Suk, John. Pat. Doing Theology in the Philippines. Mandaluyong City: OMF Literature Inc. at Quezon City: Asian Theological Seminary. 2005.
The first essay in this edited volume is entitled Every Filipino Christian A Theologian: A Way of Advancing Local Theology for the 21st Century written by Timoteo Gener. We have been brought up in a Western understanding of theology as a ready-made product to be received from the previous generation of professional theologians. But we are gradually being aware of the fact that theologizing is much more like a continuing process, which must be done not so much by professional theologians but by the local church. In the light of the classical Protestant affirmation of the priesthood of all believers, Gener pointed out that it is the responsibility of every Christian community to “do theology.” This “people-of-God theology” must be done in the matrix of Filipino culture, arising from the particular experiences of Filipino Christians as God meets us in our own contexts. The author also indicated some directions that must be considered in doing local theology such as the importance of using the Filipino language, redeeming Filipino cultural themes and practices for the Christian faith, and aiming for a kind of theology that heals and unites.
The “people-of-God theology” is also the focus of E. Acoba in his A Locus for Doing Local Theologies: Theological Stories at the Frontlines of Grassroots Missions Engagement. Like Gener, Acoba emphasizes the plurality of “theologies.” He argued that it is impossible to talk about a singular project of “doing theology in the Philippine context,” since there are as many theologies as there are many contexts in the Philippine society. While classroom theological formulations are important as they give us opportunity to do safe theoretical experiments, real theologizing is really done at the grassroots level, where the ministers of the Word meet the people of God. Acoba suggests that one good way to do theology among the people of God is by telling stories. In fact, according to him, “Theological constructions are stories about a community’s or an individual’s relationship with God.” Aside from the fact that it is in line with Filipino fondness with stories, doing theologies as telling stories reflects the very nature of the Bible, which is not a set of systematic theology but an unfolding story of God’s initiative of redemption and his people’s response.
The third essay is written by Melba Padilla Maggay entitled Towards Contextualization from Within: Some Tools and Culture Themes. Maggay opened her essay by observing that contextualization of the Word of God naturally flows from the reality of the incarnation of the Son of God. Everytime the gospel is preached, it always incarnates itself to the cultural context of the audience. We see this not only throughout the history of the church (at the rise of liberation theology and African theology among others), but all the way back to the time of the New Testament (particularly at the Jerusalem Council and the ministry of Paul). Taking her cue from Virgilio Enriquez’ concept of indigenization from within, Maggay advocated for a kind of contextualization from within. It is a process which does not merely translate to Filipino context the theological formulations from the outside (particularly from the West), but tries to do theology using internal cultural themes such as the concept of “tagapamagitan” and “God of the ancestors.”
The Filipino contextualized doctrine of the Scriptures is the topic of The Bible: Servant in the Formation of Communities of Faith by Lorenzo Bautista. Christians throughout the history of the church try to make sense of the doctrine of Scriptures by formulating theological statements found in creeds, traditions, and systematic theologies among others. All of these are reductionist attempts to understand the Bible with all the complexities of its materials. Among the Evangelicals in the Philippines, one of the most prevalent emphases on the nature of the Bible is that of authority. While its important to speak of the Bible as authoritative, this is but one of many diverse ways in which the Bible is portrayed in the Bible itself. Another depiction of the Bible is that of an instrument which forms faith communities. In light of textual criticism, the relationship between Scriptures and faith community can be regarded as dialectical. Just as the Scriptures are products of the dealings of God to Israel and the church and their respective responses as faith communities, faith communities are also products of the Scriptures. Bautista reminded us that the Bible’s complexity resists its being regarded as a mere list of God’s imperatives.
As a significant segment of Filipino population, the understanding of Chinoy spirituality is essential in any attempt to write a book on Filipino theology. Jean Uayan’s Chap Chay Lo Mi: Disentangling the Chinese-Filipino Worldview took this responsibility. After a short treatment on the syncretistic beliefs of Christian Chinoys, Uayan offered a Biblical response which aims to correct some of its excesses and misunderstandings like in the case of ancestral spirits, demonic powers, and the transcendence of God.
