Public theology is a contemporary field that transcends mere trendiness; it stands as a vital imperative for the Arab Church. This imperative arises not only from the need for effective communication with its counterparts but also as a means to bridge the cultural chasm between the East and the West. Rooted in historical legacies and lived realities, Arab Christian theology boasts rich wellsprings of wisdom, yet it also confronts distinct challenges. While it shares commonalities with global public theology, the Arab Church’s presence in this pivotal region renders its public theology distinctive and profoundly significant.
The covenant concept is a central theme original to the Bible and is generally defined as a formal commitment between two parties. James Torrance’s theological definition of a covenant is employed in this article to highlight two critical characteristics. It then explores Torrance’s claim of a legacy of confusion between a covenant and a contract in theology and discovers that this ambiguity is true of some historical and current scholarship. Torrance’s insights are applied to a contentious contextual example that has played out in New Zealand around the Treaty of Waitangi: the case is made for identifying how Torrance’s theological understanding of a covenant can lead into positive steps forward and thus contribute to a public theology.
This paper describes three basic positions that have been held in relation to the place of religious ideas and reasons in public square deliberation by outlining the arguments of major representatives of each position. The three positions are: ‘obligatory relegation’ (Robert Audi); ‘willing translation’ (John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas), and ‘unreserved declaration’ (Nicholas Wolterstorff and Charles Taylor). I conclude by offering an observation from the survey. Even as the question of the place of religious ideas in public square deliberation can be approached from either broader domains of the secularisation/post-secularisation of societies or the essence of liberal democracy, it is not the domain itself but rather specific conceptions of key ideas or notions within each domain that push the representatives to take the position that they do.
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