Contextual Theology

Definition and Meaning

Contextual theology begins from the premise that theology is never produced in a vacuum but is always shaped within a particular linguistic, cultural, political, and economic situation. It therefore seeks to articulate the gospel in terms of the questions and language of that situation. The Korean term is a translation of the English word "contextual," and the approach is also known as "theology of context." The process of communicating the gospel in a way suited to the local culture is called contextualization. Contextual theology is less a single school than an umbrella term for a range of theologies. In the broad sense it includes indigenization theology, Black theology, liberation theology, and Minjung theology.

Biblical and Historical Background

Proponents of contextual theology find support in Scripture. Their chief example is the Incarnation, in which God became man and came among a particular people at a particular time. They also cite Paul's sermon in Athens, in which he referred to the city's altars and quoted its poets (Acts 17:22-31). Paul's confession, "I am made all things to all men" (1 Corinthians 9:22), and the Council of Jerusalem, which debated how far Jewish customs should be required of Gentile believers, are cited in the same connection.

The term "contextualization" is generally attributed to Shoki Coe (Huang Chang-hui), a Taiwanese theologian who proposed it in the early 1970s within the Theological Education Fund (TEF) of the World Council of Churches. Within evangelicalism, the Lausanne Movement began to discuss the subject when it addressed the relationship between the gospel and culture in the Lausanne Covenant of 1974. Evangelicals, however, have generally held that the content of the gospel does not change and that only the manner of its communication is adapted to the context.

Practice in the Korean Church

In Korea, the indigenization debate of the 1960s, led by Yun Sung-bum, Yu Dong-sik, and others at Methodist Theological University, is regarded as the starting point for the concerns of contextual theology. In the 1970s, Minjung theology emerged, taking the labor and human rights issues of life under military rule as the setting for theological reflection. Theologians associated with the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea were deeply involved in Minjung theology.

Denominations differ in the extent to which they have embraced contextual theology.

• Ecumenical bodies such as the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea and the Korean Methodist Church: These have been relatively receptive to contextual theology.
• Reformed bodies such as the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong) and the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin), along with conservative evangelicals: These warn that when context takes precedence over the authority of Scripture, the result may drift into syncretism (the mixing of elements from different religions). They nonetheless generally accept contextualization in the sense of attending to language and culture in the mission field.

These differences also surface in concrete discussions where Korean culture and Christian faith meet, such as the question of ancestral rites and memorial services.