Reshaping the Contextual Vision in Caribbean Theology

This work addresses the growing challenge of contextuality within Christianity in the setting of the vibrant and dynamic Caribbean. The challenge results from the recognition that all religious practices are conditioned by the geographical, ethnic, socio-economic, and cultural frameworks in which they emerge. This contextuality should inform the way theological diversity within Christianity is addressed, as well as the way Christian formulations are considered in relation to other religions. The text offers conceptual support for the position that Christian theologizing in the Caribbean requires that the context's religious diversity be engaged and that insights from other religions be explored. Processing this position through an examination of religious dynamics within the English-speaking sub-region, the prominent attempt at contextually sensitive Christianity (Caribbean Revisionist Christianity) with the associated theological orientation (Caribbean Theology) is analyzed in relation to formulations and practices from other dominant religions in the area-Afro-Caribbean Religion, Hinduism, and Islam. Epistemological analysis exposes the complexity of the religious life and a framework is proposed for inter-religious engagement. This framework engenders contextually sensitive pluralism and demands that theology be pursued in dialectical mode. The dialectical approach is then dramatized in an inter-religious dialogue on God.

Michael St. A. Miller is a native of the Caribbean island of Jamaica. He has academic credentials from institutions in Jamaica and the USA, and he holds a Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate School (Claremont Graduate University) in Claremont, California. He is currently an assistant professor at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he teaches in the area of philosophical and systematic theology and coordinates cross-cultural and international programs.