A Birthright “Sold for a Mess of Pottage”: Ministerial Formation in East Asia

David Alexander 2010

Tainan Theological College and Seminary, Tainan, Taiwan

Introduction

The monotheist people who colonized the western frontiers of the Persian Empire about

500 years before the time of Jesus brought with them stories of creation, distinction, and

election. This group, which called itself the Yehud,1 had a distinct religious outlook and a

sense of entitlement born out of their religion. As time passed and more stories were needed

to deal with unanticipated situations, new ones were created and inserted into their

“historical” record. Many formative stories of the Yehud set them apart from and over-against

the peoples of the lands that they had come to settle and over whom they came to hold sway.

The stories provided material legitimizing ancient claims to property, primacy and superiority.

Southeast of the lands occupied by the Yehud was the home of the Edomites (eventually

known as the Idumeans). These people were both distinct from and similar to the Yehud

ethnos. Therefore they constituted a threat. The set of stories created to detail a separate

identity and a right of primacy of Yehud over Edom involved non-identical twin brothers, one

of whom (the Yehudite ancestor) was more clever. The elder brother, ancestor to the

Edomites, was inferior , animalistic, idiotic and disdainful of his rights and responsibilities as

the elder. The story included a prophecy of the younger ruling over the elder. In a poignant

episode, a clear business transaction saw the younger gain the right to be considered the elder

1 Jon L Berquist, Approaching Yehud: new Approaches to the Study of the Persian Period. Atlanta: SBL, 2007.

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for legal purposes.2 Esau (the Edomite patriarch) sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.3

This action has taken on an iconic character in the English language and has come to mean

any act in which a person or organization accepts a trivial financial or other gain in exchange

for the loss of something much more significant.4

When ministerial formation, a function of ecclesia, becomes theological education, a

function of academia, pottage is part of the transaction.

I: Ministerial Formation

The “clerical paradigm” of ministerial formation refers to the notion that the best way to

teach ministers to be ministers is to teach them to be proficient at the skills and activities that

make up a pastor's life. These include such things as preaching, counseling, running meetings

and teaching the Bible. The assumption is that, to the extent that they do each of these well

they are good ministers. But no matter whether this “skill training” takes place in a church

based situation, in a university environment or in the autonomous theological seminary, it

doesn’t actually work. The teaching of “pastoral” skills produces lousy ministers. They have

no heart. They become automatons that can go through a check-list, and may be able to

compose and deliver a technically pleasing sermon, but they have nothing to say. There is no

depth of thought, no working through the crises of faith that make faith strong. They end up

2 Other sets of stories were inserted into the “record” to detail later generations’ Yehudian superiority over Edom and its people, and to account for ongoing enmity. See I Samuel 14:47, II Samuel 8:13-14, I Kings 1:15-17, and Obadiah.3 The phrase “a mess of pottage” cannot be found in the text of any English version of the Bible, but comes from the heading of chapter 25 of the Book of Genesis in the Geneva Bible published by English Protestants in Geneva in 1560.4 Jere Whiting Bartlett, Early American Proverbs and Phrases Cambridge, Harvard, 1977 p. 33

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like the seed planted in rocky soil. They prosper initially but soon wither under the heat of

ministry.5

A paradigm of ministerial formation based on information aims to form ministers

through transferring “information about” and “testimony to” the acts of God. This can be said

to have existed ever since any one believer of any religion or system of belief shared with any

other person or persons his or her basic understandings of things divine. If we call this

theological education, then we may speculate that when information about God passed from

mother to child, the first theological educators were women. A Latin American participant in a

workshop on theological education opined, “We should not use the word education, but

instead talk of formation.” In this man’s context, education was something to be resisted

because it was about control of people and their learning. In place of education, this man

offered formation, a process that opened people up to life and liberated them because its

objectives were developed by learners in their own contexts.6

The stories brought into the western Persian Empire by immigrant colonizers in the 5

centuries immediately prior to the time of Jesus included many of teachers with a student or

students. Samuel taught the prophets at Ramah7 and Elisha conducted theological education

by extension at Gilgal.8 Later teachings, gathered by the writer of the Gospel according to

Matthew into the Sermon on the Mount and attributed to Jesus,9 give witness to formal

5 H. Richard Niebuhr, The Purpose of the church and its Ministry: Reflections on the Aims of Theological Education. New York: Harper & brothers, 1956, pp. 4-5. 6 Simon Oxley, Creative Ecumenical Education: Learning from One Another. Geneva: WCC, 2002. pp. 9-10. 7 I Samuel 19:208 II Kings 4:38-42.9 Matthew 5, 6 & 7

