A Contextual Theologian for the 21st Century

There is a paradigm shift occurring in today’s role as a theologian. A contextual theologian is no longer just the educated academic or the ordained minister. The theologian in recent decades has moved out the tower and into the streets of the community, investing the community with authority and power. Oftentimes, it is the needs of the communities that determine where the energies of the theologian will be devoted. My argument is that this is in part a result of what is termed, kairos processes, which make the theological point that particular moments in history make special demands on us, usually to stand with those who, through systemic oppression, are reduced to silence. The time we live in today is precisely such a period. And as theologians, are we not called to look for creative methodologies to be receptive to the fiduciary responsibility that exists in an incommutable way to others in our communities? And isn’t our role as theologians to contextualize the period in which we live, give voice to, and interpret the situations present and then formulate methodologies to respond to the dynamic energies at work in creation? And should we not ask of each situation and context - is the embodied God acting in a liberating way and if so, how so? And do we ignore the past? Or can we resource the past in a way that can shape a creative and imaginative methodological answer to present processes?

Each community will determine its normative sacred texts and traditions. As theologians our conversation and interpretations of these texts and traditions should be to dialogue with the community in a way that promotes harmony, peace, stability and identifies the kairos processes at work. Our task is to endeavor to shoulder oftentimes opposing views in tension with one another – that of theology, doctrine and dogma on the one side with the prophetic voices of senses fidelium on the other. It will be there in the sacred space created within the conversation between community, text and tradition that Divine energies can incarnate and procreate a way forward.

Turning then to the ancient context, can the texts and traditions of the fourth century aid us to correlate a “way of life” that can be interpreted for contemporary forces at work in the 21st century? I believe they can. Drawing from the theodocian strain of Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and seeded with the theology of Gregory of Nazianzus, the monastic theology that emerged from the Egyptian desert is particularly encapsulated in the writings of Evagrius Ponticus (345 – 399) and John Cassian (360 – 435). Evagrian and Cassian tenets of compassionate engagement with Divine energies, with self, one’s soul and the community, teaches the lesson of learning to listen with the ear of the heart in order to create Divine silence between self and other that is incarnational. The focus was on contemplation of the Divine, a sense and practice of prayer that could listen not only to others, but to Divine answers for daily questions. Perception and being could then be transformed by a transfiguration of reality through renunciation of the intrinsic motivation of fear and replaced with the intrinsic motivation of agapé through contemplative prayer. Contemplative prayer was the motivating force behind the process of theosis. And what is theosis? It was the lived process of sanctification whereby one can become progressively conformed to the Divine. It is a process of moral and ontological ascent lived as graced existential energy. It is through theosis that one can allow the radical hospitality and acceptance of every other as Christ in your midst. Is this the first answer to how the embodied God acts in a liberating way?