There exists in evangelical academic circles a growing level of support for and interest in “contextual theologies”—that is, “those theological efforts that intentionally make use of local cultures and languages as key resources for the theological task” (Pardue 2023, p. 37). It seems that an ever-growing chorus of evangelical scholars has highlighted the changing face of the global church and encouraged evangelical theologians to attend to the good theological fruit being borne by these efforts. For example, in a key book that set the terms of discussion for evangelical contextual theological work, Timothy Tennent compared the global ferment taking place to the transformative centuries of the Protestant Reformation (Tennent, 2007, pp. 1-24). About two decades later, this paper seeks to assess the nature and extent of the contribution that has thus far been made by evangelical contextual theologies.
The paper proceeds in three parts. First, I seek to define the terms of success for evangelical contextual theologies. This involves some history, reviewing in brief compass the origins of the conversation about culture and theological reflection among evangelical scholars. Unlike their counterparts in mainline Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, evangelicals have historically had a high degree of internal conflict regarding the relevance and utility of integrating cultural context into their theological construction. However, in recent years, a consensus has emerged not only in favor of “contextualization” (that is, the translation of Christian doctrine and practices into “dynamic equivalents” in various cultures), but also “contextual theologies” that take culture to be an ingredient in the process of theological construction. Engaging the most recent research and writing in this area, I seek to identify in advance what it would mean for the contextual theological efforts of evangelical scholars to bear good theological fruit—that is, to have made material contributions to our knowledge of God and all things in relation to him.
The second part focuses on the present state of evangelical contextual theological efforts. Here, the paper documents an increasingly vibrant, but still emerging, ecosystem of theological construction taking place in the Majority World. For example, I identify and assess major collaborative projects that have emerged in the last 20 years, such as the Africa Bible Commentary and the Asia Bible Commentary series, as well as single-author works that have substantially advanced the conversation, such as Jerry Hwang’s Contextualization and the Old Testament (2022). This section concludes with an assessment of these achievements in terms of the measurements of success identified in the first part of the paper.
Finally, the third part of the paper turns to the future of evangelical contextual theologies. I seek to forecast likely areas of growth and likely areas of challenge in the years ahead and propose three ways in which evangelical scholars and institutions can increase the theological impact of their efforts in this area.