Description: The question of contextual theology and its relevance to Africa in this time of globalization, whereby there are rampant uncontrolled changes in cultures, technologies, economic policies, and even people's religious lives, is very urgent. How is contextual theology relevant in the ever-changing contexts of the church in Africa? Indeed, there are a number of challenges which contextual theology faces within the church in Africa, which need to be addressed contextually. Some such challenges include poverty, rampant violence, homosexuality, alcoholism, the resurgence of prosperity gospel materialistic prophets and incurable illnesses like Ebola, HIV and AIDS, and the current coronavirus (COVID-19). However, which context in Africa? Context in Africa, as in other parts of the world, is always in flux; it is complex and fluid. There is no permanent context. The experience of Jesus in such a changing context needs to be rediscovered depending on what transpires in each particular place at a particular time. This book addresses some of the overarching challenges that face contextual theology and how such challenges should be addressed by the church in Africa in contemporary ever-changing context for it to be relevant in Africa. It also highlights the need to move from liberation and inculturation theologies to reconstruction theology in dealing with the challenges of the current church. Hence, the book is important to students and scholars engaging in practical, systematic, biblical, and contextual theologies in all their branches.
Brief description: Halvor Moxnes is Professor of New Testament, em., Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo. He is an active member of both the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association of America. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and author of i. a. Putting Jesus in his Place (2003), Jesus and the Rise of Nationalism: A New Quest for the Nineteenth Century Historical Jesus (2012), A Short History of the New Testament (2014).
Review Quotes: "Dr. Mligo's previous book on the Gospel of John in a Tanzanian context of HIV/AIDS-related stigmatization was welcomed as an important contribution to contextual biblical studies. As he now publishes a second book in the field, he establishes himself as a central voice of biblical studies in East Africa, a voice emphasizing the role of the discipline not as sport for sport's own sake, but rather as a challenge to contemporary church and society."
--Knut Holter, Centre of Mission and Global Studies; VID Specialized University, Norway
"Theological endeavors that are not contextual do not reflect theologically on contextual issues and are practiced only for the sake of academic engagement or publication. They do not really impact life and society. This book is the opposite, showing that theology, when contextually directed at (a specific) place, is able to address the critical issues experienced by bodies in that place. Addressing place by means of reconstruction theology is, as Mligo suggests, an interesting and new optic for a relevant engagement with the pressing contextual issues experienced in many African places."
--Ernest van Eck, University of Pretoria