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Monday, July 29, 2024

Samoa ... and contextual theology

It has been a real privilege these past few days to be in Samoa - my first visit to this beautiful country, some four hours flying time to the north of Auckland airport. 

The occasion has been a meeting of Te Kotahitanga, a standing commission of our General Synod/Te Hinota Whanui, tasked with formal advice and guidance on theological education and ministry training for our whole church, a church which encompasses via the Diocese of Polynesia, Anglican churches, schools and a theological college, spread across Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and American Samoa. Hence some of our physical meetings take place in one or other island in the Diocese of Polynesia.

It has also been rather pleasant to have a few days away from the NZ winter - temperatures here in the high 20s Celsius, and there have been some lovely swims, including one today in a very warm sea.

People do not come to this blog for travel experiences, so, to business.

Part of the privilege of being together in this way, with various interactions with the local Anglican parish as well, is to experience directly the diversity of voices in our church (and thus in God's catholic church) in the context of some of those voices. (Mostly our meetings are in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand.) There is something beneficial about this mix of diversity and context which enables new insight into the challenges we face.

Reflecting more widely, into the general world of theology, attention to context can be challenging: surely, one line goes, the truth is the truth and its purity as truth is beyond considerations of context. There is, of course, truth in this proposition! Yet if we focus within the general world of theology, to the world of biblical theology - or the way in which theology is worked out within the pages of Scripture - we do see contextual shaping of the truth conveyed through Scripture.

One such example, in my view, was present in our lectionary readings yesterday (if we focus on Ephesians 3:14-21 and John 6:1-21). Paul writing to the Ephesians sets out in this passage a theology of God's love - of God's unlimited, immeasurable love. Within the context of the whole of the epistle, what Paul says is not (so to speak) a theory of love: what he says is anchored into the action of divine love, into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (as expounded previously to 3:14).

Yet, if we ask "who is Jesus Christ that this human being should be the exemplification of the love of God for humanity?", we have John's Gospel to consider, and in particular there is help for our thinking in yesterday's passage.

At the end of the Walking on the Water story, as Jesus seeks to calm his terrified disciples, he says, "... it is I ...", or, ego eimi, I am (6:20). Language already used by Jesus (John 4:26) and reminiscent of God's revelation to Moses about his Name (Exodus 3:14), and regularly reappearing through John's Gospel, notably in the "I am X" statements, including the imminent "I am the bread of life" (John 6:34). In other words, John takes up a clue re Jesus as God (e.g., pertinently, see the parallel stories, John 6:1-21/Mark 6:30-52, and "it is I" in Mark 6:50) and develops his incarnational theology: that Jesus is no mere man, nor mere prophet/teacher, nor a man filled with the Holy Spirit (per Luke's Gospel) - he is all of those and "the Word made flesh" (John 1:14). Let alone a man with magician skills re food multiplication and walking on water.

Alternatively put, it is God-in-Jesus who feeds the Five Thousand and Walks on Water, and thus, John sets the followers of Jesus on the pathway to understanding that God himself is involved in the event of the cross-and-resurrection. The love of God for humanity, which Paul so beautifully expounds in Ephesians, is the love of God grounded in the event of the cross-and-resurrection.

But John does all this in a context - in the context of time (he has distance from the actual life of Jesus to reflect on the meaning of that life, and that reflection is to a greater degree than his Synoptic colleagues have been able to do), location (John's Gospel is anchored into Judaism (as he experienced and understood it), into then conflict between Judaism and fledgling Christianity and into the realms of Hellenistic philosophy (albeit perhaps channelled through Philo, a Jewish philosopher).

Conversely, John's context leads him to embed his theological/christological insights into a new version of the gospel narrative of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus: he is no Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, or Barth, he is a gospel writer. The abstract theology later theologians will develop is not handed to them on a plate, they need to dig deep into "story", in some cases, for John's Gospel, his story needs comparing to other versions of the story to yield the subtle shifts he discloses to us.

For travel reasons I need to draw this reflection to something of an unfinished close. I mentioned diversity above: in the wisdom of God and in the inspired understanding of the ancient church, we have four diverse gospels. No matter how amazing John's Gospel is, the church continues to appreciate other versions, each of which is expressed within contexts other than that of John's Gospels own context.

To God be the glory in the church ...

PS Noting a comment below re the publication last Wednesday 24 June 2024 of the report of the  [NZ] Royal Commission on Abuse: I think likely I will not comment on the report and related matters here on this "personal" blog. The report is so significant and important for the life of our church that it is important than any comments I make (any responses to the report and its recommendations) are via "official diocesan channels." (See Anglican Life - our website.) Here in this post, I also commend visiting Anglican Taonga and these articles, here and here.)

 

16 comments:

  1. In Aotearoa this week, we face into a new context. How do we do theology in light of the Royal Commission into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care? What theological beliefs underpinned - underpin - abusive systems?


    The Gift of Tears
    (by Dorothee Soelle)

    Give me the gift of tears god
    give me the gift of speech

    Lead me out of the house of lies
    wash away my education
    free me from my mother daughter
    capture my defensive rampart
    sand away my intelligent castle

    Give me the gift of tears god
    give me the gift of speech.

    Purify me from remaining silent
    give me words to reach my neighbors
    remind me of the tears of the little student in göttingen
    how can i speak when i have forgotten how to cry
    make me wet
    do not hide me any more

    Give me the gift of tears god
    give me the gift of speech.

    Shatter my pride make me simple
    let me be water that others can drink
    how can I speak when my tears are only for me
    take from me private possessions and the desire for them
    give and i learn to give

    Give me the gift of tears god
    give me the gift of speech
    give me the water of life

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  2. What do the texts of Jesus feeding the thousands and walking on water mean to someone who has suffered abuse and exclusion - colonialism, racism, physical, psychological, and sexual abuse - at the hands of professed and professional Christians?

