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Lutheran tradition has in various ways influenced attitudes to work, the economy, the state, education, and health care. One reason that Lutheran theology has been interpreted in various ways is that it is always influenced by surrounding social andcultural contexts. In a society where the church has lost a great deal of its cultural impact and authority, and where there is a plurality of religious convictions, the question of Lutheran identity has never been more urgent. However, this question is also raised in the Global South where Lutheran churches need to find their identity in a relationship with several other religions. Here this relationship is developed from a minority perspective. Is it possible to develop a Lutheran political theology that gives adequate contributions to issues concerning social and economic justice? What is the role of women in church and society around the world? Is it possible to interpret Lutheran theology in such a way that it includes liberating perspectives? These are some of the questions and issues discussed in this book.
In recent decades, women in the Christian and Islamic traditions have been negotiating what it means to participate in religious practice as a woman within the two traditions, and how to interpret canonical scripture. This book creates a shared space for Muslim and Christian women with diverse cultural and denominational backgrounds, by making meaning of texts from the Bible, the Koran, and the Hadith. It builds on the reading and discussion of the Hagar narratives, as well as 1 Timothy 2:8-15 and Sura 4:34 from the New Testament and the Koran respectively, by a group of both Christian and Muslim women. Interpretative strategies and contextual analyses emerge from the hermeneutical analysis ...
All of the member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are related to Lutheran theology in one way or another. However, that does not mean they act similarly or draw the same conclusions about any particular issue. Rather, Lutheran churches around the globe display great diversity. This book has its background in a study of five Lutheran churches: the ILCO in Costa Rica, the IECLB in Brazil, the ELCI in Iceland, the FLM in Madagascar, and the HKBP in Indonesia. It addresses the questions of how the Lutheran heritage today is expressed in different churches and what is the role of Lutheran theology in how they handle their respective situations. The churches in this study share with other churches the need to handle dilemmas such as the relations between "community and pluralism," "openness and particularity," "power and servanthood," and "closeness to culture and being an alternative to culture." In doing this they use their culture and history as well as their Lutheran heritage as tools.
Centered around a reflective narrative recounting the experiences of a participatory action research project into leading online small groups for adults in the Church of Sweden Diocese of Stockholm during 2021 and 2022, the dissertation argues for the need to reconceptualize and reemphasize teaching as an important aspect in Christian religious education. Employing creative non-fiction methods, the dissertation aims to broaden the scope of the initial Online Small Groups project, by inviting readers to join into a "learning journey." The narrative account is complemented with more traditional forms of analysis that connect experiences from online small groups in the Church of Sweden to similar research from Anglo-Saxon countries, noting especially how notions of community diverge due to different ecclesiological understandings. Insights are then synthesized into eight teaching strategies aimed at communicating actionable knowledge to small group leaders, before noting how the study complements research on Christian religious education and, particularly, the current debate about learning and teaching in the Church of Sweden.
It is possible to reinterpret the biblical portrayal of motherhood so that it no longer perpetuates the subordination of women? Responding to a perceived conflict between feminism and theology, feminist theologian Cristina Grenholm blends systematic theology, gender studies, and biblical interpretation to construct a nontraditional understanding of motherhood in the Bible. Grenholm s innovative approach revisits the biblical figure of Mary whom she calls a theological challenge in our time with a view to analyzing, critiquing, and revising the traditional Christian understanding of motherhood and maternal love.
This stimulating collection of essays by prominent scholars honours Turid Karlsen Seim. Bodies, Borders, Believers brings together biblical scholars, ecumenical theologians, archaeologists, classicists, art historians, and church historians, working side by side to probe the past and its receptions in the present. The contributions relate in one way or another to Seim's broad research interests, covering such themes as gender analysis, bodily practices, and ecumenical dialogue. The editors have brought together an international group of scholars, and among the contributors many scholarly traditions, theoretical orientations, and methodological approaches are represented, making this book an interdisciplinary and border-crossing endeavour. A comprehensivebibliography of Seim's work is included.
Protestant ethics has often been associated with work and duty, excluding sensuality, sexuality and other pleasures. In an age of body worship as well as body loathing, Elisabeth Gerle explores new paths, embarking on a conversation with Martin Luther in dialogue with contemporary theologians on attitudes towards desire, ethics and politics. She draws on Eros theology to challenge traditional Lutheran stereotypes, such as the dichotomies between different forms of love, as well as between spirit and body. Gerle argues that Luther’s spiritual breakthrough, where grace and gifts of creation became central, provides new meaning to sex and desire as well as to work, body and ordinary life. Wom...
Religion has played a major role in history, affecting the course of events and influencing individuals. Today one frequently hears the expression "the return of religion" but opinions differ as to how this "return" is to be understood. It is clear that modernity and postmodernity have not meant that religion is dead or relegated to society's backyards. Religion is still of vital importance for many people. It has, to some extent, changed shape but has not lost its legitimacy and attractiveness to broad groups. Religion is public, visible, and has a sought-for voice; but it is also wrestling with extremism, ignorance, and preconceptions. Just like ideologies, religions are capable of activating diametrically opposite traits in humans. It is this dual tension that is implicit in the question mark in this book's title: Mending the World? This book's aim is to help explore whether, how, and in what ways religion, church, and theology can contribute constructively to the future of a global society. In thirty-one chapters, researchers from around the world address the relation between religion and society.
This Festschrift in honour of Werner G. Jeanrond, currently Master of St Benet's Hall, University of Oxford, UK, investigates the challenge of alterity for Christianity, exploring and elaborating on this core concern in Jeanrond's hermeneutical theology. Blurring disciplinary boundaries, more than thirty of Jeanrond's colleagues and companions from ten countries track the dynamics of difference driven by the encounter with the self as other, the other as other, and God as the radical other. Who is my other? What do I encounter when I encounter my other? And what responses and responsibilities does the encounter with my other evoke? Grappling with questions like these, the contributions to this compilation analyse alterity in the Bible, alterity in philosophy, alterity in theology, alterity in interreligious dialogues, and the radical alterity of God. Tying in with Jeanrond's explorations of the many faces and facets of the other, this Festschrift ultimately aims to advocate openness to the other as a necessity for both religion and reflections on religion.
Since the Reformation in the sixteenth century, Lutheran traditions have had a great impact on culture and politics in many societies. At the same time Lutheran churches have impacted personal faith, basic morality, and ethics. Modern society, however, is quite different from the time of the Reformation. How should we evaluate Lutheran tradition in today's Western multicultural and post-Christian society? Is it possible to develop a Lutheran theological position that can be regarded as reasonable in a society that evidences a considerable weakening of the role of Christianity? What are the challenges raised by cultural diversity for a Lutheran theology and ethics? Is it possible to develop a Lutheran identity in a multicultural society, and is there any fruitful Lutheran contribution to the coexistence of different religious and nonreligious traditions in the future?