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Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > Ecumenism
This is a collection of writings on the Eucharist by one of the
most important theological thinkers of our time. The theology of
John Zizioulas presents a beautiful vision of the Church as
Eucharistic communion, in which human persons both are gathered
into Jesus Christ and are sent back into the world. In his previous
books, Zizioulas focused on the way this communion is related to
the communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which calls us to
understand being as communion and provides the only foundation for
otherness and identity. With its sustained attention directly to
the Eucharistic communion, this volume provides the context for
those discussions. Zizioulas here explores the biblical dimensions
and eschatological foundation of the Eucharist, the celebration of
the Eucharist by the Church, and the ethos of the Eucharistic
community. These essays are provocatively concrete and practical,
showing once again that Zizioulas' teaching on persons, communion
and otherness has radical implications for the life of the Church
and its relationship to the world.
Practical theology has outgrown its traditional pastoral paradigm.
The articles in this handbook recognize that faith, spirituality,
and lived religion, within and beyond institutional communities,
refer to realms of cultures, ritual practices, and symbolic orders,
whose boundaries are not clearly defined and whose contents are
shifting. The International Handbook of Practical Theology offers
insightful transcultural conceptions of religion and religious
matters gathered from various cultures and traditions of faith. The
first section presents 'concepts of religion'. Chapters have to do
with considerations of the conceptualizing of religion in the
fields of 'anthropology', 'community', 'family', 'institution',
'law', 'media', and 'politics' among others. The second section is
dedicated to case studies of 'religious practices' from the
perspective of their actors. The third section presents major
theoretical discourses that explore the globally significant
diversity and multiplicity of religion. Altogether, sixty-one
authors from different parts of the world encourage a rethinking of
religious practice in an expanded, transcultural, globalized, and
postcolonial world.
An important interfaith dialogue examines causes of global
inequality and explores solutions. In A World of Inequalities:
Christian and Muslim Perspectives, fourteen leading Christian and
Muslim scholars respond to the global crisis of inequality by
demanding and modeling interreligious dialogue. This volume takes
an intersectional approach, examining aspects of global inequality
including gender, race and ethnicity, caste and social class,
economic and sociopolitical disparities, and slavery. Essays
explore the roots of these realities, how they are treated in
Christian and Muslim traditions and texts, and how the two faiths
can work together to address inequality. A World of Inequalities
brings readers into the conversation, inviting them to engage in a
similar dialogue by offering pairs of essays alongside texts for
close reading. Scholars, religious leaders, and students of
theology and theological ethics will find this a useful resource to
address this pressing issue.
In recent bilateral ecumenical dialogue the aim of the dialogue has
been to reach some form of doctrinal consensus. The three major
chapters of the book discuss the variety of forms of doctrinal
consensus found in ecumenical dialogues among Anglicans, Lutherans
and Roman Catholics. In general, the dialogue documents argue for
agreement/consensus based on commonality or compatibility. Each of
the three dialogue processes has specific characteristics and
formulates its argument in a unique way. The Lutheran-Roman
Catholic dialogue has a particular interest in hermeneutical
questions and proposes various forms of 'differentiated' or
perspectival forms of consensus. The Anglican-Roman Catholic
dialogue emphasises the correctness of interpretations. The
documents consciously look towards a 'common future', not the
separated past. "Ecclesiological Investigations" brings together
quality research and inspiring debates in ecclesiology worldwide
from a network of international scholars, research centres and
projects in the field.
This is a rich collection of fifteen articles by European, North
American and Asian theologians who are concerned with the concept,
life, unity and future of the church. It offers a wealth of broad
perspectives on ecclesiology by scholars from Catholic, Protestant
and Orthodox backgrounds. The first section, Perspectives on
Ecumenical Ecclesiology, comprises reflections on postmodern
ecclesiologies as well as on the development and problems
concerning ecumenical methods and models of unity. The second
section, Communion Ecclesiology and Otherness, provides some
pertinent deliberations on how an ecclesiology of communion can
integrate otherness. In particular, Zizioulas communion
ecclesiology is critically examined, the possibility for a
retrieval of Eucharistic theology between Catholics and Orthodox is
put forward, and Tillards communion ecclesiology is appraised as
offering resources for innerdenominational otherness. The final
section, Ecclesiology in Global Contexts, considers critically the
possibility of evangelical ecclesiology as an answer to ethnic
impaired Christian community. The role of the (Catholic) Church and
its values in Europe and vis-a-vis the European Constitution is
examined. The Church of Nigerias Constitutional Revision (2005) and
its ecclesial- ecumenical implications comes into focus, and three
notable concepts of unity, as developed by three Indian scholars,
S.K. George, John Sadiq and Karem David, are evaluated. Finally,
the Japanese diaspora in the States is appraised as a place where a
particular Japanese Christian vision could emerge through the
internationalist ecclesiology developed by Japanese Christian
missionaries.
The book, in the main, discusses issues relating to mission,
ecumenism, and theological education and is presented in four
sections. The first segment discusses works on ecumenical and
theological education and assesses the relevance of the World
Council of Churches. Other issues discussed in this segment relate
to the interrelationships that exist between academic theology,
ecumenism, and Christianity. The World Missionary Conference held
in Edinburgh in 1910, which set the agenda for world-wide mission
in a promising manner in the 1920s, is also assessed in this
section of the work. The second segment, which covers Religion and
Public Space, discusses works that examine the relationships
between religion and power, religion and development, religion and
traditional religious beliefs, and religion and practices in
Africa. The third segment of the book treats Religion and Cultural
Practices in African and how all these work out in couching out an
African theology and African Christianity. Some of the issues
discussed in this section related to African traditional
philosophy, spiritism, and the interrelationships that exist
between African Christianity and African Traditional Religion. The
last segment of the book discusses the issue of African biblical
hermeneutics and specifically looks at contemporary hermeneutical
approaches to biblical interpretations in Africa.
This book presents the first comprehensive account of the changing
ecumenical relationships between Britain and Serbia. While the
impetus for the collection is the commemoration of the Serbian
seminarians who settled in and around Oxford towards the end of the
First World War, the scope is much broader, including detailed
accounts of the relationships between the Church of England and
Serbia and its Orthodox Church from the middle of the nineteenth
century until World War II. It includes studies of leading thinkers
from the period, especially the charismatic Nikolaj Velimirovic.
The contributors use many unpublished resources that reveal the
centrality of the churches in promoting the Serbian cause through
the course of the First World War and in its aftermath.
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