New voices in the grassroots ecumenism: an outline of the postcocolonial theological thought

Piotr Szymon Kopiec

Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawł II, Wydział Teologii
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0581-0737

Abstract

Postcolonial theology is, beside liberation theology, contextual theology and intercultural theology another theological approach which emerges on the theological margins and inspires many grassroots ecumenical organizations, when adopting the postcolonial theory to theology. Like postcolonialism, it is not an orderly and integrated system of beliefs, rather it is a broad stream of thoughts, postulates and interpretations that often has a little in common. Nevertheless there are elements which set a common denominator. They might be classified in two groups of theological claims, firstly, deconstruction of the theological tradition, secondly, liberation from the bonds of Christian imperialism. The latter is regarded by the postcolonial theology also in two perspectives: socio-political and epistemological ones. According to the postcolonial thinkers, the Church cooperated, assented and legitimised political power which down the centuries maintained the structures of oppression, exclusion and subjugation. This conviction leads the postcolonial approach to the positions close to these of liberation theology, in particular, to the principle of the „option of the poor”. Secondly, postcolonialism claims Christianity must knock down the epistemological wall of its imperialist theologies, built only and exclusively on the European philosophy and European civilization. The article presents the crucial points of postcolonialism and its theological application. It shows that on the one hand its claims are often too revolutionary and too one-sided, on the other the postulate of the epistemological change might be regarded as a proposal answering the crisis in the Western Christianity.      

Keywords:

postcolonialism, deconstruction, liberation theology, epistemological change, grassroots ecumenism