Context Of Religious Pluralism Research Articles

Reformed theology in dialogue with a spirituality of creation within the context of religious pluralism in Africa

A transforming spirituality is needed to attend to the ‘third-millennial needs’ of Africa to address issues such as relationships (tribal wars, genocide, ISIS, etc.), globalisation ([new]-colonisation and urbanisation), ecology (industrialisation and rhino or elephant poaching) and social issues (the poor, women and children). It is argued that reformed theology, African spiritualities and a spirituality of creation need to be enriched by each other to bring about transformation in Africa. To discover a transforming spirituality of creation, participants need to listen to the different spiritualities and beliefs, without attempting to create a meta-narrative. Participants need to acknowledge the differences and even tensions, and embrace these. As such, this article attends to the research question, how can a dialogue between reformed theology and spirituality of creation help to establish a transforming spirituality based on common values for the diverse African continent in ‘our third-millennial world’? Contribution: From a multidisplinary theological perspective, the article deals with ‘historical thought’ regarding spirituality and creation. This includes both the textual history from Christianity and oral history from Africa. A missional hermeneutics is used to bring different traditions and beliefs together.

English

Interfaith dialogue is becoming a household name in our global society within the context of religious pluralism. Christians and Muslims are widely spread across the globe commanding almost a half of global population. Some Christians, particularly among some Pentecostals view Muslims with distrust, apprehension and rivalry. In Nairobi, Kenya, features of mistrust, disharmony, and intolerance among Pentecostal churches toward Muslims have been witnessed and vice versa. The study explored Christian-Muslim dialogue with particular reference to Pentecostal Christians and Muslims in Nairobi, Kenya. It examines Biblical and Qur’anic teaching on Christian-Muslim dialogue. Integrated Inclusivism Conceptual Model of interfaith dialogue is discussed showing how various areas of convergence and divergence work. Constructive Christian-Muslim dialogue should take into consideration integrated inclusivism ideals such as shared theological concepts and values, socio-political and economic dialogue and divergent theological concept. The paper recommends that Pentecostals Christians and Muslims should not ignore Biblical and Qur’anic teachings. Overarching interfaith hindrances should be reduced in order to talk to each other in a respectful way. In conclusion, interfaith dialogue is the solutions for effective dialogue between Muslims and Pentecostal Christians in Nairobi, Kenya. Key words: Christian-Muslim dialogue, christocentrism, divergent theological matters, integrated inclusivism conceptual model, interfaith dialogue, religious equality, Muslim umma, Pentecostal Christians, personal relationships, Religio-political interests, shura, socio-economic, socio-political and economic dialogue, socio-religious love, theological or reader presupposition.

ANALISIS DAN MAKNA TEOLOGI KETUHANAN YANG MAHA ESA DALAM KONTEKS PLURALISME AGAMA DI INDONESIA

AbstrakIndonesia adalah bangsa yang majemuk. Keadaan ini berpeluang dan sensitif terhadap konflik sosial jika sikap toleran yang rendah, kepentingan politik dan fanatisme. Tujuan penulisan yaitu menemukan makna teologi “Ketuhanan” dalam konteks pluralisme agama. Metologi penelitian dilakukan dengan studi analisis isi. Kesimpulannya yaitu, pertama; kata ketuhanan tidak boleh difahami dari aspek agama tertentu saja dalam kemajemukan di Indonesia. Kedua; ketuhanan berarti sifat-sifat yang mengindahkan Tuhan sebagai tampilan antropomorfis oleh agama manapun. Ketiga; Ketuhanan merupakan hasil sejarah perumusan sila pertama Pancasila dengan kesadaran akan bhineka sebagai realita yang harus dirawat, dijunjung tinggi dan dihormati dalam berbagai aspek hidup melebihi agama. Kata Kunci : Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa, Pluralisme Agama, Teologi AbstractA plural nation these circumstances are likely and sensitive to social conflict if low tolerance, political interests and fanaticism. The purpose of writing is to find the meaning of theology of as mentioned earlier in the context of religious pluralism. The methodology by content analysis, further interpret theologically. The concludes the theological meaning of God in the first principle of the Pancasila; is first, the meaning of divinity should not be understood from certain aspects of religion only in the context of pluralism in Indonesian. Second; divinity means the properties of God or attributes that need the God as an anthropomorphic appereance of and for any religions. Third; the sentences of “belief in the one and only God is the achierement of reconciliation of the historical resultsof the first principle of pancasila with the awareness of the difference as a reality that must be nurtured, upheld and respected in various aspects of life beyond certain religious values. Keywords: Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa, Pluralism, Theology

From Freire to religious pluralism: exploring dialogue in the classroom

The educational work of Paolo Freire on dialogue took place in a specific context: poverty and oppression in Brazil and Latin America in the 1960s. Similarly, Buber and Levinas were engaged in, or reflected on, contemporary philosophical debates. During the last half century, the irruption of the ‘Third World’ into geopolitics has been, most notably, the irruption of the non-Christian world into prominence. The context of religious pluralism makes new demands on the practice of dialogue as an educational tool but still benefits from the insights and wisdom of their thinking.

Travelling images and projected representations

This article examines how Mormons and Mormonism were represented in Norway in the period before and after their arrival as missionaries, c. 1840–1860. The religion came into existence in a US context of religious pluralism, where the idea, though not necessarily the practice, of religious freedom was central. It has been argued that the persecution of Mormons in the United States had to be coined in non-religious terms, and the religion represented as a fraud and orientalised as an un-American threat to the republic. The Norwegian religious context differed significantly as heterodoxy was opposed and only hesitantly tolerated in a limited scale. The article demonstrates how inimical images of Mormonism present in the United States were imported to Norway, and to a large part found resonance in inherent stereotypes of religious otherness already present. As Mormons changed from being an occidental abstraction to a domestic ‘problem’ in around 1850, the discourse of Mormonism as religious otherness was more openly framed within religious terms.

