2010 brief introduction to theological education in India

1. Brief Introduction to Theological
Education in India
Queens College
Joshva Raja 2008
Apologies for
1. Any offense in my pictures
2. UTC/Serampore bias
3. My own story dominates at times!

2. William Carey (1761-1834)
Joshua Marshman (1768-1837)
and William Ward (1869-1823),
Ecumenical
&
Evangelical
Ministerial
formation
Societal
Engagement
Academic
Interaction
Self Reliancewe seek to equip ministers, leaders,
scholars and the whole people of God to
be committed to creative discernment of
and active participation in God's liberative
mission in the world at large, and in south
Asia in particular, by providing
programmes of theological study and
ministerial formation at various levels
through affiliated colleges and
institutions.

3. Theological Journey
At the end of the theological training students become professionals as
• Academicians to teach
• Activists to transform
• Apologists to defend
• Alchemists to test
When they come to
the College many of
them regularly pray
then?
As the journey begins
many of them are
overloaded with a lot
of theologies and
other stuff some sink!

4. My own theological journey
• From graduate in Physics to Bachelor of
Divinity and then to postgraduate in Physics
and to Postgraduate in New Testament and
then to ministry for ordination
• After ordination, a M A in Mass
Communication at Leicester and then to a PhD
in New Testament and Communication at
Edinburgh. Then six years of training at UTC.

5. Wide Range of Indian
Christian Theologies
 First Set of theologies borrowed concepts
from Indian Philosophy – mainly Brahminical
and Sanskritized version of theology.
(Appasamy)
 Second set of theologies emphasised the
social aspect of the Gospel (M MThomas)
 Third set of theologies focussed on Liberative
aspect of the Gospel (Nirmal) – Dalit and
Tribal theologies

6.  Standardized and fixed curiculum
 Meanings flow from teacher to students
–Top-down model
 Campus and Class Room based
 Less space for students’ meanings

7. Samartha’s metaphors

8.  “Helicopter Christology makes a lot of
missiological noise (in a pluralistic context of
Asia) and kicks up so much of theological
dust that people around are prevented from
hearing the voice and seeing the vision of the
descending divinity. A Bullock-Cart
Christology has its wheels always touching
the unpaved roads, for without the continual
friction with the ground, the cart cannot
move forward at all”..

9. Creative and Critical Tension in Theological
Education and Ministerial formations
• Vocation or Profession
• Compassion or Fairness
• Classroom based or praxis
oriented
• Fixed curricula or flexible
curricula
• Traditional or Revolutionary
• Evangelical or Ecumenical
• Movement or Institution
Cutting the wrong side of the tree
can inflict damage

10.  Class Room Teaching, Learning and Interactions
(Challenging the teachers?)
 Practical exposure– Churches, Social Service and
staying with people at grassroots
 Emphasis on Preaching and conducting worship –
special skills
 Presentation of papers – articulation, struggling
with issues and correct perspectives
 Leadership, Management and organisational skills

11. We do more theology outside
classrooms
Teatime theology
Walking Theology
Fellowship Theology
Theology in the Street
Dramatic Theology
Lawn Theology

12. Widening ‘Gaps’
• Gap between Colleges and the Churches
• Gap between church leaders and the
grassroots Christians
• Gap between the church leaders and teens
• Gap between Christians and other religious
groups
• Gap between the denominations as well

13. A few Contemporary Issues in India
Clash of faiths,
ideologies
• Hindutva
• Islamic
insurgence
• Christian
extremism
Economic
displacement
• Special
economic Zones
• Development of
who?
Disintegration
of society
• Social suspicion
• Relationship
broken
Corruption
and
Exploitation
Churches
Government

14. Church and Theological Education
Church Theological Institutions
servant
evangelist
prophet
Shepherd
Ecumenists
Diverse ministries
People’s faith and church
traditions
Academic standard
Theological concerns for contexual reality
Transition?
Society Theological Institutions
Social context and Theological Education

15. Theology at Grassroots
Experimenting or Risking Theology
 Theology entering into everyday realities of
people – who face religious fanaticism,
persecution and so on
 Converting Theology into praxis of sharing and
celebration life, faith and resources together
 Dialogue frankly – contact, relationship and
understanding between individuals,
communities and nations that are in the culture
of violence.
 Theopraxis – Doing theology at communities
and grassroots – Facing the realities together!

22. Building
Communities
through the
Technology
IT Training for
Mentally Challenged
at UTC

24. Training NGOs for Development through Information Technology

25. To God be the Glory Great
Things God is doing!
Being and Becoming the Word are more important than merely
proclaiming and sharing the Word with others. If Theology does not take
us to relate us to our immediate context and immediate neighbour it is a
dead theology at times it can become a deadly theology!!
It is the challenge for us today to respond to the context around us in
whatever way God calls us to do so. We must be indebted to the
theological mentors who provided their energy, time and knowledge to
make us leaders and great people in today’s context. It is time that we
too follow some of their models and examples to take theology to all in
their contexts. Thank you for listening to me.