Christian Participation Research Articles

Pentecostalism & socio-political engagement: A prolegomenon for the common good

ABSTRACTPentecostals are traditionally seen as ‘apolitical’. This paper explores the relationship between Pentecostalism and political engagement. It outlines the case for political engagement from a biblical perspective, as well as championing the Aristotelian and Crickian view of politics as the ‘master science’ capable of humanizing social relations. In arguing for active Christian citizenship, it invokes Jeremiah’s ‘Letter to the Exiles’ as a foundational document and a prolegomenon for negotiating questions of Christian leadership and participation in the cultural politics of contemporary society. Using examples from history and contemporary politics, the paper argues that Pentecostals cannot be indifferent to the political institutions, ideas and culture where they live if the biblical metaphor of being ‘salt and light’ is to have relevance in society. The paper explores how one particular Pentecostal organization (Church of God) has grappled with a range of socio-political themes and issues, including race, liberal democracy, internationalism and ‘political culture’. Questions are raised about the nature of ‘political culture’. The paper concludes with a series of reflections on contemporary global politics and the role Pentecostals can play, uniting politics and prayer.

ПРОРОК БИНИ И РЕЛИГИОЗНАЯ ЛИХОРАДКА У КЭРЬЕРОВ В 1834-1840-Х ГГ

The article deals with the phenomenon of religious fever among the indigenous people of central British Columbia in the second quarter of the 19th century. In a short time, the traditional belief system of the Carrier Indians adopted some of the Christian doctrines and symbolism. This took place in the period before the first missionaries came to the region. Paradoxically, at the initial stage, the enculturation of Christianity started without participation of Christians themselves. The transformation of the Indians’ religious views wasn’t accompanied by European cultural expansion. In the late 1860s, when the missionaries started their active agency, the Indians were ready to accept the new religion without resistance. This article is based on the analysis of folk tales, historical dates and researches devoted to this subject. The channels of cultural diffusion and the integration of elements of Christianity into traditional beliefs are revealed. The psychological reasons of acceptance of the new religion by the Indians are also in the focus of attention. The author determines the date of the beginning of the Prophet's movement among the Carrier. The key source of this dating was John McLean's journal, which has not previously been used in researches of the subjects. The author proposes accounting this cultural phenomenon as a spontaneous movement, not a cult of a religious leader.

Christian Participation and Creative Resistance: Reflecting on Luther's Two-fold Governance in Muslim-Majority Malaysia

How can Luther's contribution in theology and lessons arising from the Reformation have any relevance for Christians in Muslim-majority Malaysia? In this article, I propose that a reflection on Luther's understanding of the so-called “doctrine of two kingdoms”—better understood as God's two-fold governance—offers a critical contribution that not only is relevant for the Malaysian Christian community, but also may have intercultural and interreligious implications for dialogue and engagement with the Muslim majority for interreligious solidarity and the common good.

Rethinking the political participation of Hong Kong Christians

PurposeChristian-affiliated social groups and leaders have been active and vocal in movements advocating democracy, equality and social justices. Christians are also specular in the “July 1st Protest” in 2003 and “Umbrella Movement” in 2014. Are Christians, in general, more politically active in Hong Kong? This paper aims to examine these questions from a quantitative viewpoint.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the effects of religion and other socio-demographic factors on both electoral and non-electoral participation based on data from the World Value Survey 2013 Hong Kong data set.FindingsInterest in politics and education level are strong predictors of both electoral and non-electoral participation in Hong Kong. Confidence in government is negatively associated with political participation. Religious affiliation is not a predictor of any kinds of political participation. The effects of interest in politics are greater among Protestants and Catholics than people with no religion.Research limitations/implicationsWhile previous surveys show that Christians have a strong presence in political participation, the results suggest that being a Christian is not statistically related to a higher level of political participation. On the other hand, affiliating to Christian churches may provide necessary resources (e.g. networks, skills and knowledge) only to those members who are already interested in politics and thereby facilitate their political participation.Originality/valueBased on national sample data, this study debunks the public perception that “Christianity is politically active” and suggests the possible role of churches in mobilizing politically interested members into political activities.

Scriptural paths for interfaith relations

Many aspects of Scripture bear on our relationship with neighbors of other faith traditions and on the realities of religious pluralism. Yet, the Bible does not give us direct teaching about the living religions around us. To find guidance we need to coordinate material from several contexts: material about the nature of believers’ commitment to Christ, general norms by which we should relate to our neighbors (and enemies), examples of interactions of Israelites and the God of Israel with those of other religious backgrounds, the example of the one “other” religion whose validity is affirmed in Scripture—the Judaism of Jesus and of early Christians, and evidence on the witness and encounter of early Christians with those of other faiths. This article will provide a brief overview of these resources and of the multiple perspectives available to orient Christian participation in interfaith relations.

