Darren C. Marks, Shaping a Global Theological Mind (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008), xii + 198 Pps., $29.95; Diarmiud O’Murchu, Ancestral Grace: Meeting God in Our Human Story (Mary Knoll, NY: Orbis, 2008), xviii+ 270 Pps., $22.00.
Darren C. Marks is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religion at Huron University College, University of Western Ontario, Canada. In this title, he brings together twenty different theologians to reflect upon the global theological issues. Often, theologians are trapped within their own contexts, and it seems that context is usually limited to a European or North American perspective, due to the preponderance of opportunities given to theologians from this region over and above theologians from other areas. As such, they usually ignore minorities and lesser mainstream theologies. However, Shaping a Global Theological Mind focuses on the shift of Christian theological thinking from the North Atlantic to the Global South, even within the North Atlantic Church and Academy. Theologians from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, as well as Central and South America comment on how their specific context and methodology is manifested and organized in their work so as to make Christian theology relevant to their community. By placing the Global South alongside the newly emerging presence of non-traditional Western forms such as Pentecostal, Aboriginal, and Hispanic theologies a clearer picture of how Christian theology is enculturated is proffered. All of the contributions offer perspective on theological work, method and context.
A couple of particularly strong contributions will now be noted, including the introductory essay by Marks that sets the tone for the volume; Marks highlights the promise of a global theology being the hope that God is indeed active throughout the world and that the church is invited to participate in this divine freedom and mystery to inaugurate the coming of the Lord of glory (8). Focusing on his early life as a child of missionaries in Madagascar, Carl E. Braaten explores the missionary enterprise in cross cultural perspective. Noting that there is no such thing as disembodied theological mind, John W. DeGruchy recounts his theological pilgrimage in South Africa. Andrés Quetzalcóatl Guerrero, speaking from a Hispanic perspective, elucidates a Chicano theological mind, showing that, interestingly, a high degree of self-love is critical in order to love others (52–53). Hwa Yung, writing from a Chinese context, notes that the gospel is indeed the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes. Nyambura J. Njoroge, from a Kenyan context, gives a theology of hope and life beyond suffering and lament. The volume reaches its climax, I assert, in the autobiographical reflections on the emergence of the global theological mind, given by Amos Yong, a child of Malaysian Assemblies of God ministers. Yong notes, in an intensely personal way, that an emerging theological mindset will be dynamic and fluid, shifting according to winds of the Spirit, whose tracks we attempt to track (194).
Diarmuid O’Murchu, a social psychologist who has worked as a missioner with AIDS patients and refugees throughout the world, is well-known for writing cutting-edge books in science and religion. His other titles include Quantum Theology (1997), Evolutionary Faith (2002), and The Transformation of Desire (2007). Some might question why I choose to review a book about global theology with a book about so-called ancestral grace. My reasoning is simple: I posit that in order for humanity to truly embrace a global theology they must return to what O’Murchu refers to as ancestral grace’. He highlights that the ancestral values of those who came out of Africa years ago by noting that they were earth-based, communally-oriented, and holistic in orientation. In order for there to be a truly global theology, I think it wise for humanity to return to emphasizing these three primordial values. Indeed, a focus on the present state of humanity on earth (not a future state in heaven), a diverted attention from the individual (we are at all times the sum of our relationships), and the abolishment of dualism are all critical to advance a truly global theology.
The contributions of O’Murchu to the development of a truly global theology in this title are numerous, although one may need discernment to apply the concepts derived therefrom. He gives an astounding account of humanity, from our beginnings in Africa seven million years ago through the life of Jesus to the present, blending history, paleoanthropology, imagination, and spirituality together in order to demonstrate that God has been with us in our creative advance. O’Murchu draws attention to the spiritual significance of many discoveries made by scientists in Africa over the past fifty years, noting for example the evidence that our corporate ancestors advanced the most when they worked together (64). He invites us to consider an expansive understanding of Incarnation in light of these discoveries about humanity’s spiritual journey, picturing Jesus as the archetypal human, one that we not only would do well to emulate, but also that we must and can emulate (111–12). He then shows how our shared past can empower us to embrace the challenges that face us today as we evolve toward a new future, one that is at least partially instantiated by our volition (170–72). He highlights the critical role that the Spirit’s ever-present grace, the very sustaining energy of creation and the power that lures us forward (e.g. 218–20), has upon the attainment of a vital global theology.
In sum, a consistent theme from these two books is the focus upon the necessity of the Spirit in order to achieve a truly global theological mind, method, and theology. May we venture forward, following the theologians of these two volumes, in attempting to trace the trajectory of a global theology.
Bradford McCall, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA.