The rapid development of African Christianity and its offshoots in the Diaspora is rooted in colonial history and resistance to oppression, exploitation and slavery.Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora offers new resources for the interpretation and analysis of African Christian movements. It draws attention to a number of key issues, including the translatability of the Christian faith, the process of contextualization in various cultures, the place and role of indigenous agencies, the global impact of contemporary African Christian expressions, its influence on ecumenical relations and inter-religious encounters, and its way of shaping new religious identities and landscapes in response to power relations and artificial boundaries. Topics covered include the concept of diaspora, deconstructing colonial mission, conversion, African cosmologies, African retentions, female leadership dynamics, liberation theology, a new discourse around HIV/AIDS, transnational religious networks, pentecostal/charismatic movements, charismatic renewal within former mission churches, dynamics of reverse mission, outreach via cyberspace, specific studies on Anglican, Baptist, Adventist and Kimbanguist missions, and the need for intercultural and interdenominational bridge building.

Posttraditionale Gemeinschaften tragen durch die Erschaffung ortsgebundener Utopien mit eigenen Mythen und Ritualen zur Wiederverzauberung der Welt bei, so der franzosische Soziologe Michel Maffesoli. An der Universitat Rostock wird untersucht, inwiefern diese Gemeinschaften Ausdrucksgestalten einer Religionsproduktivitat darstellen. Bilden sich uber eine religionshybride Kultur neue Formen von Religion oder religios uberformte Lebensstile jenseits institutionalisierter Religionspraktiken heraus? Entgegen der revisionsbedurftigen These vom Verschwinden der Religion soll in Erfahrung gebracht werden, wie sich Religion an alten Dorfkirchen und anderen auratischen Orten moglicherweise neu und anders herausbildet. In den Blick geraten somit auch die besonderen Formen von Vergemeinschaftung und Vernetzung, Festkulturen und Events wie Hoffeste, Werthaltungen und soziale Motive."

The rapid development of African Christianity and its offshoots in the Diaspora is rooted in colonial history and resistance to oppression, exploitation and slavery. Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora offers new resources for the interpretation and analysis of African Christian movements. It draws attention to a number of key issues, including the translatability of the Christian faith, the process of contextualization in various cultures, the place and role of indigenous agencies, the global impact of contemporary African Christian expressions, its influence on ecumenical relations and inter-religious encounters, and its way of shaping new religious identities and landscapes in response to power relations and artificial boundaries. Topics covered include the concept of diaspora, deconstructing colonial mission, conversion, African cosmologies, African retentions, female leadership dynamics, liberation theology, a new discourse around HIV/AIDS, transnational religious networks, pentecostal/charismatic movements, charismatic renewal within former mission churches, dynamics of reverse mission, outreach via cyberspace, specific studies on Anglican, Baptist, Adventist and Kimbanguist missions, and the need for intercultural and interdenominational bridge building.

In Africa as elsewhere, many scholars of religion are involved in both the study of religions and engaged in the field of dialogue. But what is the relationship between these two domains? Does the engagement in dialogue illegitimately interfere with the commitment to sound research? Should the study of religions be bound to a scientific ethos that furthers the principle of dialogue--or would this turn religious studies into an ideological endeavor? Is dialogue possibly a crucial aspect of a future history of religions, especially in the context of Christian-Muslim relations in Africa? These are some of the issues addressed in this volume.