TOWARDS ASIAN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIES

Reflections on Fides et Ratio, article 72

Abstract

Christianity has its origin in the Asian continent. But, the oft repeated
question is whether Christianity is really Asian. If it is, why should
we speak about “Asian Christian Theology”? Shouldn’t Christian
theology be basically Asian? Though Christianity has its origin on the
Asian soil, we know that it was very soon transplanted on the
European soil, which thence became its natural abode. Somehow,
Asia, in general, did not become a stronghold of Christianity, both
numerically and politically. In spite of the fact that Christianity
continued to exist in Asia, and influential at least in some of its
regions, Asia could not contribute much to the development of a
Christian theology. Together with this, the hegemonic tendencies of
the West and its ignorance about the Asian ways of understanding
and expressing the Christian faith further delayed the development
of theology/theologies in Asia. Theology developed making use of
the western languages, thought patterns and also responding to the
socio-political contexts of the West. Wherever Christianity was
spread from the initiatives of the West, the western patterns of
expressing faith were considered to be sacrosanct. That is, the
cultural, linguistic and conceptual models of the West, in which
Christian faith was expressed, were identified with faith itself. This
also implied certain claims of the superiority of the western culture
and conceptual frameworks. The age of colonization witnessed a
deepening of these tendencies.