Abstract:
I propose to share methodological reflections on doing contextual theology in the age of globalization.  Against the tendency to use “contextual” in a very loose and indeterminate way, I propose to institute a “critique” of contextual theology,  using “critique” in the Kantian sense of disclosing the a priori conditions for the possibility and limits of an intellectual endeavor and applying it to contextual theology, especially in the age of globalization.  I will do this in three steps.  First, I specify and develop the idea of context in terms of the mutual constitution of context and concern.  Second, I argue for a theological mediating theory that will mediate tradition to context and context to tradition in a mutually critical correlation.  Third, I show the need and difficulty of conceptualizing globalization as a unified context for a theology of globalization and suggest an outline of a theological mediating theory appropriate to that context.  Through examples I show that many contemporary theologies fail in terms of methodological rigor.

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