Postcolonial Theology

Dating of Postcolonial Theology

Recognition of anticolonialist struggles would locate postcolonial theology with indigenous, colonized peoples in preindependence periods. Anti-colonialist struggles and emerging theologians writing in India and Africa, First Nations peoples in Canada, and Aboriginal peoples in Australia have not often found their way into the postcolonial theologies (see Joy, 2008, pp. 11–60). Western scholars write the majority of postcolonial theologies, perpetuating a Western bias as to what defines postcolonial theology. Postcolonial theology has been dated as concurrent with postcolonial theory, as an outgrowth of postcolonial biblical studies, and as a brand new phenomenon produced by postcolonial theologians writing in North America after 2000. Each such dating of postcolonial theology brings with it a host of interpretative challenges.

A strong association between postcolonial theology and secular theories has produced religious-secular suspicions postponing broader engagement by the theological community. As an outgrowth of postcolonial biblical studies, postcolonial theology has inherited a methodological framework sometimes perceived to be at odds with theological needs and thus in need of revision. When perceived as a new field of study, postcolonial theology often [Page 1011]has been associated with Western liberal theologies that privilege narrow categories of inclusion. These three ways of approaching postcolonial theology demonstrate that it perpetuates sequential and historical evolution. The missing piece is the contribution of anticolonialist struggles and the way in which these writings questioned categories of unity and order. Canonical and epistemological understandings of unity have provided the basis of Christian theology. If the fundamental categories of Christian theologies questioned by the anticolonialist struggles remain outside the purview of Western theologians, then postcolonial theology will not be heard in the cadence of anticolonialist struggles.

Scholars must be careful, therefore, not to create a false binary division between indigenous, anticolonialist struggles and Western-based postcolonial theologies. Anticolonialist struggles, postcolonial theories, postcolonial biblical criticism, and contemporary postcolonial theology written in North America are all important dimensions of postcolonial theology. These four dimensions do not singularly define postcolonial theology. The anticolonial struggles must be recovered to restore authenticity from these earlier origins of postcolonial theologies. Without this integration step, indigenous voices and experiences continue to be sanitized out of postcolonial theologies.

The Critical Analytical Task

By properly dating the origins of postcolonial theology with the writings of anticolonialist struggles, it becomes clear that this is not a new field of study but rather one that is just beginning to enter the West's consciousness. Postcolonial theology will remain in its infancy until anticolonialist struggles are integrated and engaged by Western theologians in ways that decenter the predominance of Western theologians. It is necessary to bring together postcolonial theology as a comprehensive and integrated work of postcolonial theory, postcolonial biblical interpretations, anticolonialist struggles, postindependence theologians in former colonies, and new emerging indigenous theologians so that, together, it will be possible to critically question the once historical and canonical fundamentals of Christian theologies that enabled colonialism.

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