colonizers come together, reflect on the past and imagine a different and better future together," contributor Brian McLaren states. "That work will involve risks and dangers for both groups, and the contributions of both are essential. One lesson the gospel surely teaches us is this: we are all connected." Addressing themes like nationalism, Christology and western conquest, contributors discuss reasons Christians need to be careful how they frame their conversations on global topics. The language of "mission" can be misconstrued in light of postcolonial perspectives, and the essays dig into the role of evangelicalism in modern Christian outreach to help us keep pace with what God is doing in our era.

Postcolonialism has greatly influenced biblical and theological criticism but has not yet entered the realm of church worship and practice. 'Christian Worship' brings the insights of postcolonial thinking to the rituals of religious life. The book critically analyses liturgical theology through the lens of postcolonialism and explores the challenges of appropriating postcolonial perspectives in Christian worship. Ranging from liturgical texts and song to Scripture, lectionaries, festivals and sacraments, this volume offers a fresh approach to liturgy that will be of interest to students of theology, seminarians and church practitioners.

As early as the seventh century, Christians living and ministering in Muslim contexts adapted their language and public witness to Islamic cultural and religious sensitivities. In Islam and the Bible, editors Ayman S. Ibrahim and Ant B. Greenham invite leading voices, representing a spectrum of approaches, to explore the issues surrounding “Muslim Idiom Translations” of the Bible. This work will be insightful for students, theologians, missiologists, missionaries, and Bible translators seeking wisdom and clarity on gospel contextualization.

How do indigenous matters inform, irritate and advance postcolonial theologies and postcolonial biblical criticisms? What options emerge from confronting readings of religious, customary, scriptural, political and cultural texts, traditions, leanings, bodies and anxieties? These two questions epitomize the concerns that the contributors address in this collection. The postcolonial voices that come together between the covers of this book show that indigenous subjects and heritages do matter in the theological and hermeneutical business, for we all have something to learn from First Peoples, and that theologians and biblical critics have much to gain from (and offer to) confronting and troubling traditional views and fears. Together in this book, the postcolonial voices from Downunder (geographically: Oceania, Pasifika; ideologically: marginalized, minoritized) confront political and religious bodies, including Christian churches, on account of their participation in and justification of the occupation and poaching of native lands, wisdom, wealth, and titles. This book is for First Peoples and Second Peoples, whether they are down under or up yonder, who are curious about possible advents of postcolonial theologies and postcolonial biblical criticisms in the future.

In Vietnamese Evangelicals and Pentecostalism, Vince Le offers an analysis of the historical, theological, and social conditions that shape the Vietnamese evangelical tradition and give rise to the growth of pentecostalism among evangelicals in contemporary Vietnam.

What is post-colonial theology? How does it relate to theology that emerged in historically colonial situations? These are two questions that get to the heart of Robert S. Heaney's work as he considers the extent to which theologians predating the emergence of post-colonial theology might be considered as precursors to this theological movement. Heaney argues that the work of innovative theologians John S. Mbiti and Jesse N.K. Mugambi, important in their own right, must now also be considered in relation to the continued emergence of post-colonial theology. When this is done, fresh perspectives on both the nature of post-colonial theology and contextual theology emerge. Through a sympathetic and critical reading of Mbiti and Mugambi, Heaney offers a series of constructive moves that counter the ongoing temptation toward acontextualism that continues to haunt theology both in the North and in the South.

Hate is unveiled on our streets. Politics is polarized and the cohesion of communities is under stress and threat. Religious and theological leaders appear compromised or paralyzed. Robert S. Heaney grew up in a Northern Ireland where enmity paraded itself and policed the boundaries between segregated identities and aspirations. Such conflict, with deep historic roots, is inextricably linked to religion and colonization. The theologizing of colonialism, and the ongoing implications of colonialism, cannot be ignored by those who wish to understand the most intractable of human conflicts. Religious adherents and scholars are increasingly seeking to understand colonialism and decolonization in theological terms. The field of post-colonial studies, across a range of contexts and in a complex network of inter-disciplinary analyses, has emerged as a major scholarly movement seeking to provide resources for such a task. Theologians have increasingly seen the field as a resource and have made their own contributions to its development. However, depending as it does on a series of theoretical and technical commitments, post-colonialism remains inaccessible to the uninitiated. Beginning with his own particular context of formation, in this book Heaney provides an accessible introduction to post-colonial theology.

The increasing interest in postcolonial theologies has initiated a vital conversation within and outside the academy in recent decades, turning many "standard theologies" on their head. This book introduces seminary students, ministry leaders, and others to key aspects, prevailing mentalities, and some major figures to consider when coming to understand postcolonial theologies. Woodley and Sanders provide a unique combination of indigenous theology and other academic theory to point readers toward the way of Jesus. Decolonizing Evangelicalism is a starting point for those who hope to change the conversation and see that the world could be lived in a different way.