    Is it that the church had fed itself, looked after its own, in the presence of those who are starving and continuously unfed? What sort of Good News would this - or for whom? Does it mean thhat the hands that bring us eucharist in public have also violated our bodies in private? Where is Jesus in this? Why is his protection so absent, his anger so silent?

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  3. Hi Mark
    I have added a note to the foot of the post (summary: I am not going to comment via the blog on the Royal Commission's report and recommendations, for reasons.)

    You are welcome, nevertheless, to comment here and to raise the sharp questions you do.

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  4. Hello Mark, thanks for the deep poem, and questions. I've thought a lot about such questions in recent years - because of the loss of my sisters. My family though, was from conservative evangelicalism similar to U.S. Southern Baptist. The view I'm forming is that their version of christian teaching on male headship and authority, and submission (and social order in general) is really problematic and can, in some circumstances, be a catalyst for violence of various kinds. I realise you'll understand underlying issues at a much deeper level than me!

    Before reading ADU today, I read a June-18th article on U.S. evangelicalism's troubling history.. in case you're interested I'll share the link below. The article suggests some interesting relationships between mainline protestantism and evangelicalism (like the decline in the former results in less critique of the latter). "Biblical interpretation actually matters." Personally, I think TEC in the U.S. are working in a positive direction (and I'm hopeful ACANZP is doing the same however my awareness of TEC is greater).

    https://religiondispatches.org/the-critiques-of-evangelical-writers-opposing-christian-nationalism-fail-to-recognize-evangelicalisms-troubling-history/

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    Replies
    1. Great article. That liberals became so middle class and often individualized faith also left the field clear for right-wing evangelicals to become a leading, active Christian voice in politics

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    2. Trump endorsed a Bible with the American constitution in the front. This is how one conversative evangelical pastor responded:

      https://youtu.be/dIx1S3Z2-kw?si=WRDFPqgEmnpWEflW

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  5. Hi Liz. It's great to see you on ADU again. I'm not sure I understand these issues more than you - remembering your horrific experience of (religiously fueled) madness, violence, and loss. Thanks for joining the conversation and this link. I look forward to having a read. I totally agree that we have to rethink our theology of power - including ideas of male headship, authority, and submission, but also how we read and interpret the Bible and tradition - which is tragically ironic for a religious movement based around a non-Western "Messiah" born in a small, provincial town, who lived a scandalous life consorting with the poor and marginalized, threatened religious and political authorities without ever inciting violence, who taught that the first shall be last and that after death he'd be mysteriously present in "the least" of us, was finally murdered for being a political threat, and died the death of a slave.

    Both evangelicals and liberals have their own problems and issues with their founder IMHO.

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  6. That's a shame, Peter. I can only guess the legal and ecclesial complexities you hint at, and do not doubt that these are real. But we've had so much silence already from the church. It would be a shame if leadership is hamstrung by being too cautious, too careful, too official - and this becomes another silence and distance, and de facto contributes to a carrying on as if nothing has happened.

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  7. Two inadequate theological responses to the Abuse in Care report:

    1. The orthodox response:
    What happened was terrible, the result of some sick individuals who let the whole side down. God condemns this. They must be punished and some systems improved. We need to double down on our faith, morality, and theology. Humans are sinful; only God is good. Christ saves; look to him alone. We need to try better (but not essentially change who we are and our theology and praxis).

    2. The liberal response:
    What happened was terrible, the result of sick individuals ennabled by abusive systems. We are sorry. God is good; the church is on a journey. We need to think about this carefully, study this at length, and develop careful, well-thought out statements and policy. We need to try better (but not essentially change who we are and our theology and praxis).

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  8. Hi Mark
    I need to correct your surmise above: there are no legal or ecclesial constraints on me saying anything on this blog. I am simply choosing to ensure that when I respond to the Royal Commission I am responding in respect of communications appropriate to me as Bishop of Christchurch: eLife, AnglicanLife, memos to clergy, etc. I do not think it appropriate that people looking to what I have to say need to find their way to a personal blog. I will, for instance, being saying something today in our regular Wednesday eLife, which message is always published on our diocesan website.

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  9. The preacher video you shared is interesting, Mark. Some might think his style of preaching over-the-top - but in the U.S. context I think he's spot-on with both content and presentation. The political theology of the New Apostolic Reformation is being spread with unbelievable levels of insane fervour and intensity in the U.S. I don't recall having seen such a strong and spirited refutation as in your video. From my POV he's a courageous man delivering a much-needed message, effectively. I'm only speaking re the clip as I know nothing else about him. Thank you!

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  10. Yes the shouting preacher is perfect for this context! Christian nationalism is scary. What's the New Apostolic Reformation?

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  11. So much fear. So much paranoia. "Hobbits in the shire surrounded by orcs." ??!!!!

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  12. A note of thanks to Mark and +Peter for questions asked and responded to. I've visited the links and been encouraged. The Anglican Life website is good, I like it! Must re-visit in future. 'The Press' allowed me to view their article/video thank goodness. Haven't come across anything (in the way of religious response) quite like this overseas. It's increased the hopefulness that I had already re ACANZP, i.e. reason to believe there's the will and determination for real change. Thanks ~Liz

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  13. Great Liz. I know you are probably too far south for this, but if you so happen to be in the area....or for anyone else reading....and as per +Peter's recent newsletter:

    A "Service of Lament and Tears", which has been carefully planned by a local diocesan group, will be held at 7pm, Thursday 5 September, 2024 in the Transitional (Anglican) Cathedral. All welcome.

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  14. Survivor experiences (Matthew 25:40):

    https://www.abuseincare.org.nz/for-survivors/survivor-experiences/

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