Stephen Bennett Bevans,

SVD ''Svenska Dagbladet'' (, "The Swedish Daily News"), abbreviated SvD, is a daily List of Swedish newspapers, newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. History and profile The first issue of ''Svenska Dagbladet'' appeared on 18 December 1884. ...

(born July 14, 1944) is an American

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, priest, theologian, and the Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD Professor of Mission and Culture, Emeritus at

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. He is known for his work '' Models of Contextual Theology''.

Biography

Bevans was born on July 14, 1944, in

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, and is the son of Bert Bennett and Bernadette (O'Grady) Bevans. After attending a

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Ri ...

high school seminary in Riverside,

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, he attended

Divine Word College Divine Word College is a private undergraduate Roman Catholic seminary run by the Society of the Divine Word in Epworth, Iowa. It was founded by the Divine Word Missionaries in 1964. It educates students for missionary service in the Catholic ...

, graduating with his B.A. in 1967. He then received his S.T.B. and S.T.L. at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in 1970 and 1972, respectively. After his priestly ordination in 1971, he spent 9 years as a missionary in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

in 1984 and 1986, respectively, at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

. Upon the completion of his graduation study, he started teaching at

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, until his retirement in 2015. He is the past president of th
American Society of Missiology
and now serves on the editorial board. He is also a member of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

' Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. His monograph, '' Models of Contextual Theology'', argues that all theology is contextual, whether it is

practical theology Practical theology is an academic discipline that examines and reflects on religious practices in order to understand the theology enacted in those practices and in order to consider how theological theory and theological practices can be more full ...

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topi ...

. On top of the two ''loci theologici'', scripture and tradition, context, in other words, human experience, should be the third source for theological expression. A

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was published in his honor, entitled ''Christian Mission, Contextual Theology, Prophetic Dialogue'' (2018).

Selected works

*''Models of Contextual Theology'' (2002). Maryknoll, New York: Orbis. *''Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today'' (2004). Maryknoll, New York: Orbis (With Roger Schroeder). *''An Introduction to Theology in Global Perspective'' (2009). Maryknoll, New York: Orbis. . *''Mission and Culture: The Louis J. Luzbetak Lectures'' (2012). Maryknoll, New York: Orbis. *''Essays in Contextual Theology'' (2018). Leiden: Brill.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevans, Stephen B. 1944 births Living people Pontifical Gregorian University alumni University of Notre Dame alumni Catholic Theological Union faculty 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians American Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in the Philippines World Christianity scholars

Biography

Selected works

See also

References