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79-614: The KD is a prime example of contextual theology and liberation theology - or "theology from below" - in South Africa, and has served as an example for attempted, similarly critical writing at decisive moments in several other countries and contexts (Latin America, Europe, Zimbabwe, India, Palestine, etc.). The KD was predominantly written by an ecumenical group of pastors in Soweto, whose names have never (officially) been released to

158-550: A liberal approach to theology, it has grown in currency among evangelicals and Roman Catholics . An individual may come from a particular cultural worldview , such as Arabic or Asian culture, or be faced with particular sociopolitical issues. Hence, examples of contextualized theologies include Latin American liberation theology , Minjung theology , and African theology . The systematic theologian Regunta Yesurathnam sees contextual theology as including "all that

237-529: A 'new, third force' that duplicates what already exists. "In the first place, the Church cannot collaborate with tyranny... Secondly, the Church should not only pray for a change of government, it should also mobilize its members in every parish to begin to think and work and plan for a change of government in South Africa". At times, the KD contends, this will mean getting involved in civil disobedience. People look to

316-469: A definitive statement, "... this was an open-ended document which will never be said to be final" (KD, Preface). The document is primarily addressed to the divided churches; divided, that is, due to the roles that Christians within the churches play in the conflict between the racist minority government and the black majority population. "Both oppressor and oppressed claim loyalty to the same church". The KD theologians see three broad theological positions within

395-439: A ministry of involvement and participation". The traditional life, ritual, and actions of the church must be re-envisaged in the light of the kairos . "The repentance we preach must be named. It is repentance for our share of the guilt for the suffering and oppression in our country". Special church action and campaigns must be in "consultation, co-ordination and co-operation" with the people's political organization, rather than

474-709: A particular writing (here: Romans); within the Bible as a whole; and within the particular historical context (here: Paul and the community in Rome). Note that, "In the rest of the Bible, God does not demand obedience to oppressive rulers ... Romans 13:1–7 cannot contradict all of this". The letter known as the Biblical book Romans was sent to an early Christian community in Rome that could be characterized as 'antinomian' or 'enthusiast.' Roman Christians thought that "because Jesus ...

553-640: A speech in Parliament, denouncing it as a call for violence, and calling for its prohibition ('banning') by the government. An Inkatha political magazine, the Clarion Call , similarly attacked it as a theological document that supported the 'violence of the ANC' ( African National Congress ). However, to the surprise of many observers at the time, the KD was never banned by the Apartheid government. Within

632-544: A stand, and persecution. It is, nevertheless, fundamentally a "message of hope." It is spiritual: "Infused with a spirit of fearless[ness] ... courage ... love ... understanding ... joy and hope". Reading the bible in this context "what stands out for us is (sic) the many, many vivid and concrete descriptions of suffering and oppression" from Exodus to Revelation. Israel was often oppressed by both external and internal forces. "Their oppressors were their enemies. The people of Israel were in no doubt about that". Indeed, "people of

711-515: A theology similar to Metz in the practical application of theology. During the 1930s, Niebuhr was a leader of the Socialist Party of America , and although he broke with the party later in life, socialist thought is a prominent component of his development of Christian realism . The work by Niebuhr that best exemplifies his relationship with political theology is Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics (1932). One of

790-476: Is "unChristian." Therefore, "no reconciliation, no forgiveness and no negotiations are possible without repentance ". Yet, the imposition of the brutal State of Emergency in July 1985 shows that there is no repentance. The KD theologians acknowledge that the concept of justice is not absent from much Church Theology. Yet the KD accuses Church Theology of advocating a "justice of reforms," a justice of concessions that

869-413: Is Jesus "unconcerned about the rich ... These he calls to repentance ... We believe that God is at work in our world turning hopeless and evil situations to good so that God's Kingdom may come and God's Will may be done on earth as it is in heaven". "The people need to hear it said again and again that God is with them and that 'the hope of the poor is never brought to nothing'" ( Psalms 9:18 ). Also, while