The Unity of Salvation: Divine Missions, the Church, and World Religions

The author addresses the doctrinal affirmations of the universality of God’s salvific will and the necessity of the church for salvation. Jacques Dupuis and Gavin D’Costa propose distinct ways of reconciling them; comparing their proposals illustrates the challenge that contemporary Catholic theology faces in its current context of religious pluralism. The author appeals to Bernard Lonergan’s work to suggest an alternative that both anticipates the presence of God outside the church and simultaneously affirms the necessity of the church for the salvation of all.

Dealing with Religious Differences in Italian Prisons: Relationships Between Institutions and Communities from Misrecognition to Mutual Transformation

Against the backdrop of the ‘formatting of religions’ thesis, this paper presents the outcomes of empirical research on religious assistance in ten prisons in the Italian region of Lazio. We construct a typology of the forms of relationships that exist between prisons and religious organisations in an increasingly pluralist context. These relationships can have their bases in (1) misrecognition, which is strictly speaking a form of non-relation; (2) adaptation, with a distinction drawn between instrumental adaptation, on the one hand, and formatting, on the other; (3) conflict; or (4) cooperation and mutual transformation. Each form of relationship is explained and discussed through the experiences of relevant individuals, with stories drawn from interviews conducted during our research. This typology shows that, in the Italian case at least, a context of religious pluralism and the coexistence of religious and secular worldviews and practices in public institutions do not necessarily have a ‘formatting’ effect on religious organisations, nor lead to any form of mutual transformation or ‘complementary learning’ process taking place. This ‘complementary learning’ process has been taken in our research as a working hypothesis. We take the term from the broader theoretical debate about the postsecular, but we want to make the point that the postsecular also has an empirical dimension which can be described and assessed through the kind of sociological research we conduct in this paper. This paper explores why no such complementary learning process has developed between institutions and religious groups in the Italian context, and briefly highlights how, conversely, this kind of postsecular relationship is promoted in the UK. At the same time, it argues that forms of resistance from religious groups to institutional formatting pressures can be observed in both the British context and in the results of our own research.

Karl Barth's Theology of Reconciliation in Dialogue with a Theology of Religions

AbstractKarl Barth has influenced Christian theology of mission in terms of his Trinitarian concept of God's mission. His theology of reconciliation retains inter-religious implication in missional context. However, Barth's theology of reconciliation is not explored in the context of religious pluralism. The reason is due to the neo-orthodox charge against him and theologians' one-sided critique of Barth as a conservative-evangelical theologian. In this paper at issue is to retrieve hermeneutically Barth as a theologian of reconciliation who stands for Christian witness to the grace of God in the world of religions.

International Human Rights, Religious Pluralism and the Future of Chieftaincy in Ghana

AbstractA revolutionary development that resulted from Africa's experience of colonialism was the emergence of the nation-state made up of previously separate ethnic states. By the end of the colonial period the rulers of these ethnic states — the chiefs — had lost most of their real political and judicial powers to the political leaders of the new nation-states. But in spite of the loss of effective political power the chiefs continued to wield moral influence over members of their ethnic groups. The limited reach of the nation-state in the post-colonial era has also meant a dependence on the chiefs, in many cases, for aspects of local governance. This, for example, is the case of Ghana. However, in the modern context of religious pluralism the intimate bond between the chiefs and the traditional religion exacerbates tension in situations of conflict between people's loyalty to the traditional state and their religious commitment. In some cases, chiefs invoke customary laws in attempt to enforce sanctions against individuals who refuse to observe certain customary practices for religious reasons. But this has implications for the human rights of citizens. This article discusses the implications of this situation for the future of chieftaincy as well as prospects for the protection of the human rights of citizens who for religious reasons choose to stay away from certain communal customary practices.

Commitment to One—Openness to Others: A Challenge for Christians

As we so often hear, Christians of every new generation, or in any new cultural context, have to answer for themselves the question Jesus posed for the first generation of disciples: “Who do you say I am?” (Mk 8:27) This is a question that can be answered only in the light of other questions—that is, the personal, social, political, scientific questions we find ourselves grappling with in our own age and experience. The meaning of Jesus “becomes flesh” again in the meaning and direction we struggle for in our own times.Among the questions that most stir the minds and feelings of Christians today, perhaps one of the most rankling and challenging is that of other religions traditions and other religious believers—the issue of religious pluralism. To answer the question “Who do you say I am?”, we have to connect it to the question “Who do you say they are?” How do we understand Jesus—his person and his work—in view of so many other religious persons and their words and works of wisdom? As Roger Haight has perceptively pointed out, the reality of other religions is not a question we take up after we have worked out our Christology. It enters into, and directs and determines, how we do our Christology from the very start.If I can try to formulate how “Who do you say I am?” translates into the context of religious pluralism, it might be something like: “How can I be truly committed to Christ and at the same time be truly open to other religions?” That, I think, captures the questions and the struggles many Christians are feeling as they try to understand themselves as Christians in a world of many religions.

Finding the Way in an Age of Religious Pluralism: The Relevance of William Law and the Christian Mystical Tradition

This article explores some of the important theological dynamics relevant to the Christian mystical tradition and suggests ways in which this tradition, in all its variety, might contribute to Christian self-understanding within the context of religious pluralism. It pursues this through an examination of the spiritual and theological pilgrimage of the eighteenth century Anglican divine, William Law (1686–1761).