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dominical utterance along the lines of what has come to be considered as theological

education. Certainly the time that Jesus spent with his disciples between his more public

preaching and performance of signs and wonders can be considered as theological

education.10 Even “the great commission” found in Matthew 28 mandates theological

education.11 In Acts 4 & 5 the Apostles’ utterances in the temple are variously characterized as

“speaking” and “teaching’. At the end of the chapter it is clearly stated that in the temple and

in homes they “did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.”12

Kwok Pui-lan offers a paradigm about people:

… “resources and energy of theological schools should be geared more towards the

whole people of God. Theological educators must be prepared to enter into dialogue

with people of different walks of life and teaching materials should be developed to

equip the whole people of God to carry out God’s; mission. God in solidarity with the

poor and the suffering challenges both our traditional style of theologizing and the way

theological education has been conducted.13

Dr. Kwok’s comments echo a vision for church ministries articulated by an Indian

Evangelical theologian in the 1970’s. “… in Asia it will not be those in air-conditioned offices

of church headquarters, nor those behind the pulpit who will determine the future course of

the Christian church, but those in the pews (or the straw mats of the church floor), namely the

ordinary laymen who live their faith in a hostile world.”14

Cheryl Bridges Jones’ paradigm of subversive theological education for Pentecostals,

cites Sallie McFague:

10 See, for example, Mark 9:30-50 for several examples.11 “teach them to obey all that I have commanded you.”12 Acts 4:18 and Acts 5: 21, 28, 40, 4213 Kwok Pui-lan, “The Mission of God in Asia and Theological Education” Ministerial Formation #48, January

1990, p.23.14 Saphir F. Athyal, “Toward An Asian Christian Theology” in Douglas J. Elwood, What Asian Christians are

Thinking (Quezon City: New Day, 1976). 83.

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… theological education is to be viewed as formation. In such an environment the

intellectual work of a theological community is seen as part of a larger vision of

mature Christian discipleship. Theological education from this perspective does not

mean that there is no “ordered learning” or critical inquiry utilizing the best scholarly

tools. Hence, theological education as formation is more than mere socialization, and

the community of faith is not just a c community that worships, but a learning

community which operates from the posture of worship.15

In the story of Esau and Jacob it is readily understood why the birthright was sold. There

was a hunger for what would satisfy immediately, the man claimed to be starving! The church

once was the pre-eminent agency in Western society. Popes, by use of the interdict, were able

to bring kings to their knees. Wealth, power and respect were held by the church. In some

European royal courts members of the clergy acted as secretaries to kings because the royalty,

having been trained in combat and statecraft, were not particularly literate. The church held

the power of the pen in the palace of the king.

But that changed. Education became less confined and confining. Law, science,

engineering, banking and things of that sort became prominent fields of endeavor. The church

became one agency among others. With the rise of universities in Europe after the

Renaissance, theology declined from “queen of sciences” to handmaiden of philosophy and

other fields of intellectual inquiry. At the parish level, though the priest (or pastor) might be

more educated than the typical member of the church, he was not necessarily the most clever

person in town.

Ecclesia became Esau, hungry for a meal (of respectability) that had been eroded away.

Academia, taking the Jacob role, offered a trade. “Put your resources into the academic

15 S. McFague Te Salle, “Between Athens and Jerusalem: The Seminary in Tension,” The Christian Century 93:4 (1976): 89-93 quoted in Cheryl Bridges Jones, “Pentecostals and the Praxis of Liberation: A Proposal for Subversive Theological Education” Transformation Vol. 11 No. 1 p 14.

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framework, have your leading lights write books and articles conforming to the academic

model of respectability, require your students to think according to compartmentalized

categories defined by academic consent, and withdraw those pursuing ministerial formation

from involvement with real people dealing with the vicissitudes of life for several years.” Put

this all together into a box labeled “theological education.” Latinate words sound respectable.

Academic respectability is another variety of pottage.

II: Asian Agencies of Theological Education

In the contemporary situation of Protestant Christians and churches in Asia, religious

faith and knowledge are still passed from mother to child, from pastors to members of the

church body, in the contexts of teaching and preaching. What has come to be known as formal

“Theological Education” pertains to the preparing of leaders of Christian communities who

will inspire new life, renew and transform society, peoples and congregations16 is held captive

in free-standing theological colleges, university linked divinity schools or departments of

religious studies. Theological education in Asia in the early 21st century is generally about

preparing professional ministers, though in some places it is slowly and painstakingly finding

a home among believers who plan no “professional” ministerial status at all.

