Multilateral Theology. A Twenty-First-Century Theological Methodology PDF
Preview Multilateral Theology. A Twenty-First-Century Theological Methodology
Multilateral Theology This book introduces a new “multilateral” methodology for the contemporary study of theology. It bases this methodology on the idea that there are too many materials contributing as sources for theologizing to sustain the “one method fits all” approach found in many systematic theologies within Christianity. What is neededinsteadissomethingthatreflectsthevariousandvariednatures,purposes, andtasksoftheologians’theologizingfortheirrespectivecontexts. EngagingmaterialsfromarangeofChristiantraditions,includingEvangelicalism, theCatholicMagisterium,andalimitedrangeofpan-Orthodoxresources,thebook analyzes and assesses major factors thathaveshaped different streams oftheology. Addressingdoctrinaldevelopment,scriptureandrevelation,historicaltradition and creeds, philosophy and truth, sciences and interdisciplinarity, experience, religiouspluralism,andculture,itdemonstrateshowthesevariousstreamscan form a multilateral whole. The book concludes by examining the centers and peripherals of methodologies in theologization for a spectrum of theological traditions/streams,bothacrossandbeyondChristianity. Byofferinganapproachthatkeepsinstepwiththeincreasinglyinterconnected andpluralisticworldinwhichwelive,thisbookprovidesavitalresourceforany scholar of Christian theology, constructive theology, contextual theologies, and systematic theology, as well as religious studies. TimothyT.N.Lim isaVisiting LecturerattheLondonSchool ofTheology.He isanordainedministerofthe Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),andin membership with the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand. His monograph, Ecclesial Recognition with Hegelian Philosophy, Social Psychology, and Con- tinental Political Theory (2017) charts new ground for intra-Christian relations. Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies The Routledge NewCriticalThinking inReligion, Theology and BiblicalStudies series brings high quality research monograph publishing back into focus for authors, international libraries, and student, academic and research readers. This open-endedmonographseriespresentscutting-edgeresearchfrombothestablished andnewauthorsinthefield.Withspecialistfocusyetclearcontextualpresentation of contemporary research, books in the series take research into important new directionsandopenthefieldtonewcriticaldebatewithinthediscipline,inareasof relatedstudy,andinkeyareasforcontemporarysociety. Sustainable Development Goals and the Catholic Church Catholic Social Teaching and the UN’s Agenda 2030 Edited by Katarzyna Cichos, Jarosław A. Sobkowiak, Ryszard F. Sadowski, Beata Zbarachewicz, Radosław Zenderowski and Stanisław Dziekoński The Use and Abuse of Spirit in Pentacostalism A South African Perspective Edited by Mookgo S. Kgatle and Allan H. Anderson Active Hermeneutics Seeking Understanding in an Age of Objectivism Stanley E. Porter and Jason C. Robinson Proclaiming Holy Scriptures A Study of Place and Ritual David Pereyra Queer Soul and Queer Theology Ethics and Redemption in Real Life Laurel C. Schneider and Thelathia Nikki Young Multilateral Theology A Twenty-First-Century Theological Methodology Timothy T.N. Lim For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge. com/religion/series/RCRITREL Multilateral Theology A Twenty-First-Century Theological Methodology Timothy T.N. Lim Firstpublished2021 byRoutledge 2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN andbyRoutledge 52VanderbiltAvenue,NewYork,NY10017 RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness ©2021TimothyT.N.Lim TherightofTimothyT.N.Limtobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhas beenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfrom thepublishers. Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation withoutintenttoinfringe. BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Acatalogrecordhasbeenrequestedforthisbook ISBN:978-0-367-47243-6(hbk) ISBN:978-0-367-75108-1(pbk) ISBN:978-1-003-03434-6(ebk) TypesetinSabon byTaylor&FrancisBooks To Owen Lim, my middle son, aim high, stay calm, scale the heights, remain grateful, and be humble in the pursuit of your God-given aspirations! Contents Preface viii Acknowledgements xii 1 Introducing theological prolegomena 1 2 Theological prolegomena and doctrinal development: a historical overview 16 3 Scripture and revelation 28 4 History, tradition, and creeds 54 5 Reasoned truth: philosophy and theological methodology 67 6 Reasoned truth: theology, sciences, and interdisciplinarity 91 7 Experience: philosophical, religious, theological, and geopolitical considerations 113 8 Truth and religious pluralism 128 9 Culture and theological prolegomena: culture’s multi-variegated contexts for theologization 149 10 Conclusion: centers and peripherals of theological-hermeneutics 177 Index 199 Preface Iwasabusinessgraduate,majoringinManagement,OrganizationalBehavior,and StrategicPlanningin1999andendeavoredtodevelopacareerinconsulting.When GodcalledmeintothevocationalChristianministry,myprofessionaltraininghad to start all over again, other than character development and my prior vocational experiences in administration and project management. I discovered that discipleship classes in the Sunday School and church care-group (from an independent mega-church