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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Aspects of religions (non-Christian) > Theology > General
This volume provides an overview of the nature and scope of the
concept of Sunna both in pre-modern and modern Islamic discussions.
The main focus is on shedding more light on the context in which
the term Sunna in the major works of Islamic law and legal theory
across all of the major madhahib was employed during the first six
centuries Hijri.
This work demonstrates the significance of Karl Barth's Christology
by examining it in the context of his orientation toward the
classical tradition - an orientation that was both critical and
sympathetic. To compare this Christology with the doctrine's
history, Sumner suggests first that the Chalcedonian portrait of
the incarnation is conceputally vulnerable at a number of points.
By recasting the doctrine in actualist terms - the history of
Jesus' lived existence as God's fulfillment of His covenant with
creatures, rather than a metaphysical uniting of natures - Barth is
able to move beyond problems inherent in the tradition. Despite a
number of formal and material differences, however, Barth's
position coheres with the intent of the ancient councils and ought
to be judged as orthodox. Barth's great contribution to Christology
is in the unapologetic affirmation of 'the humanity of God'.
Due to the scarcity of sources regarding actual Jewish and Muslim
communities and settlements, there has until now been little work
on either the perception of or encounters with Muslims and Jews in
medieval Scandinavia and the Baltic Region. The volume provides the
reader with the possibility to appreciate and understand the
complexity of Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations in the medieval
North. The contributions cover topics such as cultural and economic
exchange between Christians and members of other religions;
evidence of actual Jews and Muslims in the Baltic Rim; images and
stereotypes of the Other. The volume thus presents a previously
neglected field of research that will help nuance the overall
picture of interreligious relations in medieval Europe.
This essential introduction to contemporary constructive theology
charts the most important disciplinary trends of the moment. It
gives a historical overview of the field and discusses key
hermeneutical and methodological concerns. The contributors apply a
constructive perspective to a wide range of approaches, ranging
from biblical hermeneutics and postcolonial studies to comparative,
political, and black theology. What is Constructive Theology? shows
how diverse and interdisciplinary constructive theology can be by
exploring key themes in the field. The contributors explore the
porous boundaries between Christianity and other religions, reflect
on contextual, liberation and constructive theologies from Africa
and from Black British perspectives, explore the connection between
embodiment, epistemology and hermeneutics, and take a constructive
approach to the dangerous memories and theologies of colonial
histories in Belgium and Native Americans in the United States.
This sampler of the field will help you rethink theologies and find
constructive alternatives.
Moral Reflections on Foreign Policy in a Religious War argues that
foreign policy thinkers and actors must take religion more
seriously than they have in analysis and action. The tragedy of
U.S. policy in Iraq is in part due to the dangers of ignoring
religious conflicts in that country until it was too late, and then
responding too lightly. Working as a philosopher of religion and
politics, Stone shows how both in the United States and the Middle
East unreflective religion in a dialogic relationship with politics
power has proven hazardous. Stone proposes policy changes for the
United States based on his analysis and calls for reform in the
ways that both politics and religion are understood. Without peace
between religions, there will be no peace in the Middle East.
Without understanding how religion functions in international
politics, the United States is doomed to repeat disastrous policies
in the Middle East.
Scholars have long noted the prevalence of praise of God in
Luke-Acts. This monograph offers the first comprehensive analysis
of this important feature of Luke's narrative. It focuses on
twenty-six scenes in which praise occurs, studied in light of
ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman discourse about praise of deity and
in comparison with how praise appears in the narratives of Tobit
and Joseph and Aseneth. The book argues that praise of God
functions as a literary motif in all three narratives, serving to
mark important moments in each plot, particularly in relation to
the themes of healing, conversion, and revelation. In Luke-Acts
specifically, the plot presents the long-expected visitation of
God, which arrives in the person of Jesus, bringing glory to the
people of Israel and revelation to the Gentiles. The motif of
praise of God aligns closely with the plot's structure,
communicating to the reader that varied (and often surprising)
events in the story - such as healings in Luke and conversions in
Acts - together comprise the plan of God. The praise motif thus
demonstrates the author's efforts to combine disparate source
material into carefully constructed historiography.
This volume consists of 12 essays published by the author between
the years 1997-2007, a thirteenth paper read at a conference in
2006, and a long introduction prepared specifically for the
collection. All of the essays deal with epistemological issues
attendant on conceptualizing and defining religion, understanding
what is likely to be involved in studying and discussing beliefs,
and attempting to explain religion and religions by drawing on the
contemporary cognitive and evolutionary sciences. The problem of
how best to understand and represent the cultural sensitivities of
others is addressed by considering the works of three predecessors,
Edward Burnett Tylor, Lucien Levy-Bruhl, and A. Irving Hallowell.
