Vocation in Christ

Naga Christian Theology in Conversation with Karl Barth

Jamir

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781498201261
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Karl Barth (1886-1968), as a young Swiss pastor in Safenwil, struggled to make an organic connection between "the newspaper [contemporary sociopolitical events] and the New Testament." When he discovered "a strange new world of God within the Bible," God became the subject matter for renewing and transforming the world. This discovery helped Barth to integrate the world into his interpretation of the Bible and also impacted his theology of Christian vocation as divine summons to God's special freedom and obedience.Vocation in Christ examines the theology of vocation and reading Scripture among the Naga Christians in northeastern India, in conversation with Barth's theology of vocation. Social-scientific research is employed on congregations and Bible study groups to explore how the Naga Christians understand vocation and Scripture in light of their sociopolitical and religious context. This book serves as an introduction for Western readers of how vocation is understood from an Asian perspective and emphasizes the theme of vocation as Christian witness without accommodating to worldly values. It readdresses Barth's theology of vocation, which calls for a revitalization of Christian vocation in our contemporary situation. The primary claim of this book is that vocation is God's calling to obedience, and devotion to the love of God is reciprocal to the love of neighbor.

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Introduction

In this book, I make an argument for revitalizing the significance of a Christian vocation and recognizing its impact in today’s world. To substantiate this argument, I examine the case of the Naga Christian understanding of vocation in conversation with Barth’s theology of vocation. The reason for choosing Barth is because I find his theology of vocation to be radical, contextual, and challenging to the status quo of the Christians during his time, which is equally relevant for Christians today, Naga Christians in particular. In fact, vocation for him is not synonymous with one’s office or one’s station in life, but it is primarily a person’s response in obedience to the divine summons. Borrowing from Bonhoeffer’s understanding of vocation as responsibility, Barth stressed that vocation involves personal responsibility and accountability and not merely conforming to the status quo of the state or institution. In this book, the Naga Christian understanding of vocation is actively in conversation with Barth because Naga Christians face a similar situation to that which Barth faced during his time. Barth’s theology of vocation is immensely helpful for Naga Christians because his theology compels them to take a stance rather than maintaining the status quo towards the functioning of the state.

Chapter 1 describes the subject matter of the book, introducing its problem and setting, and the methodological considerations involved in its research and writing. Chapter 2 briefly discusses the historical background of the Nagas—their traditional culture, present socio-political scenario, and the arrival and impact of Christianity. Chapter 3 analyzes the hermeneutic of the scripture and civic vocation of the Nagas. Biblical analysis is applied to two focus groups by employing an approach of dwelling in the Word based on 1 Cor 7:24–27 to determine the Naga Baptist reading of the scripture, whereas qualitative research is employed to five Naga Baptist churches to investigate the understanding of their civic vocation. Chapter 4 examines Barth’s civic vocation, focusing on his exegesis of 1 Cor 7:20, his distinction and interrelatedness between Christian and civil community, vocation in the light of his socio-political context (Safenwil), and his notion of civil vocation as a social analogy to God’s kingdom. Chapter 5 explores Barth’s hermeneutic of the scripture, dealing with his earlier approach, the Romerbrief period, and his later approach, Church Dogmatics I/1.

Chapter 6 critically investigates how to bring about a critical conversation between the Naga Christian theology of vocation and interpretation of scripture in light of Barth’s theology of vocation and interpreting scripture. It brings about the significance of the Naga Christian theology of vocation and scripture being evaluated in light of Barth’s theology. Finally, chapter 7 concludes this book with a brief summary of each chapter and brings out the implications for the Naga Baptist churches’ understanding of civic vocation and scripture in light of Barth.

This introductory chapter includes the research problem and its setting, and a statement of methodological considerations involved in the research and writing of this book.

The Research Problem and Its Setting

This book seeks to explore the following problem: What is an actual working theology of civic vocation and hermeneutic of scripture that can be established among the Naga Christians? In order to ascertain the answer to this question, this book has employed both social scientific research and a phenomenological approach in interpreting the scripture to bring about a mutually critical conversation between Barth and the Naga Christian understanding of their theology of civic vocation within the world and interpreting the scripture. The research problem and its setting cover the statement of the problem, sub-problems, limits of the problem, definitions of terms, and basic assumptions.

