Theological Framework
WE CONCEIVE OF THE THEOLOGICAL TASK AS A COMMUNAL TASK
We recognize that, created in the image of the Triune God, people are essentially communal beings that are only fully known and fulfilled when their relationships are marked by love (toward God, themselves, other people, and the rest of creation). We reject, therefore, the idea that the theological task belongs only to specialists. Although we recognize the importance of the gift of research and teaching for the edification of Christ’s body, we believe that theological reflection requires the contribution of all of God’s people. Theology must free itself from its captivity to the academy and its consequent intellectualism, and it should become an instrument of clarification and critique that can be accessed by all of the Church, which is the hermeneutical community.
AS THE FOUNDATION FOR OUR REFLECTION, WE ACCEPT GOD’S REVELATION...
...in human history which culminates in the person of Jesus Christ, announced by the prophets of the Old Testament, made into a human person, who died, was resurrected, and is active today within history completing his reconciling work. The Jesus of history is the Christ of the faith. His reality, made new by the Holy Spirit and testified by the Scriptures, makes the life and mission of the Church possible. In him, the people of God discover the model of the new humanity and the power to live a new lifestyle in harmony with the will of God. Both theological reflection and discourse, as well as the daily life of the God’s people, find meaning in Jesus Christ. The recognition of his authority over all dimensions of life rejects any attempt to separate dualistically the material from the spiritual and the secular from the sacred and calls us to a holistic and radical discipleship.
OUR THEOLOGICAL TASK IF FUNDAMENTALLY A HERMENEUTICAL TASK...
...that demands a double reading: the reading and interpretation of the story of God’s action and that of God’s people in the contexts within which the Scriptures were generated and a reading of contemporary contexts in which that story continues to become incarnate. This task presupposes a dialogue with the written Word in its original and current context, the recognition of the contributions of popular knowledge and the diverse disciplines, and, at the same time, the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It therefore demands not only study, but also prayer and obedience.
THE PURPOSE OF OUR REFLECTION IS A FAITHFUL LIVING OF THE GOOD NEWS
We long for our theology to strengthen the faith of believers and enable them to carry forward the mission that God has entrusted to God’s people. We consider that genuine theological reflection has as its end obedience to the Lord in the midst of specific historical situations with all of their particular demands and questions. Therefore, although it recognizes historic antecedents, the theological task is not simply the learning or mechanic repetition of past theological formulations: it always consists of a creative, contextual, and communal response to new situations.
OUR THEOLOGICAL FORMULATIONS ARE NO MORE THAN A BABBLING...
...with which we try to put words to the ineffable. We recognize that both our understanding of God and our formulations have limitations. Now we see vaguely, like blurry reflections in a mirror; but when God fulfills God’s purposes, we will see with complete clarity. Now we know only in part, but then we will know completely, just as we are known by God. The theological task, therefore, requires a humbly receptive and flexible posture.
THE ULTIMATE END OF OUR THEOLOGICAL TASK IS TO WORSHIP GOD
We recognize that both the impulse to reflect and the search for obedience to Jesus Christ, the Lord of all life, are signs of the action of God’s Spirit. The impulse to reflect appears in all people and in all cultures. The search for obedience is fruit of a human response to the call of God through Jesus Christ. Both find their meaning in the attitude of worship that provides the appropriate framing for the theological task. CETI’s proposal for formation is, in summary, an invitation to the contextual, communal, missional, and doxological theological task, rooted in the revelation of God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the action of the Holy Spirit in the world. In this proposal, the pedagogical is theological and the theological is pedagogical.