Contemporary Protestant theological education in Asia is rooted in the modern

missionary movement that began in the late 18th century. Serampore College in India is a

living memorial to William Carey, Joshua Marshman and William Ward who founded it in

16 Wati Longchar, “The Ecumenical Theological Education in Asia and Pacific” Ministerial Formation 101,( July 2003).

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1818 to train Indian Christians and create a truly indigenous Church. This school is the

“grandfather” of Protestant theological schools in the region. Others, whether in operation for

over a hundred years or founded in recent decades, are rooted in the work of foreign

missionaries and mission societies with the aim of training local Christians and creating

churches. Zeal for the degree to which newly planted churches will be truly indigenous

varies.17

The Asia Theological Association accredits Evangelical theological and bible colleges

from Jordan to Japan. It requires that approved schools provide a high standard of training for

the basic ministerial degree (known variously as the B.Div or M.Div). These programmes are

designed primarily to qualify graduates to function as principal leaders or ministers of

churches. They also provide the basic training for graduates who will go on to become

theological scholars and become the “trainers” of future ministers. Because they are

considered “graduate level”, they require students develop and demonstrate critical thinking

and dialogic skills, including: the ability to identify and critique theological and moral

discourse; the ability to frame cogent arguments; the ability to test ideas for biblical fidelity

and contextual appropriateness and; the ability to communicate ideas effectively orally and in

writing. To graduate, a student must complete a required minimum of academic credit hours

in the areas of: Bible & Exegesis; Church History; Theology/Ethics; Practical Theology,

Culture and/or Biblical Language. Beyond that, he or she must undertake an assessed field

17 …in Korea, theological seminaries are established with a view to the outreach of the church. Pastors are trained to become missionaries and to found new congregations. Theological schools in Korea have been the source and centre of several separate Presbyterian churches. Korean missionaries often apply the same method abroad… Often, little attention is paid to the relationship with existing educational institutions. Lukas Visscher,. “Theological schools - a dividing force?” Reformed World, Vol.52, No.2, July 2002

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education assignment and pass an assessment of character, spiritual development and ministry

commitment.18 The ATA’s requirements are not significantly different from those of mainline

church accrediting agencies elsewhere in Asia, Europe or North America.

Reformed theological colleges in Australia stand for: 1) adherence to confessional

standards (Westminster Confession or the Three Forms of Unity); 2) maintenance of high

standards of ministerial training (Hebrew and Greek exegesis being compulsory subjects); and

3) their combination of sound academic learning along with vital spirituality. They train

candidates for Presbyterian and Reformed churches, prepare those serving in a wide range of

para-church ministries, and also assist overseas churches in providing additional training for

pastors.19

The scholastic focus has choked seminaries and seminarians. Leaders seem to be

enamored more with scholarship than with practical ministry training. In early 19th century

America, the design was to produce ministers who were not only theologians and preachers,

but “learned gentlemen.” Although seminary leaders issued frequent rhetorical appeals for

more ministers, they showed scant interest in the average minister or in pastoral practice. The

scholarly aspects of theology fascinated the founders of theological schools. The purpose of

the seminary’s residence requirement was to train students to be “gentlemen theologians.”20

Edward Farley noted that North American seminary alumni and their affiliated

18 Manual for Accreditation 2009, Asia Theological Association, accessed 10 December 200919 Alan Harman “Theological Education for a New Millennium” Theological Forum Vol. XXVII, No.

3, October 199920 Glenn T. Miller, Piety and Intellect: The Aims and Purposes of Ante-Bellum Theological Education (Atlanta,

GA: Scholars Press, 1990), p. 26-27.

