Christians In Malaysia Research Articles

Peace in Religious Teachings and its Impact on Economic and Political Stability

AbstractThis study aims to delve into the values of peace within Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity in Malaysia and its profound influence on the country's economic and political stability. This study employs a qualitative approach, utilising both primary and secondary sources. In-depth interviews were conducted with religious leaders representing Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity, while relevant documentation was used as a secondary source. The findings indicate the shared emphasis among religious leaders upon cultivating inner peace within their respective faiths. Each religion advocates that spiritual practices foster inner peace, contributing to a harmonious society, nation, and economic resilience. Conversely, neglecting these religious teachings can lead to violence, social issues, and an absence of peace within the country. Therefore, this study posits that peace holds immense significance, urging its integration among believers and indirectly impacting Malaysia's economic development and political stability. Keywords:Value of peace, religious teachings, economic and political stability.

‘The New Global Politics of Religion’: religious harmony, public order, and securitisation in the post-colony

This article explores key concepts in legal reasoning on the issue of 'religious harmony' in Malaysia. It argues that the concept of religious harmony belongs to the realm of public order, and public order is indexed to the legal logic of internal security. In Malaysian legal reasoning, the genealogy of these concepts runs through India and the United Kingdom. Arguments for religious freedom based upon normative commitments to liberal rights do not take into account the institutional and legal logic of internal security, within which toleration has different stakes and meanings. When resources are deployed to support the state governance of religion in service of international security concerns, they further consolidate the confluence of internal security and religious harmony, often at the expense of religious minorities. Through a tracing of the reasoning and references of judges and litigants in a series of judgements on the uses of the word 'Allah' by Christians in Malaysia, this article details a post-colonial genealogy of religious harmony through concerns not for toleration or liberty, but for order.

A History of Christianity in Malaysia by John Roxborogh (review)

A History of Christianity in Malaysia by John Roxborogh (review)

Intimating the Unconscious: A Psychoanalytical Refraction of Christian Theo-Political Activism in Malaysia

The political activism of Christians in Malaysia is in an emergent phase. Despite significant advances, especially after the milestone general elections of March 2008 (where the ruling National Alliance regime lost its two-thirds majority in parliament), many Christians hesitate to engage politically and when they do, their engagement is incoherent. Based upon a survey and critical analysis of media statements by leading Christian organizations, this article argues that Christian activism remains anemic in part due to political theologizing which suffers from incoherency, inconsistency, a diminished view of the political, and an over-reliance on the rational. The article intimates that the kind of political discourse and theologizing adopted by the church would benefit from an application of psychoanalytical categories. It concludes by suggesting that psychoanalysis cannot only provide new categories with which to re-imagine political issues in Malaysia but also reinvigorate the Christian political imagination itself.

A “Double Alienation”

Scholarship on Christianity in Malaysia has been dominated by denominational church history, as well as the study of urban, middle-class and English-speaking church congregations in the post-Independence period. In focusing on the vernacular Chinese Protestant church in Malaysia, and one of its most prominent para-church organisations, called The Bridge, this paper draws attention to the variegated histories of Christian conversion and dissemination in Malaysia, and the various modes and meanings of Christian identity as incorporated into different local communities and cultures. The history of the Chinese Protestant church suggested in the first part of the paper takes as its point of departure the distinction between mission and migrant churches, the latter being the origin of the vernacular Chinese churches in Malaysia. The second part of the paper traces the emergence of a Chinese para-church lay organisation called The Bridge, and the Chinese Christian intellectuals behind it, in their mission to engage the larger Chinese and national public through literary publications and other media outreach activities. In so doing, these Chinese Christian intellectuals also drew on the resources of an East Asian and overseas Chinese Christian network, while searching for their destiny as Chinese Christians in the national context of Malaysia. By pointing to the importance of regional, Chinese-language Christian networks, and the complexity of vernacular Christian subjectivity, the paper hopes to fill a gap in the existing literature on Christianity in Malaysia, as well as make a contribution to on-going debates on issues of localisation, globalisation and authenticity in global Christianity.

Conversion narratives and construction of identity among Christians in Malaysia

Conversion narratives in the form of testimony are powerful means of consolidating and strengthening one's new religious identity (Beit-Hallahmi, Prolegomena to the psychological study of religion, Bucknell University Press, 1989; Rambo, Understanding religious conversion, Yale University Press, 1993; Stromberg 1993, as cited in Emmons & Paloutzian, Annual Review of Psychology 54: 377–402, 2003). Using conversion narratives is common among Christians in testifying how they came to know Christ. The testimony usually presents two distinct identities of the speaker: before and after accepting Christ as Lord and savior. These two distinct identities are examined in this paper to see how speakers construct themselves in the form of testimony. This paper specifically analyzes the moves and lexical choices used in the narratives. To carry out the study, 15 recorded conversion narratives were used.

Knowing Our Neighbor: A Study of Islam for Christians in Malaysia – By Albert Sundararaj Walters

Knowing Our Neighbor: A Study of Islam for Christians in Malaysia – By Albert Sundararaj Walters

Sacred Tensions: Modernity and Religious Transformation in Malaysia

This text examines the development and practice of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity in Malaysia. Its analyses provide an insight into how established and charismatic religions fit into the framework of modernization and secularization throughout the world.

Sacred Tensions: Modernity and Religious Transformation in Malaysia

This text examines the development and practice of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity in Malaysia. Its analyses provide an insight into how established and charismatic religions fit into the framework of modernization and secularization throughout the world.

Book Review: Christianity in Malaysia: A Denominational History

Book Review: Christianity in Malaysia: A Denominational History