Indigenous Theology: Sources and Resources Perspectives from the Philippines

This article proposes an approach to doing theology with and for the indigenous communities in the Philippines, specifically the Ygollotes/Igorots of the Cordillera region, in their struggle for identity and self‐determination. It proceeds from a protest ritual that is representative and celebrative of the culture and identity; the religious and spiritual resources; the emancipatory stories; the vision, hopes and struggles of these northern Philippines indigenous communities. The article focuses on rereading the land‐centred culture, spirituality, and life of indigenous communities in the context of their struggles for fullness of life, with the perspective of identifying several sources and resources for a liberative, ecumenical, and indigenous peoples' theology of struggle.     

The Sources and Resources of Our Indigenous Theology: An Australian Aboriginal Perspective

I will attempt to show the Australian Aboriginal Christian from the spiritual, physical and cultural perspectives. The point that I wish to highlight is that there is an expression of continuity of relationship and ritual sacredness between my ancient people and their Higher Power (known by various names). This relationship is an unbroken thread that has weaved its way through the passages of time. It has been passed on for thousands of years to us here today as Aboriginal Christians. We are not only the “Children of God,” but are also the “Children of the Dreaming”– this is my identity.     

The Sources and Resources of Our Indigenous Theology

In this article I describe the sources of my indigenous theology out of my own experiences, my worldview, and as a woman. In the first part, I mention our struggles of resistance as the source from which we draw our strength and hopes to resist oppression and dream of a different society, as our ancestors dreamed and acted. I then speak of our living for the day as an act of ideological resistance. It is possible that many readers do not yet understand it, but this involves a worldview different from that of Western capitalism. Some communities in the Amazon still practise this other worldview and take it as their guide. They live day by day, concerned not for the morrow but for the present day; they attempt to live a life of quality, justice and honesty, as if it were the last day of their lives. The source from which our theological enterprise springs is also our wise men and women, who still survive in our communities. They are the guardians of our ancestral wisdom on life, the cosmos and our relations with the created world and its creatures. Moreover, our lifestyle is based on caring for and protecting Pachamama as one of the joint creators with God, who offers us life and enables us to live in the world as brothers and sisters, because we come into being in Pachamama and return to her.     

Towards an American Indian Indigenous Theology

An indigenous American Indian theology must respond, first of all, out of the ongoing oppression of Indian communities. This means that our indigenous theologies must be explicitly and unashamedly political. After 500 years of colonialism and conquest, we must begin, in this process, to find ways to reclaim our own indigenous identities. As we struggle theologically with the residual effects of colonialism and conquest, this means that we will struggle to maintain or reclaim our cultures and our languages. We must assure our colonizer/missionary relatives that our peoples were in touch with the Creator long before the European colonialist ancestors brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to us. From this point on, we indigenous peoples must focus on rebuilding our national (indigenous) communities and not on building churches. That should be the substance of our theological reflection today. So our theologies must necessarily deconstruct the theological discourses of the colonialist Euro‐Western churches that have missionized and continue to missionize our peoples. This has to be our starting point before we can reconstruct useful ways of organizing our lives together as indigenous communities.     

Transformative Spirituality for a Transformed World: Contributions from the Indigenous Perspective

A Transformative Spirituality from the perspective of indigenous peoples should be rooted in the life experience, cultural values and spirituality of the indigenous peoples. From the identity and history of the indigenous relationship with Christianity, the article presents some experiences and voices of indigenous peoples and concludes with some suggestions to think about the theme. In this perspective Transformative Spirituality is a proposal of an alternative way of life to the current one which is marked by financial crisis and hopelessness in the face of the future. Pachamama as the Mother Earth, origin and end of life, is the main symbol of this spirituality.     

Indigenous Theology in its Latin American Setting

This article explores the emergence of Indian theology at the Latin American level. Indian theology appeared in the church of Latin America over the last 20 years. This branch of theology is a rethinking or reshaping of what existed there during the pre‐Columbian period and incorporating the most valuable contributions of the Christian faith. These were brought to the people during the first 50 years of the evangelism. ‘Indian theology’ therefore comes down to us from the distant past, a collective movement by the indigenous grassroots, indigenous leaders, and supporters of the indigenous cause within the church. Indian theology has taken different forms in Latin America: within the churches; within the people's own traditions, independently of the churches; and within indigenous social movements. Building bridges between people of diverse views through dialogue is leading to increased understanding and respect.     

The Perspective of Feminist Pastoral Theology,a Review of Indigenous and Cultural Psychology: Understanding People in Context

This essay review examines Indigenous and Cultural Psychology: Understanding People in Context, Edited by U. Kim, K.-S. Yang and K.-K. Hwang (New York, NY, US: Springer, 2006), from the perspective of feminist pastoral theology. In doing so, it focuses on shimjung, a critical Korean indigenous concept by Choi and Kim (Naïve psychology of Koreans’ interpersonal mind and behavior in close relationships. In U. Kim, K.-S. Yang &; K.-K. Hwang (Eds.), Indigenous and cultural Psychology: Understanding people in context (pp. 357–369). New York: Springer, 2006). There are three main sections in the essay review. First, shimjung of Korean women is discussed and compared with that of Korean men. Second, shimjung in mother–son relationship is analyzed and explored. Third, an invitation is given for further research in promoting shimjung exchange in the husband and wife relationship in Korean culture.     