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948-454: Is a "specifically Christian solution" as such, but because Christians need to make use of politics. The reasons for this are seen in the " type of faith and spirituality that has dominated Church life for centuries," namely an approach that has regarded spirituality as an "other-worldly affair," wherein God was relied upon to intervene "in God's own good time." Yet such a faith has "no foundation" in

1027-434: Is a better term than indigenization to describe social location and particular experience because it "broadens the understanding of culture to include social, political, and economic questions," while indigenization merely focuses on the "purely cultural dimension of human experience." Secondly, Bevans comments that indigenization tends to "see both the home culture and the culture 'out there' as good," while contextualization

1106-523: Is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics . The term is often used to denote religious thought about political principled questions. Scholars such as Carl Schmitt , a prominent Nazi jurist and political theorist, who wrote extensively on how to effectively wield political power, used it to denote religious concepts that were secularized and thus became key political concepts. It has often been affiliated with Christianity, but since

1185-518: Is determined by the oppressor. Hence "almost all Church statements are made to the State or to the white community". At the heart of this approach, the KD sees the reliance on individual conversion as a moralizing approach directed at the individual Christian. Yet "the problem ... in South Africa is not merely a problem of personal guilt, it is a problem of structural injustice." The question one has to ask is: "Why does this [Church] theology not demand that

1264-447: Is implied in indigenization or inculturation , but also seeks also to include the realities of contemporary, secularity, technology, and the struggle for human justice." The missiologist Stephen B. Bevans argues that there is no such thing as normative theology, that "doing theology contextually is not an option" since it is a human enterprise which is created within a particular human context. According to Bevans, contextualization

1343-520: Is nothing final about this document nor even about this second edition. Our hope is that it will continue to stimulate discussion, debate, reflection and prayer, but, above all, that it will lead to action ... We pray that God will help all of us to translate the challenge of our times into action." Although the Apartheid State was not directly addressed in the KD, the government reacted strongly against it. A government spokesperson rejected it in

1422-469: Is presenting us with the absolute and definitive Christian doctrine about the State ... and absolute and universal principle ... The falseness of this assumption has been pointed out by many biblical scholars". Reference is made to Käsemann 's Commentary on Romans , as well as Cullmann 's The State in the New Testament . The KD authors insist that texts must be understood in their context: within

1501-421: Is structured in five short chapters (the second edition comes to less than 40 pages): (1) The Moment of Truth; (2) Critique of 'State Theology'; (3) Critique of 'Church Theology'; (4) Towards a Prophetic Theology; (5) Challenge to Action; and a short conclusion. The following summary is based on the revised edition, and is designed to focus on the most important aspects of the KD, without comment. This chapter sets

1580-402: Is taken of what communism really means ... Even people who have not rejected capitalism are called 'communists' when they reject 'State Theology.' The State uses the label ... as its symbol of evil". The State uses "threats and warnings about the horrors of a tyrannical, totalitarian, atheistic and terrorist communist regime" simply to scare people. The Apartheid State often makes explicit use of

1659-403: Is telling us that we must not take revenge; he is not saying that we should never defend ourselves or others". "This is not to say that any use of force at any time by people who are oppressed is permissible..."; the problem with such acts of "killing and maiming" is, however, "based upon a concern for genuine liberation". While Church Theology tends to decry violent resistance, it tends to accept

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1738-536: Is the process of assigning meaning as a means of interpreting the environment within which a text or action is executed. Contextualization is used in the study of Bible translations in relation to their relevant cultural settings. Derived from the practice of hermeneutics , it sought to understand the use of words borrowed into the Hebrew Scriptures , and later their Greek and Latin translations. The word continues to be used theologically, mainly in

1817-406: Is the starved, exploited, oppressed people whose cause, as it were, by definition is righteous, while all political, economical, and ecclesiastical wielders of institutionalized power are depicted as instruments of the devil." A crucial part of the debate was the distinction made between state, church, and prophetic theology. The distinction between 'church' and 'prophetic' theology, where the former

