Colonialism involves more than just territorial domination. It also creates cultural space that silences and disenfranchises those who do not hold power. This process of subjugation continues today in various forms of neocolonialism, such as globalization. Postcolonialism arose in the latter half of the twentieth century to challenge the problem of coloniality at the level of our language and our actions (praxis). Postcolonialism seeks to disrupt forms of domination and empower the marginalized to be agents of transformation.In 2010, the Postcolonial Roundtable gathered at Gordon College to initiate a new conversation regarding the significance of postcolonial discourse for evangelicalism. The present volume is the fruit of that discussion. Addressing themes like nationalism, mission, Christology, catholicity and shalom, these groundbreaking essays explore new possibilities for evangelical thought, identity and practice. The contributors demonstrate the resources for postcolonial criticism within the evangelical tradition, as well as the need to subject evangelical thought to an ever-new critique to prevent the formation of new centers of domination. Evangelical Postcolonial Conversations models the kind of open dialogue that the church needs in order to respond appropriately to the pressing concerns of the world today.



L. Daniel Hawk (PhD, Emory University) is professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. Aspects of his work on biblical narrative take a postcolonial turn in books such as Joshua in 3-D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny and as coeditor of Evangelical Postcolonial Conversations.







Kay Higuera Smith (PhD, Claremont Graduate University) is on the faculty of Azusa Pacific University in biblical and religious studies and practical theology.







Jayachitra Lalitha (DTh, Serampore University) is associate professor of New Testament at Tamilnadu Theological Seminary in Madurai, South India, where she is dean of the women's studies department and coordinator of the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary Church Women Centre. She is also cochair of the World Christianity Group of the American Academy of Religion and coeditor of Teaching All Nations: Interrogating the Great Commission (Fortress, 2013).



Acknowledgments

Introduction: Why Postcolonial Conversations Matter



Reflection on Postcolonial Friendship

Brian D. McLaren



The Importance of Postcolonial Evangelical Conversations

Steve Hu



A Responseto the Postcolonial Roundtable: Promises, Problems and Prospects

Gene L. Green



The Postcolonial Challenge to Evangelicals

Editors



Prospects and Problems for Evangelical Postcolonialisms

Robert S. Heaney



Part 1 Mission and Metanarrative: Origins and Articulations

Introduction to Part 1- L. Daniel Hawk



1. From Good: "The Only Good Indian Is a Dead Indian"; to Better: "Kill the Indian and Save the Man"; to Best: "Old Things Pass Away and All Things Become White!" An American Hermeneutic of Colonization

L. Daniel Hawk and Richard L. Twiss



2. North American Mission and Motive: Following the Markers

Gregory L. Cuéllar and Randy S. Woodley



3. Postcolonial Feminism, the Bible and the Native Indian Women

Jayachitra Lalitha



4. Converting a Colonialist Christ: Toward an African Postcolonial Christology

Victor Ifeanyi Ezigbo and Reggie L. Williams



Part 2 The Stories behind the Colonial Stories

Introduction to Part 2 - Kay Higuera Smith



5. Tracing the Metanarrative of Colonialism and Its Legacy

Teri R. Merrick



6. American Exceptionalism as Prophetic Nationalism

Kurt Anders Richardson



Part 3 Revisioning Evangelical Theology

Introduction to Part 3 - Jayachitra Lalitha



7. The Apocalypse of Colonialism: Notes Toward a Postcolonial Eschatology

Christian T. Collins Winn and Amos Yong



8. Jesus/Christ the Hybrid: Toward a Postcolonial Evangelical Christology

Joya Colon-Berezin and Peter Goodwin Heltzel



9. Recovering the Spirit of Pentecost: Canon and Catholicity in Postcolonial Perspective

Megan K. DeFranza and John R. Franke



Part 4 Transforming the Evangelical Legacy

Introduction to Part 4 - Kay Higuera Smith



10. The Problem and Promise of Praxis in Postcolonial Criticism

Federico A. Roth and Gilberto Lozano



11. Embracing the Other: A Vision for Evangelical Identity

Kay Higuera Smith



12. Healthy Leadership and Power Differences in the Postcolonial Community: Two Reflections

Nicholas Rowe and Ray Aldred



13. Christian Disciplines as Ways of Instilling God?s Shalom for Postcolonial Communities: Two Reflections

Nicholas Rowe and Safwat A. Marzouk



Part 5 Closing the Circle

Introduction to Part 5: The Evolution of the Postcolonial Roundtable

Joseph F. Duggan



14. Hosting a True Roundtable: Dialogue Across Theological and Postcolonial Divides

Judith Oleson



Benediction

Gregory W. Carmer



Dr. Richard Twiss: A Remembrance

Randy S. Woodley





Contributors' Biographies

Name and Subject Index

Scripture Index