Majority World Theology

Christian Doctrine in Global Context

Edited by Gene L. Green, Stephen T. Pardue, and K. K. Yeo

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Majority World Theology

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More Christians now live in the Majority World than in Europe and North America. Yet most theological literature does not reflect the rising tide of Christian reflection coming from these regions. If we take seriously the Spirit's movement around the world, we must consider how the rich textures of Christianity in the Majority World can enliven, inform, and challenge all who are invested in the ongoing work of theology.

Majority World Theology offers an unprecedented opportunity to enter conversations on the core Christian doctrines with leading scholars from around the globe. Seeking to bring together the strongest theological resources from past and present, East and West, the volume editors have assembled a diverse team of contributors to develop insights informed by questions from particular geographic and cultural contexts. This book features

a comprehensive overview of systematic theology, with sections on the Trinity, Christology, pneumatology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology
contributors including Amos Yong, Ruth Padilla DeBorst, Victor I. Ezigbo, Wonsuk Ma, Aída Besançon Spencer, Randy S. Woodley, Munther Isaac, and Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
explorations of how Scripture, tradition, and culture fit together to guide the church's theological reflection
scholars demonstrating how to read the Bible and think theologically in light of contextual resources and concerns
inside views on what doing theology looks like in contributors' contexts and what developments they hope for in the future

When we learn what it means for Jesus to be Lord in diverse places and cultures, we grasp the gospel more fully and are more able to see the blind spots of our own local versions of Christianity. Majority World Theology provides an essential resource for students, theologians, and pastors who want to expand their theological horizons.

REVIEWS

"Majority World Theology provides a survey of the development of Christian thought in the whole world. It explores the basic Christian doctrines in the context of a crosscultural dialogue and gives us vivid ethnographic descriptions and indigenized understandings of Christian faith. Its publication will surely enrich academic studies and cultural exchanges of world religions today."

Zhuo Xinping, professor, Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and chairperson of the Chinese Association of Religious Studies

"[Jesus Without Borders] provides all of us with a kind of stereophonic listening to one another across the cultures that shape us but should not define us as Christians. The whole Majority World Theology series promises to be a refreshingly reciprocal contribution to global theology."

Christopher J. H. Wright, Langham Partnership

"The authors make a remarkable connection between the theology process and the real-life experience of God's people. [The Church from Every Tribe and Tongue] succeeds in being both biblically truthful and culturally applicable, emphasizing that the Word of God is for the whole of humanity throughout its entire history and various cultures. Each author represents contemporary rationale among an extensive selection of traditional academics. The book will inspire and challenge local and global church leaders and theologians."

Julie Ma, associate professor of missions and intercultural studies at Oral Roberts University

"A well-written and much-needed book. Through these essays [in Jesus Without Borders] the reader travels around the world and gets a flavor of the rich theological ferment underway in world Christianity."

Emmanuel Katongole, University of Notre Dame

"Different societies vary in exactly how they understand Christ's gospel message in terms of their own culture. The rewarding essays in Jesus Without Borders offer an impressively wide-ranging survey of those diverse responses and understandings of Christology. Provocative and interesting."

Philip Jenkins, Baylor University

"If The Church from Every Tribe and Tongue teaches us anything, it is that the question, What does it mean to be the church? cannot be divorced from other fundamental matters. Where is the church located? How are the people of God to define their identity and mission in that place? These creative Majority World voices open up new vistas that can only arise from and in commitment to their contexts. But these essays are not simply reflections from diverse parts of the globe that can be held at arm's length as an interesting exercise in ecclesiology. They are profound explorations of the inexhaustible riches of the Word that reveal fresh insights into the church as a situated community."

M. Daniel Carroll R., Blanchard Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College and Graduate School

"This volume [The Church from Every Tribe and Tongue], like its predecessors, aptly captures a plethora of perspectives on what it means to be the church. It evokes different emotions as we encounter the familiar and the unfamiliar. These contributions should help Christians everywhere not only to broaden their vision of the church but also to feel a kindred spirit with each other."

Simon Chan, former Earnest Lau Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Theological College, Singapore

"[The Spirit over the Earth] discusses a foundational subject—the role of the Holy Spirit in the work and witness of the global church. It is appropriate that the coming of world Christianity should move discussion of the Holy Spirit to front and center for communities of faith across the world. The authors are to be congratulated for bringing to our attention the diverse and lively ways in which we see the Spirit's manifestation in our midst today."

Lamin Sanneh, Yale Divinity School

"As a social science specialist in globalization who convenes networks of Christian scholars in research universities worldwide, I applaud this remarkable testimony to the richness of theological insight brought by scholars in the Majority World. These diverse, original essays on great doctrines of the faith will inspire and equip all of us who celebrate the wonder of the church universal."

