Theology in the Public Sphere

Theology in the Public Sphere PDF

Author: Sebastian Kim

Publisher: SCM Press

Published: 2013-01-03

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0334048508

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A substantial and definitive introduction to public theology by one of the leading experts in the field.A key text for third year undergraduate modules and MA courses in Social Ethics, Political Theology and Public Theology.

The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere

The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere PDF

Author: Judith Butler

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2011-03-02

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13: 023152725X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere represents a rare opportunity to experience a diverse group of preeminent philosophers confronting one pervasive contemporary concern: what role does or should religion play in our public lives? Reflecting on her recent work concerning state violence in Israel-Palestine, Judith Butler explores the potential of religious perspectives for renewing cultural and political criticism, while Jürgen Habermas, best known for his seminal conception of the public sphere, thinks through the ambiguous legacy of the concept of "the political" in contemporary theory. Charles Taylor argues for a radical redefinition of secularism, and Cornel West defends civil disobedience and emancipatory theology. Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan VanAntwerpen detail the immense contribution of these philosophers to contemporary social and political theory, and an afterword by Craig Calhoun places these attempts to reconceive the significance of both religion and the secular in the context of contemporary national and international politics.

Cosmopolitanism, Religion and the Public Sphere

Cosmopolitanism, Religion and the Public Sphere PDF

Author: Maria Rovisco

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-02-05

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1317812212

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

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.

Secret Faith in the Public Square

Secret Faith in the Public Square PDF

Author: Jonathan Malesic

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2009-09

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1587432269

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Provocatively argues that concealing Christian identity in American public life is the best way to maintain faithful witness and integrity.

Hindu Pluralism

Hindu Pluralism PDF

Author: Elaine M. Fisher

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2017-02-24

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 0520966295

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. In Hindu Pluralism, Elaine M. Fisher complicates the traditional scholarly narrative of the unification of Hinduism. By calling into question the colonial categories implicit in the term “sectarianism,” Fisher’s work excavates the pluralistic textures of precolonial Hinduism in the centuries prior to British intervention. Drawing on previously unpublished sources in Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu, Fisher argues that the performance of plural religious identities in public space in Indian early modernity paved the way for the emergence of a distinctively non-Western form of religious pluralism. This work provides a critical resource for understanding how Hinduism developed in the early modern period, a crucial era that set the tenor for religion's role in public life in India through the present day.

A Public Faith

A Public Faith PDF

Author: Miroslav Volf

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2011-08

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1587432986

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

An intellectual and applied Christian engagement with what it really means to flourish as human beings in relationship to God and one another.

Public Religions in the Modern World

Public Religions in the Modern World PDF

Author: José Casanova

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-08-29

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 022619020X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In a sweeping reconsideration of the relation between religion and modernity, Jose Casanova surveys the roles that religions may play in the public sphere of modern societies. During the 1980s, religious traditions around the world, from Islamic fundamentalism to Catholic liberation theology, began making their way, often forcefully, out of the private sphere and into public life, causing the "deprivatization" of religion in contemporary life. No longer content merely to administer pastoral care to individual souls, religious institutions are challenging dominant political and social forces, raising questions about the claims of entities such as nations and markets to be "value neutral", and straining the traditional connections of private and public morality. Casanova looks at five cases from two religious traditions (Catholicism and Protestantism) in four countries (Spain, Poland, Brazil, and the United States). These cases challenge postwar—and indeed post-Enlightenment—assumptions about the role of modernity and secularization in religious movements throughout the world. This book expands our understanding of the increasingly significant role religion plays in the ongoing construction of the modern world.

Religion in the Public Square

Religion in the Public Square PDF

Author: James M. Patterson

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2019-06-11

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 0812250982

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In Religion in the Public Square, James M. Patterson considers religious leaders who popularized theology through media campaigns designed to persuade the public. Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Rev. Jerry Falwell differed profoundly on issues of theology and politics, but they shared an approach to public ministry that aimed directly at changing how Americans understood the nature and purpose of their country. From the 1930s through the 1950s, Sheen was an early adopter of paperbacks, radio, and television to condemn totalitarian ideologies and to defend American Catholicism against Protestant accusations of divided loyalty. During the 1950s and 1960s, King staged demonstrations and boycotts that drew the mass media to him. The attention provided him the platform to preach Christian love as a political foundation in direct opposition to white supremacy. Falwell started his own church, which he developed into a mass media empire. He then leveraged it during the late 1970s through the 1980s to influence the Republican Party by exhorting his audience to not only ally with religious conservatives around issues of abortion and the traditional family but also to vote accordingly. Sheen, King, and Falwell were so successful in popularizing their theological ideas that they won prestigious awards, had access to presidents, and witnessed the results of their labors. However, Patterson argues that Falwell's efforts broke with the longstanding refusal of religious public figures to participate directly in partisan affairs and thereby catalyzed the process of politicizing religion that undermined the Judeo-Christian consensus that formed the foundation of American politics.

African Public Theology

African Public Theology PDF

Author: Sunday Bobai Agang

Publisher: Langham Publishing

Published: 2020-04-30

Total Pages: 451

ISBN-13: 1783688130

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Africa needs leaders and Christians from every walk of life to rediscover their identity and purpose in all spheres of society. African Public Theology sounds a clarion call to accomplish this vital task. God created all humans equally, intending for us to live in community and take responsibility for the world around us – a mandate we need to act on. Through faithful application of Scripture to contexts common in the continent today, contributors from across Africa join as one to present a vision for the Africa that God intended. No simplistic solutions are offered – instead African Public Theology challenges every reader to think through the application of biblical principles in their own community, place of work and sphere of influence. If we heed the principles and lessons that God’s word has for society, culture and public life, then countries across Africa can have hope of a future that is free from corruption and self-promotion and is instead characterized by collective stewardship and servant-hearted leadership.