Another prevalent issue in Filipino spirituality is the beliefs on spirits, which was discussed by Reuel Almocera in his Popular Filipino Spirit World Beliefs with a Proposed Theological Response. This popular belief in the world of spirits led to the formation of folk Catholicism during the Spanish colonialism, wherein saints took the former role of the anitos. From the beginning of the American occupation to the contemporary period, Protestants, influenced by modern rationalism, became very suspicious of the supernatural. According to Almocera, there are three different positions held by different Christians in the Philippines with regards to the world of spirits. The first is the total denial of the reality of the spirits and the direct rejection of Filipino belief in the world of spirits as mere superstition. Second is toleration to these beliefs, hoping that it will eventually fade away. Some in this camp also hold that these beliefs have some value like responding to the psychological needs of the people. Third is the position that some of the Filipino folk beliefs in the spirits are consistent with the Bible. After all, the Bible speaks of many instances wherein the reality of spirits affects the material world. Finally, the author offered some Biblical themes that must be emphasized in order to balance the view of the Filipinos to spirits such as the immanence and sovereignty of God, his jealousy against idolatry, Christ’s victory over principalities and powers, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Though pain and evil are universal realities that confront every human being regardless of culture, the Filipino has his/her particular view of evil. The exploration of this topic became the focus of The Problem of Evil in the Filipino Context by George Capaque. Drawing from Filipino language as a repository of culture, Capaque noted that we have many words that correspond to different kinds of evil like sakit (physical evil), hindi mabuti (moral evil), and kasawiang palad (natural evil) among others. Using field conversations, the author stated that Filipinos thought that sufferings were caused by different reasons such as punishment by God (binalikan/nakarma), part of outward destiny that we cannot control (tadhana), and effect of our exercise of the freewill given by God to mold our own destiny (kapalaran). He also explored the problem of evil in Filipino context by analyzing myths such as Subanon and Tausug creation myths. In these myths, different sources of pain and evil are indicated such as God, devil, and human beings. He also explored the concepts of di-pagpapakatao (becoming fully human) and daya as dynamic equivalent in Filipino of the foreign term “evil.” Finally, he presented shortly the Biblical view of evil, saying that the Biblical themes of God as a suffering God and the reality of principalities and powers would speak effectively to the Filipino context.
Another Biblical concept that was sought to be contextualized in the Filipino context is the doctrine of repentance. In Balik-Loob: Towards a Filipino Evangelical Theology of Repentance, John Pesebre explored the concept of balik-loob as the Filipino dynamic equivalence of repentance, which is much more profound than the usually used word pagsisisi. It is based on the word loob which refers to the innermost self of man. Though it covers many dimensions such as the rational, volitional and emotional, loob is much more affective (“nasaktan ang loob”). This affective dimension of loob fits well the importance of sorrow in the process of repentance. There is a need to underline sorrow since some Filipinos are influenced by the Western emphases on self-esteem and feel-good mentality. But at the same time, it is equally dangerous to reduce balik-loob into sorrow. The Catholic sacrament of penance became instrumental in the popularization of the Filipino view of repentance as only involving sin, guilt and penalty, which led to the desire to punish oneself. In contrary, Pesebre argued that balik-loob must also include a hopeful desire for renewal as one turns to God.
One of the most intriguing essays in the book is Isabelo Magalit’s Rightful Rule: Romans 13 for the Philippines Today. It tries to make sense of the Christian participation in the EDSA People Power Revolution, against the backdrop of Paul’s instruction in Romans 13 to submit to authorities. Magalit was the pastor of Diliman Bible Church (DBC), the congregation that was instrumental in calling Evangelical churches to join the EDSA. His essay is a reflection in the light of criticisms given by fellow Christian who insist that opposing the government is unbiblical, considering Romans 13. He surveyed shortly the history of the complicated relationship between church and state from the New Testament period, time of Constantine and the Protestant Reformation, down to the French Revolution and the church and state separation in the US Constitution. Subsequently, he offered an interpretation of Romans 13 in the Philippine context, exploring the Biblical concepts of power and authority, God as source of political authority, limits of authority, and purpose of authority. Magalit also argued that Christians are justified to oppose leaders if they lose the right to rule due to their wickedness.
