If God is Universal, can we Contend for a Theology of God that Transcends Culture?

If God is universal, can we contend for a theology of God that transcends culture? However, Kant said that "History is a result of the varieties of human natures and circumstances," and throughout history man has imposed an idea of God that caters to his privileges, context and goals. Muta Baruka said that God is a human creation, meaning that the way we understand God is the way human have determined that we see God, stroking human egos.

The 3-hour Lecture on The NeoLiberal Round by Renaldo McKenzie YouTube Channel

Yet, Paul Tillich declared that God is man's ultimate concern and possess that internal drive which predisposes him to a reality of God that is deep which has always escaped him so that we live our lives pursuing the existence of God through worship, faith or some transcendental experience.

Just as human drives lead him/her to contend with the truth of his own existence within multiple realities of time and space which extends beyond the world, he/she finds himself/herself in the outer space. Human beings are always working to discover something beyond themselves, either within or without and find themselves travelling as far as to the Moon in hopes of finding truth that extends from the limitations of life on earth or within his personal domains.

Yet Descartes philosophizes that what we know for certain is not beyond the subjective. Nevertheless, Man has imposed a reality of God that is universal and objective in the hopes of advancing a life that places him or her above the rest. We say that life is about people and how they relate. Moreover, life is what people make of it and human tendencies to promote self has created dynamics couched in the universal creation of a God that exceptionalizes his personal experiences and cultures and go as far as to discredit other ideas and perspectives of God that competes with his position and place in life.

This has led to the Conquests and crusades and the destruction of cultures where some with a westernize theology of God created a New World in the eyes of their perspectives. The Europeans went to Africa and the Caribbean to Spread religion in the name of a God to spread religion, a particular way of life and to take away the prospects of others which they justify in that same faith [they] have come to promote. Discrediting those who have found God for themselves. Walter Rodney wrote how Europe underdeveloped Africa, yet Europeans justify their efforts based in a Theology that is exceptional and one that promotes their cultures and ways over others. Was it not Balfour in Crowner that said in English parliament in the 1600's that England knows what is best for Egypt and that if anything good came out of Egypt is a result of the English who brought religion to Africa as if what the Egyptians and Africans had were primitive or devilish. So, we speed forward today and question how our theology comes from a legacy that creates a way of life that limits any plausible resistance to domination and control for such was the strategy that led to the takeover. Using a religion from a particular space that creates obeyance of a law steeped in a conspiracy that ensures willing companions who are easily controlled.

But Caribbean Theology critically re-examines the history of a theology that is devoid of our legacies outside of European experiences. In today's Discussion in Caribbean Theology, the students using Caribbean Theologians such as Lewin Williams, Rev. Garnette Roper et al critically examines the top-down Theology that has created these dynamics in life that has led to the position of man in the global south as against the global north and races. As we begin, one student began to share about his practice of theology as a Jamaican Police Educator who teaches at the Police academy on ethics. We ask, is there an ethics that is based in a religion from below or above?

Further, he shares his challenges in developing his Theology within the cultural realities and experiences of Caribbean. We consider how Caribbean peoples themselves find suspicious any indigenous theology stemming from their own African legacies which is largely seen as fringe but promote the colonizers faith as normative. Another student discusses how he struggles with his own Theology outside of a biblical understanding that we have accepted as ideal due to either a brainwashing or the exclusivity of scriptures which continues to promote one reality over another, where man continues to stroke his egos over others.

This was indeed a powerful session of Caribbean Theology at Jamaica Theological Seminary.

Rev. Renaldo McKenzie is an Adjunct professor at Jamaica Theological Seminary, Doctoral Student Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies and Author of Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance and the upcoming book: Neoliberal Globalization Reconsidered, Neo-Capitalism and the Death of Nations. Renaldo is the President of The Neoliberal Corporation including The NeoLiberal Journals, The NeoLiberal Post, The NeoLiberal Blogs, The NeoLiberal Round Podcast and YouTube Channel

Follow Renaldo on Twitter at:

This Lecture was presented by Renaldo McKenzie and first published as a report by Yoan Bianic, July 13th, 2023 in The NeoLiberal Journals at https://theneoliberal.com.