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denominations tended to criticize the schools for being “too academic,” for straying too far

from the canons of denominational belief, or being insufficiently practical. Despite these

recurring complaints, theological schools continued to make academic quality the central

element in their reputations. Faculty members must have an earned Ph.D., be promising

scholars who contribute books, articles and seminar papers to their fields and who meet high

standards for tenure and promotion. This commitment to having a first-rate academic faculty

draws schools into the ethos of American higher education.21

Farley pointed out that the 19th century division of the theological curriculum into:

Theology, Biblical Studies, History and Practical Studies, robbed the seminary of integrated

quality.22 A view of theological schooling as movement from generating abstract theory to

applying theory in concrete practice is based on models taken from engineering. The abstract

theories in question are sourced in psychology, other human sciences, historical studies and

theological reflection on doctrine and ethics. Application is in the field of “ministry.” But if

this view were correct, a study program of 3 or 4 years is not sufficient, because there are too

many bodies of relevant theory to learn. The view of theological education as a movement

from understanding of theory to the application of theory in practice focuses on the bodies of

theory as the ultimate subject matter to be studied. It results in study of theory for its own

sake, and the curriculum becomes a clutch of unrelated courses. Theological education seen

21 Edward Farley, “Why Seminaries Don’t Change: A Reflection on Faculty Specialization,” The Christian Century, Feb. 5-12, 1997, p. 133-143.22 Ibid.

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from this angle is impossible to integrate. The faculty can’t do it; the students can’t do it, and

the graduates and churches are ill served by it.23

Third world theological education is often demonstrably dependent on patterns of

western theological education. It shows uncritical acceptance of western theological

disciplines and alienation of theological training from the surrounding realities of the

context.24 Students are isolated from involvement in grassroots communities and shaped into

the form of the Western-style academies where they are trained. Before 1980, theological

education was virtually denied to Asian women because theology in Asia had always been

created by elite, Western-educated males who claimed to desire women’s participation in their

projects if only someone properly “equipped” could be found.25

In his 1999 Judo Poerwowidagdo, president of Krida Wicana Christian University in

Indonesia, set forth two paradigms of theological education.26

23 David Kelsey What's Theological About a Theological School?The Christian Century, February 5-12, 1997, p. 132

24 Samuel Ngun Ling, “Contextual Teaching Methodologies: Evaluation and Proposal for the Myanmar Context” Engagement op. cit. p. 29.

25 Chung Hyun Kyung. Struggle to Be The Sun Again: Introducing Asian Women’s Theology (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1990) p. 20.

26 Judo Poerwowidagdo, Towards the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities for Theological Education (Geneva: WCC, 1999) quoted in Khin Swe Oo, “Contextual Teaching Methodologies: From a Burmese Feminist Perspective” Engagement op. cit. p. 25.

The Old Paradigm The New ParadigmTraining for Ordained Ministry Training for leadership enablers, both ordained and layMale domination Male-female balanceStandardized curriculum Flexible curriculumIntellectual orientation Dynamic praxisContent & knowledge approach Methodological approachesRequired Courses Most courses as electiveBiblical-historical orientation Orientation to biblical contextBiblical-textual critical analysis Analysis based on socio-anthropological criteria

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Simon Pau Khan En from the Myanmar Institute of Theology has called for

restructuring theological education curriculum “so that all subjects will be taught in the

pattern of contextualization.”27 He calls for the use of cultural resources, through which

students will practice how to express the gospel truth in their own culture. To culture he adds

use of other religions, because God’s revelation is not confined to any particular religion. “All

religions,” he says, “are grounded on some truths and thus those truths can be related to the

Truth – Jesus Christ.”28 His list of resources for contextualization includes socio-economic

and political realities in which people live and struggle for life as they witness. Theological

students need to be informed and involved in socio-economic and political realities in order to

be able to “contextualize theology for the people”.29

Esau’s hunger was legitimate. He was a man of action who burned a lot of calories. He

needed nourishment to be able to continue. Jacob’s pottage was real food providing part of

what Esau needed. Feeding the hungry is an act of compassion, but turning a profit on the

transaction is quite a separate thing.

III: Criteria for Agencies of Minsiterial Formation Programmes

A: Intellectual and Practical

In 1989 the Pentecostal educator James E. Plueddmann proposed a “dual rail fence”

model.30 Two rails enable theological education to function. Lee Wanak applied this tool to

27 Simon Pau Khan En, Engagement Judson Research Centre, Myanmar Institute of Theology, Vol. 1 (December 2003). p 17.

28 Ibid. p. 15. 29 Ibid. p. 16.30 Plueddemann, James E. 1989. “The Challenge of Excellence in Theological Education.” In (Ed.) Excellence and Renewal:

Goals for the Accreditation of Theological Education. Ed. Robert L. Youngblood. Flemington Markets, NSW, Australia: Paternoster: 1-14.