Als etlich kristen lüt … mit dien Juden getantzet hant

AbstractBased on the debate about the murals in the Jewish house »Zum Brunnenhof« in Zurich this essay discusses whether or not Christian participation in Jewish festivals was unusual and prohibited or normal in the Middle Ages. Following an outline of the relevant legal aspects – there were, up to the High Middle Ages, only occasional decrees from provincial councils that banned Christians from eating and celebrating with Jews; only from the twelfth century onwards were such bans included in the general canon law, while they were never part of secular legislation – the main part of this investigation focuses on actual reports of Christians attending Jewish festivals. These were mainly weddings, but there are also reports of Christians participating in Purim or other celebrations. Most relevant descriptions come from Germany, one from England, where the Bishop of Hereford 1286 took exception to the participation of Christians in a Jewish wedding, threatening with excommunication in an attempt to stop such behaviour. In Germany it was mostly a matter of municipal authorities punishing the dancing of Christians on days of fasting or religious holidays for moral reasons. But even in the increasingly anti-Jewish late Middle Ages, and in spite of the restrictions imposed by the church, nobody really minded the participation of Christians in Jewish festivals as such. In conclusion, various questions are being discussed which arise for the historian in connection with the participation of Christians in Jewish festivals and vice versa.

The Temporal Structure of the Activities of Priests and the Substantive Effects of Religious Life in Contemporary Russia

The article employs theoretical perspective of religious market to discuss the gap between the indicators of religious identification (69%) and indicators of engagement in religious practices (3%) in contemporary Russian society and the linked issue of insignificant influence of religiosity on population values and behavior according to mass surveys data. As the subsample of practicing Orthodox Christians demonstrates that religiosity has a very strong influence on values, marriages and reproductive behavior, rates of social diseases, etc. (I. Zabaev, E. Prutskova, D. Oreshina), the absence of religiosity effects in mass surveys data demands deeper investigation. Majority of studies interpret the gap between religious identification and participation in religious practices in the perspective of the secularization theory. We suggest reinterpretation of religious processes in Russia within the framework of the religious supply-side model. On the basis of the theory of religious economy (R. Stark, W. S. Bainbridge, R. Finke, L. Iannaccone, and others) we develop model of the religious market in the countries with religious monopoly. Depending on the average time spent on the confession, we model different evaluations of the religious market supply-side. Our analysis reveals that religious supply in Russia is significantly restricted by inaccessibility of given population of priests for regular participation in confession. The model of religious supply suggests the alternative to mainstream secularization discourse hypothesis for the explanation of the gap between Orthodox Christian identification and participation in confession and communion practices in contemporary Russia.

Richard John Neuhaus, Immigration, and the Potential for a Revitalized American Public Square

This article argues that a model for Christian participation in political debate can be gleaned from the work of Richard John Neuhaus. I articulate key characteristics of this model, then use it to evaluate Christian rhetoric favoring Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). I find that while Christian pro-CIR rhetoric exemplifies a Neuhausian approach in many ways, it falls short with regard to its eschatological vision. Nonetheless, I argue that a Neuhausian model has the potential to revitalize Christian rhetoric in the public sphere and American political rhetoric as a whole.

Temple and State: Religion in Enlightenment Asia

Just as diamonds are formed from intense pressure, the diamonds of human culture – religion are formed from the crucible of hardship. The most challenging global period for East Asia occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries when thousands of years of tradition came face-to-face with industrialization. During this period, Buddhism faced difficult challenges especially regarding persecution and destruction. In spite of these inimical conditions, Buddhism would become a global religion, not only experiencing a revival in East Asia but also a receptive audience in the occidental world. One important genesis and microcosm for this activity can be seen between 1868 and 1926 in Japan and Korea. Buddhism became a powerful inspiration for statehood, forming the basis of kaewha (enlightenment) thought. It inspired and drove Koreans towards modernization and development. Indeed, Buddhism was instrumental in the search for identity and common ground between these two disparate cultures. Buddhism become the cornerstone of the self-strengthening movement and the bridge between the eastern and western worlds. For instance, we can see how this period created and formed Engaged Buddhism, inspired by Christian participation in society. In Japan, movements took the form of a Buddhist reformation where many scholars searched for the essential methods of Dharma. Such searching on behalf of truth-seekers as D.T. Suzuki and Uchiyama Gudō helped promote an essentialist and modern Buddhism. Moreover, this modern Buddhism led to a renaissance of the practices and teachings of the Buddha.

