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Contexts and Currents of Contemporary Protestant Theology: a Scandinavian Perspective

Summary: The Lutheran church and Lutheran theology have had a deep influence in Scandinavian societies over the last 500 years. This is true about the moral and intellectual climate but also about the more general structure of society and social institutions. Although Scandinavian societies are often presented as being highly secularized, this is only partly true. The public influence of religion has diminished and church adherence has plummeted but religious belief is still there. Theologically, the problem is the severed link between belief and morality and everyday life. This is the Achilles heel of contemporary Lutheran theology in general: there is no agreed upon notion of Christian life or morality. The situation in Scandinavia is not that different from the situation of Protestant theology in Western countries in general. Three theological movements have emerged to challenge the situation: (1) Radical Orthodoxy in the UK, (2) post-liberal and narrative theology in the US and (3) analytic theology. Both Radical Orthodoxy and post-liberal theology maintain that Christian churches and theologies need to be true to their own tradition and maintain a critical distance to secular culture. They also emphasize that theology should arise from Christian life lived in Christian communities. The analytic theology movement is somewhat different and its emphasis is purely intellectual: theological claims are defensible in the public forum, if tools and methods are adopted from analytic philosophy.

Sumario: La Iglesia y la teelogia luteranas han tenido una influencia profunda en las sociedades escandinavas durante los ultimos 500 anos. Esto es cierto en relacion con el clima moral e intelectual, pero tambien respecto de la estructura general de la sociedad y las instituciones sociales. Aunque las sociedades escandinavas se presentan a menudo como altamente secularizadas, esto solo es en parte verdad. La influencia publica de la religion ha disminuido y la adhesion a la iglesia ha caido, pero la creencia religiosa todavia permanece. Teologicamente, el problema es la ruptura del vinculo entre creencia, moralidad y vida cotidiana. Este es en general el talon de Aquiles de la teologia luterana contemporanea: no hay ninguna nocion ampliamente compartida sobre la vida cristiana y la moralidad. La situacion en Escandinavia no es en este punto diferente de la situacion de la teologia protestante en los paises occidentales en general. Tres movimientos teologicos han surgido en respuesta a esta situacion de crisis: (1) la Ortodoxia Radical en el Reino Unido; (2) la teologia post-liberal y narrativa en los EE.UU; y (3) la teologia analitica. La Ortodoxia Radical y la teologia post-liberal asumen que las iglesias y teologias cristianas necesitan ser fieles a su propia tradicion para mantener una distancia critica respecto de la cultura secular. Tambien ponen el enfasis en que la teologia debe emerger de la vida de fe vivida en las comunidades cristianas. El movimiento de teologia analitica es algo diferente y su enfasis es completamente intelectual: las demandas teologicas son defendibles en el foro publico si se adoptan los instrumentos y metodos de la filosofia analitica.