Untouchable Bodies, Resistance, and Liberation

Untouchable Bodies, Resistance, and Liberation
Author: Joshua Samuel
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004420053

In Untouchable Bodies, Resistance, and Liberation, Joshua Samuel constructs an embodied comparative theology of liberation by comparing divine possessions among Hindu and Christian Dalits in South India. Critiquing the problems inherent in prioritizing texts when studying religious traditions, Samuel calls for the need to engage in body and people centered interreligious learning. This comparative theological reading of ecstatic experiences of the divine in Dalit bodies in Hinduism and Christianity brings out the powerful liberative potential inherent in the bodies of the oppressed, enabling us to identify alternative modes of resistance and new avenues of liberation among those who are dehumanized and discriminated, and to find deeper and meaningful ways of speaking about God in the context of oppression.

Dalit Theology, Boundary Crossings and Liberation in India

Dalit Theology, Boundary Crossings and Liberation in India
Author: Jobymon Skaria
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2022-11-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 0755642376

Jobymon Skaria, an Indian St Thomas Christian Scholar, offers a critique of Indian Christian theology and suggests that constructive dialogues between Biblical and dissenting Dalit voices – such as Chokhamela, Karmamela, Ravidas, Kabir, Nandanar and Narayana Guru – could set right the imbalance within Dalit theology, and could establish dialogical partnerships between Dalit Theologians, non-Dalit Christians and Syrian Christians. Drawing on Biblical and socio-historical resources, this book examines a radical, yet overlooked aspect of Dalit cultural and religious history which would empower the Dalits in their everyday existences.

Hegemonic Masculinity, Caste, and the Body

Hegemonic Masculinity, Caste, and the Body
Author: Navjotpal Kaur
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2024-09-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1801173621

Thoughtfully invoking wider conversations around gender, culture, and self-perception, Navjotpal Kaur investigates the intricate interplay between masculinities, space, and identity within Indian Punjab’s Jat Sikh community.

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies
Author: Kirsteen Kim
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 769
Release: 2022-04-28
Genre: Missions
ISBN: 0198831722

The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies represents more than a century of scholarship related to the theology, history, and methodology of the propagation of Christian faith and the engagement of Christians with cultures, religions, and societies worldwide. It contains more than 40 articles by experts from different disciplinary and ecclesial perspectives, who are from all continents. It not only offers a broad overview of key approaches and issues in mission studies but it also highlights current trends and suggests future developments. The Handbook builds on renewed interest in mission studies this century generated by recent key statements on mission from ecumenical, evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox sources, and by a spate of academic works on the topic. Western church leaders now apply insights from foreign missions (such as, inculturation, liberation, interfaith work, and power encounter) to today's multicultural societies. Meanwhile, there are new initiatives in mission from the Majority World, where most Christians live, so that sending is not only 'from the west to the rest' but 'from everywhere to everywhere'. Therefore, this volume aims to reflect the voices of the receivers of mission as well as its protagonists and to raise awareness of new movements. In a time of growing recognition of 'religions' more generally, this work examines and theorizes the missional dimensions of the world's largest religion: its agendas, growth, outreach, role in public life, effect on cultures, relevance for development, and its approaches to other communities.

Faith in the Face of Militarization

Faith in the Face of Militarization
Author: Jude Lal Fernando
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2021-04-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725283999

What does believing mean in the face of empire and militarization? These essays articulate the critical and liberating consciousness shared by oppressed peoples across the world, arising from a faith in the God of the oppressed, expressed in radically diverse ways, and resisting the imperialist deities of materialism (read: economic growth), racism, and militarization that falsely appear as the saviors of humanity. The authors confront these false gods—which form the modern empire—worshiped by the most dominant militarized states in the world and followed by their allied states even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Out of the eleven articles, two are written by critical political analysts with an anti-colonial lens while recognizing the importance of faith in resistance. The rest are written by theologians who critically reflect on their faith within the context of empire and militarization in their societies. Militarization is among the most brutal forms of oppression on the resisting peoples. The theologies that have emerged from critical reflections on their collective experiences are grounded on a material spirituality as opposed to materialistic, racist, and militaristic godlessness. This collection has emerged out of creative and transformative practices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific, and the US. The essays are divided it into four sections in recognizing some of the key features of material spirituality; indigenous, feminist and interreligious voices, and horizontal solidarity. With contributions from: Michael Lujan Bevacqua Wati Longchar Nidia Arrobo Rodas Rasika Sharmen Pieris Lilian Cheelo Siwila Young-Bock Kim Dan Gonzales-Ortega Erin Shea Martin Mark Braverman Joshua Samuel Phil Miller

The Human in a Dehumanizing World

The Human in a Dehumanizing World
Author: Coblentz, Jessica
Publisher: Orbis Books
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2022-04-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1608339203

