Review of Doing Theology Ourselves by Neil Darragh

By Siosifa Pole in All Sorts

everyone can be a theologian

Review of Doing Theology Ourselves by Neil Darragh (Neil Darragh is a New Zealand theologian who is teaching at Auckland University School of Theology)
In the world of theology there is a major shift taking place from traditional and common theologies to "contextualise theology" in relation to the time and space of a particular type of people. Neil Darragh in his book entitled Doing Theology Ourselves insists that as people of our own time and place we can produce our
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own theology in relation to our context. Out of curiosity, the author saw that the theological concepts that he learnt in the past are anachronistic to the real issues that he now faces in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Therefore, he argues that in order to make our theology relevant and meaningful we need to challenge some of the embedded theologies. We have to deconstruct our theology in order to reconstruct it again ourselves to meet our individual context.
As a Christian, a theologian, a European, and a New Zealander, the author is writing from a background that expresses such a context. However, he clearly indicates that although he has a theological opinion on matters important to him, he doesn‟t rule out the theological points of view of others. He claims that each person should have the freedom to create a theology that is pertinent to his/ her context. Providing this freedom would make theology more profound and diverse.
The word „theology‟ is derived from two words, "theo" means „god‟ and „ology‟ means „reasons‟. It generally refers to „reasoning God‟ or „understanding God‟. It is obvious that our individual context shapes our understanding of God. Whether we know it or not, the influence of our family, our church, our community, our politics, and our society has embedded both our understanding of God and our practice of ministry. This is a common understanding because it is making theology contextual.
Because theology is determined by the people of a community, everyone therefore has the right to do theology. The assumption that only the academics are capable of creating or producing theology is a false claim. Everyone can create theology in relation to their individual context. Usually people have casual conversations on moral issues, about God, and about the Bible without realising that they are engaging in a theological discussion. Ordinary church goers are doing that at church, during morning tea, lunch time, at the car-park, and even at work
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places. Expressing their individual point of view evokes lively theological discussion on a particular issue. In this type of environment everyone is valued and worth listening to. The author argues that our individual theological point of view will influence our faith and our ethics.
In the first chapter, the author suggests that there is a possibility for everyone to do theology. It certainly needs time and effort to create theology but the opportunity is available to everyone. Those existing theologies became a stepping stone. Our forebears in the faith already created various kinds of theologies that our practice of ministry has built upon. The author calls these existing theologies as „implicit theologies‟. Although these theologies have contributed to the life of the Christian community but they need to be challenged and re-interpreted to make them relevant for today. In doing so, theology will become contextualised to meet the demands of the community. When theology is out of context it is not only out of date but has no influence on the community. Theology has to address the real needs of the community.
In chapter two and three, the author deals with the importance of those who are doing theology on general issues that reflect in their own theology. These issues are apparently having two worlds. These worlds are 1) the worlds of our own personal belief that affects our personal understanding of God and 2) the world where we live that affects our practice of ministry. On one hand, the author claims that we inherited words such as revelation, Spirit, creation, life, community, etc that affect our understanding of God. On the other hand, are the issues that we face in our world such as health, housing, education, poverty, employment, etc which set the agenda for our practice of ministry. The author insists that we cannot have one without the other. However, he argues that to begin a genuine theological approach we have to begin from our contemporary world. He calls that approach as „Our involvement‟. In order to create a profound theological
concept we need to begin with our real life experience. It means we have to look for a real issue that affects our community, then use some biblical insight, and then look for a proper action that can restore life.
Writing from a Christian perspective, the author in chapter four carefully discusses the proper use of scripture as a tool for creating contextual theology. He is conscious of the ever present possibility of misusing scripture in various instances. This misuse will damage the practice of theology. He suggests that to have an understanding of the scriptures we must look to the world behind the texts or the context of the scripture before we apply to our own contemporary contexts. Because the world behind the text is different from ours, we need to interpret the text carefully to address the issues of our contemporary world.
It is obvious that the author is writing from a point of view that is not strange to many contemporary theologians. Because the community determines theology, therefore it is changeable. This opinion offers a powerful message to the Christian community that everyone can be a theologian. I tend to disagree with the author that the Bible is not the only source that helps us in creating our theology. There are sources in our local contexts that can assist us to shape a theology that is pertinent and relevant to our community and its needs. We also need to be aware that because everyone has the right to do theology we therefore have to be open minded to the diverse theological opinions that we have among us. Our individual contexts will shape our understanding of God and will determine the way in which we practice Christian ministry here in Dunedin and in Aotearoa-New Zealand.
Siosifa Pole