The curriculum designs of local and global Theology and Ethical studies at various academic institutions and seminaries tell unique stories.  At a closer look, these stories carry deep theoretical choices embedded in matters such as academic discourses, contextual nuances, different methodological approaches, beliefs, and scientific developments.     Furthermore, the scholars and church constituencies who are engaged in these dialogues represent different contexts and understandings of what it means to study Theology and Ethics and thus hold different opinions of how the habits of the mind need to be sharpened and the passions of the heart orientated towards serving God and others. 

This means that different institutions offer different programs which carry different nuances for various reasons and that the programs carry these theological distinctions represented in ecclesial traditions, understandings of truth, the meaning of the gospel, approaches to faith formations, faith commitments, and responses to contextual challenges. These elements, amongst others, shape the unique stories of curriculums at Theological Institutes.   

At Cornerstone these theological questions have always taken place in the reality of the contexts in which the understandings of the gospel need to take effect.  Reflecting on a 70-year history of Theological Training at the Institute, one can see how the Gospel and the teaching of the Bible stood central, but with the understanding that theology is indeed good news and thus good news for the world.  Thus, not theology that is blinded to the developments and challenges of the world, but rather theology that offers meaningful and responsible engagements with the world. 

The question of how to be involved in the world has always been at the heart of curriculum discussions in theological circles and faith communities – and one, therefore, needs to know how to carry the tension of holding on to well-earned truths, fostering change in traditions, and facing the challenges of a contemporary world at the same time.   The critical engagement is thus, not to offer theological and ethical training which can easily stand in service of worldviews, ideologies, or ideals (religious and social), but to remain faithful to the gospel and stay relevant at the same time.   It is precisely these tensions that students become aware of and learn how to discern in humbleness, with wisdom, and in dialogue with one another.  This enables them to see what a possible good theological and ethical response can be.  Indeed, a theology that carries the marks of good news for the world. 

The theological program at CI offers a three-fold focus on the disciplinary strands of Biblical Studies, Contextual Studies, and Constructive Studies.  It is in this cluster of Constructive Theology with theology subjects, such as – Introduction to Theology, Human Identity and Christology, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, Christian Spiritual Foundations and Formations, Theology in Context, and Contemporary Theology – are where one learns the ‘language of faith’.   We learn how others expressed their lives of faith (including voices from the South and the North) and learn how to express what one believes about who God is, and who God is for us and within us – especially for the times and contexts in which we currently live in. 

Here students are orientated to the century-old theological dialogue where theologians, churches, and people of faith had learned the language of faith and learned how to articulate and give an account of the hope that lives within them.  This is an ongoing dialogue and an exciting invitation into theological discourses, which hold the potential to open new worlds and praxis for learners. 

This learning and speaking of the language of faith is thus to pause and learn the small nuances which make room for new conceptual realities, but at the same time to see how these conceptual realities take root in contexts and praxis.  It is in these modules that ‘old truths’ are confronted with new contextual realities such as scientific, social, and technological developments and we continue to carefully discern how to keep and change traditions, witness anew, and respond to contextual challenges and contemporary questions pose to ‘languages of faith’.   

Currently, in one of the modules, students evaluate the kind of Christ that is portrayed in two contemporary films, one made on Western soil and the other made on African soil.  We ask, do we understand how to review what we see, and can we meaningfully engage with congregants on a perspective of the Biblical Jesus and how Christ is portrayed in modern-day movies?  Indeed, these subjects enable us to engage in meaningful and constructive dialogue with one another. 

Anlene Taljaard
Academic Lead:   Constructive Theology.