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

time keeping the necessary distance to make a critical evaluation. It is significant
to note the voice of the Indian Catholic missiologist Louis Malieckal in this
respect:
…theology today is seen as a living search arising out of commitment to the
people. The starting point is praxis and the subject is people themselves in their
life-struggle. They do the initial articulation which will be in the form of a search
for ultimate meaning of this struggle. The role of the professional theologian is to
ponder, interpret and highlight this meaning, while participating in it as a member
of this struggling community, and thus enable them to discover it more fully. 116
Therefore, my personal background and presuppositions will influence the
findings of this study. Born as the son of a classical Pentecostal pastor, I went to
Rajasthan with the same tradition. However, several years of ministry, study and
involvement in the Pentecostal movement in Rajasthan have caused me to move a
little away from my traditional classical Pentecostal background. Today I see
myself as standing in between Classical Pentecostalism and Neo-Pentecostalism. I
recognize the limitations of my position as an outsider in terms of culture and
ethnicity, and as an insider in terms of church tradition. However, my experience
of living in the state for several years has helped to reduce elements of suspicion
in my approach. Being a part of the movement makes it difficult at times to
maintain a critical distance. However, every effort has been taken to maintain an
element of detachment where possible, so that my findings will not be unduly
influenced.
116 Louis Malieckal, ‘Realising an Indian Theology of Mission,’ in A Missiology for Third
Millennium: A Contextualized Mission Theology, ed. Thomas Aykara (Bangalore: Dharmaram
Publications, 1997), 128.
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