This page intentionally left blank AN INTRODUCTION TO THIRD WORLD THEOLOGIES The greatest change which has come about in Christian theology over the last generation has been the explosion of contextual theologies in different parts of the world This book provides the first overview of the main trends and contributions to Christian thought from Third World theologies It sets out the common context of these theologies in their experience of colonialism and Western missions, and suggests that they have forged new ways of doing theology which are quite distinct from the theological traditions of the Western world With key contributions from experts in their fields on Latin America, India, East Asia, West and East Africa, Southern Africa and the Caribbean, this book situates Christian thought in the cultural and socio-political contexts of their respective regions, and demonstrates how Third World theologies are providing different perspectives on what it means to be a Christian in today’s global world j oh n par rat t is Professor of Third World Theologies at the University of Birmingham He has taught and researched widely in Africa, India and the Pacific His books include Papuan Belief and Ritual (1976), Reinventing Christianity: African Theology Today (1995), A Reader in African Christian Theology (1987, revised and expanded, 1997), A Guide to Doing Theology (1996) and The Pleasing of the Gods, Meitei Lai Haraoba (with S Arambam Parratt, 1997) A N I N T RO D U C T I O N TO T H I R D WO R L D THEOLOGIES ed ited by JO H N PA R R A T T University of Birmingham cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521793353 © Cambridge University Press 2004 This publication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published in print format 2004 isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-511-21092-1 eBook (EBL) 0-511-21269-0 eBook (EBL) isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-521-79335-3 hardback 0-521-79335-1 hardback isbn-13 isbn-10 978-0-521-79739-9 paperback 0-521-79739-x paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate Contents List of contributors page vi Introduction John Parratt Latin America 16 Jose Miguez Bonino India 44 Kirsteen Kim East Asia 74 Edmond Tang Africa, East and West 105 Diane Stinton Southern Africa 137 Isabel Apawo Phiri The Caribbean 163 George Mulrain Postscript 182 John Parratt Index 186 v Contributors j o s e m i g u e z b o n i n o, former President of the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians, is Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics at the Facultad Evangelica de Teologia ISEDET in Buenos Aires, Argentina Among his many books are Doing Theology in a Revolutionary Age, Towards a Christian Political Ethics and Faces of Latin American Protestantism k irsteen k im obtained her doctorate from the University of Birmingham, where she is currently an honorary lecturer and Tutor in Mission Studies at the United College of the Resurrection She taught for several years at Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, and has also worked in Korea and the USA She has authored numerous papers on Indian theology and missiology Her most recent publication is Mission in The Spirit: The Holy Spirit in Indian Christian Theologies george m ulrain is from Trinidad and is currently Connexional President of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) He has been Lecturer in Missiology at the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, and Senior Tutor at the United Theological College of the West Indies He has worked and travelled extensively throughout the Caribbean region john parrat t is Professor of Third World Theologies at the University of Birmingham He has taught and researched extensively in Africa, India and the Pacific His publications include Reinventing Christianity: African Theology Today (1995) and A Reader in African Christian Theology (rev edn 1997) isabel apawo phiri studied at the Universities of Malawi, Lancaster and Cape Town She is currently Professor of African Theology at the University of Natal, Director of the Centre for Constructive Theology and Continental Coordinator of the Circle of African Women vi List of contributors vii Theologians Her publications include Women, Presbyterianism, and Patriarchy (1997) and (as joint editor) Her-Story: the Histories of Women of Faith in Africa (2002) diane stin ton is a Canadian, and completed her doctorate at the University of Edinburgh She has been involved in theological education in Kenya since 1984 and is currently Senior Lecturer and Chair of Theological Research at Daystar University, Nairobi Her book Jesus of Africa: Contemporary Christology is shortly to be published by Orbis edm on d tang is lecturer and Head of the Centre for East Asian Christianity at the University of Birmingham He is China consultant for the British and Irish Churches, and has been editor of the China Study Journal since 1990 He is co-editor of The Catholic Church in Modern China (Maryknoll 1982) and author of numerous articles on Christianity in China and in Asia generally ... cultivated corn, beans, potato, cotton, tobacco and built dams and irrigation systems, were organised into tribes and clans with names of animals or plants considered as totems, had a pantheon which... Presbyterianism, and Patriarchy (1997) and (as joint editor) Her-Story: the Histories of Women of Faith in Africa (2002) diane stin ton is a Canadian, and completed her doctorate at the University. .. Epistle to the Romans, had the First World War not taken place To understand the rise of Third World theologies we also need to take serious notice of the circumstances, historical, political and