It has been almost fifty years since theological educators first began talking about contextual theology. Today, in every country of the global South, their home schools require them to contextualize theological education and construct contextual theologies that would be helpful for their local churches. In spite of this expectation there are few helps available. The expectation is clear, but an understanding of the process by which this may occur is lacking. Educators often complain that they are led to adapt Western theology to their context rather than developing theology for their...

For centuries, the global understanding of Church has been shaped by Western theological imperatives. Yet today, the decline of institutional religion in the West, and the extraordinary growth of the Church of the global South mean that a radical movement beyond such theologies is required. In this book, Paul Matheny argues that the Church would benefit by becoming more contextualized and less Western. Contextual Theology is an attempt to address that issue and to examine how a reassessment of the relationship of the Gospel to cultural context can advance this critical and necessary...