Under the Umbrella: Grounded Christian Theologies and Democratic Working Alliances in Hong Kong

雨傘之下：香港基督教兩種接地神學與民主合作聯盟 摘要 本文以二零一四年雨傘運動為起點，從地理學的角度研究香港的民主景觀。此硏究乃以一個新的文化地理學路徑去分析多種的接地神學如何從下面支撐起香港基督徒對於民主運動的參與。其中心論點是已經形成了兩個不同的香港基督教接地神學 —— 合作性的和批判性的，其不同之處在於如何定位自身與香港政府之間的關係。本文通過民族誌和檔案硏究法追溯作為民主合作聯盟之起源的一九七八年金禧事件。從金禧事件到一九九七年回歸，民主共識在神學上演變為訴求方式不同的兩派，一派認為與政府合作乃執行民主改革的理想途徑，另一派則認為批評政府才是執行民主改革的理想途徑。本文使用地理學路徑做宗教和民主運動研究，對華人社會的宗教社會科學硏究或有助益。

Presence of Mind: Thomistic Prudence and Contemporary Mindfulness Practices

Prudence, for Thomas Aquinas, is an intellectual virtue that requires coincident moral virtue for its sustainability. As such, prudence displays a way of living in which intellect, desire, and emotion are harmoniously integrated. This account resonates strongly with the aims of mindfulness practices within contemporary psychology and with the “interpersonal neurobiology” of Daniel Siegel, for whom health is understood as a context-responsive and narrative integration of cognition, emotion, and embodied experience that promotes and allows for stable self-identity and fulfilling interpersonal relationships. Similarly, prudence for Aquinas is an integrative virtue, integrating intellect and will, theory and context, action and agent, reason and emotion, past and future, the individual and his or her community, and the proximate and ultimate ends of human life. Contemporary mindfulness practices are at their best a school for prudence, and thus they shed an interesting light on Aquinas’s account. In turn, Aquinas’s account of prudence offers theological parameters for Christian participation in contemporary mindfulness practices.

Global Health after Pentecost: Toward Theological Reflection as a Religious Health Asset

This article examines the recent turn on the part of global health leaders to Christian communities as allies in the response to the HIV pandemic. A cursory survey of this turn highlights how global health leaders have used the language of religious health assets to revalue the activities of faith-based organizations, including Christian churches. In this way, religious health assets—tangible and intangible—become valuable if they can be rendered intelligible and appreciated using the existing lexicon and logic of global health. As a result, the primary activity of religious entities in partnerships with global health institutions is limited to conforming their practices to the best practices of HIV programs. But a closer examination of this revaluation reveals how it obscures a distinctive dimension of Christian participation, namely, critical theological reflection.The current turn to religion as a global health ally presents an opportunity to re-imagine the spaces in which complex social phenomena are described, interpreted, and responded to. Christians live into the role of co-participants in these spaces when they seek to develop a greater competence for engaging the complex arena of global health policy and programming. This competence emerges from demonstrating understanding of the empirical context in which global health is carried out as well as showing in an imaginative and compelling manner how the theological resources from their own tradition illumine the patterns and processes of human suffering.

God and State in Egypt

God and State in Egypt

Thinking About Marriage: An Excursion Through Christian History

This paper explores biblical and historical understandings of marriage, showing the way in which shifting contexts affected understanding of Christian marriage. In the early church, marriage was a pagan institution, redeemed by the participation of Christians. For the medieval church, celibacy was privileged above marriage. It was not until the Reformation that marriage became a Christian ideal - at least in protestant churches. The nineteenth century saw significant shifts in the understanding of the rights of women in marriage, which began to alter how Christians viewed the proper relationship between men and women. In our own day, advances in contraception and fertility treatments have once again changed how marriage is understood.

Public Theology in pluralistic societies? Lessons from the theology of Etienne de Villiers

This article discussed the meaning and significance of the theological contribution of Etienne de Villiers for the task of prophetic public theology in pluralistic societies. It was argued that De Villiers�s theology enriched public theology in a variety of ways. De Villiers convincingly argued that Christian morality does have unique contents. These unique contents enrich and deepen discussions in the pluralistic public domain. De Villiers also showed that Christians can enter the public domain from the perspective of so-called thicker theological convictions like sin and love. De Villiers emphasised the participation of Christians in so-called technical discourses. This implied that Christians strive to make their convictions as far as possible intellectually accessible to a pluralistic audience, that Christians strive for moral consensus, sound moral decision-making, influencing of the public opinion and participation in policy- making processes in pluralistic life. This technical discourse with the aim to reach moral consensus and to impact on policymaking processes should also be practiced within Christian communities where a plurality of moral views, even conflicting views, exist. This quest for decision-making, consensus and impacting on public policy are to be advanced in the ecumenical Christian family, and even between Christians and other religions.

