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Document Details : Title: De maat van alle dingen Subtitle: Publieke theologie en particulariteit Author(s): SIEBESMA, Anne Journal: Tijdschrift voor Theologie Volume: 59 Issue: 2 Date: 2019 Pages: 138-155 DOI: 10.2143/TVT.59.2.3286446 Abstract : The far-reaching secularisation and the growing ideological pluralism have made the links between theology and society in the West less self-evident than they used to be. In response to this development, public theology tries to maintain that theology and religious traditions do still matter for society and should be entitled to a hearing in the public debate. Speaking from their Christian-theological background, but in a manner that is also accessible to non-believers, public theologians try to enter into a dialogue with others in society and offer a theological contribution. Public theology has, however, come under pressure. Some of the more recent theologians who also deal with theology and society emphasize the uniqueness of the Christian language of faith and the Church and its praxis. They reject the demand for a shared language and instead speak from their Christian language of faith, based on Christian revelation. They also consider the Church to be the place per se where God is active, and they believe that the public life of the Church is a correction of the public life of society. In this article, I hope to contribute to this discussion of particularity and public theology by shifting the focus from questions of relevance and language to the question for the uniqueness of theology and what it means to speak about God. After a discussion of public theology and the criticisms of those who would rather emphasize the uniqueness of the Christian language of faith and church praxis, I will ask what the specific character of theology is and what this emphasis on uniqueness could mean for public theology. This uniqueness lies in the fact that God as reality and as acting itself, forms the standard for theology. Consequently, public theology should not be primarily concerned with demonstrating the public relevance of theology, but instead describe public life from the more encompassing, but not fully describable framework of God’s salvific commitment to the world. From this focus that wants to do justice to God as a reality and a standard, I will look at the discussion around the uniqueness of the language of faith, and subsequently at the discussion around the relation between Church and society. I will show that this theological uniqueness does not necessarily lead to an emphasis on faith over reason, or to an exclusive reflection on the Church as its own public sphere as opposed to that of society. |
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