Teaching Christian ethics beyond Europe and North America: from a postgraduate research seminar to a theology of listening

Heimburger, Robert W., Murillo Torres, Samuel Efraín and Sam, James Wesly 2024. Teaching Christian ethics beyond Europe and North America: from a postgraduate research seminar to a theology of listening. Studies in Christian Ethics 37 (1) , pp. 93-110. 10.1177/09539468231215305

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Abstract

This article explores the process of teaching Christian theological ethics beyond the common focus on European and North American sources. In conversation with moves to decolonise university curricula, the article proposes a theology of listening, an example of a research seminar for master’s and doctoral students at the University of Aberdeen on Christian ethics beyond Europe and North America, and an exploration of broader challenges for the formation of the theologian. The article asks, what can we learn when we give up power and control when teaching and learning theology? How can we shift our methods of knowing and practising theology? We write as theologians from India, Mexico, and the United States living in the United Kingdom. We reflect on forms of exclusion in theological method and formation that arise from colonising, systemic violence, and inequalities. The article considers intercultural challenges when encountering different methods of reflection on the Christian experience. In a search for a more profoundly theological approach, we propose listening to the other as integral to doing theology. In an intercultural move, we draw on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology of listening, proposing that theology must be an advent of voices from beyond our usual places and methods.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BT Doctrinal Theology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BV Practical Theology > BV1460 Religious Education
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0953-9468
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	27 October 2023
Date of Acceptance:	16 October 2023
Last Modified:	10 Apr 2024 09:06
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163431

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