1896-464: Is therefore not primarily a matter of trying to reconcile individual people but a matter of trying to change unjust structures so that people will not be pitted against one another as oppressor and oppressed". In terms of the Christian tradition, the KD maintain, a tyrannical government has no moral right to govern, "and the people acquire the right to resist ". The South African Apartheid government

1975-429: Is tyrannical because it consistently demonstrates its hostility to the common good as a matter of principle . As a tyrannical regime, it uses terror to maintain power. As a result, the oppressed refer to it as 'the enemy'. The Apartheid State is not capable of true reform; any reforms will have to be facile only since they are designed to ensure the survival of the white minority government. "A regime that has made itself

2054-434: Is usually "more critical of both cultures." Thirdly, the term contextualization suggests that "theology needs to interact and dialogue not only with traditional culture value, but with social change, new ethnic identities, and the conflicts that are present as the contemporary phenomenon of globalization encounters the various peoples of the world." In the field of Bible translation and interpretation , contextualization

2133-648: The Eastern Orthodox view of symphonia and the works of the Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin . There is a long history in Christian political thought of linking politics, statecraft, and worldly authority to the broader category of carnal literalism, typed as “Jewish” by the Pauline tradition. This tradition produced a tendency to discuss political error in terms of Judaism, with

2212-598: The Institute for Contextual Theology (ICT) in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, initiated the process. When this fairly short, 11,000-word document was first published in September 1985, it included over 150 signatures; it was subsequently signed by many more church leaders and theologians in South Africa, though the amended list was never published. A substantially revised, second edition appeared in 1986. The document

2291-612: The Middle East is a religious response by Christian leaders and scholars to political problems. Political theologians try to balance the demands of a tumultuous region with the delicate but long history of Christianity in the Middle East. This has yielded a diversity of political theology disproportionate to the small size of Middle East Christian minorities. The region's importance to Christians worldwide – both for history and doctrinal authority for many denominations – also shapes

2370-517: The 'War on Terror'. Another term which often occupies similar space in academic discourse is " public theology ". It is said that political theology is directed more towards the government or the state, whereas public theology is more towards civil society . Political theology in China includes responses from Chinese government leaders, scholars, and religious leaders who deal with the relationship between religion and politics. For two millennia, this

2449-613: The 1930s, for instance, the Protestant Wu Yaozong advocated that a social revolution was necessary to save both China and the world. This would likewise be true of the role of Protestants involved in Korean nationalism in the early twentieth century. Many major non-Christian philosophers have written extensively on the topic of political theology during recent years, such as Jürgen Habermas , Odo Marquard , Giorgio Agamben , Simon Critchley , and Slavoj Zizek . Since

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2528-599: The 1940s. His belief was that Christians should embrace Islam as part of their cultural identity because nationalism was the best way for Christians to be successful in the Middle East. Political theology in sub-Saharan Africa deals with the relationship of theology and politics, arising from the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and nationalist campaigns of the mid to late twentieth century elsewhere. The increasing numbers of Christians in sub-Saharan Africa has led to an increased interest in Christian responses to

2607-531: The 20th century. The recent use of the term is often associated with the work of the prominent German political theorist Carl Schmitt . Writing amidst the turbulence of the German Weimar Republic , Schmitt argued in his essay Politische Theologie (1922) that the main concepts of modern politics were secularized versions of older theological concepts. Mikhail Bakunin had used the term in his 1871 text "The Political Theology of Mazzini and

2686-427: The 21st century, it has more recently been discussed with relation to other religions. The term political theology has been used in a wide variety of ways by writers exploring different aspects of believers' relationship with politics. It has been used to discuss Augustine of Hippo 's City of God and Thomas Aquinas 's works Summa Theologica and De Regno: On Kingship . It has likewise been used to describe

