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

God.’ 201 In his discussion of theology in public from a South African context,
John W. De Gruchy’s observes:
There are two diametrically opposing temptations facing theologians who engage
the public sphere. The first is the temptation to convince ourselves that theology
makes more of a contribution and difference than it does; the second is to
underestimate the significance of its role. Both temptations arise out of a
misunderstanding of the task of theology in public life. 202
He believes confidently that theology can make a real contribution when ‘rightly
pursued within public life.’ 203 However, he failed to explain the task of theology
in public life in clear terms.
In the context of religious fundamentalism and the minority crisis in India, M.T.
Cherian calls for a public theology that should emerge ‘out of the day-to-day
expression of the public.’ He urges that the church should ‘identify various public
spheres’ for the well-being of the society, and thus he discusses ‘religious public,’
‘political public,’ ‘academic public,’ ‘economic public,’ professional public
(‘public related to professional activities and institutions like medicine, education
and management’), and ‘legal public.’ 204 However, Pentecostals may not be so
comfortable with his idea of public theology, which he states ‘emerges from the
201 Moltmann, God for a Secular Society, 1.
202 John W. De Gruchy, ‘From Political to Public Theologies: The Role of Theology in Public Life
in South Africa,’ in Public Theology for the Twenty-First Century, ed. William F. Storrar and
Andrew R. Morton (London: T & T Clark, 2004), 45. De Gruchy argues that although ‘public
theology’ is an equivalent term to ‘political theology’ of the 1960s, it is different in character.
‘Political theology originally referred to those theologies in Europe that gave legitimacy to the
state and its claims within the context of Christendom. This understanding prevailed well into the
second half of the twentieth century when political theology was radically reconstructed by
Johannes Baptist Metz and Jurgen Moltmann to mean precisely the opposite’ (p. 47).
203 Gruchy, ‘From Political to Public Theologies,’ 45.
204 For a detailed discussion, see M.T. Cherian, Hindutva Agenda and Minority Rights, 302-07. He
suggests that ‘theology emerges from the discourse of and with the public and not necessarily from
the religious community only but from various groups or secular public.’(See p.302).
330