Public Theology in a US Context
Craig L. Nessan and Paul S. Chung
In the United States, public theology encompasses civil society, communicative consensus, and the democratic politics of recognition founded on justice for the common good, religious pluralism, and life-world integrity. Studies in natural and biological science are critical components for the advancement of public theology to conserve the living world and safeguard the rights of the ecological planet.
In light of the current political situation in America, Ted Peters offers a working description of public theology that is oriented toward the common good. “Public theology is conceived in the church, critically sharpened in the academy, and offered to the wider culture for the sake of the common good.”[1]
His primary contribution has been to combine theology of nature and theology of prolepsis into public theology, structuring it according to proleptic ethics with an emphasis on shared good governance.
In this definition, Peters seeks to clarify the ecumenical nature of public theology as he articulates a distinctive Lutheran theology of grace that depends on the power of the Holy Spirit.
This means that a Lutheran theology of the grace of justification comprises the first use of law. Therefore, the first aim of law is to construct, preserve, or establish a community which is the polis or civitas. Thus, the first aim of law is referred to as either the “political use” (usus politicus) or “civil use” (usus civilis) of the law.
John Calvin, like Martin Luther, considered God’s gift of law as having numerous applications, such as civil, political, theological, or spiritual. While Luther and Calvin agreed on the political-civil and theological-spiritual applications, the reformed community emphasizes a third use of the law: the importance of personal and social sanctification.
Within the first aim of law, a Hindu, an agnostic, or a Christian could all agree that the law serves a moral significance—to protect human lives. All agree: The universe has a transcendent moral structure. Thus, law has a moral structure. The Bible’s Ten Commandments or Jesus’ Golden Rule are authoritative because they acknowledge that humanity lives in a moral universe.[2]
Having said that, Martin E. Marti is considered a pioneer of public theology. In particular, his work emphasizes the value of the public role of religion for the wider public, even within a broad cultural and religious context. Today, the Martin Marti Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School continues his legacy.
Reinforcing his on-going legacy, Katie Day, Professor of Religion and Society at Gettysburg Seminary argues: “Public Theology is thus theologically informed public discourse about public issues, addressed to the church, synagogue, mosque, temple or other religious body, as well as the larger public or publics, argued in ways that can be evaluated and judged by publicly available warrants and criteria.”[3]
While Peters and Marti offered important contributions to the public theological discourse in the US, Craig L. Nessan, Professor of Contextual Theology and Ethics at Wartburg Theological Seminary, is responsible for developing a public theology of ecclesia. This emphasizes the shalom church as Christ’s body that ministers to the community.
Following in the footsteps of Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he argues that the church’s mission is to advocate for peace and reconciliation in Jesus Christ. Because Christ exists as a community, Christ is present in peacemaking, justice-making, care for creation, and connection with the others. This refers to the unique position of the public church to pursue God’s grace, life-mission, and prophetic diakonia in the eye of the public.
This necessitates real-life implications for the Christian community so that the Christian community continues to impact public theology through a revitalized church mission that considers local church structure, partnership strategies, public witness, and interreligious cooperation.[4]
In addition to his ecumenical contribution, Nessan affirms public theology is a paradigm that continues to broaden political theology and liberation theology in the face of contextually changing circumstances in the US, particularly scientific technological advancement of mass destruction that furthers the cost of war in Ukraine and Palestine. These global-local phenomena strike a deadly blow to the neoliberal dream and its hegemony evident in the US context.
Given the debates and particular emphases among US scholars, Paul S. Chung, Director of Forum-Center at Berkeley, attempts to define public theology in another way. Particularly, Chung considers the sociological studies of religion and politics, appraises the public role of natural science, and promotes comparative religions across social and cultural stratification.
Thus, he applies to the complex global realities existing in the aftermath of colonialism. Effectively, Chung seeks to address the postcolonial condition that is evident within various global concerns such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the Palestine problem, scientific racism, immigration, and religious conflicts.
Inherent to his work, Chung argues that colonialism is far from over, even despite its political independence. According to Chung, issues of the public sphere in the local civil society are inextricably related to global realities. Public theology encompasses the inside and outside of society on a global scale.
Furthermore, Chung tackles sociobiological pathologies and consilience (such as the revival of old social Darwinism), with a focus on his native South Korea’s public realm. Given the postcolonial condition, “Public theology is a theological and philosophical endeavor designed to provide a more complex frame of reference aimed at facilitating the church in its cultural, sociopolitical, and ethical responsibilities.”[5]
Thus, public theology comprises discourse clarification and politics of recognition in the social scientific investigation of power relations and material interests in terms of problematization, all while being committed to world formation in light of God’s prolepsis in Christ and reconciliation. As a result, Chung strengthens an effective historical approach to those who are silenced, foreclosed, and victimized by using the scapegoat mechanism (René Girard).
This approach is highly involved in social sciences and technology governance, with a focus on biopolitics and bureaucracy which seeks to control both civil society and the natural environment.
Previously, Chung defined public theology as social ethics applied to the public sphere in civil society. In collaboration with his work with global scholars, Chung has worked through the Forum-Center to expand public theology to embrace a wide range of international relationships, with a focus on a social scientific framework, comparative studies of public religion, and the postcolonial condition.
The Forum-Center emphasizes the significance of eco-systemic inquiry through rigorous scientific and theological debates which address civil society, climate change, and public policy to ensure the flourishing of our common life on Earth. Summarizing, Chung declares that, “in a nutshell, public theology (theologia publica) is concerned with the public affairs or institutions of society (res publica) to promote the common good of society.”[6]
The prioritization of the common good engages both civil society and the global constellation of the politics of recognition, comparative religions, postcolonial theology of God’s mission beyond Empire, and the prophetic diakonia of reconciliation. This serves as a foundation for civil and global solidarity toward emancipation, genuine democracy, and governance for the common good.
In conclusion, theology and church in the US context are confronted with a number of issues that are becoming more public and multidisciplinary in character. In this landscape, public theology offers a way forward for the church to engage theologically with the world in order to develop disciples to the risen and living Jesus Christ, the Lord of both the church and the world.
[1] Ted Peters, “Public Theology: Its Pastoral, Apologetic, Scientific, Political, and Prophetic Tasks,” International Journal of Public Theology 12 (2018), 153-177.
[2] Ted Peters, “Walz and Lutheran Public Theology,” Patheos, August 8, 2024, https://www.patheos.com/blogs/publictheology/2024/08/walz-and-lutheran-public-theology/.
[3] Katie Day and Sebastian Kim, “Introduction,” in A Companion to Public Theology, eds. Katie Day and Sebastian Kim (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2017), 4.
[4] Craig Nessan, Shalom Church: The Body of Chris as Ministering Community (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2010).
[5] Paul S. Chung, Postcolonial Public Theology: Faith, Scientific Rationality, and Prophetic Dialogue (Origen: Wipf & Stock, 2016), 1.
[6] Chung, Public Theology and Civil Society: Constructive Formation (Madris: EBL, 2022), 11.