Volume 2, Issue 1 -

In this article, I examine the early history of Christian environmentalism (“ecotheology”) in the twentieth century. I delineate four strands of early ecotheology: agrarian ecotheology; social Christianity; British contributions; and “post-liberal” foundations for later ecotheological movements. I show that ecotheology was a slowly-rising movement, which had notable proponents. I argue that these early ecotheologians are significant for several reasons. First, these writings support the view that there are momentous roots of environmentalism in the late 19th and early 20th Century. Second, these texts reveal important information about the relation of Christian and other environmentalism. Third, early ecotheologians contributed to discussion about themes which would later form distinctive environmental disciplines, such as environmental aesthetics, education, ethics, history and philosophy. Their thoughts offer interesting reflections pointing to these fields. Fourth, the contributions by the early ecotheologians are not only historically interesting, but they have relevance for the current discussion. These theologians were in a special position to notice the major changes brought by technological development in the twentieth century and they provided important critical reflections about these issues. Because they developed their thought independently, they display creative thinking, although often in an unfinished manner.

Perichoresis is an old theological concept that is eliciting great interest today, but nevertheless it is felt there is still not enough clarity about the very meaning of the word, especially about the semantic connection between the verb περιχωρέω and the noun περιχώρησις. The main goal of this paper is to shed light precisely on this semantic ground of the notion, and for this purpose we have investigated the meaning of the verb περιχωρέω showing that there is a good reason for lexicographic division of περιχωρέω into two separate verbs. Applying the findings of our philological research, we have also expounded the original patristic conception of perichoresis which, in some important aspects, has appeared to differ from the approaches dominant in Western theology from the Middle Ages to our own day.

This article examines the relationship between church and world in order to provide a theological basis for a missionary ecclesiology. From Vatican II’s Pastoral Constition on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes , I establish that the church’s existence is interior to the world, interior to the human project, and engaged in human history. The church world relationship is one of ontological dependence and reciprocal influence. Latin American voices, especially Ignacio Ellacuría, Jon Sobrino, and the CELAM conferences, provide this consideration with a greater attention to the concrete historical conditions in which real women and men live. A recognition that mission arises from the demands of the church’s catholicity, and an engagement with Ellacuría’s and Sobrino’s notion of the crucified peoples as a site of encounter with Christ, reconfigures the missionary relationship. The church is not simply the world’s benefactor, but is itself the beneficiary of the world.

Jesus’ interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures is skillfully eclectic, employing techniques of rejection, interiorization, prioritization, and synthesis. The eclectic nature of Christ’s interpretation of the Hebrew scriptures specifically precludes any ascription of the contemporary strategies of rigorism or inerrantism to his hermeneutic. Instead, Christ’s hermeneutic is best described as situational, agapic, and open—hence pastoral. It is situational insofar as no hermeneutical rule can predetermine how scripture will be applied to a situation. It is agapic insofar as all texts are interpreted in service of the divine love and repaired human relationship. It is open insofar as it: 1. is characterized by bricolage, hence open to experimentation with a variety of resources, 2. resists any rigidly predetermined interpretative outcome, thereby preserving openness to agapic outcomes, 3. valorizes the micronarrative, and 4. rejects totalization. Ultimately, Jesus’ interpretation of scripture is pastoral, preferring human flourishing through scripture to blind obedience of scripture.

The significance of God’s speaking through the voice from the whirlwind and Job’s subsequent repentance has often been interpreted as a scolding by God for questioning divine providence and/or as the assertion of inscrutable mystery. This paper offers an alternative hermeneutics consonant with an open and relational understanding of the nature of God, arguing that Job can best be interpreted as a strong endorsement of the unpredictability and wildness of nature, as God grants creation the freedom to act according to its own integrity. This argument compares Elihu’s speech, which asserts divine complete control of nature, with the voice from the whirlwind that asserts the wildness of rain and ice, of various animals, and of the Behemoth and Leviathan, these latter associated with chaos. It concludes that Job, in experiencing God in the wildness of the whirlwind, finds a new model of divine agency wherein God graces creation with freedom.

