March 30, 2009

AUGSBURG/GENEVA – "Lutheran theology today is alive and well," underlined Rev. Dr Guillermo Hansen on 26 March, addressing about 120 participants at the international consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran Churches – Perspectives and Ways of Transforming Churches Today" of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Augsburg, Germany.

Lutheran theology is alive because it comes from such diverse environments, said the Argentinian, who is currently teaching at the Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

The diversity of Lutheran theology is the best indicator that "Lutheran identity is not static, but always becoming," according to Hansen. In his view, "the web of belief is enriched" when we have to deal with ancestor devotion, speaking in tongues, healing practices or HIV and AIDS. "Participation in this Lutheran web makes all of us not only custodians, but receptors," Hansen added.

"The indigenization of the church in Africa should deal with issues such as ritual, religion, myth, liturgy, prayer and worship whilst inculturation of the Gospel should deal with issues such as culture, morality, ethos, taboos, theology and praxis," stated Dr Ramathate Dolamo from South Africa, in one of the main lectures. The concepts of indigenization and inculturation are still widely regarded as synonyms, he claimed. Yet "a fine distinction" could be drawn between the two concepts "without necessarily tearing them apart."

Interreligious dialogue is the necessary prerequisite for doing theology in religiously pluralist contexts, emphasized Dr J. Paul Rajashekar, currently teaching at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. "The focus of dialogue, among other things, is to engage in mutual theological discoveries that strengthen our faith in relation to other faiths in diverse contexts," added the theologian, a native of India.

Interacting with other religions is not about being right, stressed Dr Eva Harasta, an Austrian lecturer in systematic theology at Bamberg University in Germany. In her view, "it is about trusting Christ's actions and about being his witnesses, about getting to know him. Backed by the strength of the resurrection, this endeavor is not dispirited – it is an endeavor filled with hope and trust."

Over 120 theologians from more than 30 countries are taking part in the consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran Churches: Transformative Perspectives and Practices Today" in Augsburg, Germany, under the auspices of the LWF Department for Theology and Studies (DTS). The 25 to 31 March meeting, held in collaboration with the Institute of Protestant Theology of the University of Augsburg, is the culmination of the DTS study program "Theology in the Life of the Church," which has been ongoing since 2004.

The main lectures are available in English as PDF files on the LWF website: http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DTS/TLC_Augsburg/Presentations.html.

Lutheran World Information