NEW PARADIGMS FOR AN INTEGRAL THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION TODAY

Abstract

Theology is basically a God-talk and as far as Christianity is concerned it is an intellectual endeavour carried out on the basis of faith since faith is the first step for all theologizing activities. The text and contexts are significant factors in this respect and therefore, we have many schools of theology in the Church. From Apostolic Fathers to contextual theologies of the contemporary phenomena there have been tremendous changes taken place in the focus of theology itself. Today theology needs to address matters not in terms of apologetic context and intellectual jargons of the West but as a critical confrontation. We all try to present Jesus as Christus solutio omnium difficultum, Christ is the solution for every problem. In this endower we can adopt two methodologies. Firstly, theology may be concerned with the clearly defined set of doctrines handed down by the apostles. Here theologians and even faithful have only passive role. On the contrary a second model would be concerned with God’s self-gift to his people which they experience and communicate in various ways through symbols, rituals, creeds, doctrines and praxis. Here all have a positive role to play. In this article we rely upon the second model theologizing with their implications since theology is basically theological anthropology.