Terence Halliday, research professor, American Bar Foundation, and coconvenor of the Global Faculty Initiative

Preface

Part One: The Trinity Among the Nations: The Doctrine of God in the Majority World
Introduction to Part One: Trinity 101: Kaleidoscopic Views of God in the Majority World, K. K. Yeo
1. One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, Gerald Bray
2. Beyond Homoiousios and Homoousios: Exploring North American Indigenous Concepts of the Shalom Community of God, Randy S. Woodley
3. The Trinity in Africa: Trends and Trajectories, Samuel Waje Kunhiyop
4. The Trinity as Gospel, Antonio González
5. Learning to See Jesus with the Eyes of the Spirit: The Unlikely Prophets of God's Reign, C. Rosalee Velloso Ewell
6. Asian Reformulations of the Trinity: An Evaluation, Natee Tanchanpongs
7. Motherliness of God: A Search for Maternal Aspects in Paul's Theology, Atsuhiro Asano
8. How to Understand a Biblical God in Chinese: Toward a Crosscultural Biblical Hermeneutics, Zi Wang

Part Two: Jesus Without Borders: Christology in the Majority World
Introduction to Part Two: An Invitation to Discuss Christology with the Global Church, Stephen T. Pardue
9. Christology in the West: Conversations in Europe and North America, Kevin J. Vanhoozer
10. Jesus as God's Communicative and Hermeneutical Act: African Christians on the Person and Significance of Jesus Christ, Victor I. Ezigbo
11. Christologies in Asia: Trends and Reflections, Timoteo D. Gener
12. ¿Quién Vive? ¡Cristo! Christology in Latin American Perspectives, Jules A. Martínez-Olivieri
13. Reading the Gospel of John through Palestinian Eyes, Yohanna Katanacho
14. From Artemis to Mary: Misplaced Veneration Versus True Worship of Jesus in the Latino/a Context, Aída Besançon Spencer
15. Christology and Cultus in 1 Peter: An African (Kenyan) Appraisal, Andrew M. Mbuvi
16. Biblical Christologies of the Global Church: Beyond Chalcedon? Toward a Fully Christian and Fully Cultural Theology, K. K. Yeo

Part Three: The Spirit over the Earth: Pneumatology in the Majority World
Introduction to Part Three: Pneumatology in the Majority World, Gene L. Green
17. I Believe in the Holy Spirit: From the Ends of the Earth to the Ends of Time, Amos Yong
18. The Spirit Blows Where It Wills: The Holy Spirit's Personhood in Indian Christian Thought, Ivan Satyavrata
19. Redefining Relationships: The Role of the Spirit in Romans and Its Significance in the Multiethnic Context of India, Zakali Shohe
20. Pauline Pneumatology and the Chinese Rites: Spirit and Culture in the Holy See's Missionary Strategy, Wei Hua
21. Pneumatology: Its Implications for the African Context, Samuel M. Ngewa
22. Who Is the Holy Spirit in Contemporary African Christianity?, David Tonghou Ngong
23. In Search of Indigenous Pneumatologies in the Americas, Oscar García-Johnson
24. The Holy Spirit: Power for Life and Hope, C. René Padilla

Part Four: So Great a Salvation: Soteriology in the Majority World
Introduction to Part Four: Soteriology in the Majority World, K. K. Yeo
25. The New Covenant and New Creation: Western Soteriologies and the Fullness of the Gospel, Daniel J. Treier
26. Telling Our Stories: Salvation in the African Context, Emily J. Choge Kerama
27. Luke 4:18-19 and Salvation: Marginalization of Women in the Pentecostal Church in Botswana, Rosinah Mmannana Gabaitse
28. Con Las Venas Abiertas: The Hope of Life and Salvation in Latin American Theologies, Jules A. Martínez-Olivieri
29. From What Do We Need to Be Saved? Reflections on God's Justice and Material Salvation, Milton Acosta
30. An Indigenous Reinterpretation of Repentance: A Step on the Journey to Reconciliation, Ray Aldred
31. Salvation as Reconciliation: Toward a Theology of Reconciliation in the Division of the Korean Peninsula, Sung Wook Chung
32. Qohelet's Gospel in Ecclesiastes: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15; 7:15-22; and 11:1-6, Elaine W. F. Goh

Part Five: The Church from Every Tribe and Tongue: Ecclesiology in the Majority World
Introduction to Part Five: God's Community in Majority World Theology, Gene L. Green
33. Ecclesiology and the Church in Christian Tradition and Western Theology, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen
34. Church, Power, and Transformation in Latin America: A Different Citizenship Is Possible, Ruth Padilla DeBorst
35. Two Tales of Emerging Ecclesiology in Asia: An Inquiry into Theological Shaping, Wonsuk Ma
36. Ecclesiology in Africa: Apprentices on a Mission, Stephanie A. Lowery
37. Ecclesiology in Latin America: A Biblical Perspective, Carlos Sosa Siliezar
38. The Community as Union with Christ in the Midst of Conflict: An Ecclesiology of the Pauline Letters from a Chinese Perspective, Xiaxia E. Xue
39. The Church as an Assembly on Mount Zion: An Ecclesiology from Hebrews for African Christianity, Peter Nyende
40. Ecclesiology and the Theology of the Land: A Palestinian Christian Perspective, Munther Isaac

Part Six: All Things New: Eschatology in the Majority World
Introduction to Part Six: Eschatology in the Majority World, Stephen T. Pardue
41. Eschatology, Apocalyptic, Ethics, and Political Theology, D. Stephen Long
42. The Past, the Present, and the Future of African Christianity: An Eschatological Vision for African Christianity, James Henry Owino Kombo
43. Revelation 21:1-4 from an African Perspective, John D. K. Ekem
44. From Dispensationalism to Theology of Hope: Latin American Perspectives on Eschatology, Alberto F. Roldán
45. The Kingdom of God: Latin American Biblical Reflections on Eschatology, Nelson R. Morales Fredes
46. Asia and God's Cruciform Eschatological Reign, Aldrin Peñamora
47. From Judeophilia to Ta-Tung in Taiwanese Eschatology, Shirley S. Ho

Contributors
Name Index
Subject Index
Scripture Index