Studies in Theology, Society and Culture – serie

This book offers a comparative theological exploration of the challenges and opportunities presented by the Qur’ānic representation of Christianity as the People of the Book, ahl al-kitāb, in the Qur’ānic commentary tradition. The research is divided into three parts. The first part explores the Qur’ānic understanding of the People of the Book through traditional Islamic exegesis, known as tafsīr, of four Islamic scholars whose work spans more than a thousand years. Part two takes a closer look at the pre-Islamic period, the occasion of revelation of the Qur’ān as well as the Arabic speaking Christian response to Islam in the post-conquest period. Part Three explores the modern use of the term People of the Book by several scholars in the context of our increasingly interconnected and pluralist societies.

«At long last, English-speaking readers now have access to the most comprehensive and insightful account of the vision that inspires the rapprochement and lived interreligious dialogue between Christians and Muslims inaugurated in the life and thought of the late Paolo Dall’Oglio S.J., and the interreligious community of al-Khalil in the monastery of Mar Musa in Syria. This book is «must reading» for all of us engaged in the dialogue between Muslims and Christians in the spirit of Nostra Aetate and the life and legacy of Louis Massignon.»(Rev. Dr. Sidney H Griffith, Catholic University, Washington D. C.)In Love with Islam, Believing in Jesus is a translation of Fr. Paolo Dall’Oglio’s seminal book Amoureux de l’Islam, croyant en Jésus, written in collaboration with Églantine Gabaix-Hialé.In the book Fr. Paolo, an Italian born Jesuit who made Syria and the Monastery of Deir Mar Musa his adopted home, explains his affection for Islam and his hope for the Church and Christians to engage in more fruitful dialogue with Muslims through the sharing of everyday life. The ecumenical community dedicated to dialogue welcomes thousands of visitors from all nationalities throughout the year. With his thirty years of experience and commitment, Fr. Paolo takes a position on the relationship between the Church and Islam. Questions addressed in this book include, how to live together and what is the point of living together? How can the mission of the Christian faith take place in a Muslim environment? And what is the theological value for Christians of Muhammad’s prophecy?In his bold vision of Christian-Muslim dialogue, Fr Paolo explicitly renounces both the polemical approach and the excessively diplomatic approach, rather advocating for a «performative theology» based on radical Christian hospitality, guided by the Gospel as its source, and tending towards a final harmony inspired by the Holy Spirit and common eschatological anticipation.

In the latter part of the twentieth century, against the backdrop of the Sharpeville Massacre and the Soweto Uprising, theatre became a central means of artistic resistance in apartheid South Africa. One of the most significant plays from this time was Woza Albert!, which was created and staged by the actor-duo Percy Mtwa and Mbongeni Ngema, with the help and creative input of the renowned theatre-maker and political activist, Barney Simon. What made this protest play so powerful and provocative was the fact that it restaged the Christ-drama, as presented in the Gospels, in the context of apartheid South Africa. This book sets out to explore this performance of Christ during one of the darkest hours in South Africa’s history, by turning to – and offering an in-depth investigation of – the theological dramatic theory of the Swiss Catholic theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar.

This comparative study of the history of the Catholic Church in China and Vietnam from the seventeenth to the twentieth century opens up new perspectives for the understanding of the presence of Christianity in Asia. The author narrates the biographies of a number of outstanding missionaries and Christians from China and Vietnam and tries to understand them in their respective historical backgrounds by applying the principle of mutual illumination: the experience of China may help to understand the Vietnamese reality and vice versa. In this way some interesting similarities between European missionaries and local Christians are revealed. At the same time the parallel biographies from China and Vietnam throw a light on the peculiar cultural and political contexts of Christianity in the two nations. The book, based on recent research in several languages, is a pioneering attempt at writing comparative ecclesiastical history in Asia and offers an insightful synopsis, occasionally even including observations on Japan and Korea. The study presents new questions and fields for further research, including native church leadership, Christian architecture, arts, and literature, and common theological vocabularies. The work discloses hitherto unnoticed spiritual links between China and Vietnam.

