Contextual Bible Study as a Form of Contextual Theology: An Early Conceptual History

This article analyses the formative period of a particular form of contextual theology, South African Contextual Bible Study (CBS), from 1988–1993. This form of contextual theology is located within the range of South African contextual theologies, including specifically the Institute for Contextual Theology’s Contextual Theology and South African Black Theology. CBS receives its shape from these related contextual theologies but has a particular emphasis on biblical studies, recognising the importance of both the role of the socially engaged biblical scholar and the relevance of biblical studies method to contextual theology. The significance of this historical analysis is that it documents and analyses the formative period of what has become an internationally recognised form of contextual biblical studies and theology.