Public Theology, What Theology? Some Radical Reflections

Public Theology, What Theology? Some Radical Reflections

Andres S. TANG

This paper aims to reflect critically on the theological nature of public theology. In the last thirty years, public theology has been rising not merely in the West but also in the Chinese theological academies. Among others, Max Stackhouse is the most well known public theologian advocating the study of public theology, publishing articles in this field and organizing conferences with themes on public issues like globalization. The first part of this paper takes Stackhouse as an example to be examined carefully by centering on two theological dimensions. One is about the nature of theology and the other is about the method/sources of doing theology. For Stackhouse, public theology is the original nature of theology, speaking to the public while employing dogmatic theology and confessional theology, which are particular in nature. The Holy Scripture is evaluated by public reason and values so as to address issues in the public sphere. By finding out the metaphysical-moral visions and principles of the Christian faith, public theology is compatible with the view point of other religions, and findings of human science and social science , which are examined in the same way. In a word, the nature and the method/sources of theology are primarily determined by the public reason and public sphere. The second part of this paper rethinks the nature and the task of theology by introducing the understanding of the theology of John Webster. For Webster, theology is primarily determined by the object of the study, the triune God. It is God, who is the confessional content of the church, who makes all kinds of theology, including public theology, possible. Webster elaborates on the theological proposition of Johanns Wollebius, the Reformed theologian in the 17th century, as the condition of doing theology. Wollebius' proposition is that “The principle of the being of theology is God; the principle by which it is known in the Word of God.” The former is the ontological conviction while the latter is the noetic conviction for theology. According to this, public theology is not primarily defined by the adjective “public”. Rather, it is “theology” that comes first under which the “public”, either in the sense of reason or in the sense of sphere, is determined. Theology, then, by nature is theological rather than public. Only under this condition can we further theologically discuss and develop a theological kind of public theology.