Abstract
International ecumenical networking and the exchange of resources in theological education is an issue for many regions in World Christianity. This article written by the International Program Coordinator of the program on Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE) in the World Council of Churches, Geneva, introduces two innovative projects which contribute to these objectives in distinct ways: one is the global digital library for theology and ecumenism (GlobeTheoLib) which provides access to a great number of full-text resources for its registered individual users and is operating in a multilingual setting. The other project is the global survey on theological education which is an international research project, born out of the Edinburgh 2010 process and the desire to have more exact empirical data on recent trends, needs and challenges for theological education in the churches within and outside the membership of WCC.
Keywords
More and more institutions of theological education both in the North as well as in the South realize that there are dramatic changes and transformation processes which are taking place both in higher education systems as well as in information technology and research. These have an impact on the ways in which churches offer ministerial formation and provide access to theological learning. The program on Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE) of the World Council of Churches, which has a history of more than 50 years going back to the Theological Education Fund of the International Missionary Council, founded in Accra, Ghana in 1958, has launched some innovative projects which have a great potential for the future and have spread into various regions of the world, being welcomed by many churches of the South.
Global Digital Library for Theology and Ecumenism (GlobeTheoLib)
One of the projects seeks to respond to the fact that access to and availability of theological knowledge, resources and cross-cultural sharing of theological insights between the different regions in World Christianity are still in a problematic stage and a fundamentally new concept of sharing theological insights and knowledge transfer is urgently needed. The very fact that the vast majority of fast growing churches in Asia and Africa do not have adequate access (in both traditional theological colleges of mainline churches as well as in newly founded theological colleges of younger churches) to theological knowledge production either in their own continents, or the theological knowledge in other continents or the North, and vice versa needs to be addressed in fresh and creative ways. Disparities in access and availability of theological knowledge and theological concepts are hampering the development of integral concepts in the understanding of ministry, social development, holistic mission and genuine interfaith dialogue. In comparison with natural sciences, theological research and education are still often far behind with regard to international networking, exchange and digital sharing with existing and available means on the internet.
WCC in cooperation with the foundation Globethics.net has decided to take a bold step forward and to develop a future-oriented new model of multilateral theological knowledge transfer and sharing of theological resources which can counter some of the imbalances at work in the present state of World Christianity and theological education systems worldwide.
Encouraged by developments in some of the regional associations of theological schools and theological libraries which in the past 6-8 years have developed an increased interest in digital libraries and open repositories, an initiative was developed for a new global digital library for theology and ecumenism which was conceptualized between 2009 and 2011 and finally went online in September 2011. 1
The emergence of improved technological possibilities, available modern software and harvesting tools as well as better international networking between a broad range of regional associations of theological schools presented by ETE, allowed us to explore a new venture for digital models of international knowledge transfer in the area of theology. The new model of international theological knowledge transfer and ecumenical sharing of theological resources was launched in order to prepare World Christianity and its systems of theological education and research for the future in the 21st century.
The Global Digital Library on Theology and Ecumenism (GlobeTheoLib) now exists as a unique and ambitious web-based theological resource that aims to redress a global imbalance of access to research materials in theology and related disciplines. It offers access to several hundred thousand full-text articles, documents and other academic resources in the broad field of Christian theology that can be accessed online free-of-charge by registered participants from anywhere in the world via the internet. It also gives participants the opportunity to submit their own documents and publications to be shared with others from around the world.
More than 5000 people signed up for GlobeTheoLib in the first ten weeks following its launch in September 2011, including professors and lecturers, theological librarians and students and the trend is still increasing.
GlobeTheoLib was initiated by the World Council of Churches, represented by its programme on Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE) and Globethics.net net (which already offers a Global Digital Library on Ethics) to promote the sharing of expertise in theological research and education.
Following extensive consultation, the project proposal received support from an international workshop in Geneva in September 2010 attended by experts from many churches, theological libraries and international organizations. This was followed by the creation of an International Consortium for the project, of which the World Council of Churches and Globethics.net are the founding institutions. Other members of the Consortium include associations of theological seminaries and of theological libraries, Christian World Communions, and Regional Ecumenical Organizations. One of the main catalysts for the launch of GlobeTheoLib has been the need to use the new possibilities offered by digital models of information exchange to make the theological voices and resources of the global South more visible and accessible, across national, cultural and denominational barriers.
