URBAN CHRISTIANITY AND GLOBAL ORDER

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough

This was not an easy book. It is densely written, and would require, ideally, a prior background in liberation theology. Without this, one may find oneself puzzling over unfamiliar terms and perspectives. However, it is to the credit of the author that he declares his basic approaches in the book, and seeks to provide a few basic definitions.

At the risk of over-simplifying liberation theology, this may be reduced to the statement by Gustavo Gutierrez: The starting point of liberation theology is commitment to the poor, the non-person. Its ideas come from the victim. (Ferguson & Wright 2005:388). In keeping with this, author Andrew Daveys theology is “rooted in struggles of the poor”.

WHAT IS THE TROUBLE

During the past thirty years, there has been a massive migration to the cities. As an example, a mere 20% of the population of England is now defined as nonurban. With the special problems which cities present, this makes it vital to develop a theology of the city. At the same time, it needs to be borne in mind that there is a continual interdependence of the urban and rural — not to speak of an interdependences of a global scale.

On the global scale, Davey considers that globalisation has engendered two great distortions. In the first place, there has been an increasing division of rich and poor: While it is often assumed that globalization tends toward homogeneity, it is actually stimulated by local and regional differences. Thus a new geography of centrality and marginality has emerged, the dynamics of which he describes in some detail. In the second place, valorization has been seriously skewed (he defines valorization as a socially embedded dynamic that sets criteria for valuing, for pricing economic activities, outcomes, or sites). Perhaps more importantly, there has been a false devalorization of people, places, and activities.

This having been said, the challenges of globalisation are not only situated in society at large. There has been a tendency within the Church itself to accept, in particular, the dominance of suburban Christianity at the expense of the back alleys of society.

WHAT SHOULD THE CHURCH BE DOING

It would seem to begin with the imagination of Gods new order breaking in, which creates a place in which justice must be practiced. A utopian vision is needed, writes Davey, for the reason that this is able to challenge the present, and to further enhance awareness and control of the inevitable social transformation. We are to believe the future into being.

This takes place in the context of Christian community — which in the New Testament was a new minority community that relies on hope and faith despite the evidence to the contrary around them. In fact salvation itself is defined as ones entry into such community — into Gods economics (salvation).

Such communities seek to practice the justice of the kingdom of God — not only in their midst, but universally, for everyone. On the one hand, this means that these are communities of justice, stewardship, and inclusion, which seek to resacralize the spatiality and ecology of the city. On the other hand, it implies that they will seek to carry out key tasks [of] evangelism: resistance . . . denunciation . . . critique . . . advocacy . . . and reconstruction. While these actions will be universal in scope, in keeping with liberation theology they will have a preference for the lower circuits of the new global order.

ON WHAT BASIS SHOULD THE CHURCH ACT

Social activism is known to be a field of great complexity and self-deception. Davey himself recognises the failures of the past. With this in mind, he quotes Ernst Bloch: Possibility has had such bad press. On what should one found ones quest for a new order He considers: Praxis demands an ideological underpinning. With this in mind, it should be of some importance to examine his own ideology.

Scripture, he states, contains mere traditions which were finally edited. The gospel itself represents a retelling of the Jesus narrative which filters . . . individual and corporate narratives. In short, the early Christians claimed aspects of the Biblical narrative in keeping with the way in which they had glimpsed [it] in their community life. Davey therefore states that Gods new order is apparent to those who would perceive. That is, our foundation would appear to lie in self-evident perception which is shared with that of the early Church. Further, in common with the early Church, Christians are to believe that there is a bigger story of creation and its liberation.

These are, needless to say, profound assumptions, and they have been vigorously debated in the Church for at least a generation. I felt that they would have deserved more thorough scrutiny than they received.

SYNTHESIS

Davey showed himself to be an erudite man. His thought is wide and encompassing. However, his book as a whole seemed unsatisfying — for a number of reasons:

His “resources” for an urban future seemed to me to be too vague and uncertain. While he listed no shortage of past actions in the book, there seemed to be little convincing evidence of success. Theological opinions aside, I felt that it was a missed opportunity. Further, he seemed too often to suggest negotiation as a solution for the city, seemingly sidestepping substantive proposals. Not least, he tended to promote Christian community and responsibility at the expense, I felt, of any obvious role for a living God.

CITATION OF REFERENCES

Davey, Andrew

2002 Urban Christianity and Global Order: Theological Resources for an Urban Future. Peabody, Massachussetts: Hendrickson Publishers.

Ferguson, Sinclair B. & Wright, David F. (Eds.)

2005 New Dictionary of Theology. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press.