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theological education programmes in the Philippines, looking at Pentecostal, mainline

Protestant and Roman Catholic settings. In that context, the upper rail typifies many historic

Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, and the lower rail the Pentecostal and evangelical

churches. It is not an exact fit. He found many evangelical and Pentecostal schools and

churches to be more traditional than the Roman Catholics, and many mainline schools laying

a greater emphasis on contextuality than the ecstatic Pentecostals.

Upper Rail System Lower Rail System

Philosophy

Idealism-Ideas Realism-Practice

Theology

Begins with attributes of God Begins with needs of man

Transcendence of God Immanence of God

Absolute truth Contextual truth

Special revelation, Original Scripture General revelation, Holy Spirit

Orthodox but can neglect needs Relevant but can be heretical

Historical faith Doing theology in the present

Religious Style

Logical, organized, expository sermons Testimonies, topical sermons

Emphasis on Bible Emphasis on Holy Spirit

Great hymns Gospel songs, choruses

Order and reason in worship Mystical, relational, emotional worship

Preaching and teaching Fellowship and worship

Authors write commentaries Authors write devotional books

Evangelists emphasize logical steps Evangelists emphasize testimonies

Educational Theory

Liberal education, develop intellect Professional education, relevance

Subject centered Student, society centered

Academic curricula Behaviorist, social reconstructionist

Unchanging ideas of humanities Social science to solve problems

Logic, develop mind Experimentation, study of the world

Rational thinking Enhance individual, society

Methods-wrestle with ideas Learn skills, train for profession

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Standards of Accreditation

Schools to fit world-class expectations Schools to fit contextual needs

Universal standards of excellence Culturally relevant standards of excellence

High faculty academic qualifications Faculty with practical experience

High entrance exam scores Students with proven leadership ability

External written examinations Quality internships

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Wanak found that Asian theological education has tended towards one OR the other of

the two rails. It rarely achieves a “two rail” manifestation. Many institutions began “lower

rail” but grew and matured to “upper rail” status. In doing so they lost some of their

connection to context, flexibility and practicality. Those which remain decisively “lower rail”,

though perhaps producing more grassroots ministers to meet the needs of the churches, make

little impact on the wider ecumenical community as it is constituted both in Asia and around

the world.

B: Spiritual

The task of theological education is more than an academic exercise. It is an empowering

process of Spirit-filled identification with God and God’s people through which the love of

God and neighbor are taught. In the 21st century, theological educators need to guide students

in shaping their affections, discerning their values and acting out their commitments in the

power of the Holy Spirit.32 Christian spiritual formation within the context of theological

education must build on a foundation of spirituality already present in the society and culture

where the theological education process is conducted. Local cultural resources in the arts,

humanities and folklores comprise some of the material and tools for spiritual formation. But

31 Lee C. Wanak Theological Education and the Role of Teaching in the 21st Century: a look at the Asia Pacific Region” Journal of Asian Mission, Vol. 2, No. 1 (March 2000) p . 7

32 Ibid. pp. 8-9.

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these must be sorted and used judiciously, for some aspects of some cultures are in and of

themselves oppressive.33 That having been said, it remains important to identify oppressive

aspects of cultures in order to make for liberative spirituality.34 The unchecked individualism

of some Western capitalist societies and the fatalism characteristic of several African and

Asian societies cut against the essential gospel message.35 The authoritarian cultural mores of

many Pacific Island societies may also be inhibitive of a free and liberating spiritual life.

Theological education itself has its own culture and takes place in its own walled-off

societies. Some oppressive aspects of this culture and society are a) an authoritarian style of

teaching; b) the image of the teacher as the omnipotent and omniscient person who imposes

his/her views on students; and c) the banking system of learning (more on the banking system

below).36 The flurry of activity going on these days about ‘formation’ and ‘spirituality’ is no

doubt some sort of attempt at the restoration of piety, but the aim has been to spiritualize the

theological school’s life and ethos but not its course of studies. The inherited separation of

piety from intellect goes on much as before.37 This is, in part, because institutions are difficult

to reform. The first task of an institution is to perpetuate itself. Theological schools are

devoted to maintaining a degree programs. They are focused on teaching expertise, recurring

courses of study, standards of student admission and symbols of adequate student

performance.38

33 Samuel Amirtham and Robin Pryor, eds. Resources for Spiritual Formation in Theological EducationGeneva: WCC, 1990. p. 8234 Ibid. p. 80.35 Ibid. p. 8236 Ibid. p. 78.37 Edward Farley: Theologia :The Fragmentation and Unity of Theological Education. Wipf & Stock 2001 pp. 160-16138 Farley. 1997. pp. 133-143.

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One attempt to re-orient an entire school towards spirituality in the course of theological

education was found at the divinity school of Duke University, in North America, where, on

the cusp of the 21st Century, a program of spiritual formation was developed to addresses the

needs of: a)intentional reflection on the practices of the Christian faith; b) nurture the

interrelation of prayer, study and service; and c) "life together". Under “practices of the

Christian faith,”participants learn to nurture themselves and others by a life of prayer that

joins together the knowledge and love of God. As they “nurture the interrelation of prayer,

study and service, students and faculty together come to see their study prayer and service as a

complex, integrated whole and become intentional about living out the deep connections

between Christian beliefs and practices. The significance of “life together” aims to help

participants discover that, while prayer and the spiritual life are profoundly personal,

involving a person’s relationship with God, any personal relationship is also determinatively

communal. Through this spiritual formation program, the leadership at Duke Divinity School

presents a seminary experience of confrontation and embrace, challenge and growth, in the

context of Christian community.39

C: Contextual

“Contextualization is ‘the capacity to respond meaningfully to the gospel within the

framework of one’s own situation.’40 “Contextualizing theology takes the concrete local

39 L. Gregory Jones and Willie J. Jennings “Formed for Ministry: A Program in Spiritual Formation” The Christian Century, February 2-9, 2000, pp. 124-128.40 Douglas J. Elwood, What Asian Christians are Thinking (Quezon City: New Day, 1976) xxvi

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context seriously. It is rooted in a concrete, particular situation.”41 “To take context seriously

does not necessarily mean… taking all contexts equally seriously, because all are not equally

strategic for the Missio Dei in the working out of his purpose through history.”42

Contextualization reflects what God does in the Incarnation. Contextualization is an

appropriate means to communicate God’s offer of salvation to man. It is driven by love.43

The more theological reflection on the meaning of contextualization matures, the clearer

it becomes that the very nature of the theological enterprise demands immersion in context

which yields the appropriate problematic for the community in which the theologian plays a

particular role. Theology is meant to serve the faithful who, in keeping with the human

condition, must live in particular cultural contexts. Uncontextualized theology is of little use

to the local church.”44 The theologies that many Asian churches inherited from the West were

all worked out in contexts different from that of Asia. Those who brought the message came

from social structures that were hierarchical and patriarchal. Because of their captivity in

those structures, the gospel message they carried became something not liberative, but captive

and insular. To this day, Asian churches and Christians remain captive to the domesticated

theologies brought from the West in earlier times. The gospel itself is not at fault. “It is the

adherents of the gospel who have made themselves captive and in the process made their

converts the same.”45

41 Shoki Coe, “Contextualization as the Way Toward Reform”, Recollections and Reflections, Boris Anderson, ed. (New York: Formosan Christians for Self-Determination, 1993)p 273. 42 Ibid. 272. 43 Rudy Budiman, “Contextual Witness and Exegesis”, South East Asia Journal of Theology #20, December

1980 p. 38. 44 Antonio B. Lambino, S. J. “A Critique of Some Asian Efforts at Contextualization With Reference To Theological Method” South East Asia Journal of Theology #20, 1980. 9045 Rienzie Perera “Ministerial Formation in a Multifaith Parish” in S. Amirtham and S. Wesley Ariaraja, eds.

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In the context of the Philippines, “Christianity should become truly Filipino. The hopes

and dreams, aspirations and struggles of the Filipino should be reflected in the theology as

well as in the church’s life and witness. As some missiologists keep on saying, Christianity in

our country is like a “potted plant”, transported by missionaries from foreign lands. Hence, in

order for Christianity to become truly Filipino, it should be taken out of the pot, and should be

planted in Philippine soil, so to speak, so that it would touch the ground, take root and find

nourishment in Filipino culture. Otherwise, the church as well as theology would alienate

Filipinos from their own native culture.”46

D: Carefully Ecumenical

Historically, the center of Christianity moved from Asia to Europe, to the Americas and

now is moving to Latin America and Africa, as well as returning to Asia. Theology and the

Christian life viewed through Asian eyes will increasingly shape the nature of the church.47

Ecumenical Theological Education (ETE) is about more than inter-denominational

programmes or institutions of theological education. It is not limited to the attempt to reunite

churches or to grow ecumenical organizations. But attempts to create and conduct ETE face

certain hazards.