«What an extraordinarily strong and beautiful collection of essays! Ranging from studies of the Bible and liturgy through various facets of theology and philosophy to political and interreligious dialogue, not one piece fails to deliver some new insight to the reader. It speaks well to the significance of Dermot Lane’s life and work that such an excellent medley has been assembled. In paying this singular tribute, the volume also contributes to a wide range of religious issues in clearly written prose that is by turns intelligent, critical, poetic, pastoral, and beautiful.»(Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ Emerita Distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University, New York City)This book is a collection of essays, each focused on the state of a particular question in contemporary theology, written in honour of the distinguished Irish theologian, Dermot A. Lane. Lane, in his extensive corpus, seeks to bring constructive perspectives to bear on a range of issues in theology. The contributors to this volume include former colleagues and students of Dermot Lane, and theologians from other faculties of theology in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, who have collaborated with him.In tribute to Lane’s legacy, this Festschrift seeks to offer constructive intradisciplinary perspectives on select questions in contemporary theology, relating to sacred texts, liturgy, philosophy, the God question, anthropology, race, ecology, politics, ecumenical dialogue, interreligious dialogue, ecclesiology, and hope.

Six decades on from Vatican II, the Catholic Church continues to struggle with a crisis precipitated by clerical child sexual abuse. The faith of believers has been shaken and a chasm has opened between popular conceptions of the church and the theological ones prized by Scripture and Tradition.Seeking to bridge the chasm, this work approaches the church as «sacrament of the world». It underscores the need for continuing ecclesial reform while also insisting on the importance of mutual engagement between church and world, even when the relationship between them is strained and the questions arising are divisive. Among the most complex of those are ones associated with Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, an encyclical that was even dismissed by many committed Catholics. Yet, as history frequently does, questions that once appeared to be closed can reopen in surprising ways, thereby forcing us to grapple afresh with the mysterious workings of divine providence in ways that are quite challenging.

Spirit Christology has emerged as an important focus in recent theology. It offers new perspectives on Christology and Pneumatology. Can these new perspectives lead to advances in trinitarian theology itself? The classical theologies of both East and West tended to express great reserve about moving too easily from the economy of salvation to ideas about God in se. In the twentieth century, Karl Rahner’s argument that the ‘economic’ Trinity is the ‘immanent’ Trinity and vice versa helped lead to a significant erosion of this reserve, though not without controversy. The work of David Coffey represents a significant contribution to reflection on this nexus of questions. This book examines his treatment of the relation of Spirit Christology to Logos Christology, his reformulation of Rahner’s axiom, and his suggestion that Spirit Christology offers an ‘ascending’ basis for a ‘mutual love’ Pneumatology, in the service of a renewed trinitarian theology. It presents an analysis of Coffey’s achievement in its various contexts, historical and contemporary. It highlights his methodological balance and argues that his theology represents an important development within the tradition, casting new light on issues of pressing contemporary interest.

How can one believe in a God of love amid all the evil and suffering found in the world? How does one do theology ‘after Auschwitz’, while vast numbers of people still have to endure violent oppression every day? This book seeks to address such questions from a standpoint informed by life in Africa, which in the face of extraordinary difficulties bears witness to Gospel hope by demonstrating forgiveness in action and promoting reconciliation.The work unfolds in two parts. In the first part, a description of the misery that characterises much of life in Africa in the recent past opens up to a theological consideration of the underlying causes and of God’s response to them. In the second part, the joy which is so characteristic of life in Africa even in places of immense suffering sets the scene for detailed reflections on liturgy, memory, forgiveness and hope.

Where is our economy heading? Have we lost something valuable in the human quest for efficiency and perpetual growth? What human qualities are being eroded as we rely on the modern market mechanism to coordinate our daily lives? This book poses a theological challenge to contemporary economic life through a re-discovery of the historical roots of the theological covenant in society. The author places the covenant in contrast with the contract, exploring the distinction between the two concepts, their significance and their interaction in the economic market. The result is a new proposal – the ‘Two Pillars’ paradigm – that challenges the fundamentals of modern economics and promotes the idea of a balanced market which allows for genuine human relationships, freedom and economic justice. The author illustrates the practical use of the paradigm through the example of long-term employment arrangements, and applies it as a basis for dialogue with scholars ranging from Adam Smith to modern-day economists.

This book aims to explore the reality of dual religious belonging and to promote a better understanding of this concept. With this purpose in mind, the author examines changes in the global religious landscape in recent decades and analyses the theory of dual (or multiple) belonging, as well as discussing dual religious ‘belongers’ such as Henri Le Saux, Jules Monchanin, Bede Griffiths and Raimundo Panikkar. The book also explores the critical elements of a theology of dual belonging by examining the sense of ‘self’; the Buddhist idea of ‘no-self’; religious identity; the symbol as a means of divine communication; the notion of truth; and the concept of how God speaks through different religions. Finally, the author considers the crucial idea of ‘conversion’ or ‘transformation’.

