Suchergebnisse

Dedication -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Contributors -- Introduction -- Part I: International Perspectives -- Chapter 1: Specters of a New Ecumenism: In Search of a Church "Out of Joint" -- The Hauntings -- Specters of the Ecumenical Movement -- The New Ecumenism -- Notes -- Chapter 2: Religion and the State: Contexts, Controversies, and Conjectures in Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt -- Introduction -- Australia -- Emergence of the Secular State -- Controversy over State Support of Religious Schools -- Indonesia -- Emergence of the Secular State

In commemoration of Constantine's grant of freedom of religion to Christians, this wide-ranging volume examines the ambiguous legacy of this emperor in relation to the present world, discussing the perennial challenges of relations between religions and governments. The authors examine the new global ecumenical movement inspired by Pentecostals, the role of religion in the Irish Easter rebellion against the British, and the relation between religious freedom and government in the United States. Other essays debate the relation of Islam to the violence in Nigeria, the place of the family in church-state relations in the Philippines, the role of confessional identity in the political struggles in the Balkans, and the construction of Slavophile identity in nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox political theology. The volume also investigates the contrast between written constitutions and actual practice in the relations between governments and religions in Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt. The case studies and surveys illuminate both specific contexts and also widespread currents in religion-state relations across the world.

One of the critical issues in interreligious relations today is the connection, both actual and perceived, between sacred sources and the justification of violent acts as divinely mandated. Fighting Words makes solid text-based scholarship accessible to the general public, beginning with the premise that a balanced approach to religious pluralism in our world must build on a measured, well-informed response to the increasingly publicized and sensationalized association of terrorism and large-scale violence with religion. In his introduction, Renard provides background on the major scriptures of seven religious traditions—Jewish, Christian (including both the Old and New Testaments), Islamic, Baha'i, Zoroastrian, Hindu, and Sikh. Eight chapters then explore the interpretation of select facets of these scriptures, focusing on those texts so often claimed, both historically and more recently, as inspiration and justification for every kind of violence, from individual assassination to mass murder. With its nuanced consideration of a complex topic, this book is not merely about the religious sanctioning of violence but also about diverse ways of reading sacred textual sources

This book explores different ways in which Christians can creatively interpret the sacred writings of other religions and shows how the various Christian beliefs can be re-articulated in the light of interreligious dialogue, including revelation, Christ, the Holy Spirit, church and salvation, the ethics of violence, and ecology.