Kenarchy Volume 7.5 – The Kenarchy Journal

Kenarchy Journal: Kenarchy & Peace, 2025, Volume 7

The need for contextual theology in the modern world: An exploration of Minjung Theology
Johan Francis

Abstract

This paper examines Minjung Theology as an essential form of contextual theology, highlighting its significance in today’s globalized society. Founded on the trials faced by the Korean minjung, individuals sidelined by war, poverty, and oppression, Minjung Theology reframes Christian orthodoxy through the perspectives of liberation, solidarity, and the shared experience of Han (한), the profound anguish of the oppressed. This theology claims that Christ resonates with the Minjung, sharing in their pain and providing liberation not only as atonement but as a dynamic, experiential reality. It also argues that faith should encompass orthodoxy (correct belief), orthopraxy (correct action), and orthopathy (correct feeling), encouraging the church to partake in the fight for justice. Viewed through the framework of Minjung Theology, the paper contends that theology should be dynamic, incarnational, and based on the actual experiences of individuals. It confronts Eurocentric theological supremacy, advocating for a wider acceptance of varied, contextually rooted theologies that testify to God’s continual action throughout history.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62950/vupl75

Pages 68-76

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About Kenarchy

While kenarchy is a gift for everybody, those of us who configure the politics of love in these terms are strongly motivated to do so in a way that deeply penetrates existing socially constructed mind-sets. This is why we combine applied academic research and writing together with grassroots social, economic and political activism. Kenarchy developed initially as a form of political theology and we make no apology for that, but it now embraces a wide and interdisciplinary perspective relevant to the politics and theology of love. The purpose of this Journal is to advance the applied research, and as such, it is an academic journal.

Lead Editor:

Roger Haydon Mitchell, PhD, theologian and activist, honorary researcher in the Lancaster University Centre for Alternatives to Social and Economic Inequalities, and political theologian with the Westminster Theological Centre

Associate Editors:

Sue Mitchell, MSc – co-facilitator for the Morecambe Bay Poverty Truth Commission, leading conversations between people with lived experience of poverty and decision makers, towards a new sociality

Bradley Jersak, PhD – (BradJersak.com) is the editor of CWRmagazine and Clarion-Journal.com, Principal & Director of Theology & Culture, at St. Stephen’s University

Andrew Klager, PhD – Provost & Vice-Chancellor, Professor of Religion and Peace Studies, Director of the Jim Forest Institute for Religion, Peace and Justice, St. Stephen’s University, Canada

Publishing Team:

Mike Winter, PhD
Martin Scott

In order to undergird the academic quality and scope of the Journal we are delighted that the following have agreed to be academic advisors to the lead editor and team.

Academic Advisors:

Linda Woodhead MBE DD FAcSS is FD Maurice Professor and Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London

Professor Maggi Dawn, MA, PhD (Cantab), CCTM, APRS, APSE, Principal, St Mary’s College, Durham University, UK

Professor Anthony Reddie, Extraordinary Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of South Africa and Director of The Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford

Thomas Jay Oord, PhD, Director, Doctoral Program at Northwind Theological Seminary/C4ORT, Director, Center for Open and Relational Theology

Timothy Stacey, PhD, Lecturer in Religious Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands, Co-Founder and Co-Director, AltVisions, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Lived Religion Project

Submissions to the Journal

Submissions are welcomed from a wide and interdisciplinary perspective relevant to the politics and theology of love. Initial submissions must include at least a 250 word abstract and a brief outline. Please state your full name, your applied research field and any other information you deem relevant. Full submissions from now on should be in the region of 3,000-10,000 words and be in accordance with our Chicago “notes and bibliography” in-house style. Longer articles will be accepted at the discretion of the editors. All full submissions will be double peer reviewed before acceptance for publication.

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The Kenarchy Journal (ISSN: 2976-6001) is published in Lancaster UK by 2MT, Charity registration number: 1069653.