Many interpreters read John 6 as a contrast between Jesus and
Judaism: Jesus repudiates Moses and manna and offers himself as an
alternative. In contrast, this monograph argues that John 6 places
elements of the Exodus story in a positive and constructive
relationship to Jesus. This reading leads to an understanding of
John as an interpreter of Exodus who, like other contemporary
Jewish interpreters, sees current experiences in light of the
Exodus story. This approach to John offers new possibilities for
assessing the gospela (TM)s relationship to Jewish scripture, its
dualism, and its metaphorical language.
Paul Tillich's Philosophical Theology takes up the challenge as to
whether his thought remains relevant fifty years after his death.
In opposition to those who believe that his writings have little to
say to us today, this book argues that his thought is largely
exemplary of open theological engagement with the contemporary
intellectual situation.
Colonial Contexts and Postcolonial Theology focuses on what
postcolonial theologies look like in colonial contexts,
particularly in dialogue with the First Nations Peoples in
Australia and the Asia-Pacific. The contributors have roots in the
Asia-Pacific, but the struggles, theologies and concerns they
address are shared across the seas.
The book deals with the relation between identity, ethics, and
ethos in the New Testament. The focus falls on the way in which the
commandments or guidelines presented in the New Testament writings
inform the behaviour of the intended recipients. The habitual
behaviour (ethos) of the different Christian communities in the New
Testament are plotted and linked to their identity. Apart from
analytical categories like ethos, ethics, and identity that are
clearly defined in the book, efforts are also made to broaden the
specific analytical categories related to ethical material. The way
in which, for instance, narratives, proverbial expressions,
imagery, etc. inform the reader about the ethical demands or ethos
is also explored.
When Psy's (Park Jae-sang) music video "Gangnam Style" went viral,
it achieved not only overnight global appeal, but also made the
Korean sensation an unexpected pop star breaking into the
mainstream American music market. The popularity of Gangnam Style
in the American scene has as much to say about our racialized
society as is does about the man who fashioned a rap music with an
infectious dance routine. Those who oppose this view maintain that
Gangnam Style has achieved an overnight global appeal in part
because of its catchy tune and a dance that is easy for audiences
to imitate. As we listen to his music video, do we Americans laugh
at him or with him? In this book, the authors respond to this
question from historical and theological perspectives, that tackle
the pressing issues concerning racial stereotypes, imposed
masculinity, and imitating another in order to ridicule him/her.
FEW BRITISH EXPLORERS IN ARABIA have produced books whose
importance as travelogues is trans-cended by their literary
quality. One such is The Holy Cities of Arabia, published to
critical acclaim in 1928, with its author hailed as a worthy
successor to Burckhardt, Burton and Doughty. Unrivalled among works
by Western travellers to Islam's holy cities, this account of a
pilgrimage to Makkah in 1925-26 is made all the more remark-able by
its author's timing. In 1925 `Abd al-`Aziz Ibn Saud brought to an
end centuries of rule over the Hijaz by the Hashimite sharifs and
their Ottoman overlords. Rutter, living as a learned Muslim Arab in
a Makkan household, had a ringside seat as Riyadh imposed its writ
on Islam's holy cities. As striking as his account of life in
Makkah before modernization are his interviews with Ibn Saud, and
his journeys to al-Ta'if and to the City of the Prophet,
al-Madinah. The Holy Cities of Arabia proved to be its author's
only full-length work. After a brief career as a Middle East
traveller, Rutter lapsed into obscurity. This new edition aims to
revive a neglected masterpiece and to establish Rutter's
reputation. Little was known about him until now and the
introduction tells the story of his life for the first time,
assessing his talents as a travel writer and analysing his
significance as a British convert.
This is a crucial volume exploring the relationship between the
disciplines of Religious Studies and Theology."Theology and
Religious Studies" seeks to explore the relationship between the
disciplines of Religious Studies and Theology. In particular, it
aims to examine whether the two disciplines are strange bedfellows
sharing little in common but bedding together out of sheer habit,
or whether there is something that the two share in an organic
sense, which sustains the link between them.These questions have
important implications not just for how the respective disciplines
define themselves and their boundaries, but also for their place in
the secular context of higher education in modern universities. The
question of how the two are related is one that concerns all
scholars of religion, since it has important implications for
approach and method in the study of religions. Particularly
relevant are questions to do with subjectivity, objectivity, and
reflexivity in the study of religion; 'insider' and 'outsider'
approaches; 'scientific' and 'theological' methodologies; and
'public'/'private' dichotomies in defining the 'secular' and the
'religious'.This volume is based on a seminar series conducted over
2005-06 in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, at the
University of Wales, Lampeter, UK. It brings together papers
presented by leading scholars of Theology and Religious Studies on
various aspects of their respective disciplines. These include
origins; history; founding premises; orientations; methodology;
engagement with feminist and post-colonial critiques; and shifts in
theoretical paradigms over time. The intended result is the
generation of dialogue between the two disciplines, and a
self-reflexive examination of what each is about. There is very
little available literature attempting such a dialogue between
Theology and Religious Studies, and this book will fill a crucial
gap in this area.
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