I will attempt to define what we understand as “narrative argumentation” or “narrative arguments” through an appeal to a discussion of intercultural rational theology. In this context I offer a distinction between two concepts, which are considered usually as synonymous. Philosophical theology is regarded from the historical point of view as the whole repertoire of attempts at rational justification of the faith in God along with analysis of His attributes and actions within different religious traditions (both ancient and modern, Western and Eastern), whereas Natural Theology is regarded as a philosophical preparation for the theology of Revelation in traditional Christianity. Varieties of the teleological argument, which have been developed in the history of thought as the argument from analogy, i.e., from vivid examples aiming at persuasion of an opponent and audience in the dialectical controversy, are classified into two species of short-cut illustrative examples and the species of full-fledged theological parables, i.e., narratives in the strict sense. I conclude this discussion with an invitation to investigate other main theological arguments from a similar point of view.

This study presents a rhetorical analysis of Shadreck Wame, a popular Malawian revival preacher. After an overview of the “rhetorical setting” in which these vernacular sermons were preached in the 1990s, ten “oral-rhetorical techniques” that characterize Wame’s preaching style are identified, based on a corpus of nearly 50 of his Chewa-language sermons that I recorded from radio broadcasts in the 1990s. These features are then illustrated in selections from a specific sermon that Evangelist Wame preached in 1997 in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. In particular, his situationally-influenced “re-tellings,” or paraphrases, of a familiar biblical text, Christ’s Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Luke 20:9-18), are identified and elaborated upon in footnotes. I conclude this description of a popular preacher’s dynamic, contextualized homiletical style with a number of applications to contemporary communicators in Africa. Both the content and the methodology of this analysis may be significant for comparative purposes when teaching sermonic technique in different, especially non-Western, sociocultural settings.

Ideas and practices about the transfer of substances believed to be charged with positive or negative properties are significant features of pilgrimages. Oftenneglected features of pilgrimages can be addressed by adopting concepts from the Cognitive Science of Religion. Religious pilgrimages are popular phenomena that are based on ritual interaction with culturally-postulated counterintuitive supernatural agents. This article partly refers to and analyses ethnographic data gathered during fieldwork among Hindu pilgrims in Nepal and Tibet. The pilgrims received items to take home from the pilgrimage site but they also left other items there. This constituted a transfer of contagious substances that carried blessings and supernatural agency/power and it enabled the discharging of defilement, sin or evil. The aim of this article is to show how the beliefs about substance transfer are shaped by cultural institutions and by cognitive selection pressures related to psychological essentialism and concepts of agency and contagion relating to counterintuitive agents.

An evolutionary by-product explanation entails that religious belief is an unintended consequence of a cognitive process selected for by evolution. In this paper, I argue that if a by-product explanation is true, then religious belief is unwarranted (even if God exists). In particular, I argue that if the cause of religious belief is the god-faculty (HADD + ToM + eToM + MCI), then it is likely unreliable; thus, religious belief is unwarranted. Plantinga argues that de jure criticisms are not independent of de facto criticisms: without knowing whether or not God exists, one can’t say that belief in God is unwarranted, since if God exists, it is possible that God has planned that this mechanism would lead to belief in Him. Against Plantinga, I show that in order for de jure criticisms to have force, it is not necessary to know that God does not exist. Instead, one only needs to doubt His existence. And if by-product explanations turn out to be supported by the evidence, this fact alone gives us reason to doubt God’s existence. Thus, if the by-product explanation is true, belief in God is not warranted; if we know this, then we have reason to doubt theism.

Many have thought that certain types and distributions of apparent nonresistant nonbelief in the world are among the best reasons to think naturalism is more probable than theism. Jason Marsh has argued that one specific type of nonresistant nonbelief, called natural nonbelief in early humans, supports naturalism over theism. However, I will argue that it is epistemically possible that God has a morallysufficient reason for permitting natural nonbelief in early humans. First, according to Axiarchism, God’s goal for physical reality is to intentionally structure it so that a choiceworthy degree of moral, intellectual, and aesthetic value will be realized. Second, since theism entails Axiarchism, and it is far from clear on our total available evidence that eliminating the possibility of natural nonbelief would have led to a choiceworthy degree of moral, intellectual, and aesthetic value being realized for early humans, the degree to which natural nonbelief supports naturalism over theism is softened.

