Church, State and Civil Society

Church, State and Civil Society
Author: David Fergusson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2004-12-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521529594

At a time when secular liberalism is in crisis and when the civic contribution of religion is being re-assessed, the rich tradition of Christian political theology demands renewed attention. This book, based on the 2001 Bampton Lectures, explores the relationship of the church both to the state and civil institutions. Arguing that theological approaches to the state were often situated within the context of Christendom and are therefore outmoded, the author claims that a more differentiated approach can be developed by attention to the concept of civil society. The book offers a critical assessment of the effect of the First Amendment in the USA and, in a concluding chapter, it defends the case for continuing disestablishment in England and Scotland.

Citizens of Two Kingdoms: Civil Society and Christian Religion in Greater China

Citizens of Two Kingdoms: Civil Society and Christian Religion in Greater China
Author: Shun-hing Chan
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004459375

This book examines the complex relationships of civil society and Christianity in Greater China. Different authors investigate to what extent Christians demonstrate the quality of civic virtues and reflect on the difficulties of applying civil society theories to Chinese societies.

Converts to Civil Society

Converts to Civil Society
Author: Lida V. Nedilsky
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Christianity
ISBN: 9781481300322

Lida V. Nedilsky captures the public ramifications of a personal, Christian faith at the time of Hong Kong's pivotal political turmoil. From 1997 to 2008, in the much-anticipated reintegration of Hong Kong into Chinese sovereignty, she conducted detailed interviews of more than fifty Hong Kong people and then followed their daily lives, documenting their involvement at the intersection of church and state. Citizens of Hong Kong enjoy abundant membership options, both social and religious, under Hong Kong's free market culture. Whether identifying as Catholic or Protestant, or growing up in religious or secular households, Nedilsky's interviewees share an important characteristic: a story of choosing faith. Across the spheres of family and church, as well as civic organizations and workplaces, Nedilsky shows how individuals break and forge bonds, enter and exit commitments, and transform the public ends of choice itself. From this intimate, firsthand vantage point, Converts to Civil Society reveals that people's independent movements not only invigorate and shape religious community but also enliven a wider public life.

Religion, Civil Society, and Peace in Northern Ireland

Religion, Civil Society, and Peace in Northern Ireland
Author: John D. Brewer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2011-12
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0199694028

Religion is traditionally portrayed as nothing but trouble in Ireland, but the churches played a key role in Northern Ireland's peace process. This study challenges many existing assumptions about the peace process, drawing on four years of interviewing with those involved, including church leaders, politicians, and paramilitary members.

Church and Civil Society

Church and Civil Society
Author: Michael Walker
Publisher: AFRICAN SUN MeDIA
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2017-07-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1928355129

ÿ Germany and South Africa experienced drastic social transitions with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1986 and the end of Apartheid in 1994. This book consists of a collection of essays from German and South African theologians who analyse the role that religious communities had, andÿ are still playing within the respective civil societies. The concept and texture of civil society are analysed; case studies are presented; theological perspectives are given on the relation between church, state and civil society; and guidelines are provided for the healing role that Christian religious communities can play in Germany and South Africa. This book is mainly directed at theologians and scholars in religious studies, however, sociologists and political philosophers may also find the essays informative. Besides the wide variety of theological approaches; sociological and empirical data; and practical theological perspective, the book also yields interesting comparative analysis on two societies in transition.

Christianity and Civil Society

Christianity and Civil Society
Author: Robert Wuthnow
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 120
Release: 1996-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781563381751

In this book, well-known author Robert Wuthnow considers three aspects of the relationship between Christianity and civil society: whether civil society is in jeopardy and what effects Christianity's declining influence has on civil society; whether Christians can be civil in the face of conflicts that have arisen among religious groups in the public arena and the so-called culture wars that many in the media have been discussing; and growing multiculturalism in the United States, how Christians are responding to this new diversity, and how Christianity can regain a critical voice for itself in these debates.

Religion and Civil Society

Religion and Civil Society
Author: David Herbert
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2017-03-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 135190521X

This book presents the first full-length study of the relationship between religion and the controversial concept of civil society. Across the world in the last two decades of the twentieth century religions re-entered public space as influential discursive and symbolic systems apparently beyond the control of either traditional religious authorising institutions or states. This differentiation of religion from traditional institutions and entry into secular public spheres carries both dangers and possible benefits for democracy. Offering a fresh interdisciplinary approach to understanding religion in contemporary societies, this book provides an invaluable resource for students and researchers in religious studies, sociology, politics and political philosophy, theology, international relations and legal studies. Part one presents a critical introduction to the interaction between religion, modernization and postmodernization in Western and non-Western settings (America, Europe, the Middle East and India), focussing on discourses of human rights, civil society and the public sphere, and the controversial question of their cross-cultural application. Part two examines religion and civil society through case studies of Egypt, Bosnia and Muslim minorities in Britain, and compares Poland as an example of a Christian majority society that has experienced the public reassertion of religion.

The Irony of Modern Catholic History

The Irony of Modern Catholic History
Author: George Weigel
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2019-09-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0465094341

A powerful new interpretation of Catholicism's dramatic encounter with modernity, by one of America's leading intellectuals Throughout much of the nineteenth century, both secular and Catholic leaders assumed that the Church and the modern world were locked in a battle to the death. The triumph of modernity would not only finish the Church as a consequential player in world history; it would also lead to the death of religious conviction. But today, the Catholic Church is far more vital and consequential than it was 150 years ago. Ironically, in confronting modernity, the Catholic Church rediscovered its evangelical essence. In the process, Catholicism developed intellectual tools capable of rescuing the imperiled modern project. A richly rendered, deeply learned, and powerfully argued account of two centuries of profound change in the church and the world, The Irony of Modern Catholic History reveals how Catholicism offers twenty-first century essential truths for our survival and flourishing.

Christianity and Civil Society

Christianity and Civil Society
Author: Jeanne Heffernan Schindler
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2008
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780739108840

A work of contemporary Christian political thought, this volume addresses the crisis of modern democracy evident in the decline of the institutions of civil society and their theoretical justification. Drawing upon a rich store of social and political reflection found in the Catholic and Neo-Calvinist traditions, the essays mount a robust defense of the irreducible identity and value of the social institutions_family, neighborhood, church, civic association_that serve as the connective tissue of a political community.

Church and Civil Society

Church and Civil Society
Author: Michael Walker
Publisher: AFRICAN SUN MeDIA
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2017-07-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1928355137

Germany and South Africa experienced drastic social transitions with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1986 and the end of Apartheid in 1994. This book consists of a collection of essays from German and South African theologians who analyse the role that religious communities had, and are still playing within the respective civil societies. The concept and texture of civil society are analysed; case studies are presented; theological perspectives are given on the relation between church, state and civil society; and guidelines are provided for the healing role that Christian religious communities can play in Germany and South Africa. This book is mainly directed at theologians and scholars in religious studies, however, sociologists and political philosophers may also find the essays informative. Besides the wide variety of theological approaches; sociological and empirical data; and practical theological perspective, the book also yields interesting comparative analysis on two societies in transition.