Flemming, Contextualization in the New Testament

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Dean E. Flemming, Contextualization in the New Testament: Patterns for Theology and Mission. InterVarsity Press, 2005.

Referenced in: Theology of Mission, Localized Theologies/Contextualization

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

There is a strong emphasis on contextualization in missional church practice. Others call this “constructing local theologies.” Contextualization means two things. First, doing a substantive (research-based), personal (experience-based), and contemplative (pastoral prayer-based) assessment of the unique cultural features of one’s ministry context (i.e. where you are doing ministry). Second, translating the message of scripture in “local tongue, in language that can directly engage the hearts of minds of its hearers.” (Sedmak, Doing Local Theology, viii).

This is recognized among many as a practice rooted in scripture. They can more readily appreciate the book quoted above by Clemens Sedmak, as well as the more scholarly, theoretical volume by Robert Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies. These are two of the most referenced guides to contextualization within the missional movement. Both volumes, however, assume the readers accept the value of contextualization and simply need help accomplishing it. More conservative types are not so preconditioned, and may struggle with whether contextualization is a biblical phenomenon. This is the value of Dean Flemming’s Contextualization in the New Testament.

In the introduction, Flemming talks about his experience fresh out of seminary teaching ministry students in the Philippines. He went in armed with all of equipment of one who was theologically trained in the West, defending the authority of Scripture, the historicity of the resurrection, etc. He quickly discovered this did not connect with his Asian students, who approached the theological task with completely different questions. They needed to know how scripture addressed issues such as dealing with suffering and oppression, encountering spiritual powers, distinguishing the Bible from the writings of Asian religions, etc. This was their location, and it shaped how they did theology. This was his first realization of the need for contextualization.

Contexualization, he says, “has to do with how the Gospel revealed in Scripture authentically comes to life in each new cultural, social, religious, and historical setting.” (14) This used to be confined to missiology and intercultural studies. Now it is more within the theological mainstream as those in the West, especially those within the missional movement, realize the message of Scripture must be embodyied differently in the emerging postmodern culture.

Flemming’s unique contribution is is to “look at the issue of authentic contextualization through the lens of the New Testament.” (14) This differs from approaches that draw primarily from “the fields of linguistics, anthropology, cross-cultural communication studies, or contextual theology.” (14) Flemming believes the New Testament has much to offer this field, in that “although the term contextualization was quite recently minted, the activity of expressing and embodying the gospel in context-sensitive ways has characterized the Christian mission from the very beginning.” (15) He contends that the New Testament bears witness to this by giving us stories of contextualization from the Gospels and Acts, and giving us examples of contextualization in the New Testament letters. His book aims to show how the New Testament demonstrates contextualization and then reflect on “what these patterns and precedents teach us about how the gospel might become embodied within our diverse cultures and life settings today.” (15-16)

The book begins with a look at Acts, showing how contextualization was intrinsic to the church’s mission, with primary examples from Paul as he communicated the gospel to a variety of cultural groups. From there, Flemming offers five chapters looking at Paul as a contextual theologian. This explores how Paul flexibly expressed his core, nonnegotiable message in diverse situations, how he understood and interacted with culture, and how he interpreted the Old Testament and the gospel as it applied to each setting. This is followed by a more complete development of two examples of Paul’s contextualization in Corinthians and Colossians. This is followed by a closer look at the Gospels, considering how each author retold the same story to different audiences. A chapter on the book of Revelation as a contextualized treatise to churches under oppression. The final chapter in the book seeks to draw out from these New Testament examples implications for how to do contextualization today “in light of complex realities like globalization, pluralism, and postmodernism.” (17)

This is a very responsibly written text that gives strong biblical bearings to the tasks of contextualization. I strongly recommend it as a great place to start on this subject. It will help anyone who contextualizes see themselves as carriers of a missionary tradition that is as old as Scripture itself, and engage the work more faithfully.

From the Publisher

Winner of a 2006 Christianity Today Book Award!

Honored as one of the “Fifteen Outstanding Books of 2005 for Mission Studies” by International Bulletin of Missionary Research

From Cairo to Calcutta, from Cochabamba to Columbus, Christians are engaged in a conversation about how to speak and live the gospel in today’s traditional, modern and emergent cultures. The technical term for their efforts is contextualization. Missionary theorists have pondered and written on it at length. More and more, those who do theology in the West are also trying to discover new ways of communicating and embodying the gospel for an emerging postmodern culture. But few have considered in depth how the early church contextualized the gospel. And yet the New Testament provides numerous examples.

As both a crosscultural missionary and a New Testament scholar, Dean Flemming is well equipped to examine how the early church contextualized the gospel and to draw out lessons for today. By carefully sifting the New Testament evidence, Flemming uncovers the patterns and parameters of a Paul or Mark or John as they spoke the Word on target, and he brings these to bear on our contemporary missiological task.

Rich in insights and conversant with frontline thinking, this is a book that will revitalize the conversation and refresh our speaking and living the gospel in today’s cultures, whether in traditional, modern or emergent contexts.

Features & Benefits:

Helps us speak and live the gospel in today’s varied cultural settings
Examines how the early church contextualized the gospel
In-depth study
First book of its kind
Applies contemporary New Testament scholarship to a contemporary missiological task

About the Author

Dean Flemming (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) teaches New Testament at European Nazarene College in Büsingen, Germany. An experienced missionary educator, he formerly taught at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary in the Republic of Philippines.

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