THE EDITOR, Sir:I READ with interest Wayne Coke's letter published in yesterday's edition (November 4) of your paper in which he chided Eurocentric theology for messing up the minds of the majority of black people. The disputes in the Anglican Church over the appointment of gay bishops in the United States, and the subsequent calls from the Nigerian Archbishop that Africans should develop their own theology, has led Mr. Coke to exclaim that finally some black people are beginning to wake up from their long mental slumber.
Maybe Mr. Coke is not aware that for at least 100 years now, many theologians have been involved in the process of contextualising theological thinking, to make the Christian faith more relevant to the contexts in which it finds itself. Caribbean theologians have been very active in this endeavour, with the likes of Rev. Ashley Smith, William Watty and Kortwright Davis (to name a few) making excellent submissions in developing a Caribbean theology.
SLOW MOVING
The process has been a slow one, and many reasons can be posited for the apparent snail's pace at which it is moving. People are impatient to see a greater cutting of the ties with European thinking and an embracing of a more Caribbean (often African) ethos in our theologising. I beg to suggest, however, that before we write off the enterprise as a failure, we need to explore the possibility that maybe many changes have indeed taken place, but not to the liking of many. Too often the changes that are called for do not merely have relevance in mind but instead want to see a wholesale replacement of that which has been deemed Christian. The American Anglican churches' acceptance of gay bishops indeed falls into this trap; it really isn't a European Christian theology after all as much as it is an accommodation of culture which treats Christianity as its servant.
DESIRES
Christian theology is then forced to accommodate whatever desires the individual wishes to express, no matter how base and vile they might be. The foundations of the Christian faith must remain constant, but expressed in a way that will be meaningful to the peoples of the world, wherever they may be found. In this regard European hymns and modes of dress might not be appropriate for many of our Caribbean folk, nor would an articulation of our faith which does not address the day to day realities of our people.
Gladly, more and more of our churches have awakened to this reality and have made important adjustments in how we do our theology. Of course, the process never ends! But may it never be thought that being Caribbean or African means a changing of the essence of the Christian message to legitimise our evil.
I am, etc.,
DAVID PEARSON
davynth@yahoo.co.uk
c/o Jamaica Theological Seminary
14-18 West Avenue, Kingston 8
