Theology after Colonization

Tim Hartman

Description

Tim Hartman's Theology after Colonization uses a comparative approach to examine two theologians, one from Europe and one from Africa, to gain insight into our contemporary theological situation. Hartman examines how the loss of cultural hegemony through rising pluralism and secularization has undermined the interconnection of the Christian faith with political power and how globalization undermined the expansive (and expanding) mindset of colonialization. Hartman engages Swiss-German theologian Karl Barth (1886–1968), whose work responded to the challenges of Christendom and the increasing secularization of Europe by articulating an early post-Christendom theology based on God's self-revelation in Jesus Christ, not on official institutional structures (including the church) or societal consensus. In a similar way, Ghanaian theologian Kwame Bediako (1945–2008) offered a post-colonial theology. He wrote from the perspective of the global South while the Christian faith was growing exponentially following the departure of Western missionaries from Africa. For Bediako, the infinite translatability of the gospel of Jesus Christ leads to the renewal of Christianity as a non-Western religion, not a product of colonialization.

Many Western theologies find themselves unable to respond to increasing secularization and intensifying globalization because they are based on the very assumptions of uniformity and parochialism (sometimes called "orthodoxy") that are being challenged. Hartman claims Bediako and Barth can serve as helpful guides for contemporary theological reflection as the consensus surrounding this theological complex disintegrates further. Collectively, their work points the way toward contemporary theological reflection that is Christological, contextual, cultural, constructive, and collaborative. As one of the first books to examine the work of Bediako, this study will interest students and scholars of Christian theology, African studies, and postcolonial studies.

Any consideration of practicing the Christian faith in a religiously pluralistic society or of introducing the Christian faith to a previously isolated society quickly raises a number of questions, including the following: How can the gospel of Jesus Christ and a given culture interact? Does translating the gospel into cultural forms always result in syncretism? Historically, accusations of syncretism flourish in times of pluralism or whenever the prevailing religious consensus is threatened. From the early centuries of the Christian church to colonial Africa to Nazi Germany to modern-day Europe or twenty-first century America, we find allegations of syncretism against some group that is combining gospel and culture in ways we deem inappropriate. In Calvin’s Geneva, for instance, those who wanted to place images inside the sanctuary were labeled syncretists.

If a “pure gospel” is an impossibility and God’s self-revelation occurs through cultural media (human flesh, the texts of the Bible, the acts of individuals or communities, etc.), then revelation and culture, or gospel and culture, will always be intertwined. Often the nature of the interconnectedness between the gospel and human cultures is fraught with conflict. Charges of syncretism are levied when one believes that a particular theological formulation has too much culture and not enough gospel. Others may cry, “Irrelevant!,” when they sense that a theological formulation is too disconnected from the people it is seeking to address.

One way of thinking about the relationship of the gospel and culture is as a continuum with the gospel on one side and culture on the other. Since the pure gospel pole is uninhabitable and the pure culture pole is undesirable for Christians, contemporary theological reflection takes place between the poles, one hopes closer to the gospel side so as to avoid the dreaded syncretism. After all, syncretism was the epithet applied to many early versions of African Christianity that made colonial Europeans nervous. Could you have Christians who played drums or danced in worship, who visited “traditional” healers, or who did not wear neckties? Many Africans learned about neckties at the same time and from the same people who taught them about Jesus Christ. Today many African men are tired of wearing neckties (and other Western and colonial trappings), but they want to hold on to Jesus Christ. So they are trying to figure out what it was they learned about Jesus Christ that was so wrapped up in Western culture that it should be thrown out with the necktie and what about Jesus is authentic revelation that should be kept and repackaged in African cultural categories.

Typically, the label of syncretism has been applied by those in power to discredit a differing or a challenging view. “Syncretism” thus often has a negative connotation. Barth barely referred to syncretism at all, and when he did it was clearly something to avoid or overcome. Bediako quipped that the goal of theological reflection was “relevance without syncretism.” More recently, some postcolonial theologians and others on the underside of power have sought intentionally to embrace the label of syncretism. While each case would need to be evaluated on its own, the actions of these authors raise an important question: to some degree, are all Christians syncretists? If all theology is engaged and articulated in cultural categories and a pure gospel is not possible, then all of us are mixing theology and culture and all of us are syncretists. The charge then becomes that you are more syncretistic than I am. In response to centuries of Westerners labeling African Christianity as syncretistic, Bediako replied that he believed that Western Christianity was more syncretistic than African Christianity and that Western syncretism was worse because Westerners did not know where their cultural convictions stopped and their theological convictions began.

