CL8530 | Gospel and Cultures

One world under God?

[cross posted from Mary's blog, tensegrities]

We've been having rather passionate discussions in my doctoral seminar, of late, that tend to cluster around some of the differences between issues that arise in "everyday theology" and those that we focus on in "academic theology." (I put these terms in quotes, because although I think Kathryn Tanner does a good job of defining them, not everyone has read her excellent book.)

Today I opened up the latest issue of The Atlantic (April 2009) -- which is one of the few magazines I regularly recommend people subscribe to in print version -- to find this powerful essay entitled "One World Under God" by Robert Wright.

I think that this essay is a remarkable illustration of everyday theology. It makes some key points about Christianity -- particularly the Pauline corpus -- that we regularly work on in the midst of discussions at Luther (see especially the Center for Missional Leadership), but it does so almost entirely in the language of evolutionary theory (which is not surprising, given that Robert Wright is a journalist who's focused a lot on that topic).

I'm certain that systematic theologians and biblical scholars could find some things to disagree with in this essay (Wright draws on a fairly common interpretation of Lydia's role in Paul's ministry, for instance, when newer work is available), but I wonder to what extent academic theologians can engage this essay as a welcome intervention in popular US discourse?

My hunch is that many would find it hard to do so, because it doesn't start from the key claims of the Christian gospel. But on the other hand, I suspect that many religious educators -- or maybe I should speak for myself, as a specifically Catholic religious educator of Christian faith -- would simply say that I find this essay a powerful argument that could go a long way towards opening up notions of the missio dei and missional leadership in broader discourse.

Which is why it's a great illustration, to my mind, of the challenges that arise when everyday theologians and academic theologians engage each other.

Journal Report for March 16

Journal Report for March 16

Medhat Yowkem

 

We spent a long time covering my question about the significance of Civil Society and Political Theory  in northwestern cultures. Some of the international students explained how they struggle to relate this book with their own cultures. I think it was very helpful to see the professors and other students listen to our frustrations and understand our challenges. It was helpful when the professors talked about the applications of this reading to our countries; for example NGO’s as civil society movement.

 Suzan’s presentation was helpful for making civil society theories and politics understandable within any culture. I appreciated when she pointed out the scripture verse about Jesus turning over the tables and kicking them out of the temple (Revolutionary Christ). Jesus was engaging with his community and creating dialogue.

  The first respondent raised a question about how we have other texts which show Jesus in a civil society movement as a peacemaker. Also, Jesus and his conversation with the Samaritan women, or Jesus as an angry man throwing the tables away. Which method is the right method to pick at which times?

 In the second response Harvey mentioned the political issues of Zimbabwe, a non-western country, that is ruled by dictatorship and which is controlling the civil society task. Harvey is disappointed because the president of Zimbabwe is a Christian and even a seminarian so the expectations for this leader were high (I hope I understood you right Harvey).

 We finished our class with a wonderful conversation about democracy. Is it something universal or just culture? Gary said we can see the sense of universality in the intuition of human speech, and through the golden role of participation of people. In the same time Gary explained his concern from making democracy just all about culture.Gary sees democracy as an evolutionary concept. The important thing about western civilization is that, though it is largely based on Christian morality, coming out of Christian tradition, the West doesn’t get ethics only from the Bible, but from other experiences and sources.

On obligation ....

Is the West obliged to help? 

And I said yes. Here is part of the reason ....

My brother spent a year in Rwanda soon after the genocide as part of the UN Peace Keeping Force. He still struggles with the trauma he faced there. As those of you that have seen "Hotel Rwanda" know, the West was not only silent throughout those 100 days. Western countries managed to come in to save their citizens, leaving the Africans fighting. Of course, Bill Clinton made an apology a few years later, and the UN declared the famous "Never Again," but could it have made a difference if they had intervened sooner rather than later?

We did mention Sudan this morning, only to see on the news later today that government has decided to send all international NGOs packing. 

Then there is the question of the impact of HIV/AIDS. The figures are alarming, no need to repeat them here. 

And then, the billions of dollars from the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa for muslim scholarships and food aid. 

There are some issues too big for local civil societies to handle by themselves, eg; the case of Zimbabwe. This is where civil societies could advocate for one another. When I lived in England, on numerous occasions, I joined "movements" that would speak to the government on behalf of struggling nations elsewhere, for instance, Africa. I took part in the Live 8 campaigns. (Thank God for Bono and Bob Geldof. I have always wondered why the Archbishop of Canterbury remained silent through out those campiagns.) This is not at the expense of something local. Civil society ought to have eyes both on the local and the global, especially Christian civil society. We are one Body. And the globe is shrinking.  