2765-431: The Apartheid State, the KD authors contend, this is an unjust law and order. "Anyone who wishes to change this law ... is made ... to feel guilty of sin". The KD theologians argue that the State has no divine authority to maintain any sort of law and order. The appeal to law and order is misplaced. Ultimately, it is God who must be obeyed ( Acts 5:29 ). State theology further justifies the State's use of violence to maintain

2844-408: The Bible, which shows how God redeems all of creation (Romans 8:18-24): "Biblical faith is prophetically relevant to everything that happens in the world". What would the alternative to State and Church Theology be? "What would be the characteristics of a prophetic theology"? In the first place, prophetic theology will have to be biblical: "Our KAIROS impels us to return to the Bible , and to search

2923-595: The Clergy [1993]) and a leftist focus on collective "social justice" (such as Jeffrey K. Hadden 's The Gathering Storm in the Churches [1969] and Harold Quinley's The Prophetic Clergy [1974]). Kwok Pui-lan has argued that, while Schmitt may have come up with the term and its modern usage, political theologies were likewise forming along very different trajectories elsewhere around the world, such as in Asia. In China in

3002-436: The God of the Bible", which is, theologically speaking "the devil disguised as Almighty God." Therefore, "State Theology is not only heretical, it is blasphemous ... What is particularly tragic for a Christian is to see the number of people who are fooled and confused by these false prophets and their heretical theology." 'Church Theology' is defined as the kind of theology shown by public pronouncements of many church leaders in

3081-559: The International" to which Schmitt's book was a response. Drawing on Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan he argued that the state exists to maintain its own integrity in order to ensure order in society in times of crisis. Some have divided the approach of political theology between a rightist traditional concern with individual "moral reform" (such as Clyde Wilcox's God's Warriors [1992] and Ted Jelen's The Political World of

3160-543: The Islamic world. Christians played prominent roles throughout the pan-Arab nationalist movement in the mid-20th century, where their experience with Western politics and generally high educational attainments made their contributions valuable to nationalist governments around the region. One prominent example was Michel Aflaq , an Eastern Orthodox Christian who formed the first Ba'ath group from students in Damascus in

3239-587: The KD was such that attempts were made in a number of contexts to create similarly 'revolutionary' documents to challenge the churches' attitude to particular issues. None of these were remotely as successful as the KD. For example, in South Africa again, a group in the ICT attempted to address the sharply rising and complex violence in 1990 with a 'new Kairos document'. Several years later, some theologians in Europe tried to address global economics as 'the new Kairos'. Perhaps

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3318-414: The KD, but it nevertheless became a focus for the debate. This focus on violence soon came to eclipse much of the rest of the KD. The publication of the book Theology & Violence is testimony to that debate; it attempted both to ground it in biblical, historical, ethical and theological reflections, and to 'move on', as Frank Chikane in his contribution to that book called it. The influence and effect of

3397-400: The State." Indeed, "is it legitimate ... to use the same word violence in a blanket condemnation to cover" the violence of the state and the "desperate attempts of the people to defend themselves"? The KD observes that the term violence is used in the Bible to denote the violence of the oppressor (e.g. Psalms 72 , Isaiah 59 etc.). "When Jesus says that we should turn the other cheek he

3476-468: The Word of God for a message that is relevant to what we are experiencing in South Africa today". It does not "pretend to be comprehensive and complete;" it is consciously devised for this situation, and therefore needs to take seriously the need to read the "signs of the times" ( Matthew 16:3 ). It is always a call to action, a call for "repentance, conversion and change". This will involve confrontation, taking

3555-419: The church for moral guidance, and this position of influence must be taken seriously. "There must be no misunderstanding about the moral duty of all who are oppressed to resist oppression and to struggle for liberation and justice. The Church will also find that at times it does need to curb excesses and to appeal to the consciences of those who act thoughtlessly and wildly". "As we said in the beginning, there

3634-467: The church, which are discussed in turn in the next three chapters. 'State theology' is defined as, "the theological justification of the status quo with its racism, capitalism and totalitarianism... It does [this] by misusing theological concepts and biblical texts for its own political purposes". The government, as well as parts of the church, are accused of using state theology. Four examples are discussed. "'State Theology' assumes that in this text Paul

