Since the beginning of the 21st century, the term intercultural theology has been gaining more and more traction. At the same time, the terms world Christianity and anthropology of Christianity have also become established. This article inquires into the profile of intercultural theology against the other two terms and defines the subject as in-between theology with regard to such factors as audience, media, power, methodology, plurality, and connectivity. Looking forward, the author identifies current challenges and proposes that intercultural theology should be understood as a both descriptive and normative discipline, that the driving force behind it is the universal-missionary truth claim of the New Testament message of salvation, and that—as a subject with a primarily systematic orientation—it is committed to a comprehensive understanding of reality and theology.
In the last two decades, the term intercultural theology has gained currency in European countries and in North America as a technical term for what used to be called mission studies. The chapter begins by analyzing several contributions in order to identify which substantial changes in emphasis are being associated with the new term in the controversial academic debates which have ensued. The author then formulates his own understanding of mission studies as intercultural theology, on the basis of which he discusses fundamental issues related to the academic locus, which ranges between cultural studies theories (such as discourse theory, postcolonial studies, semiotics) and theological approaches (such as world Christianity, mission theology). The thesis is put forward that it is precisely by integrating different perspectives that intercultural theology can make an important contribution towards a hermeneutics of intercultural relations, mission theology, and the praxis of mission in the age of globalization.
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