Mainline clergy attitudes

So do you think clergy in a missional church ought to care about how to understand civil society? about how to understand the role of government in engaging social problems? Here's a relatively new poll on attitudes amongst mainline clergy. Among other findings, the poll finds mainline clergy interested in a stronger federal response to social problems. (hat tip to Chuck Currie)

just for test

Test from Medhat Yowkem

Anonymous blogging

Let's make this whole discussion a little bit more concrete. Check out this post by SansBlogue -- especially the video trailer about blogging in Iran. What do you think? Is this a space of communicative action? To what extent does SansBlogue's concern about anonymous blogging have any resonance with Cohen and Arato's discussion of civil disobedience?
Iran: A nation of bloggers from Mr.Aaron on Vimeo.

Journalist John Ogren

[This is posted by Mary, because John couldn't get into the blog.] What entails for our seminar, for the CML program, for the missional church discourse, for theology, and for congregations in a shift of leitmotif from culture to society?

The proliferation of questions, terms, models, problems, theories, periods, figures, traditions, movements, critics, critiques, and meta-critiques threatens to overwhelm. Will we reach a calm eye in the storm, attain some new orientation? Or will the anticipated leap out of time and space into a virtual cosmos simply multiply our confusions?

The notorious challenges presented the CML community in the attempt to integrate theology and social science as a faithful tracking of the triune God’s world travels in mission enrich considerably with the addition of politics and economics; yet omitting them seems more absurd than even the growing cloud of perplexities we now face. The Hermeneutics and Analytics of Leading in Mission?

Is that nostalgia we feel for the missional church conversation of old? When we didn’t have to worry about Marx or Schumpeter or Foucault? When the world we saw God engaging ahead of us was a North American world—a world of symbol and meaning and crumbling Christendom, not a world of power, multi-nationals, states, and revolutions—self-limiting or otherwise? I see the international students grinning and shaking their heads.

Once upon a time we read some New Testament passages about το ευανγελλιον—an attempt to gain some sense of (cultural, at least) specificity about this bit of borrowed material that still signifies the heart of Christian faith and theology. Still the question of how the course is theological remains, though the question of meta-norms may yet provoke some sense of this. Meta to what? And where? As theologians, we have our own meta and norm problems, thank you. Still, if theology can face the world, it must surely somehow cope with society.

Where will we find congregations in this “strange landscape”? Halfway through Cohen and Arato, do they seem almost invisible? Like yeast lost in a lump? Like the first Christian εκκλησιαι assembling in (of all places) οικοι around the Mediterranean?

American trust in institutions

I think this data is important for us to consider, and not simply because of what it demonstrates as a decrease in trust of religious institutions, but also of institutions more generally in the US (that is, aside from the military). [hat tip to 538]

Global voices

I can't remember if I mentioned this site in class, or not, but Global Voices is a great place to find blogs and other media from a vast array of places.

Journal for March 2, 2009

Engaging Bevans and Tanner, we began to wonder about Christian identity in relation to culture. We fussed with the question, “Is there a genuine Christian identity or is it better to understand Christian identity as on-going argument?” Tanner cautioned us about the seemingly thin line between theology and idolatry. Thus far, we have spoken at length about culture and gospel along with exploring issues of methodology in articulating this relationship. We continue to experience the messiness of this theological task. We now take up the issue of civil society guided by the readings of Jean Cohen and Andrew Arato in their book Civil Society and Political Theory.

 

As we began, the presenter wondered if civil society could be articulated as a function, space, or both?  Could civil society be conceived as a mediating structure between public and private, economic and political, gospel and culture? How might understanding civil society through spatial categories be helpful? If we understand civil society as a mediating structure we may wonder about the boundaries. Who draws these boundaries? Are these boundaries clear and distinct or are they porous as Tanner has suggested? Interestingly, Tanner suggested that Christian identity is revealed at these porous boundaries where materials can be borrowed from culture. Through class discussion, it became apparent that these porous boundaries were drawn differently depending on the culture. Moreover, does culture necessarily entail both politics and economics? Given the different cultures represented in the class, the trajectory of the conversation went in various directions.

 

If we accept an understanding of civil society operating as some kind of mediating structure, how might this shape the task of theology? Moreover, we wondered, if this structure becomes the meta-norm or the universal for doing theology. In this way, as the question was lofted, “Is theology always serving the norm?” As we spoke of spatial categories, we were also were lead in thinking of the ecclesia (and narrative!) in spatial categories. From a non-western voice, it was pointed out that the ecclesia is a space that is often prophetic. As we explore civil society, it will be important to fuss over the public role of the church along with the porous boundaries. As we venture forward, this theological task is becoming increasingly complex. However, we have carved out a space whereby we can engage in conversation, learn from criticism, and construct a public argument of God’s activity.