Interruption and Imagination: Public Theology in Times of Crisis

As we are faced with recurring crises--financial migration climate etc.--there is a need to reconsider public theology as both a practice and a field of study. By discussing public statements made by Christians faced with different kinds of crisis this book contributes to the development and understanding of public theology. The public statements addressed are three kairos documents: The Kairos Document from South Africa in the mid-1980s; The Road to Damascus document from authors in developing countries issued in 1989; and the Palestinian Kairos Document from 2009. The discussion is structured around three problems of public theology: social analysis politics and ethics and language and voice. Fretheim suggests a constructionist understanding of public theology--a public theology that interrupts current debates and expands the imagination of the public sphere. As public theology is concerned with public life and social issues Interruption and Imagination will be of interest to scholars and students of theology political science sociology and religious studies as well as practitioners policymakers and professionals in the public sector civil society churches and Christian organizations. A timely contribution to public theology: constructing theology with its response to environmental moral and political conditions of the day challenging public debate from theological perspectives and enhancing Christian public responsibility particularly in the glocal public sphere. It demonstrates the necessity and significance of theological voice in public issues not only in reflection and statement but also in practical action including under unjust circumstances. Indeed theology makes a difference to our common world. --Zhibin Xie Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics Tongji University Shanghai; author of Religious Diversity and Public Religion in China Fretheims work shows how an imaginative public theology might fashion a constructive Christian engagement with contemporary issues in service to the common good. Anyone interested in what public theology is and what inspiration it might offer in times of crisis should read this book. --David Tombs Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues University of Otago Fretheim provides an excellent examination of how public theology can be a facilitator of sociopolitical transformation in a time of crisis. This volume critically discusses public theology by exploring the key implications of the Kairos Document. Fretheim argues that to do public theology is to seek interruption through thought-provoking perspectives and to create imagination of the public sphere by expanding its boundaries across academic disciplines. This volume is a must-read for students and scholars of theology sociology ethics and political sciences. --Sebastian Kim Professor; Chair in Theology and Public Life School of Humanities Religion and Philosophy York St. John University Kjetil Fretheim is Professor of Ethics and Diaconal Studies at MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo.