The idea of having an international network of theological enquiry arose out of a debate that the Council for World Mission (CWM) had with the Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies (CARTS) of the University of Cambridge. CARTS and CWM agreed to carry out a joint project on Christianity in Asia for a three-year period, in partnership with Asian scholars and institutions. This could later be expanded to include others in what would be an international network of theological enquiry. The Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS) with its support base in the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) also agreed to participate.
The first meeting between theologians from Britain and Asia to explore the possibility of setting up such a network took place at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, 20-22 March 1997. This meeting was followed exactly a year later by a theological round-table in Hong Kong, 20-22 March, 1998.
The network is made up of institutions and their scholars who are committed to a common agenda of theological enquiry, with each institution taking responsiblity for a particular aspect/aspects of that agenda. At present the following institutions are involved: the Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies of the University of Cambridge, the religion department of the Chinese University in Hong Kong, the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Hanil University and Theological Seminary in Korea, and the South Asia Theological Research Institute at Bangalore, together with the United Theological College of Bangalore. It is expected that the United Theological College of the University of the West Indies will join later, and perhaps also the Pacific Theological College and a university in South Africa. The Council for World Mission and the Christian Conference of Asia will support the enquiry done by the network and make their own contributions as well.
This site contains the papers that were presented at the theological round-table in Hong Kong in March 1998. These have been revised taking into account the discussions that took place. It also contains the report of the meeting in Hong-Kong which gives the main areas for theological enquiry. Then there are the reseach responsibilities and the programme of enquiry in Asia.
The first paper, Towards a Network of Theological Enquiry, reassesses the task for world mission today, before looking at the biblical grounding of mission, ways of bridging the gap between Christian theology and religious studies, and calling for a new ecumenical vision.
The next paper 'Theological and ethical issues in the age of globalisation', by Dr Julio de Santa Ana is an overview of the global economic system and its effects from a theological and ethical perspective. 'Towards an Asian theological agenda for the 21st century', by Dr Wong Wai Ching, looks at Asian theology in terms of post-colonial theory and raises the issue of hybridity in theological discourse.
We then move on to Michael Miller's 'Impulses in Caribbean theology'. This paper analyses the development of Caribbean theology and looks at how it might evolve. Finally, Alan J Torrance in 'Beyond partnership: towards a global theological agenda' discusses the issues involved in creating a new global theological "koinonia".
D. Preman Niles
General Secretary, Council for World Mission, London, UK
October 1998