"CTS annual volume focusing on dehumanization and theological anthropology, in such areas as sexual harassment, racial justice, and decolonization"--

American Examples

American Examples
Author: Michael J. Altman
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2021-11-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0817360298

American Examples: New Conversations about Religion, Volume One is the first in a series of annual anthologies published in partnership with the Department of Religious Studies at The University of Alabama. The American Examples initiative gathers scholars from around the world for a series of workshops designed to generate big questions about the study of religion in America. Bypassing traditional white Protestant narratives in favor of new perspectives on belief, social formation, and identity, American Examples fellows offer dynamic perspectives on American faith that challenge our understandings of both America and religion as categories. In the first volume of this exciting academic project, five topically and methodologically diverse scholars vividly reimagine the potential applications of religious history. The five chapters of this inaugural volume use case studies from America, broadly conceived, to ask larger theoretical questions that are of interest to scholars beyond the subfield of American religious history. Prea Persaud's chapter explores the place of Hinduism among the "creole religions" of the Caribbean, while Hannah Scheidt captures what atheist parents say to each other about value systems. Travis Warren Cooper explains how the modernist church architecture of Columbus, Indiana, became central to that city's identity. Samah Choudhury dissects how Muslim American comedians navigate Western ideas of knowledge and self to make their jokes, and their own selves legible, and Emily D. Crews uses ethnographic fieldwork to read the female reproductive body among Nigerian Pentecostal congregations. Editor Michael J. Altman also provides a brief, rich introduction assessing the state of the discipline of religious history and how the American Examples project can lead the field forward.

Emerging Theologies from the Global South

Emerging Theologies from the Global South
Author: Mitri Raheb
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 545
Release: 2023-03-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666711837

In recent decades there has been a seismic shift in world Christianity. Whereas formerly Christianity existed as a Caucasian Euro-American phenomenon, the majority of Christians today reside in the Southern Hemisphere, or the Global South. And what is true for the demographics of Christianity has followed lockstep for its theological developments. The era of German theologians setting the tone for global church are gone. Today, some of the loudest and most creative voices in theology speak from the emerging contingencies of the Global South, for example, promoting Latinx, Black, Caribbean, and Asian theologies and their influence often influences the conversation in the United States and Europe. In addition, just as the center of Christianity has moved geographically from north to south, so with theological seminaries in the west, which have declined as training centers for clergy. These events coincide with new theological centers are opening in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Latin America. The bottom line is—contemporary Christianity today looks significantly different than it did a century ago, and publications have been slow to acknowledge, let alone describe and elaborate upon, this major shift to the largest religion in the world. These shifts guide our intentions in this book. Such a reference book, which could also be used as a textbook, therefore is very much needed. In fact, there is nothing like the contents of this single-volume book in the publishing market which allows for high-quality, interdisciplinary, and international dialogue.

World Christianity and Interfaith Relations

World Christianity and Interfaith Relations
Author:
Publisher: Fortress Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2022-10-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 150644850X

In this landmark volume, a rich array of voices make the case that religion is not partitioned off from the secular in the Global South the way it is in the Global North. Authors work at the intersections of freedom and Nationalism, peace and reconciliation, and gender, ecology, and ethnography to contend that religion is in fact deeply integrated into the lives of those in the Global South, even though "secularism"--a political philosophy that requires the state to treat all religions equally--predominates in many of the regions. World Christianity and Interfaith Relations is part of the multi volume series World Christianity and Public Religion. The series seeks to become a platform for intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, and to facilitate opportunities for interaction between scholars across the Global South and those in other parts of the world by engaging emerging voices from a variety of indigenous Christianities around the world. The focus is not only on particular histories and practices, but also on their theological articulations and impact on the broader societies in which they work.

Critical Perspectives on Interreligious Education

Critical Perspectives on Interreligious Education
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2020-03-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004420045

The editors of Experiments in Empathy: Critical Reflections on Interreligious Education have assembled a volume that spans multiple religious traditions and offers innovative methods for teaching and designing interreligious learning. This groundbreaking text includes established interreligious educators and emerging scholars who expand the vision of this field to include critical studies, decolonial approaches and exciting pedagogical developments. The book includes voices that are often left out of other comparative theology or interreligious education texts. Scholars from evangelical, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, religiously hybrid and other background enrich the existing models for interreligious classrooms. The book is particularly relevant at a time when religion is so often harnessed for division and hatred. By examining the roots of racism, xenophobia, sexism and their interaction with religion that contribute to inequity the volume offers real world educational interventions. The content is in high demand as are the authors who contributed to the volume. Contributors are: Scott Alexander, Judith A. Berling, Monica A. Coleman, Reuven Firestone, Christine Hong, Jennifer Howe Peace, Munir Jiwa, Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, Tony Ritchie, Rachel Mikva, John Thatanamil, Timur Yuskaev.