Trinitarian Responses to Worldliness: Towards a Trinitarian Theology of Inculturation

by Heejun Yang

Publisher:

Pickwick Publications

, 2022

Overview

Are you a seminarian/scholar who wants to go further from your school’s Barthian tradition? The purpose of this book is to connect cutting-edge post-Barthian trinitarian theological movements all around the world: postliberal theology (Yale school) in the US, radical orthodoxy (Cambridge school) in the UK, German radical hermeneutic theology (Zurich school in the German-speaking world), and the theology of inculturation (Korean Methodist school) in Asia. Although each theological movement had a tremendous impact on the entire area of theology, there has been no work done to connect those twenty-first-century theological trends. The strength of this book is that it connects different theological movements with the author’s own unique view as a Korean theologian. Comparing different Trinitarian theological movements, the author argues for the necessity of a God-focused theology to embrace different human understandings in a world where Christianity is not dominant. The book claims that Christians can pursue a genuine dialectics of differentiation and interdependence when they understand the global phenomenon of Christianity’s inculturation as the work of the Trinity who relates Godself to different worldly cultures.

Praise for Trinitarian Responses to Worldliness

“To a post-Western Christianity, Heejun Yang has offered a compelling Trinitarian theology of inculturation—one that is admirable in its refusal to romanticize Eastern traditions in the process.”

—Xi Lian, Duke Divinity School



“Heejun Yang is one of our most interesting young Christian scholars. His expansive mind, his dynamic Trinitarian faith, is just what we need to help us think about the role of the church and the Christian faith as we come up against the challenges of contemporary secular culture. Theologians, pastors, and thoughtful Christians will be challenged and invigorated by this wonderful book.”

—Will Willimon, Duke Divinity School



“Yang gives an excellent overview of postliberal theology, radical orthodoxy, and hermeneutic theology. . . . This well-written book offers new perspectives for a globally oriented theology in diverse secular contexts and will constructively inspire future discussion in systematic theology and intercultural theology.”

—Hans-Peter Grosshans, University of Muenster



“A veritable theological tour de force, Heejun Yang’s book offers an insightful and nuanced overview of contemporary Western theologies of the Trinity and evaluates them from the perspective of Korean theology. From this theological investigation, Dr. Yang shows that a God-centered understanding of the world will help transform Christianity into a global but nondominating religion. I strongly recommend this book for those interested in the practical dimension of Trinitarian theology.”

—Peter C. Phan, Georgetown University



“A bold debut from Heejun Yang. Trinitarian Responses to Worldliness offers a rich, thoughtful analysis of theological response to secular cultures while uniting the best of Trinitarian and decolonial theologies. Yang invites readers to embrace the Trinitarian basis of diversity and inculturation while remaining open to growth, ultimately pointing the way to genuine forms of reconciliation in our painfully fractured world.”

—Edgardo A. Colón-Emeric, Duke University Divinity School



“Yang’s Trinitarian theology of inculturation convincingly demonstrates that worldliness is not a danger but an opportunity for theology. He creatively goes beyond the theological attempts at inculturation in North America, Great Britain, and on the European continent, because the different cultural contexts in East Asia also make different theological responses possible and necessary. Anyone wishing to continue working in this field will benefit from his work.”

—Ingolf U. Dalferth, Claremont Graduate University, emeritus

Product Details

• Title: Trinitarian Responses to Worldliness: Towards a Trinitarian Theology of Inculturation
• Author: Heejun Yang
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9781666791143, 9781666791136, 9781666791099, 1666791148, 166679113X, 1666791091
• Resource ID: LLS:9781666791143
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-12-22T06:17:06Z

About the Author

Heejun Yang is the pastor of Trenton United Methodist Church in North Carolina. He received his BTh from Methodist Theological University in Seoul, Korea, and holds an MDiv and a ThM from Duke University. He studied under Ingolf Dalferth as his last doctoral student at Claremont Graduate University and the University of Münster, where he earned his PhD from the Faculty of Protestant Theology.