1) English has become a global language, and a medium of literature as diverse cultures

mix with the West. The dominance of English allows Asians to understand each other but in

theological education it has resulted in perpetuating the categories of the West. Asian

Mininsterial Fromation in a Multifaith Milieu: Implications of Interfaith Dialogue for Theological Education. Geneva: WCC. Undated. P92. 46 Luna L. Dingayan “The ETS Experience: An Alternative Way of Doing Theological Education” Ministerial Formation #96 October 2110, p.13.47 Wanak ,2000 p . 7

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theological educators will need to increasingly develop their own literature base addressing

contextual issues.48

2) Because many churches in Asia and the Pacific do not have resources to support

theological education, and some do not want to invest such resources as they have in

theological education, the role of principals/presidents at many theological schools in Asia

and Pacific has been reduced to fund raising.49

3) Asian traditions of patriarchal social organization, perpetuated in ecclesia and

academie, have insured that, to date, the structure of theological education remains mainly

male dominated.50 Whether making theological training open to women will result in the

redressing of this imbalance in faculty numbers, school officers (deans and presidents) and

membership of governing boards remains to be seen.

4) In increasing measure, diverse peoples are living in close vicinity of each other. As

Christians become more cosmopolitan we need to learn to mix evangelization with a ministry

of reconciliation and an appreciation for tolerance. Global communications, environmental

and biomedical concerns, and market trends will raise a host of ethical and cultural issues. A

global economy will stimulate “globalism” in every area of life. In the global environment the

elusive value of ecumenical and contextualized theological education can easily be

overshadowed.51

48 Wanak, 2000 p. 4. 49 Longchar, op. cit50 Ibid.51 Wanak , 2000 p.4

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E: Liberative

Pedagogy in Asian theological institutions remains “traditional”. Paulo Freire referred to

this with as the “banking system” of learning in which students collect mterials to be re-

gurgitted at examinations, rather than a thinking through together of issues by the community

of teachers and students.”52 Writing notes on a blackboard for students to copy into notebooks

for memorization in preparation for examination time has little to do with actual learning. The

traditional lecture method of teaching is inadequate for ministerial training and must be

supplemented by internships, simulations, case studies, small group discussions and project

development. 21st century students must not simply learn doctrine, but develop basic

competencies in doing theology to confront the issues of the day. The 21st century theological

educator will need to know how to nurture skills of application, analysis, synthesis and

evaluation in developing critical thinking in students. Theological Education must go beyond

filling the head with knowledge or the heart with devotion—it must prepare the whole

person.53

An emancipatory approach develops in students such traits as efficacy (perceived ability

to control and regulate one’s world), creativity, and conscientization (critical reflection and

action), and the skills of problem solving, decision making, human relations, and leadership.

Schools that are strong in these qualities tend to emphasize their progressive function in

bringing change. Those weak in these qualities tend to maintain a subservient traditionalistic

52 Samuel Amirtham and Robin Pryor, eds. Op.cit. p. 78.53 Lee C. Wanak “Emancipatory Theological Education; Preparing Leaders for the 21st Century” in Theological Education in the Philippine Context, Lee C. Wanak, ed. (Manila, PABATS and OMF Literature, 1993) p. 21.

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role.54

F: Service Oriented

Christian commitment is lived out in community. Spiritual life out of the context of the

church is an illusion. The “feeling of Christ” is a feeling of service, according to which the

interests of others should be put before one’s own. Paul in Philippians 2:5 and Jesus in

Matthew 20:23 both advocate this orientation. All theological training should aim towards

service of people seeking liberation and redemption.55

Insofar as theological education is a process of training ordained ministers (which may

not be its chief end), it must aim to produce workmates of the people, who can share their

specialized knowledge of the rich and varied Christian tradition and, in community with those

who have not received formal theological education, help each other to draw on it and use

each other’s specialized understandings it in their own work. Such learning cannot be

achieved at a distance, but only in company with the people whom ministers are meant to

serve.56

Conclusion: Breaking Jacob ’ s Hold

Shoki Coe suggested that theological education, if it is to take context seriously, “may

have to seek the help of other disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, etc. But that is not

all of the task. Behind it all is the missiological discernment of the signs of the times, required

of the people of God.”57 Wati Longchar similarly calls for an inter-disciplinary approach,

54 Ibid.55Jorge C. Bravo, “Perspectives from Latin America” in Samuel Amirtham and John Pobee, eds. Theology By the People: Reflections on Doing Theology in Community. Geneva, WCC. 1986.p. 112. 56 Michael H. Taylor, “People at Work” in Samuel Amirtham and John Pobee, eds. Op. cit. p. 12657 Coe, op. cit. 272.

