The Modern Period to The Present Flashcards
black theology
“Black theology” is the movement, especially significant in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, which concerned itself with ensuring that the realities of black experience were represented at the theological level.
Emphasized the theme of liberation as a central motif, and tended to arise within black Protestant communities in North America.
dialectical theology
Term associated with Karl Barth.
Takes up the idea, found especially in Barth’s 1919 commentary on Romans, of a “dialectic between time and eternity,” or a “dialectic between God and humanity.” The term draws attention to Barth’s characteristic insistence that there is a contradiction or dialectic, rather than a continuity, between God and humanity.
Enlightenment
Sometimes called “The Age of Reason.”
The movement which is now generally known as “the Enlightenment” ushered in a period of considerable uncertainty for Christianity in western Europe and North America. Developed in the Late 17th Century. A defining characteristic of the Enlightenment is its emphasis on the ability of human reason to penetrate the mysteries of the world. Humanity is able to think for itself, without the need for any assistance from God. Unaided human reason is able to make sense of the world – including those aspects of that world traditionally reserved for theologians.
evangelicalism
Term is now used widely to refer to a transdenominational trend in theology and spirituality, which lays particular emphasis upon the place of Scripture in the Christian life. Evangelicalism is often held to center on a cluster of four assumptions: 1 the authority and sufficiency of Scripture; 2 the uniqueness of redemption through the death of Christ upon the cross; 3 the need for personal conversion; 4 the necessity, propriety, and urgency of evangelism. Evangelicalism often distinguishes itself from fundamentalism, emphasizing the importance of intellectual and cultural engagement. One of evangelicalism’s most significant areas of theological activity is the field of apologetics.
feminism
At its heart, feminism is a global movement working toward the emancipation of women, arguing for gender equality and a right understanding of the relationship between women and men to be affirmed by contemporary theology and practice. Feminist theology thus aims to understand and criticize male-dominated tradition and to challenge androcentric images of God and humanity. The most significant contribution of feminism to Christian thought may be argued to lie in its challenge to traditional theological formulations.
liberalism
Classic liberal Protestantism had its origins in the Germany of the mid-nineteenth century, amid a growing realization that Christian faith and theology alike required reconstruction in the light of modern knowledge. From its outset, liberalism was committed to bridging the gap between Christian faith and modern knowledge. Liberalism’s program required a significant degree of flexibility in relation to traditional Christian theology. Its leading writers argued that reconstruction of belief was essential if Christianity were to remain a serious intellectual option in the modern world.
liberation theology
The term “liberation theology” is now used to refer to the distinct form of theology which has its origins in the Latin American situation of the 1960s and 1970s. The same term could, in theory, be applied to any theology which is addressed to or deals with oppressive situations. Nevertheless, the phrase “liberation theology” is now generally used to refer to the specifically Latin American embodiment of a theology that focuses on human liberation.
The basic themes of Latin American liberation theology may be summarized as follows:
1) Liberation theology is oriented toward the poor and oppressed.
2) Liberation theology involves critical reflection on practice.
modernism
The term “modernist” was first used to refer to a school of Catholic theologians operating toward the end of the nineteenth century, which adopted a critical attitude to traditional Christian doctrines, especially those relating to the identity and significance of Jesus of Nazareth. The movement fostered a positive attitude toward radical biblical criticism, and stressed the ethical, rather than the more theological, dimensions of faith. In many ways, modernism may be seen as an attempt by writers within the Catholic Church to come to terms with the outlook of the Enlightenment, which it had, until that point, largely ignored.
neo-orthodoxy
Associated with the name of Karl Barth.
“neo-orthodoxy,” draws attention to the affinity between Barth and the writings of the period of Reformed orthodoxy, especially during the seventeenth century. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Barth’s approach is the assertion that theology is a discipline which seeks to keep the proclamation of the Christian church faithful to its foundation in Jesus Christ, as he has been revealed to us in Scripture. Theology is not a response to the human situation or to human questions; it is a response to the Word of God, which demands a response on account of its intrinsic nature.
postliberalism
Its central foundations are narrative approaches to theology, such as those developed by Hans Frei, and the schools of social interpretation that stress the importance of culture and language in the generation and interpretation of experience and thought.
Arguing that all thought and experience is historically and socially mediated, postliberalism bases its theological program upon a return to religious traditions, whose values are inwardly appropriated. Postliberalism is thus antifoundational (in that it rejects the notion of a universal foundation of knowledge), communitarian (in that it appeals to the values, experiences, and language of a community, rather than prioritizing the individual), and historicist (in that it insists upon the importance of traditions and their associated historical communities in the shaping of experience and thought).
postmodernism
Postmodernism is generally taken to be something of a cultural sensibility without absolutes, fixed certainties, or foundations, which takes delight in pluralism and divergence, and which aims to think through the radical “situatedness” of all human thought. There is an inbuilt pre-commitment to relativism or pluralism within postmodernism in relation to questions of truth. To use the jargon of the movement, one could say that postmodernism represents a situation in which the signifier has replaced the signified as the focus of orientation and value.
quest of the historical Jesus
Concerned with the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
Thesis that there was a serious discrepancy between the real Jesus of history and the New Testament interpretation of his significance. Underlying the New Testament portrait of the supernatural redeemer of humanity lurked a simple human figure, a glorified teacher of common sense. While a supernatural redeemer was unacceptable to Enlightenment rationalism, the idea of an enlightened moral teacher was not. Reimarus and others argued that it was possible to go behind the New Testament accounts of Jesus and uncover a simpler, more human Jesus, who would be acceptable to the new spirit of the age.
radical orthodoxy
The term “radical orthodoxy” is used to refer to a broad approach to theology which emerged in the 1990s, originally based at Cambridge University.
The agenda of the movement is complex and sophisticated, and is perhaps best understood in terms of the need for Christianity to construct its own alternatives to both modernity and postmo-dernity. It hopes to articulate a comprehensive Christian perspective that will both supersede and replace secularisms, whether modern or postmodern.
rationalism
Argument that the beliefs of Chrstianity were rational, and thus capable of standing up to critical examination. Additionally argued that the basic ideas of Christianity, being rational, could be derived from reason itself. Finally, the ability of reason to judge revelation was affirmed. As critical reason was omnicompetent, it was argued that it was supremely qualified to judge Christian beliefs and practices, with a view to eliminating any irrational or superstitious elements.
ressourcement
A key theme of this ressourcement was a return to the sources, traditions, and creeds of the early church. Such theologians did not see this program simply as a repetition of what had been said in the past. Rather, the tradition was interrogated and interpreted in the light of the questions of the present. The ressourcement envisaged and advocated by these writers was not primarily a work of academic scholarship but rather a work of religious revitalization. Indeed, many placed the emphasis on the pastoral orientation of theology, and the need for theology to connect up with the situation of ordinary people.