Content for GlobeTheoLib comes from four major sources: commercial publishers with whom GlobeTheoLib has subscriptions to make content available to registered participants; rapidly growing Open Access repositories; partner institutions that make their own resources available via GlobeTheoLib; and registered participants who are able to submit their own documents to the library. GlobeTheoLib also offers participants the possibility to use the online networking and workgroup functions of Globethics.net to promote collaborative research between participants. Ongoing efforts are made to increase the multilingual content of collections in cooperation with projects in various regions like India, China, Africa and Latin America. 2
Global Survey on Theological Education – Research Project
The other international project which deserves attention is a research project about major trends, needs and transformation processes in theological education institutions and programs in World Christianity, the so-called global survey on theological education. 3
Since the famous empirical study of the role of and challenges to theological education in “so-called” mission fields which was presented during the World Missionary conference in 1910, little if any empirical research has been done on trends, developments and major challenges in the area of ministerial formation and theological education in the Christianity of the South on a global scale. Individual institutes have published some regional research, but there has not been a coordinated attempt to do an international research project on recent trends and developments in theological education on a world scale although many hold the conviction that it is theological education which is a key factor to the development of World Christianity in the 21st century. The Global Atlas of Christianity which was published in 2010 provides impressive data on regional and global developments of world religions and particularly on Christianity, but leaves out data on theological education. The Handbook on Theological Education in World Christianity 4 which was also published in 2010 presents an impressive first Global Handbook with regional and denominational surveys on the history and some developments of theological education, but could not be accompanied by proper empirical research. The Global Study Report on theological education which was published by ETE/WCC in 2010 5 again provides proper criteria, parameters and categories to discuss theological education in ecumenical perspectives but could not provide much empirical data as there is not yet much that could be referred to. The Cape Town meeting of the Lausanne meeting in its final new declaration devoted a specific chapter on the relevance of theological education, but evangelical circles have not provided much empirical research yet on recent developments in theological education.
It was therefore on the occasion of the WOCATI global conference on “quality in theological education in world Christianity” in Johannesburg in July 2011 that the idea was born to start an international research project which would gather more empirical data on recent trends in theological education.
A working coalition was formed between three organizations that shouldered this project:
– The Institute for Cross-cultural Theological Education in Chicago (Prof. Dr. David Esterline)
– The Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Centre for the Study of Global Christianity (Prof. Dr. Todd Johnson)
– And the World Council of Churches, Program on Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE), Dr. Dietrich Werner
In November 2011 therefore the project of the global survey on theological education started with the core goals
– to provide some empirical data on current developments, challenges and major trends in theological education in World Christianity by sending out qualified questionnaires to relevant partners, both individual theological educators as well as institutions for theological education and providing a qualified evaluation of results turned in a first phase until end of 2012.
– to create a new and common updated directory of theological schools within the wider context of World Christianity which would be accessible in a special portal related in future to GlobeTheoLib.
– to address both individual theological educators, institutions of theological education as well as regional associations or forums of theological schools and programs to contribute to the data and evaluation.
– to assist regions and regional associations of theological schools with data made available from the survey and to also help with complementary research projects on theological education in different regions which are under way.
– to give a major report on trends, crisis moments as well as promising developments in theological education for the planned Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Busan, Korea in 2013.
The content areas of the global study project are limited to a number of fundamental themes and research interests and phrased as key questions which have crucial importance for the future of World Christianity in the 21st century. The areas of interest include (among others):
1) Accessibility, availability and regional spread of resources and institutions of theological education
– how many institutions of theological education are there in a certain limited region?
– is the number increasing or decreasing and why?
– how is the number of facilities and programmes related to the needs and growth of churches? Increasing or decreasing?
– is the recent trend more to denominational, interdenominational, church-owned or state-run theological institutions?
2) What are trends in the composition of the student body?
– where are students coming from (mainline, evangelical, charismatic?, migrant?)
– what is the development of the age of students?
– what do students do with theological degrees and what is the preference in the spectrum of theological degrees?
3) churches and theological education
– what do churches expect from theological education?
– Which churches articulate more or less demand for theological education?