Christian political participation in the Arab world

The political participation of Christians in the Arab world highlights the difficulties of reconciling the principles of equality and full rights based on citizenship with maintaining the public role of the religion of the majority of the population – Islam. Christian strategies have focused upon both Arab and state nationalism as well as pursuing individual ambition. The political context of these efforts is also significant. First, Christians are not immune to the political environment in the region, which has been characterized by a tradition of authoritarianism and limited political opportunity. Second, the Islamic environment provides the framework for discussing the political role of non-Muslims in Muslim-majority states. Christian political participation has also been shaped by the strategies pursued by the ruling regimes. These are: the treatment of Christians as the same or indistinct, the notion of ‘loyal’ citizens, and the institutionalization of differences through quotas. Yet irrespective of what strategy is employed, religious identity continues to be the crucial factor in determining the type of political participation accessed by Christians in the region, thus challenging the notion of national unity.

Preserving Integrity: Lessons on Interfaith Prayer from the University

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes Respectful Presence (Louisville, KY: World Ministries Division-PCUSA, 1997). Henri J. M. Nouwen, Reaching Out (New York: Doubleday, 1975), 71. For more on the use of ordinary language in interreligious dialogue see George A. Lindbeck, The Nature of Doctrine, 25th anniversary ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2009), 132–33. Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB, Prayer for World Peace (Pax Christi USA, http://www.paxchristiusa.org/news_Events_more.asp?id=1310, accessed Jan. 31, 2011). Respectful Presence suggests that all of the communities participating in such an event be able to select their own leader to represent them in planning discussions. This should help to ensure that particular communities can participate with integrity. In our setting, the non-Christian communities do not have sufficient cohesiveness to identify their own leadership. The chaplains therefore must be responsible for preserving space for individual integrity even when inviting non-Christian participants to the planning of these events. I suspect that this preservation of space would not be a problem in civic communities where religious centers (synagogues, temples, mosques, churches, etc.) capable of selecting their own leaders are more easily identifiable. The position that assumes that all religions pray to the same God is itself a religious commitment, but it seems that it is not one that is consonant with most traditions of Christianity or many other world religions. This assumption, which presumes to defend the integrity of all religious traditions, actually violates the integrity of most of them. I would argue that one exception would be Christian participation in Jewish prayer and worship as an acceptable but not sufficient expression for the Christian. St. Paul imagines Christians as grafted into the Jewish community and covenant. While Jewish persons have good reason to take issue with this concept, Christians need not have anxiety about participation in Jewish worship because of their status as, to quote Paul, “adopted” sons and daughters of Israel's God. This expression of worship would never be sufficient for the Christian because the Christian is committed to becoming, making, and baptizing disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Shared service projects seem to me to be the best way toward unity among interfaith communities. Shared service seems to provide more opportunity for substantial relationship that can lead to meaningful dialogue. And shared service invokes far fewer anxieties about participation from those who are concerned with their religious integrity. Additional informationNotes on contributorsJeremiah GibbsJeremiah Gibbs is a credentialed minister with the Assemblies of God and serves as university co-chaplain and director of the Lantz Center for Christian Vocation and Spiritual Formation at the University of Indianapolis. He has published articles on Pentecostalism and apologetics, and he blogs atemergentpentecost.blogspot.com.

Gemeinwesendiakonie als Verwirklichung von Konvivenz

Abstract Local Community Diakonia as a Realisation of Convivence. The article seeks for a theological understanding of the concepts of local Christian social services and participation in joint social programs. The theory of convivence as it was developed by Theo Sundermeier, inspired by Paulo Freire's writings and practice in Brazil, is introduced.

Christian participation in Almohad armies and personal guards

This article aims to explain the importance of Christian slaves or ex‐slaves in the army and personal guard of the Almohads. Numerous studies posit that, at the time of the Almohads, Christian troops were almost exclusively mercenaries. However, a comparative study between the Almohads and other Maghrebi dynasties, grounded in terminology, reveals the unmistakable presence in the Almohad forces of soldiers, guards and advisors who were either Christians or of Christian origin and had originally been captives or slaves.

Is prophetic witness the appropriate mode of Christian participation in public discourse in the Netherlands?

Dutch Protestantism is characterised by a hidden tension between a theocratic tradition and the endorsement of democracy. In this article it is argued that the idea of prophetic witness has its roots in the theocratic tradition, and that it is not compatible with the endorsement of democracy.