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because current models are insufficient in the third world context. “The reality of our

experience is complex and we need a confluence of tools to unravel its significance.58

Academia purchased the birthright of ecclesia, to do ministerial formation, for a mess of

pottage. Academic respectability is commendable. No doubt, there was nourishment in the pot,

but there was poison as well.59 The task of ministerial formation has become so firmly set in

the formal structures of Theological Education that it will not easily be shaken loose. One

experiment comes from the Philippines, where The Ecumenical Theological Seminary (ETS)

broken down the walls of the seminary entirely. “Traditionally, seminaries have the tendency

to separate themselves from the outside world, thinking perhaps that the world out there is

incurably evil.”60 Involvement in the community and its context means that at ETS teaching is

done on an action-reflection model whereby students are assigned to local churches or church-

related projects, and come to the Seminary only once a month (each time for a week) during

which lectures, discussions, reflections and examinations are conducted. Students do their

readings and write their papers not in the seminary library, but in their local church

assignments.61 Like the students, seminary faculty members are also assigned to work in local

churches or are connected with church-related ministries.

Theological education as a phenomenon, and theological educators as professionals, must

learn to focus upon and understand the contexts in which people live and the original contexts

of the biblical and theological resources as are chosen to address the situations of churches

58 Wati Longchar. “Globalization: A Challenge for Theological Education- A Third World Perspective” Ministerial Formation #94, July 2001, p. 859 II Kings 4:4060 Dingayan, op. cit. 1261 Ibid. 14.

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and people in response to real problems. “…we should leave behind us the ‘Bible school

mentality’ of theologizing and probe deep into the problems of humanity and existence and

respond in the light of the eternal truth of God.”62 In terms of the context of women, for

example, offering courses on the sociology of gender, the theory and practice of women’s

ministry, and pastoral care of women within the curriculum is an approach of limited value.

“An addition of one subject like feminist theology or indigenous people’s theology in the

existing courses is not sufficient.”63 Direct engagement and contact with women struggling

with lives as single parents, caregivers to the elderly, and targets of fundamentalist restriction

in the context of field work would be more appropriate. Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

conducted through family counseling centers, women’s shelters and rape crisis facilities

would also be helpful.

Reading the scriptures and historical confessions of the church from their underside,

discerning the anti-woman and patriarchal contents originally woven into them, as well as the

ways that such resources have been misconstrued, misapplied and abused, might provide

those undertaking theological education to be better prepared for ministry within the

62 P.D. Latuihamallo, “Methodological Significance of Contest”, South East Asia Journal of Theology, Vol. 20, No. 2 (1980) p. 18. See also Samuel Nung Ling, “Concluding Remarks” Engagement, Judson Research Centre, Myanmar Institute of Theology, Vol. 1 (December 2003) p. 38, in which the author says that the Bible school type of education can no longer provide adequate intellectual resources to the churches of the 21st century, and Wati Longchar, “The Ecumenical Theological Education in Asia and Pacific”, Ministerial Formation #101, July 2003, who states that there is no sufficient interaction between the church leadership and theological institutions.63 Wati A. Longchar, “Globalization: A Challenge for Theological Education. A Third World Perspective”, Ministerial Formation # 94 (July 2001) p. 10. See also Kwok Pui-lan, “The Mission of God in Asia and Theological Education” Ministerial Formation #48 (January 1990) p. 22. She encourages theological schools to work for fuller partnership between women and men in the churches. And Dyanchand Carr “Innovative Methods in Theological Education” Rays, Vol. 5, (January 2004). p. 38, calls for all men to undergo a thorough conversion from the ways in which they have been brought up to believe that God endorses male superiority. At Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, where Carr served, Feminist and Dalit theology are compulsory along with courses in social analysis.

22

communities and churches of contemporary Asia.64

When those who lead or teach in the process of ministerial formation and/or theological

education are mainly occupied with the transfer of knowledge gained in “out of context”

institutions, this kind of living re-reading from the underside (not taught in those institutions)

is difficult. When those who lead or teach in the process of ministerial formation and/or

theological education are economically dependent on their teaching/leading jobs for their

daily bread, they uphold the status quo of the institution. Immersion in the living context of

people like Esau, who have sold their birthright (or had it stolen from them), gives a better

foundation in real life situations of ministry, for which ministers are being formed.

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