The Reformation from the Perspective of World Christianity

Abstract

This paper argues that if Christianity is to be regarded as a truly world religion, Christians must pay serious attention to the ways in which the Reformation legacy has taken roots and found contextualized expressions around the world, particularly in the global South. If Christians from the North Atlantic fail to acknowledge and take this fact seriously in their theological reflection, it will be to the detriment of their own spirituality and faith tradition. The other, who may well be one’s coreligionist, can help one construct one’s identity by providing a mirror to one’s own self. The structure of the present paper is built around four “sola” principles that succinctly capture the Reformation legacy. As such, contextual interpretations from the global South of sola fide, sola scriptura, sola gratia, and solus Christus will be introduced and discussed. In conclusion, some remarks will be made on these interpretations from a post-communist perspective.

Keywords

• Reformation
• World Christianity
• Global South
• Hermeneutics
• Contextualization
• Ecumenical theology
• Bible
• Church
• Culture
• Transformation