Critical Engagement with Context: A Pneumatological Approach to Context’s Capacity for Revelation

Contextual theology, by drawing attention to the ways in which context affects theology, has critically reshaped the way we do and think about theology. From a contextual perspective, theology is merely speculative or naively subjective unless theologians acknowledge the contextual underpinnings of their work. But the concept of “context” itself warrants critical examination as well. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork with Adivasi (indigenous) Christians in India, this paper offers a critique of the way context functions in contextual theology and proposes a new way of understanding the revelatory capacity of our contexts. Building upon the work of Kathryn Tanner and Kevin Hector on the mediation of the Spirit, I argue that the Spirit works through our negotiation of diverse perspectives on context. My emphasis is on the disruptive potential of the Spirit, who draws us into relationship with others who interpret and engage with our contexts in different ways.