a contextual missiology of the spirit - eTheses Repository ...

the need for and responsibility of Christians to make their response to the gospel
as concrete and lively as possible.’ 17 He evaluates the appropriateness of all these
four terms in contemporary theology. 18 As Schreiter observes, ‘not all attempts in
theology are equally sensitive to the context,’ and so ‘they can take quite different
approaches to it.’ Therefore, he uses the term ‘local theologies’ in an inclusive
way to develop a broader approach. 19 The history of mission has witnessed a
number of mission models in various contexts, and several attempts have been
made to analyze these models. 20 In his study of new perspectives in missiological
anthropology, Louis Luzbetak discusses diverse mission models. He classifies
them into three theoretical models: ethnocentric (including paternalism,
triumphalism and racism), accommodational and contextual (including
incarnational as well as inculturational). 21 On the other hand, Bevans identifies six
models of contextual theology: ‘translation model,’ ‘anthropological model,’
‘praxis model,’ ‘synthetic model,’ ‘transcendental model’ and ‘countercultural
model.’ 22 While discussing the varieties of local theology, Schreiter categorizes
them into three major models: ‘translation models,’ ‘accommodation models’ and
‘contextual models.’ 23
17 Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies, 1. In his discussion on inculturation, Peter C. Phan
also views that despite of the ‘terminological confusion’ different ‘terms of varying degrees of
appropriateness’ describe the process to make the Christian message more meaningful to the local
context. See Peter C. Phan, In Our Own Tongues: Perspectives from Asia on Mission and
Inculturation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2003), 4.
18 For more discussion, see Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies, 5-6.
19 Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies, 6.
20 It is significant that most of this is done by Catholic theologians. See, for example, Louis J
Luzbetak, The Church and Cultures: New Perspectives in Missiological Anthropology (New York:
Orbis, 1988); Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies; Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology.
21 For more details of the discussion, see Luzbetak, Church and Cultures, 64-84.
22 For further discussion, see Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, 37-137.
23 For more details of the discussion, see Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies, 6-16.
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