Research serving theology: A model for the era of World Christianity

Abstract

Christianity is a very diverse religion. People who consider themselves Christians follow different theologies and practise their faith in many different ways. In this era that has become known as ‘World Christianity’, one might question whether the search for what is an appropriate understanding of Christian belief and practice makes sense at all and, if so, who is in charge to set the criteria? In this article, the author argues, against the background of World Christianity, that (1) the development of theology is in fact important; (2) it must spring from people considering the biblical text in their own context in order not to be arbitrary; (3) if research methods are designed well, research can stand in the service of developing theology in context; and (4) in this way, missionary-researchers can help in the development of theology without dominating it. The author illustrates this by referring to his research among the Lele people of Papua New Guinea, where he investigated how ‘mature’ Christians deal conceptually with traditional understandings of sickness and healing.