Bevans Revisited: Reflections on Stephen Bevans’s Models of Contextual Theology

Abstract

Stephen Bevans’s six models of contextual theology have been helpful in sorting out different styles of understanding and practicing both historical theology and contemporary contextual theology. While briefly addressing the models themselves, the primary focus of this article is to update the original spectrum utilized by Bevans. Specifically, it seeks to clarify the primary axis to indicate the level of contextualization to a given local context. Second, it adds an additional axis, dividing the models based on relationship to the status quo of the given cultural assumptions, whether of the host culture or established church tradition.