Excellence in and Relevance of Theological Formation

The Impact of Contextual Theological Formation on the Academic World and Other Religions

Abstract

A theologian, especially in India, is blessed with the experience of two worldviews, Indian and Western. If the Indian worldview is largely influenced by the Hindu religious tradition the Western worldview is predominantly Christian. But in order to evolve a relevant contextual catholic theology, it is imperative that theologizing takes into account both these world-views which are complementary in understanding and experiencing the entire reality of God, human, and the world. Without the Indian insight into the radical relationship of everything expressed through the advaitic intuition and through the emphasis on the epistemological principle of identity, theology can become exclusive, triumphalistic, and sectarian. Without the Western emphasis on the principle of contradiction theologizing in the Indian context can get mired in confusion without proper and clear distinctions in understanding reality. Contextual theological studies can promote an inclusive pluralism that recognizes the plurality of approaches to Truth and their essential inter-relationships. So what is needed is not a mere tolerance and coexistence among various religions, cultures, and academic disciplines but a co-insistence and concord. When all academic disciplines can discover in their own way this truth and if the contextual theological studies with a commitment to academic excellence and with
its specific genius can show and promote their inter-relatedness through serious dialogue they all can contribute positively to the integral transformation of humans and their world.