3713-427: The churches in South Africa, and indeed worldwide, the KD led to intense and often heated debates. The unpolished nature of this radical document allowed many critics to disengage from real debate. For example, Markus Barth and Helmut Blanke make a rather brief, disparaging remark, which seems to be based on a reading of the KD that is significantly at variance with its substance. In the KD, Barth and Blanke claim, "it

3792-401: The context in which the KD is written. The time has come (September 1985) to act on the situation. The Greek term kairos / καιρος (meaning 'special moment' in this context) was chosen as a key term to describe the highly situational nature of this document. It was addressed to the churches in the context of South Africa at that very moment, and was meant to be understood as a process rather than

3871-447: The core of the Christian tradition, true reconciliation, the KD authors argue, is not possible without justice. Calls for reconciliation without justice are calls for "counterfeit reconciliation". Such false reconciliation relies on the notion that the church must stand between 'both sides' and 'get them to reconcile,' as if all conflicts were the same: some struggles are about justice and injustice, where blindly calling for reconciliation

3950-469: The difference between mortal and eternal, private and public, tyrant and legitimate monarch, mapped onto the difference between Jew and Christian . As a result of this history, transcendence as a political ideal has often figured (and perhaps still figures?) its enemies as Jewish. Though the political aspects of Christianity , Islam , Confucianism , and other traditions has been debated for millennia, political theology has been an academic discipline since

4029-598: The dynamics of a particular context. The term contextualizing theology was used in missiology by Shoki Coe when he argued that the Venn - Anderson three-self formula were inadequate in addressing the sociopolitical context of his native Taiwan. Coe popularized this notion through the Theological Education Fund of the World Council of Churches . While it was initially understood as part of

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4108-606: The early 21st century, there has also been a growing discourse around Islamic political theology, especially within Western contexts that were previously dominated by Christianity. In the 1990s and early 2000s, political theology became an important theme within legal theory, especially in constitutional law, international law and legal history. The literature draws heavily upon the legacy of Carl Schmitt (though often to debate his premises) and political philosophy (such as Ernesto Laclau ), along with political phenomena, such as

4187-412: The enemy of the people has thereby also made itself the enemy of God," even though at the level of the individual, people in government are not aware of this. This is, however, "no excuse for hatred. As Christians we are called upon to love our enemies" (Mt 5:44). However, "the most loving thing we can do for both the oppressed and for our enemies who are oppressors is to eliminate the oppression, remove

4266-470: The essential status quo. On the other hand, those who do not benefit from the system have no say in it. The situation now is one where the oppressed are no longer prepared to accept this. "What they want is justice for all...". Of course this social structure is more complex, but the KD authors come to this distinction: "Either we have full and equal justice for all or we don't". Prophetic theology, like Jesus', addresses this situation (e.g. Matthew 6:24 ). "It

4345-543: The militarization of the Apartheid State, which implies a tacit acceptance of the racist regime as legitimate authority. Neutrality, in this context, is not possible: "Neutrality enables the status quo of oppression (and therefore violence) to continue". According to the KD, Church Theology lacks appropriate social analysis: "It is not possible to make valid moral judgments about a society without first understanding that society". Secondly, it lacks "an adequate understanding of politics and political strategy ," not because there

4424-427: The most influential developers of recent political theology is Stanley Hauerwas , though he considers his work to be better termed a "theological politics". Hauerwas has actively critiqued the political theology of both Reinhold Niebuhr and H. Richard Niebuhr , and has been a frequently critic of Christians' attempt to attain political power and align themselves with secular political ideologies. Moreover, he has been

4503-581: The most successful attempt to follow in the footsteps of the KD was the 'Latin American KD', called The Road to Damascus , written by Central American theologians and published in April 1988. However, the KD was successful in influencing black evangelicals and Pentecostals to come up with their own declarations in the context of Apartheid. Contextual theology Contextual theology or contextualizing theology refers to theology which has responded to