– What is the relation to evangelical and Pentecostal churches in theological education?
– What is the preferred primary venue and place for theological education (residential schools, local churches, regional courses, e-learning)?
4) Intercultural and interfaith theological education
– What is demanded for or emerging in terms of intercultural theological education?
– How often and in what forms is interfaith theological education being offered?
5) Quality in theological education and accreditation
– Are schools accredited by governmental agencies, church-related accrediting bodies, regional or -international accrediting bodies?
– What are the most important forms of quality assurance in theological education?
– What are core elements in the understanding of quality in theological education?
6) Sustainability, financial stability and the future of theological education
– Can theological education be regarded as stable, stagnant, in crisis or in a new vibrant peak in the related context at present?
– What are the most important factors to add to financial stability or financial crisis in theological education at present?
7) The role of regional and global bodies in dealing with theological education
– What is the most important expectation from regional, or global bodies dealing with theological education at present?
– What is the most urgent task to be taken up in terms of securing proper theological education in the future?
First results of this study process are expected at the end of 2012. It is recommended that people interested should consult the relevant website. Only those who give their name, e-mail adress and region in which their institution is operating (compulsory fields with asterix) can fill in the subsequent pages of the questionnaire. This is a safety issue as no anonymous responses are permitted by the system. As the validity and representativeness of data collected relates to the numbers of responses received it is hoped that many theological professors as well as heads of theological programs and institutions take the few minutes to go through the questionnaire which again is available in several languages, including some Asian languages: https://www.research.net/s/globalsurveyontheologicaleducation
A 16th Century Paradigm in a New Acronym
Paul Jeon, Introducing Romans (Eugene, OR.: Wipf and Stock, 2011. $11.00. pp. xiii + 65. ISBN: 978-1-61097-356-4).
This is a popular introduction to Romans from the perspective of a Calvinism found in some American evangelical circles. In order to exegete the letter according to the acronym, ROMANS, the author proceeds to cover distinct sections of Romans in the following order: Revelation of God’s Wrath (1:18 – 3:20), Only Way to Become Righteous (3:21 – 4:25), Made Alive in Christ (5:1 – 8:17), Adopted for Glory (8:18-39), New Lifestyle (12:1 – 15:13), Salvation according to God’s Mercy (9:1 – 11:36). This outline is framed by an ‘Introduction’ (1:1-17) and ‘Conclusion’ (15:14 – 16:27).
Paul’s letter is read as primarily being about how an individual can become righteous by faith alone. The book offers a plight to solution reading of the early chapters of Romans. ‘We are justified not on the basis of our works but through faith in Jesus Christ; hence the popular Reformed phrase ‘justification by faith alone’’ (p. 18). The idea that it is faith alone that brings ‘our justification (declaration of righteousness) . . . is the simple truth that church has turned away from repeatedly since its beginning’ (p. 18). Romans 7:14-25 is told from a pre-Christian standpoint (p. 28). In Romans 9 – 11, ‘Paul highlights that salvation depends solely on God’s sovereignty and grace’ (p. 56). Karl Barth was wrong to insist that God’s election be understood as occurring outside of time (pp. 56-57). With regard to Israel in Romans 9 – 11, ‘Paul is not saying that all historical-ethnic Israel will be saved, for that would be an obvious contradiction to what he says about ‘true Israel’ in Romans 9. . . . The flood of blessing to the gentiles, resulting in many gentile Christians, will once again flow to the Israelites, resulting in the salvation of many Jews. The gentiles have not replaced the Jews, nor has the church replaced Israel; rather, the gentiles have been incorporated into true Israel and, with the chosen Israelites—the remnant—form the people of God’ (p. 55). Hope that does not disappoint comes in the author’s admission that Romans 12:1 – 15:13 ‘emphasizes the importance—arguably the necessity—of good works within Paul’s gospel’ (p. 42).
Footnotes
2
For more information and suggestions for potential content contact the e-librarian of GlobeTheoLib: Dr Stephen Brown, Programme Executive, GlobeTheoLib, brown (at) globethics.net
4
Dietrich Werner, David Esterline, Namsoon Kang, Joshva Raja (eds), Handbook on Theological Education in World Christianity, Regnum Publisher, Oxford 2010.