Sebastian Kim - Böcker

Theology in the Public Sphere discusses the nature, methodology and issues in formulating public theology, the engagement of living religious traditions with their public environment - the economic, political and cultural spheres of common life.Public theology has emerged as theologians wrestle with the problem of the privatisation of Christian faith and seek to engage in dialogue with those outside church circles on various issues, urging Christians to participate in the public domain. It provides an alternative mode of engagement to any form of monopoly in public life by promoting critical inquiry and open debate. This landmark volume outlines a constructive model of doing theology in the public sphere. UIt draws on the author's extensive experience in a number of different international contexts and shows how public theological thinking is applied to a number of recent case studies such as the Danish cartoon affair, the debate about Sharia Law and the churches involvement in reconciliation.

Although emerging scholarship in the social sciences suggests that religion can be a potential catalyst of cosmopolitanism and global citizenship, few attempts have been made to bring to the fore new theoretical positions and empirical analyses of how cosmopolitanism -- as a philosophical notion, a practice and identity outlook -- can also shape and inform concrete religious affiliations. Key questions concerning the significance of cosmopolitan ideas and practices – in relation to particular religious experiences and discourses -- remain to be explored, both theoretically and empirically. This book takes as its starting point the emergence of cosmopolitanism -- as a major interdisciplinary field -- as a springboard for generating a productive dialogue among scholars working within a variety of intellectual disciplines and methodological traditions. The chapter contributions offer a serious attempt to critically engage both the limitations and possibilities of cosmopolitanism as an analytical and critical tool to understand a changing religious landscape in a globalizing world, namely, the so-called ‘new religious diversity’, religious conflict, and issues of migration, multiculturalism and transnationalism vis-à-vis the public exercise of religion. The contributors’ work is situated in a range of world sites in Africa, India, North America, Latin America, and Europe.This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of globalization, religion and politics, and the sociology of religion.

Although emerging scholarship in the social sciences suggests that religion can be a potential catalyst of cosmopolitanism and global citizenship, few attempts have been made to bring to the fore new theoretical positions and empirical analyses of how cosmopolitanism -- as a philosophical notion, a practice and identity outlook -- can also shape and inform concrete religious affiliations. Key questions concerning the significance of cosmopolitan ideas and practices – in relation to particular religious experiences and discourses -- remain to be explored, both theoretically and empirically. This book takes as its starting point the emergence of cosmopolitanism -- as a major interdisciplinary field -- as a springboard for generating a productive dialogue among scholars working within a variety of intellectual disciplines and methodological traditions. The chapter contributions offer a serious attempt to critically engage both the limitations and possibilities of cosmopolitanism as an analytical and critical tool to understand a changing religious landscape in a globalizing world, namely, the so-called ‘new religious diversity’, religious conflict, and issues of migration, multiculturalism and transnationalism vis-à-vis the public exercise of religion. The contributors’ work is situated in a range of world sites in Africa, India, North America, Latin America, and Europe.This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of globalization, religion and politics, and the sociology of religion.

The understanding of identity in relation to community has been a focus of academic studies in recent years. An exclusive self-understanding of the identity of one's own community, coupled with a hostile attitude toward other communities, often leads to communal conflicts. In particular, it is important to notice the significance of religion in the re-shaping of community identities in this process. This volume focuses first on communal or corporate understanding of identity. Secondly, this volume will assess the topic of identity from the perspectives of theology and religious studies. Thirdly, the volume will seek to address the issue of interaction between religious communities and wider society by looking at case studies from the Yorkshire area.

Now in its third edition, Christianity as a World Religion locates the Christian faith within its global context. Structured by geographical region, it covers Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and Oceania, showing how Christianity is locally rooted in different communities. Within each region, it considers the history of the spread and reception of Christianity there; distinctive forms of church, worship and theology; the interreligious relations of the churches; and Christian interaction with society, politics, and economics.New to this edition:- Further coverage of the role of migration and transnational movements- Additional attention to Orthodox Churches, Pentecostalism- More explicit coverage of race and race theory, gender and sexuality, theory and method of world Christianity- Relevant updates throughout, including #blacklivesmatter, climate-change, Hispanic migration to the US, the Covid-19 pandemic, the significance of Ukraine.- Chapter summaries and updated recommended readingsAlso included are study questions, maps, and 40 images. Online resources provide additional case studies for use by instructors. Methodologies covered include religious studies, theology, history, and cultural, social and development studies, so it is ideal for courses on World Christianity, Christianity as a Global Religion, the History of Christianity and contemporary Christian Theology

Now in its third edition, Christianity as a World Religion locates the Christian faith within its global context. Structured by geographical region, it covers Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and Oceania, showing how Christianity is locally rooted in different communities. Within each region, it considers the history of the spread and reception of Christianity there; distinctive forms of church, worship and theology; the interreligious relations of the churches; and Christian interaction with society, politics, and economics.New to this edition:- Further coverage of the role of migration and transnational movements- Additional attention to Orthodox Churches, Pentecostalism- More explicit coverage of race and race theory, gender and sexuality, theory and method of world Christianity- Relevant updates throughout, including #blacklivesmatter, climate-change, Hispanic migration to the US, the Covid-19 pandemic, the significance of Ukraine.- Chapter summaries and updated recommended readingsAlso included are study questions, maps, and 40 images. Online resources provide additional case studies for use by instructors. Methodologies covered include religious studies, theology, history, and cultural, social and development studies, so it is ideal for courses on World Christianity, Christianity as a Global Religion, the History of Christianity and contemporary Christian Theology

This book explores human dignity, human rights and social justice based on a Chinese interdisciplinary dialogue and global perspectives. In the Chinese and other global contexts today, social justice has been a significant topic among many disciplines and we believe it is an appropriate topic for philosophers, theologians, legal scholars, and social scientists to sit together, discuss, enrich each other, and then deepen our understanding of the topic. Many of them are concerned with the conjuncture between social justice, human rights, and human dignity. The questions this volume asks are: what’s the place of human rights in social justice? How is human dignity important in the discourse on human rights? And, through these inquiries, we ask further: how is possible to achieve humanist justice? This volume presents the significance, challenges, and constraints of human dignity in human rights and social justice and addresses the questions through philosophical, theological, sociological, political, and legal perspectives and these are placed in dialogue between the Chinese and other global settings. We are concerned with the norms regarding human dignity, human rights and social justice while we take seriously into account their practice. This volume consists of two main sections. The first section examines Chinese perspectives on human rights and social justice, in which both from Confucianism and Christianity are considered and the issues such as patriotism, religious freedom, petition, social protest, the rights of marginalized people, and sexual violence are studied.  The second section presents the perspectives of Christian public theologians in the global contexts. They examine the influence of Christian thought and practice in the issues of human rights and social justice descriptively and prescriptively and address issues such as religious laws and rights, diaconia, majoritarianism, general equality,social-economic disparities, and climate justice from global perspectives including in the contexts of America, Australia, Israel and Europe. With contributions by experts from mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, USA and Norway, the book provides valuable cross-cultural and interdisciplinary insights and perspectives. As such it will appeal to political and religious leaders and practitioners, particularly those working in socially engaged religious and civil organizations in various geopolitical contexts, including the Korean Peninsula and Japan.