The book proclaims boldly that contextualizing theology is an imperative. All theologies
in fact are contextual. A theology that does not reflect the present circumstances and our current concerns is a false theology.
In doing theology, the two poles of experience and Tradition have to be taken into consideration. The faith of our fathers must illumine the way we articulate our faith at present. However, our present articulation of our faith is also at the same influenced by our context. “Who we are, what we are and where we are” cannot be isolated from the way we articulate our faith in God.
Hence, it is important that we talk about the method of the contextual articulation of our faith. How could we possible wed culture and Tradition? The book mentions that there are two possible orientations in appreciating the people’s culture in our current articulation of the faith. One is the creation-centered approach and the other is the redemption-centered approach. The former treats culture positively as it presupposes that cultures are inherently good. The latter however is more suspicious of culture. Its main presupposition is that culture is in need of redemption. This means that not all, if not most, of the elements of culture have to be criticized, purified and even replaced because they cannot be in harmony with the Gospel.
If we are to articulate our faith anew, that is, if we are to articulate the faith in the way that is both faithful to the long Tradition of Christianity and at the same time mindful of the context, there would also be the question of orthodoxy. We need to ask the question, ‘up to what extent can we utilize the elements of our culture in order to articulate the faith which has already been reflected upon by our forefathers?’
This is where the book contributes greatly. The realization that theology has to be contextual is not new. But the book does a survey of the different ways in which the contextual articulation has been done, and concludes that there are varied ways or models of articulating the faith via the context of the theologian. The book divides the various contextual articulation of the faith into the following models:
The book speaks of the translation model. In many ways, every mode of contextual theology is a model of translation, that is, of translating the eternal truths of our faith into the symbols that are recognizable in our culture. However, the emphasis on the eternal truths of faith is not a unanimously accepted concept. Others would shun away from the belief that there are eternal truths. Hence, Bevans classifies those reflections with an implicit presupposition of the eternal truths under this model of translation.
There is also the anthropological model that puts greater emphasis on culture rather than on the eternal truths. Its primary concern is the establishment of cultural identity as a person articulates his Christian faith. Such articulation may disregard the presupposed eternal truths of the translation model.
The third is the praxis model which focuses on the identity of Christians as they confront the social realities of their context. This model presupposes that the highest level of knowing is in praxis. A theology that does not take praxis into consideration is an irrelevant reflection.
There is also the transcendental model that proposes the task of constructing a contextualized theology through a conscious consideration of the affective and cognitive operations in the subject. The importance is no longer on the theology produced, but on the person who theologized. This argues that the best contextualizers are those who are members of the context themselves.
Then, there is the countercultural model which gives the warning that context needs to be treated with a good deal of suspicion. This takes the redemption approach to culture and claims that if the gospel is to truly take root within a people’s context, it needs to challenge and purify that context. This model also realizes that some contexts are simply antithetical to the gospel and need to be challenged by the gospel’s liberating and healing power. With these detailed discussions of the models of possible engagement between culture and faith, the book serves a very important role in the birth and growth of localized theologies. It gives a paradigmatic understanding of the various efforts done to contextualize or localize the faith. The book should be read by practicing theologians, especially those who are working in the academe so that they can better understand their task and hence properly direct themselves to a thoroughly understood goal of contextualizing the Christian faith.