Dictionary of Third World Theologies.Dictionary of Third World Theologies Virginia Fabella & R. S. Sugirtharajah, editors. Orbis, $50, 261 pp. The editors of Dictionary of Third World Theologies gathered writers from all over the world to compile a survey of "issues specifically related to the third world and its theological concerns...written solely by the people normally relegated to the periphery." This is a dictionary in the strict sense: none of the entries runs more than a few pages. On large topics like "Trinity" or "God" there is little more than a page, which means that one does not learn much. By contrast, "globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation " goes on for nearly four pages. Implicit in Adj. 1. implicit in - in the nature of something though not readily apparent; "shortcomings inherent in our approach"; "an underlying meaning" underlying, inherent this contrast, one supposes, is that the unfamiliar requires the longest consideration. The articles themselves can be strangely selective. The one on "martyrdom," for example, is silent about the deaths of so many Christians in Algeria and the Sudan. The dictionary is most useful in lexical entries which illumine il·lu·mine tr.v. il·lu·mined, il·lu·min·ing, il·lu·mines To give light to; illuminate. [Middle English illuminen, from Old French illuminer, from Latin words not normally seen in theological discourse unless one reads very widely. Thus, I instructed myself on terms like the following: "Burakumin" (an outcast class of people in Japan); "Chipko Movement The Chipko movement (literally "to cling" in Hindi) was a group of peasants in the Uttarakhand region of India who acted to prevent the felling of trees and reclaim their traditional forest rights that were threatened by the contractor system of the state Forest Department. " (Himalayan movement to resist deforestation deforestation Process of clearing forests. Rates of deforestation are particularly high in the tropics, where the poor quality of the soil has led to the practice of routine clear-cutting to make new soil available for agricultural use. ); "Han" (a Korean word representing the accumulated feeling of sadness/resignation of the poor) and "Minjung" (Korean for the common people); "Pachamama" (an Andean word for Mother Earth). There are entries describing ecclesial Ec`cle´si`al a. 1. Ecclesiastical. life and theological reflection rooted in different locales. These are somewhat capriciously ca·pri·cious adj. Characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive and unpredictable. See Synonyms at arbitrary. ca·pri  cious·ly adv. listed (there are
entries on Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar but none on India, Pakistan,
or Bangladesh). Larger rubrics like "Bible" have subentries
surveying attitudes about and approaches to the Bible in various
countries.The dictionary is very superficial when it focuses on large theological themes but very good when it illuminates specific topics like those mentioned above. The editors admit that their biggest problem was deciding what to include and what to omit. They might have been better advised to allow the theological topics to speak within the context of entries on different liberation movements around the world. As a reference work, the dictionary is only slightly serviceable in its own right. But I do think that it might work as an exploratory model for a full-scale encyclopedia, one in which these fascinating topics could be more fully explored. Lawrence S. Cunningham teaches theology at the University of Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame . |
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