The flat continuum of gospel and culture, with syncretism somewhere in the middle, fails to account for real-life complexities and also treats the gospel and culture as polar opposites instead of culture as a means to convey the gospel. Our understanding of syncretism needs to be revised and rethought. For those who find cultural expressions of the gospel threatening, what if syncretism was not hurled as an insult but instead was considered as an opportunity to expand one’s understanding of the gospel, or even of expanding the gospel itself?

(Excerpted from chapter 6)

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part I. Western Christian Theology Today

1. A Crisis of (Shifting) Authority: The Decline of Christendom and the Rise of Secularization and Globalization

2. Transcultural Theology through Juxtaposition Transitional Theological Interlude

Part II. Rethinking Divine Revelation

3. Christological Reflection: Revelation in Jesus Christ

4. Contextual Reflection: Revelation, not Religion

5. Cultural Reflection: The Location of Revelation

6. Constructive Reflection: Imaginative and Prophetic

7. Collaborative Reflection: Learning, not Helping

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Philosophie et théologie
• Religión
• State
• Globalization
• Theology
• Politics
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268106553
• Langue: English

Extrait

THEOLOGY AFTER COLONIZATION
Notre Dame Studies in African Theology
Series co-editors: Rev. Paulinus Ikechukwu Odozor, C.S.Sp., and David A. Clairmont

