A Kairos Moment for Caribbean Theology: Ecumenical Voices in Dialogue

The project of developing a contextual theology for the Caribbean was first articulated in the early 1970s in Trinidad and Jamaica. In the years since many evangelical churches and theologians in the Caribbean have been ambivalent about the validity of this project assuming that an emphasis on context was somehow antithetical to the pure gospel. But the crisis of the times along with a more mature hermeneutic has led to a re-evaluation of this assumption. Here a group of evangelical Caribbean theologians enter the discussion with substantive proposals for how the gospel addresses the Caribbean context. They are joined by other theologians from mainline Protestant and Catholic traditions in the Caribbean. The result is an ecumenical dialogue on the diverse ways in which orthodox Christian faith may provide both challenge and hope for the Caribbean context. Half the essays in this volume were originally presented at the Forum on Caribbean Theology held in 2010 at the Jamaica Theological Seminary; the rest were invited especially for this volume. This edited set of papers on Caribbean theology represents a significant addition to the published literature in the area. . . . This is a very welcome addition not simply to Caribbean theological thought but Caribbean thought in general. --Hon. Omar Davies Minister of Transport Works & Housing I would encourage the reader to be engaged by each of the contributors in this volume. They write from both at home and in diaspora. In each case they attempt to say the right thing at the right time (kairos) within the context of an emerging Caribbean Christian theology and within a postcolonial framework. I heartily commit this volume to the readers thoughtful and prayerful consideration. I do so with the ardent hope that it will help spur all readers on to meaningful transformation whether in thought word or deed and in both the church and the Caribbean as a whole. --From the Foreword by Gosnell L. Yorke J. Richard Middleton is Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College Rochester New York. His books include A New Heaven and a New Earth (2012) The Liberating Image (2005) Truth Is Stranger than It Used to Be (1995) and The Transforming Vision (1984). Garnett Roper is Lecturer in Theology and President of the Jamaica Theological Seminary in Kingston Jamaica. He is a widely known commentator on social and religious issues throughout the Caribbean.