Though the academic attempt to contextualize theology is a fairly recent phenomenon, the actual praxis of contextualization in the Philippines can be traced all the way back to early Spanish missionaries. This was demonstrated by Jose de Mesa in his essay The ‘Ama Namin’ in the Doctrina Christiana of 1593: A Filipino-Cultural Theological Reading. According to de Mesa, the 1593 version of Ama Namin is more culturally contextual than the currently used version by the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines. The Catholic missionaries of the 16th century pay much more attention to Filipino culture in their choice of words in the translation of Ama Namin. The terms like loob, mauwi/pag-uwi, and huwag . . . iiwan represents well the Filipino emphasis of interpersonal relationships, while the use of kakanin as translation of the English literal rendering of “daily bread” shows the missionaries’ sensitivity to the culture of food in the Philippines.
Noli Mendoza looked at another historical document as a case study for contextualization in his A Friend in Solidarity: Spirituality and Christology in the Pasyon of Gaspar Aquino de Belen. After some historical notes on de Belen and his writing of Pasyon, Mendoza goes on to tackle the depiction of Christ and Christian spirituality in Pasyon. The Pasyon depiction of Christ is very much at home with Filipino culture, especially the presentation of him as caibigan, catoto, casalo, and caramay. Though referred to as the Son of God and the Second Person of the Trinity, more descriptions of Christ as the one who suffers are given in the Pasyon. No wonder why the Pasyon became an instrument for the popular articulation of dissent against oppression, for the people saw Christ as the one who suffers injustices just like them. As Mendoza observed, “If we accept that the Pasyon was instrumental to awakening the Indio’s consciousness, we could also say that the Philippine Revolution was birthed by a Christology that depicted Christ as a liberating Lord of the oppressed. Our forefathers understood this about Christ long before the advent of Liberation Theology.” Aside from this, Mendoza also noted some themes in the Pasyon that resonates well with Filipino culture like that of utang na loob and the importance of ina.
The need to contextualize worship is the topic of Pagbabalik sa Sarili: Pagsambang Likas at Hiyang sa Filipino by Ed Lapiz. Part and parcel of the coming of Western Christianity is the Westernization of Filipino way of worship. Lapiz saw this Westernization of worship as a kind of pagkawala sa sarili. This pagkawala sa sarili manifested in different facets of Filipino worship such as the mass importation of Western musical instruments, demonization of folk dance, suspicion of rituals among Protestants, exclusion of women, the dualistic divide between sacred and profane, the minimalistic participation of Christians in the church, and the dominance of foreign language. Lapiz called for the Filipinization of Christianity which is for him an act of paghahanap sa sarili. It can be done through the redemption of native Filipino cultural themes and practices that are not antithetical to the Bible. He argued that Christians were given freedom by God to do things in the church that are not prohibited by the Bible. Finally, Lapiz noted that Filipization is needed for the sake of equality and brotherhood among Christians of the world, redemption of creation, for creativity, and for relevance.
The contextualization of worship cannot go on without the exploration of how music can be used in the Filipino ecclesiastical context. This is the task that was taken on by the Christian musicologist Leo Rempola in Kundiman as a Vehicle for Worship, Witness and Service in the Philippine Context. After a technical discussion on the origin, development, and literary style of kundiman as a musical art form, Rempola proceeded in presenting kundiman as a potentially effective tool not only in worship but also in Christian witness and service. Kundiman’s popularity and power in uniting people (like the singing of Bayan Ko during the EDSA People Power Revolution) is a testimony to this potential of kundiman. Rempola thinks that it is now the time to utilize this power of kundiman as a tool for expressing the loob of the Filipino people, not only for nationalistic purposes but also as an act of obedience to Ephesians 5:19: “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs . . . sing and make music in hearts to the Lord.”
The last article in is Ernest
Manges’ Using the Catechism for Filipino
Catholics in the Evangelical Seminary Classroom. Catechism for Filipino
Catholics (CFC) is the Filipino Catholic version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC),
the first universal Catholic catechism in line with the theology of the Council
of Vatican II. Manges states that CFC is one of the primary sources that
Filipino Evangelicals must read in order to understand the theology of the
Filipino Catholics. Despite the fact that Evangelicals would surely disagree
with many parts of the CFC (such as the devotion on Mary and the saints, and the
downplaying of the doctrine of atonement), the document offers an example of
contextualized Filipino theology. Its depiction of Filipino culture and view of
folk Catholicism, among others, can be instructive to Evangelicals. Thus, it is
a useful tool that can be utilized by Evangelical educators both in teaching
Catholic theology and contexualization in the seminary.
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