Under the sponsorship of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, and in cooperation with the Notre Dame Department of Theology, this series seeks to publish new scholarship engaging the history, the con- temporary situation, and the future of African theology and the African church. The goal is to initiate a global and interdisciplinary conversation about African theology and its current trajectories, with special attention to its interreligious and multicultural context on the African continent and in the African diaspora. The series will publish works in the history of the Af rican church and in Af rican perspectives on biblical studies, liturgy, religious art and music, ethics, and Christian doctrine.
THEOLOGY AFTER COLONIZATION
Kwame Bediako, Karl Barth, and the Future of Theological Reflection
TIM HARTMAN
University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana
University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 undpress.nd.edu
Copyright 2020 by the University of Notre Dame
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number:2019948650
ISBN: 978-0-268-10653-9 (hardback) ISBN: 978-0-268-10656-0 (WebPDF) ISBN: 978-0-268-10655-3 (Epub)
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
For Saranell Simeon, Elliana, and Jeremiah
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
PART I. WESTERN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY TODAY
ONE . A Crisis of (Shifting) Authority: The Decline of Christendom and the Rise of Secularization and Globalization
TWO . Transcultural Theology through Juxtaposition
Transitional Theological Interlude
PART II. RETHINKING DIVINE REVELATION
THREE . Christological Reflection: Revelation in Jesus Christ
FOUR . Contextual Reflection: Revelation, not Religion
FIVE . Cultural Reflection: The Location of Revelation
SIX . Constructive Reflection: Imaginative and Prophetic
SEVEN . Collaborative Reflection: Learning, not Helping
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“If you want to run fast, go alone. If you want to run far, go together.” As I consider this African proverb and remember how far I and this project have come, many faces come to mind of those who have run with me, without whom this book would not be in your hands. This book’s story begins on February 21, 2012, when as a graduate student at the University of Virginia, I was sitting in Alderman Library with an inkling of how I might contribute to contemporary theological reflection. A series of questions ran through my mind: What if I could combine my upbringing in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America with my experiences with African Christianities? Could I put two theologians in dialogue, one from Africa and one from North America or Europe? Maybe Karl Barth, and who else? I had been reading Kwame Bediako’s writings but knew that if this was a viable direction I would need to visit the Akrofi-Christaller Institute (ACI) in Ghana. I hastily composed an email to the person I knew with the most connections to the Christian church worldwide,Tim Dearborn. I asked him if he had ever heard of Kwame Bediako or knew anyone I could talk with about Bediako. That very afternoon, I was copied on an email from Tim to Gillian Mary Bediako, Kwame’s widow, that began, “Dear Gillian, Meet my friend Tim. . . .”The journey that started that day has been supported by many people and institutions. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has helped this book come to be.
First, the hospitality, grace, and generosity shown to me by Dr. Gillian Mary Bediako has made this book possible. Both during my research trips to ACI and during my ensuing visits, I received encouragement for my work, helpful interpretation of Kwame’s thought, and access to countless unpublished documents. Thank you, Mary.
I thank Tim Dearborn for his initial email of introduction and Tim and Kerry Dearborn for first teaching me about the unlimited and unconditional grace of God through Karl Barth’s doctrine of election.
I am deeply indebted to the Ghanaians who taught me and encouraged me as I learned about Kwame Bediako: Maurice Apprey, Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, John Azumah, Rudolf Kuuku Gaisie, Griselda Lartey, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Kofi Asare Opoku, and Benhardt Y. Quarshie.
This project began as a dissertation, and I wish to thank my adviser, Paul Dafydd Jones, for his unflagging enthusiasm for this project from the beginning and his attentive reading and incisive comments, as well as my committee, Maurice Apprey, Cindy Hoehler-Fatton, Charles Marsh, and Chuck Mathewes. The labor of dismantling the dissertation and writing the book was greatly aided by the insights of Randi Rashkover and Ted Smith. The style of the final manuscript benefited from the work of my research assistants, AJ Shortley and Hannah Trawick, and the editorial skills of Ulrike Guthrie. I am grateful to Stephen Little and the team at the University of Notre Dame Press for believing in this project and shepherding it through the production process. I am deeply honored to have this book selected to inaugurate the Notre Dame Studies in African Theology series.
Institutional support has been essential in the completion of this project. I am grateful for three awards from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia that funded research visits to Ghana and supplied encouragement and financial support at important stages of the project. I gratefully acknowledge the support of a Dissertation Fellowship from the Louisville Institute that enabled me to complete my dissertation in a timely manner. My three academic deans at Columbia Seminary, Deb Mullen, Christine Roy Yoder, and Love Sechrest, have been faithful champions of my scholarship in words, time, and grants. Many thanks to the library staff at the University of Virginia, the Akrofi-Christaller Institute, and Columbia Theological Seminary who obtained numerous documents for me over the years from libraries around the world. This research would literally not have been possible without their efforts.
On a personal level, I am grateful to my parents, Dave and Kitty Hartman, for their support throughout this work, with special gratitude to my mother for transcribing three of Bediako’s lectures from audio files. My wife’s parents, Doug and Alleene Kracht, also enabled me to run the long road of research and writing through their encouragement and help with my family, especially during my research trips to Ghana. Finally, and most important, I am grateful to my children, who welcomed me home at the end of each day of work with a hug, a smile, a ball, or a toy — and know how to keep me humble and on my toes. I dedicate this work to them and to Saranell, my wife and partner in life’s journey. I could not have conducted this research or written it up without her unconditional love, her daily support, her constant encouragement and belief in me, and her loving and generous spirit. My hope is that this book may contribute to theologies that encourage human flourishing for our children and the world they will inhabit through the good news of Jesus Christ.
ABBREVIATIONS
All biblical quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version.
Works by Kwame Bediako CiA Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion (Edin- burgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995) JAC “Jesus in African Culture: A Ghanaian Perspective,” in Jesus and the Gos- pel in Africa (Oxford: Regnum, 2000) TI Theology and Identity: The Impact of Culture on Christian Thought in the
Second Century and Modern Africa (Oxford: Regnum, 1992)
Works by Karl Barth I/1 Church Dogmatics , vol. I, part 1, 2nd ed. (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1975) I/2 Church Dogmatics , vol. I, part 2 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1956) II/1 Church Dogmatics , vol. II, part 1 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1957) II/2 Church Dogmatics , vol. II, part 2 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1957) III/1 Church Dogmatics , vol. III, part 1 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1958) III/2 Church Dogmatics , vol. III, part 2 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1960) III/3 Church Dogmatics , vol. III, part 3 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1960) III/4 Church Dogmatics , vol. III, part 4 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1961) IV/1 Church Dogmatics , vol. IV, part 1 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1956) IV/2 Church Dogmatics , vol. IV, part 2 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1958) IV/3 Church Dogmatics , vol. IV, part 3 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1961) IV/4 Church Dogmatics , vol. IV, part 4 (Edinburgh: T T Clark, 1969) TCL The Christian Life: Church Dogmatics IV.4 , Lecture Fragments , ed. Hans-Anton Drewes and Eberhard Jüngel, trans. Geoffrey Bromiley (London: T T Clark, 2004)
INTRODUCTION
Colonization and Christendom are interrelated phenomena that have shaped the history of Christianity over the past seventeen hundred years. The impulses to expand and to rule have reinforced each other through a hegemonic cultural consensus that has defined the boundaries and content of Christian theological reflection. A key feature of this complex has been the confusion of Christianity with North Atlantic white culture. Particularly during the past five hundred years, this consensus has been disintegrating when conf ronted with the impact of secularization and globalization.
Christendom and colonization are not merely parallel processes. Though distinct, they are interrelated