4582-569: The name of God to justify its own existence, most explicitly in the preamble to the (1983) Constitution of South Africa: "In humble submission to almighty God ... who gathered our forebears together from many lands and gave them this their own; who has guided them from generation to generation ..." The KD theologians reject this categorically: "This god [of the State] is an idol ... [it is] the god of teargas, rubber bullets, sjamboks , prison cells and death sentences." In other words, "the very opposite of

4661-443: The oppressed stand up for their rights and wage a struggle against their oppressors? Why does it not tell them that it is 'their' duty to work for justice and to change the unjust structures"? The KD questions the blanket condemnation of all "that is called violence," which "has been made into an absolute principle." This aspect of Church Theology tends to exclude state-organized, "structural, institutional and unrepentant violence of

4740-456: The oppressors must be called to repentance, "they must also be given something to hope for. At present they have false hopes ... Can the Christian message of hope not help them in this matter"? The Church's call to action must consider that the struggle against Apartheid is generally waged by the poor and oppressed, who are part of the church already. Church unity is a matter of joining in the struggle. "For those Christians who find themselves on

4819-573: The other major developers of political theology in Germany were Jürgen Moltmann and Dorothee Sölle . As in Metz' work, the concept of a suffering God is important to Moltmann's theological program. Moltmann's political theology was influenced strongly by the Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch , and both Moltmann and Sölle were influenced heavily by liberation theology , as was Metz. Another early influence

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4898-533: The philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) is also evident throughout much of German political theology. This is particularly clear in the work of the Roman Catholic theologian Johann Baptist Metz (1928-2019) who explored the concept of political theology throughout his work. He argued for the concept of a "suffering God" who shared the pain of his creation, writing, "Yet, faced with conditions in God's creation that cry out to heaven, how can

4977-450: The political theologies of the Middle East. For many Christian leaders, the dominant approach to political theology is one of survival. Many Arab Christians see themselves as the heirs of a rich Christian heritage whose existence is threatened by regional unrest and religious persecution. Their chief political goal is survival, which sets their political theology apart. At times, Arab Christian leaders have appealed to Christians outside

5056-573: The public. Many believe it was a conscious decision to make the document anonymous, perhaps for security reasons since the Apartheid regime frequently harassed, detained, or tortured clergy who opposed the government. It is widely thought though that Frank Chikane , a black Pentecostal pastor and theologian, and Albert Nolan , a white Roman Catholic priest and member of the Dominican Order , belonged to this group. John W. de Gruchy writes decidedly that Frank Chikane, then General Secretary of

5135-401: The region through both denominational challenges and broader calls to Christian unity for humanitarian or political aid. In other cases, Christian politicians downplay their faith in the public sphere to avoid conflict with their Muslim neighbours. In the mid-20th century, many Christians in the Middle East saw secular politics as a way out of their traditional status as a minority community in

5214-602: The region's continuing issues of poverty, violence, and war. According to the Cameroonian theologian and sociologist Jean-Marc Éla , African Christianity "has to be formulated from the struggles of our people, from their joys, from their pains, from their hopes and from their frustrations today." African theology is heavily influenced by liberation theology , global black theology , and postcolonial theology. Notable thinkers include Itumeleng Mosala, Jesse N. K. Mugambi , and Desmond Tutu . Reinhold Niebuhr also developed

5293-821: The religion's earliest encounters in the country during the imperial period, with the Church of the East 's interaction with the Emperor Taizong and Jesuit missionaries in the Ming court. But it has developed the most in the 20th and 21st centuries after the establishments of the Republic of China and People's Republic of China , especially through the establishment of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and rise of house churches . The influence of

5372-469: The sense of contextualizing the biblical message as perceived in the missionary mandate originated by Jesus in the gospel accounts. However, since the early 1970s, the word's meaning has widened. It is now used by secular , religious and political groups to render their message into different settings by adjusting or accommodating words, phrases or meanings into understandable contexts in respondent cultures. Political theology Political theology