Sociobiology and Human Nature: A Perspective from Catholic Theology

This paper addresses a nonspecialist audience on how sociobiological accounts of human nature might be relevant to Christian theology. I begin with some confessional remarks to clarify what I mean by Christian theology and how I understand it to be related to science. I indicate briefly why sociobiology might be of interest to theology and then move on to sketch some ways in which sociobiology might relate to theological ethics. My basic point is that sociobiology is directly relevant to theological ethics in its understanding of evolved human emotional predispositions but not in its normative reflection proper.     

Reformation Resources for Contemporary Eco‐Justice Theology

Reformation theology has two significant contributions to make to a renewal of environmental theology. Its heritage of sin exposes the fact that human efforts at intervention in the environment are only ambiguously good and in need of redemption themselves. Its heritage of freedom exposes some efforts toward environmental healing as works‐righteousness, available to be transformed by God in hope for a heavenly and earthly future.     

Designer Theology: A Feminist Perspective

This is a critical look at the question of design from a feminist theological perspective. The author analyzes James Moore's 1995 Zygon article, "Cosmology and Theology: The Reemergence of Patriarchy." Then she looks at the relationship between science and religion from a feminist perspective, focusing on the kyriarchal nature of theology itself in light of the myriad power issues at hand. Finally, she suggests that, instead of pondering the notion of design, scientists and theologians might more fruitfully look for new ground for dialogue since feminist scholars are asking very different questions, not just answering questions differently.     

Mission and Discipleship from the Perspective of Gender and Indigenous Culture

The presence and history of Indigenous Peoples present special problems for mission and missiology and requires some rethinking of basic concepts and the cultural location of mission. Because the next World Mission Conference will take place in Tanzania, this article looks more carefully at the basis of mission, the experience of Indigenous Peoples with missions, and the New Testament warrent for mission. In the latter we find, particularly in the gospel narratives of the resurrection appearances of Jesus and his sending of the disciples the particular and exemplary role of women. These narratives offer some guidance for framing mission with Indigenous Peoples and in relation to colonial legacies and global capitalism.     

Lutheran Secularism as a Challenge for Constructive Theology: A Swedish Perspective,a Foucauldian Proposal

In this article the Swedish Lutheran heritage is discussed in relation to its historical connections with secularism. The question is raised whether and how constructive and liberating Lutheran theology can be developed under such conditions. In order to deal with this problem, Michel Foucault's late philosophy of truth and subjectivity is discussed. A proposition is made for a constructive theology that does not retreat from secularism but is critically involved in the secular through an emphasized confidence in God.     

The Influence of Religious Factors on Drinking Behavior Among Young Indigenous Sami and Non-Sami Peers in Northern Norway

It has been hypothesized that Laestadianism has contributed to the less drinking observed among indigenous Sami. This paper further investigates the bivariate protective influence of Sami ethnicity on youth drinking behavior using logistic regressions. We simultaneously controlled for the influence of religious revival movements (Laestadianism or evangelic) and religious importance (being personally Christian), in addition to socio-demographics and parental factors. Cross-sectional data from the 1994/95 North Norwegian Youth Study including 2,950 (675 Sami) 15–19 year-old high school students (RR: 85%) was used. Sami ethnicity was statistically significant for two out of six alcohol outcome measures, after adjustment for religiosity and other covariates, indicating less current drinking and party drinking. Religiousness was associated with higher youth and parental abstinence across ethnicities. Generally, stronger protective influences on drinking behavior were found for religious importance (being personally Christian) than religious affiliation (Laestadianism). The non-significance between Sami and non-Sami drinking may partly be explained by ethnic differences in religiosity, but also socio-demographics (e.g., residing in the Sami Highland) and parental factors (e.g., abstinence) contributed to such a result. Laestadianism`s profound impact on Sami culture, and its strong anti-alcohol norms may have contributed to a religious-socio-cultural context of abstinence.     

Theology and Institutions — A Partisan British Perspective

Books reviewed in this article:
Willi Braun and Russell T. McCutcheon, (eds.) Guide to the Study of Religion
J'annine Jobling and Ian Markham, (eds) Theological Liberalism, Creative and Critical     

Latino/a Theology: Doing Theology Latinamente

Latino/a Theology is rising among theologians of Latin American descent in the United States. This article describes five characteristics: 1) it is specific to the cultural context of marginalized Hispanic history; 2) it focuses on the theme of mestizaje/mulatez, the biological and cultural mixing of European Spanish with Africans and indigenous Americans; 3) it derives from popular religion; 4) it deals with everyday life, lo cotidiano; 5) like liberation theology, it emphasizes praxis.