The aim
of chakana is to
construct theological and philosophical bridges between different
geographical, cultural and religious contexts. The second issue
once again takes up the focus dealt with in the first edition: the
tension between contextualization and communication. One could also
say – to use the familiar words of Immanuel Kant in a modified
form: "A theology or philosophy, which is not contextual, is empty;
a theology or philosophy, which gets stuck in its own
contextuality, is blind". Our
present time is determined by a movement of globalization, that
makes contexts vanish and regulates communication through market
forces. We are, however, of the opinion, that taking one's own
context seriously and respecting that of others are the
prerequisites for dialogue and communication among peoples and,
consequently, for real "universality". Theology and philosophy are
also at work as cultural achievements of mankind in this field of
tension.
The
contributions to the central theme (Focus) take up once again the
papers delivered at the Congress, conducted by the Institute of
Missiology (MWI) and the Universidad
Intercontinental from
March 15th to 20th, 2002, in Mexico. Four different continental
contexts are brought in contact and interaction with each other:
Eugene Elochukwu Uzukwu, Nigeria, analyses the question of the
contextualization of African Theology taking the examples of Bible
study and liturgy; María del Socorro Vivas Albán, Colombia,
investigates special features of Latin American feminist
theologies; Mikaele Paunga, Fiji, treats the challenges of
contextualization for the theologies of the Pacific region; Johann
Baptist Banawiratma, Indonesia, outlines the Asian attempts of the
Churches and theologians in their specific
context.
It is
my hope that Chakana will
open up to you the wealth and variety of theological and
philosophical thinking and inspire you to cross the intercultural
bridges with courage and zest. Josef
Esterman
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