5451-425: The side of the oppressor or sitting on the fence, [the way forward is] to cross over to the other side to be united in faith and action". Liberation, however should be noted that it does not come on a silver platter. "Criticism [of the way the struggle is being waged] will sometimes be necessary but encouragement and support will be (sic) also be necessary. In other words, ... move beyond a mere 'ambulance ministry' to

5530-469: The so-called English speaking churches of South Africa, such as Anglicans , Methodists , and Lutherans . While such a theology tends to reject apartheid in principle, the KD theologians regard it as counter-productive and superficial as they do not analyze "the signs of our times [but rather rely] upon a few stock ideas derived from Christian tradition," which is uncritically 'applied' to the then South African context. While true reconciliation and peace are

5609-413: The status quo. Thus "state security becomes a more important concern than justice ... The State often admonishes church leaders ... not to 'meddle in politics' while at the same time it indulges in its own political theology which claims God's approval for its use of violence in maintaining an unjust system of 'law and order'". "Anything that threatens the status quo is labeled ' communist '... No account

5688-501: The sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried.' ( Isaiah 53:4 ) He continues to do so, even today". The KD offers "the broad outlines of an analysis of the conflict in which we find ourselves". This conflict is seen not so much as a 'racial war' but rather a situation "of tyranny and oppression". This is expressed in social structures which "will sooner or later bring the people involved into conflict." Those who benefit from this system will only make reform possible in order to maintain

5767-595: The theology of the creator God avoid the suspicion of apathy unless it takes up the language of a suffering God?" This leads Metz to develop a theology that is related to Marxism . He criticizes what he terms bourgeois Christianity and believes that the Christian Gospel has become less credible because it has become entangled with bourgeois religion. His work Faith in History and Society develops apologetics, or fundamental theology, from this perspective. Two of

5846-601: The townships can identify fully with these descriptions of suffering". Nor is the concern about oppression only found in the Old Testament , even though the New Testament tends to focus on internal repression rather than the Roman occupying forces. "Throughout his life Jesus associated himself with the poor and the oppressed and as the suffering (or oppressed) servant of Yahweh he suffered and died for us. 'Ours were

5925-401: The tyrants from power, and establish a just government for the common good for all the people ". The Bible is commonly understood as a message of hope in the face of oppression; Yahweh will liberate the people (e.g. Psalms 74 , Exodus 3 , Psalms 12 ). "Throughout the Bible, God appears as the liberator ... God is not neutral. He does not attempt to reconcile Moses and Pharaoh ...". Neither

6004-408: Was explicitly rejected by the KD, caused furious debates. Many argued the KD's qualified criticism of central theological concepts like reconciliation. Another aspect of this debate, especially in South Africa, was the question of violence: not the violence of the state, but the supposed use of violence to resist and indeed overthrow the state. As the summary above shows, this was not a central part of

6083-426: Was organized based on a Confucian understanding of religion and politics, often discussed in terms of Confucian political philosophy. At various points throughout its history, Chinese Buddhism presented an alternative to the political import of Confucianism. However, since the mid-twentieth century, communist understandings of religion have dominated the discourse. For Christianity, this relationship can be seen from

6162-574: Was the Frankfurt School of critical theory , especially Walter Benjamin , and the Frankfurt School's broader critique of modernity . Odo Marquard became the center of discussion and controversy with his 1979 essay " In Praise of Polytheism ". It argues that the separation of powers has it origin in polytheism , and proposes a political theology based on "enlightened polymythical thinking". Christian political theology in

6241-586: Was their Lord and King," every authority should be obeyed. Paul was arguing against such an understanding; that is, he is "not addressing the issue of a just or unjust State." Attention is drawn to Romans 13:4 ("the State is there for your benefit"): "That is the kind of State that must be obeyed." The question of an unjust government is not addressed in Romans 13 but, for example, in Revelation 13 . State theology implies that law and order must be upheld, but in

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