The Biblical Wisdom Tradition for Public Theology and Its Consequences for Public Education

Abstract

The recent development of Public Theology, the formation of the Global Network for Public Theology (GNPT), and active scholarly discussions through the platform of the International Journal of Public Theology (IJPT) demonstrate that there is significant interest in the engagement of theology in public discourse in contemporary society. There have been ongoing discussions among theologians, sociologists, and scholars of religious studies on the relationship between secular and sacred and the role of religion in the public sphere. Ardent secularists insist that public life in modern society has to be free from any religious interference, which is regarded as biased and personal, while religious fundamentalist groups demand the implementation of their version of a religiously based society. One of the key issues that concern those who engage in Public Theology is the methodologies needed for interacting with various academic disciplines, different bodies in the public sphere and religious communities. In this endeavour, as a Christian theology, Public Theology draws its resources from the Bible as well as other religious and secular sources. For this, I would like to argue that the biblical wisdom tradition is a vital tool for our research on methodology. In this paper, I shall first briefly discuss some of the key issues in doing Public Theology and then the role of biblical wisdom in public life and education, and finally examine a number of examples of how this wisdom has been utilized in Christian engagement in the public sphere and suggest their consequences for ‘public education’.