Intercultural Theology as an Interdisciplinary Science

Is the dome of the white man overseas now anchored in mission or partnership? This question attracts a reflection on the social and political dimensions of missionary activities today. Also, the prevalence of racism in the church remains a political legacy in mission that calls the church to transform its colonial heritage. This is to affirm that mission and colonialism (racism) went hand in hand in the colonial era, and its echo is still found in the churches in the global south today. In other words, the interculturality of the mission today means, at its core, speaking about “power in the mission” and not merely engaging superficially in ethnological or anthropological discussions, which are often racially biased. In other words, any discussion on the interculturality of the mission that doesn’t address the aspect of power and liberation falls short of the very essence of the Gospel message of Jesus. As hinted before, the existence of political power in mission inclines us to reflect on colonial remnants, which include the Europeans’ cultural and political dominance, which in turn subtly legitimises the attacks on human rights and dignity. The Eurocentric approach to theology has perpetuated political-economic dominance and a hierarchical aesthetic cultural representation. This is manifested today in that the unheard voices are in danger of remaining unheard, and consequently, theology will continue to remain a Western project. Synergy in theology will be reached when we think of “pluriversum instead of universum” in theology. A call to critically reflect on our current practices in theology here in the north and decolonise Eurocentric tendencies would enable the church here to be enriched by the global cultural and aesthetic richness. This shows clearly that we are embarking on a new theological journey in a new theological era where silenced voices are empowered to speak and witness themselves. Fortunately, we now finally – and in an impressive manner through this wonderful University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology (FIT) – see ourselves as a “learning community on a journey”. The future of theology is transformative, intercultural, contextual, and interdisciplinary. I therefore wish this volume would arouse ample attention among many people who are already interested in critical reflection on ecumenism and world mission and also among people who have not been inspired in that regard until now.

Gradually, in its process of development since 2012, ICT was becoming more than just an element of every FIT department and also more than just a cross-sectional dimension. In an attempt to go a decisive step further, doing and negotiating theology at FIT was moving towards a ”third way”, where interculturality was not only discussed theoretically but was also represented in all its diversity in the composition of the student body from around the world and through institutional networking with theological faculties in the Majority World. According to its founding constitution, FIT, as a “third way”, contains practical aspects with a focus on “culture” and theoretical aspects with a focus on “theology”. In the everyday setting of the international compound in Hermannsburg, concrete encounters between people of different cultural, denominational and religious backgrounds, shared experiences, and the communication of concepts of life and faith are one side of the coin, with epistemological reflection on fundamental questions of faith and existential belonging in a globalised world as the other side of the coin.5 Due to its laboratory situation in doing and negotiating, all chairs were able to focus their research on the intercultural dimension of their discipline. Our shared interest in “interculturality” served as the backbone of FIT. The latter grew permanently due to the fact that our shared scholarship was challenged by 90% participation from students of non-German origin, partly from countries of the European Union and partly from Eastern Europe but mainly from the Global South, particularly Africa and Asia.

Thus, FIT as a “third way” intended to deepen the process of dialogue between the traditions of critical Protestant theologies and Pentecostal and charismatic movements. Officially, the purposes were (1) to contribute to intercultural rapprochement in a period of growing worldwide migration, (2) to foster integration of migrants, and (3) to reflect different approaches to the communication of the Gospel.6 This spectrum of intentions contained a mutually enriching dialogue between different types of Christianity and approaches of proclamation and, with this, the objective of decolonising current conceptions of Christian mission. It also included facilitating a respectful and prolific dialogue among all faiths in and coming to Europe, or those already present in the cultural context of churches in Africa or Asia. During our thirteen years of shared learning and teaching with students from approximately 35 nations and different religious traditions who studied, lived, and commonly worshipped on the FIT campus, dialogue on various levels progressed.

The 10 chapters in this volume show that FIT was moving on the third way of doing and negotiating theology interculturally. During a workshop at FIT in June 2025, the authors presented and peer-reviewed them. Each chapter reflects on personal and shared experience. This is considered one of the core elements of Christian theology today. The latter is supposed to be publicly relevant as well as responsibly shared by churches, NGOs, and politics. All authors – nine professors and one former MA student who later joined as a lecturer – developed and refined their professional skills while teaching and learning at FIT during its existence between 2012 and 2025.7

The volume is arranged in three thematic sections. Their order does not simply follow the classical logic of theology. It specifically reveals how many elementary issues of doing theology in theory and practice are in a state of flux today, and how we feel ourselves called to sense new inspirations needed accordingly.

The first part, consisting of four contributions, could be headlined “hermeneutical, organizational and ecclesial conditions in formatting Intercultural Theology”. Moritz Fischer presents the fragile nexus between theory and practice being irrevocably tied to this more emerging-than-established field of study. Doing and negotiating ICT enables us heuristically to deconstruct the “Christian mission as an imperialist and hegemonic” (hermeneutically speaking, “closed”) concept. Practised spirituality and the formation of ethical and political consequences of an interculturally sensitive cooperation are part and parcel of doing ICT. Frieder Ludwig reflects on the institutional development of the FIT in the context of ecumenical partnerships of churches worldwide, and not least in Germany. Johannes Weth gives a bold perspective on the vital function ICT will have in the churches of the future. Gabriele Beckmann focuses on crucial challenges of interdisciplinary contexts and horizons of ICT, especially in relation to her specific subject “Development studies”, now and even more in the future.

In the second part about ICT and its historical and religious resources, two representatives of what traditionally was called Biblical studies show how much present and originally relevant intercultural openness and communities of intercultural sharing and cooperation have been in the development of major narratives of faith in the Hebrew Bible (Andreas Kunz-Lübcke) and in the process of a sustainable translation and contextualisation of Christian faith in an African context in recent history (Michael Wandusim).

The third part, marking a few potential disciplinary directions of ICT, is opened by the contribution of Erna Zonne-Gätjens, who investigates the setting of Religious Education (RE), mainly in German secularising and pluralising contexts, where the mainline churches continue to have a secured juridical position of confessional RE as a regular school subject. She shows how invigorating and forward-bringing it would be to pursue inter- and intra-confessional and interreligious hermeneutics as the background of RE. Katharina Kleine Vennekate continues the journey through the new directions in ICT by exemplifying the crucial role of intercultural pastoral care in the multi-religious societies of Western Europe. Her academic expertise is firmly grounded in empirical research, too. For her, ICT takes place in a space that is partly beyond or exempt from human command since it takes place in the unpredictable process of seeking emphatical comprehension and analogies. ICT allows for multiple understandings while determining the degree of “alienness” and eventual narratively reconfiguring stories. Wilhelm Richebächer explores how crucial intercultural rapprochement would be for real peacebuilding, what theology genuinely can contribute to this, and how previous approaches to peacebuilding have to be rethought in a world endangered by continuously growing violence and hatred and torn apart by deep cracks of wars and contradicting ideologies. He approaches the task of intercultural theology not only from a Christian theological perspective but also in a communication process with all relevant disciplines that are presently involved in intercultural discourses, such as Religious Studies, Sociology, Cultural Studies, etc.