of nearly 3,000 members in the 1990s, which grew to approximately 10,000 members by the 2010s) had not prepared me to study theology or to theologize (the activity of doing theology) in the seminary and for the church. Yearslater,asprovidenceledmetoexploreserviceasanecclesialtheologian,it dawnedonmethattheprinciplesandmechanicsoftheologizinghadbeenbrushed over quickly within the first two to three weeks of a three-module systematic theologycoursecurriculumintheseminary.Butthetaskoftheologizing,whichis paramount to the curriculum of equipping learners for teaching and ministerial service,requiresmuchmorethanjustexploringmethodologyinafewshortweeks. Integral to good theologizing is the proficient evaluation and use of sources, includingresourcesfromvariousintra-Christiantraditions,otherfieldsoflearning, and other religious traditions. Yet, seminary education tends to emphasize spiritual formation, the acquisition of ministerial skills, and stashing up theological/doctrinal content (against other Christian traditions, other religions, and non-theological fields of knowledge). In a typical seminary education, learners are also instructed on the emphases and non-negotiables that each tradition would regard as paramount to the distinctives of their traditions. Ifseminaryeducationisintendedtolayfoundationsforalifetimeoftheologizing and ministering, then acquiring a competency in theologizingcannot belimited to only instruction that learners would receive during the first few weeks of a Christian/systematic theology module. To be sure, all modules in a seminary curriculum do contribute to the shaping of a theological mind. However, theological methodology which is so fundamental to theologizing would have tobereconceived.Manybooks onthemarketdonotcontaindesignatedchap- ters covering thematically the array of issues of theological prolegomena, and almost all existing work examines the Wesleyan quadrilateral as the dominant Preface ix approach.Arecentandabsolutelybrilliantwork,AModelforEvangelicalTheol- ogy (Baker Academic, 2020), by my colleague at the London School of Theology, Graham McFarlane, takes an “Evangelical quintilateral” approach to theologizing thatintegratesscripture,tradition,reason,experience,andcommunity(pp.xii,67, 239–245), enlivening the theological task with inspiring relational stories of how theologyconnectswithlife.PriortoMcFarlane’scoinageofquintilaterality,thefive componentsofscripture,tradition,community,experience,andphilosophyinthat order has been regarded as indispensable sources for theologizing in Grant R. Osborne’s The Hermeneutical Spiral, revised and expanded (IVP Academic, 2006, pp.374–386).NotwithstandingtheimportanceofMcFarlane’sreminderaboutthe needtodrawfromaquintilateralsetofresources,theologicalmethodologyhasto alsoengagewithothernon-Christiantraditionsandotherfieldsoflearningthatare oftenunderplayedinaseminarycurriculum.Inthisvolume,Iproposeamultilateral receptionoftheologicalsourcesandmethodologies.Iwillsaymoreaboutthecon- cept of multilaterality in Chapter 1. Minimally, the theological methodological implications of engaging with non-biblical-theological contents would have to be fleshedout,sothatlearnersmaybecomeacquaintedwith,orbetterstill,beinvited toworkout,theramificationsoftheologizationasaboundary-crossingexercise. Icametorealizedthattheologizationisaboundary-crossingexerciseafterhaving servedinseveralcapacities:asaregionalmissionleaderforatrans-denominational conglomerate missional agency to a region known for persecuting Christians, during a few pastoral appointments at several conservative (separatistic) churches in Singapore, and in a lay-leadership role in a broadly evangelical congregation within a mainline Protestant Presbyterian denomination in the United States. During that time, I also sat on the board of two ecumenical bodies in the United StatesandtaughtatseminariesinboththeUnitedStatesandtheUnitedKingdom. Thesewerefollowedbyateachingroleinthelargestpremiereinterdenominational evangelical seminary in Europe (with which I am still affiliated), and an adminis- trative, teaching-cum-networking leadership portfolio in a Bible college’s ethnic centerofresearchandtraininginAuckland,NewZealand.Rightaboutthetimemy esteemed editors and anonymous reviewers at Routledge reassigned this project from the textbook originally envisioned into a research monograph, my appoint- ment in Auckland was disestablished due to the changing macro-level and micro- level landscape in theological education. Providence redirected me back to pastor- ing, this time in a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual Chinese church in Auckland, while I alsocontinuetoteacheversogratefullyatmyfavorite,LondonSchoolofTheology. Thesejourneystaughtmethemulti-dimensionalityoftheology.AsthankfulasIam forhavingbeentaughttheWesleyanQuadrilateralforsourceconsiderationandas amethodfortheologizing,Iacquiredaconvictionthattotheologizewell,wemust continue to expand our horizons, reengage sources, and reconceive methods for theologizinginaworldthatisfarmorecomplexthanpriorgenerations. However, many titles on theological methodology in the market tend to be written for professional theologians and advanced students in theology, and usuallythese volumes would argue forparticulardenominational orientations.I have benefitted much from these resources in the course of my reflection as a
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