Postliberal Theological Method PDF Download

George Lindbeck is considered to be one of the founders of Postliberal theology and his work, the Nature of Doctrine: Religion in a Postliberal Age, is extremely influential in the formation and development of Postliberal theologies. Lindbeck recognized that a specific communal context shapes us more than we shape ourselves. Human beings are linguistically and historically shaped by particular cultures. Therefore, if one is to do theology, one must attend to the context in which one is learning. However, Lindbeck seems to limit "context" in doing theology to the church as a distinct culture with its own inner logic, a particular grammar for its language, and distinct practices that shape and determine theological content. As the church grows in a diversity of contexts around the world, and as the church continues to take root and become a global phenomenon into the 21st century, can Postliberal approaches offer a viable methodology for doing contextual theology? What roles does the cultural context that the church finds itself in play in the church's own self-description? What role do cultural questions arising in a particular context shape and determine theological content? How might Postliberal theology function as a theological method for a Global church in a way that does not privilege Western culture under the guise of a particular cultural-linguistic community or the church? My proposal is to explore the viability of Postliberal theology as a theological method for a global church paired in conversation with Benzet Bujo's anthropological approach to theology in order to provide insight into theological discourse as a missionary practice of the church. Postliberal approaches that are limited to the cultural-linguistic boundaries of the church contra culture generally are insufficient. Worldwide, Postliberal approaches are enhanced when they avoid privileging Western culture, and when they rely on anthropological approaches that incorporate the specific cultural context surrounding the church for informing theological discourse as a missionary practice of the church.