This book studies the historical, religious and political concerns of the Iraqi Shi‘i community as interpreted by the members of that community who now live in the United Kingdom and Ireland, following the 2003-2010 war and occupation in Iraq. It opens up a creative space to explore dialogue between Islam and the West, looking at issues such as intra-Muslim conflict, Muslim-Christian relations, the changing face of Arab Islam and the experience of Iraq in the crossfire of violence and terrorism – all themes which are currently emerging in preaching and in discussion among Iraqi Shi‘a in exile. The book’s aim is to explore possibilities for dialogue with Iraqi Shi‘i communities who wish, in the midst of political, social and religious transition, to engage with elements of Christian theology such as pastoral and liberation theology.

This book is a theological reflection on the broken state of faith within the Catholic Church in Ireland following more than two decades of revelations about institutional and child sexual abuse and the Church’s now acknowledged failure to respond to the abuse in an appropriate way. The result has been broken lives, broken faith and a broken church.While the book has a theological purpose, it employs a see–judge–act methodology in attempting to come to terms with a very complex problem. Following a broad introduction, the first section sets out to listen to the voices of the victims. The second section consists of an interdisciplinary academic analysis, with significant input from psychology and also from history and social studies. The final section of the book engages in theology, seeking to place us in a Kairos moment that might allow us to look beyond our broken faith. This, however, requires an analysis of the theological misunderstandings that led to the aberration of clericalism, the resulting abuse of power and the wider malaise within the Church. St Paul is suggested as a «mentor», as we seek to restore trust and rebuild the Church in a radically new way. The book ultimately seeks a renewal of our broken faith, searching for trajectories towards healing and wholeness, truth and reconciliation.

In the areas of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, the word ‘reconciliation’ has often been branded a negative term because it implies a resolution agreed upon by all parties in a given society, which for many seems an unachievable ideal. This book looks at the concept of reconciliation from a theological point of view, analysing its use historically within theology and presenting a new model of a practical theology of reconciliation. Using narrative research, it explores this idea within the context of Northern Ireland and offers valuable insights into the theological use of reconciliation by members of communities based in a conflict zone.The goal of Embodied Peacebuilding is to establish reconciliation as a prominent concept in the field of practical theology and to give a voice to those peacebuilders who are using reconciliation as a common theme within Northern Ireland.

This book commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, which concluded in 1965. A selection of essays by distinguished Irish theologians offers an objective assessment of the historical reception and pastoral implementation of Vatican II in Ireland with the benefit of half a century’s hindsight. The authors discuss from a variety of different perspectives the theological significance of the Council for the self-understanding and reform of the Catholic church, both in the past and for the future.

This book presents a qualitative study of the «Gospel of Prosperity» preached by the Charismatic and Neo-Pentecostal churches in Ghana, with a particular focus on its soteriological significance. The author explores the concept of the Gospel of Prosperity from a number of different angles, surveying its historical and ideological background, analysing its specific context in a Ghanaian environment and, finally, looking at its theological and soteriological relevance, compared with classical Christian teaching and especially Catholic systematic teaching. The theological investigation carried out here reveals both divergences and convergences, demonstrating areas where the Catholic tradition is challenged by the Gospel of Prosperity as well as vice versa. This analysis of the strengths and weaknesses within both traditions constitutes a springboard for a possible dialogue and access to common ground. Such a dialogue should be of great interest not only because of its significance for theological scholarship, but also because of the practical influence it could have on the lives of Christians, both in Ghana and elsewhere in the West African subregion.

This book gathers together the proceedings of the conference Trinity and Salvation: Theological, Spiritual and Aesthetic Perspectives held at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Dublin, in February 2008. The last few decades have seen a significant revival in Trinitarian theology. From being perceived as an esoteric and speculative doctrine, the Trinity is increasingly seen as a resource from which a variety of theological and spiritual themes can usefully be explored. As Karl Rahner remarked, if the Trinity is a mystery of salvation, it cannot be disconnected from Christian spirituality and faith. In this book the theology of the Trinity is discussed from contemplative, aesthetic and inter-religious perspectives. Such approaches are shown to be rooted in the Patristic and medieval tradition and continue to be prominent as Trinitarian theology becomes more inter-disciplinary in method. Thus the book explores the interface between the Trinity and mysticism, visual art, music, anthropology, ecclesiology and inter-religious dialogue. It offers fresh perspectives on a perennial theological theme in a way that makes the Trinity more credible for today.