The Statement of the Problem

This book seeks to explore the following question: What actual working hermeneutic of scripture and theology of civic vocation can be made among the Naga Baptist Christians in comparison to a Barthian hermeneutic? The undertaking of this hermeneutical task of critically analyzing the Naga Baptists’ understanding of their scripture and civic vocation in light of a Barthian hermeneutic of scripture and civic vocation is extremely important and relevant due to various misinterpretations of the scripture among the Naga Baptist Christians. Some of the common misinterpretations include an over-emphasis upon religious experience,1 other-worldly emphasis,2 and domestication of the Holy Spirit against the authority of the scripture. In addition, such misinterpretations of scripture among the Naga Baptist Christians occur due to their lack of Bible study and discipleship. Consequently, they misuse civic laws (misappropriation of public funds, negligence of work attendance, and nepotism among others) vis-a-vis vocation and non-engagement towards the socio-political affairs of the state.

The reason for choosing Barth is because many contemporary theologians, such as Jürgen Moltmann (1926–), Colin Gunton (1941–2003), and Rowan Williams (1950–) happen, to do theology without much detailed explicit engagement with the Bible.3 On the contrary, Barth in comparison to Moltmann, Gunton, and Williams, has provided a great deal of biblical exegesis both in his earlier and later writings (and in his Church Dogmatics, in particular).4 According to Mary K. Cunningham, few contemporary theologians have been as self-consciously concerned with doing theology in accord with scripture as Barth. For her, Barth’s Church Dogmatics consistently pairs theological statements with often lengthy exegetical excurses, whereby such passages stand up with highly inventive and frequently controversial claims about biblical texts and their theological significance.5

In light of Barth’s hermeneutic of scripture and civic vocation, I would like to evaluate critically the Naga Baptists’ understanding of the scripture and civic vocation. Naga Baptist Christians seem to maintain a dichotomy between civic vocation and scripture. They misinterpret scripture by negating the positive dimensions of the law, which Barth and Paul emphasize has been given for preservation of the human race and as a revelation of God’s will (cf. Rom 7:12–16). The majority of the Nagas who profess to be Baptist Christians are involved in corrupt practices like bribery and misappropriation of state funds.

Naga Baptist Christians seem to have incorporated their animistic beliefs and practices, and in this regard, their animistic notion of the law tends to be rigid and legalistic. As a result, they tend to remain inflexible in their attitude toward change and maintain their strict cultural traditions even within the church. In light of a Barthian hermeneutic, I would like to critically evaluate the Naga Baptist understanding of the gospel and civic vocation, and attempt to show that there is no dichotomy between civic vocation and the gospel and that the law serves to preserve the community and point to the gospel.

Sub-problems

The first sub-problem is as follows: What is the hermeneutic of scripture and theology of civic vocation among the Naga Baptist Christians? The second sub-problem is as follows: What is Barth’s hermeneutic of the scripture and civic vocation? The third sub-problem is as follows: What is an actual working hermeneutic of scripture and theology of civic vocation that can be established among the Naga Baptist Christians in light of a Barthian hermeneutic?

Limits of the Problem

Although there are “Nagas” in the neighboring Indian states of Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh, and in Burma (which is presen...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: A Historical Background of the Nagas
• Chapter 3: Theology of the Civic Vocation and Hermeneutic of the Scripture among the Naga Baptist Christians
• Chapter 4: Karl Barth’s Theology of Vocation
• Chapter 5: Karl Barth’s Hermeneutic of the Scripture
• Chapter 6: A Critical Conversation between the Naga Christian Theology and Karl Barth
• Chapter 7: Conclusion: Implications
• Appendix A: Congregational Discovery Interview Coding Process
• Appendix B: Congregational Discovery Interviews
• Appendix C: Proposed Bible Study Guide for Local Congregations
• Appendix D: Listening Leader Training for Congregational Discovery
• Appendix E: Data Transcription of the Qualitative Research Survey Among the Naga Christian Understanding of Civic Vocation
• Appendix F: Data Analysis of Qualitative Interviews for Civic Vocation Among the Naga Christians
• Bibliography