Two brief Late Antique religious texts, respectively by the monk Theophanis and by Monoimus the Arab, present an interesting problem of whether they embody the authors’ experience, or whether they are merely literary constructs. Rather than approaching this issue through the lens of theory, the article shows how phenomenological analysis and studies of living subjectivity can be engaged with the text in order to clarify the contents of introspective experience and the genesis of its religious connotations. The analysis uncovers a previously unnoticed form of embodied introspective religious experience which is structured as a ladder with a distinct internal structure with the high degree of synchronic and diachronic stability. This approach also helps one identify the specific introspective techniques in the canonical and non-canonical literature of early Christian tradition, as related to the concepts of “theosis” and “kenosys”, as well as to suggest some neurological correspondents of religious cognition.

This paper suggests a cognitive approach to the Asclepius cult which may throw light on the supplicants’ personal experiences of healing during the ritual of incubation. In particular, the possibility of healing at the Asclepius sanctuaries is presented as a potential result of the patients’ placebo responses. The prerequisites of placebo effect as determined by Nicholas Humphrey are traced in the wider social and conceptual contexts of Greek antiquity and the specific religious context of the Asclepius cult. In this framework, it is argued that personal experiences of people, social information about the Asclepius’ healing powers and the confirmation of this information by human doctors would have influenced how people “lived” an illness or a disease infliction, “appropriated” the religious beliefs in Asclepius, and experienced cures at the asclepieia. These cures could have derived from patients’ self-healing mechanisms, but would have been perceived and conceptualized as “healing miracles” performed by the god. This preliminary study intends to show how cognitive approaches can enrich historical knowledge on the Asclepius cult and on supplicants’ healing experiences, suggesting that such approaches may contribute to a better understanding of “lived religion” and of multiple religious experiences in various religious contexts.

The aim of the paper is to discuss the possible application of the theory of embodied cognition and the category of image schemata to the study of religious concepts within the Cognitive Science of Religion. Departing from the notion of counterintuitiveness and Boyer’s description of religious representations as minimally counterintuitive, the author briefly discusses the critique of this approach. Subsequently, different models of mind and cognition within the Cognitive Science are summarised, with special attention given to the enactive approach, as proposed by Varela, Thompson and Rosch. The notion of embodied meaning, situated within enactivism, is then discussed, together with Johnson’s concept of image schemata as basic semantic units. To discuss the applicability of image schemata in the study of religious concepts, the author summarises a case study, related to the interpretation of the categories of sāṃkhya-yoga darśana in Iyengar Yoga.

In the cognitive science of religion (CSR), it is often claimed that religion is a product of information processing system that is nonconscious, automatic and irrational. This view rests on a theoretical basis provided by dual-process accounts (DPA) of reasoning. In this paper, I will provide some examples how DPAs are employed in contemporary theorizing in CSR and point out some problems, which reveal an oversight that may impede the progress of the scientific study of religion. The topic touches on the wider debate on evolutionary debunking arguments but my point concerns CSR theorizing and how it might not be able to understand religion properly.

The present paper is both a critical analysis of the reductive problems inherent in an evolutionary approach that surfaces in the Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) and an appeal for an enactive turn that can enhance CSR by better accounting for religious experience – i.e. the phenomenologically experienced realities that are entailed in religious belief. First, we discuss CSR and a basic evolutionary presupposition: that religious experience is based on a universal architecture designed by natural selection, which includes the notion of domain-specific processing mechanisms. We then discuss how Cultural Psychologists conceive of the ontogenetic role of culture by arguing that religious cognition does not solely develop out of evolution. As we propose, CSR can be studied with a view to the evolution of cognition that can account for the ontogenetic role of culture and language constituting phenomenologically immediate realities. Finally, we discuss enactivism as an ideal alternative for such a shift. Enactivism conceives the relation between the evolution of cognition and the ontogenetic role of culture as embodied: a non-reductive relation in which cognition and culture shape each other. This approach allows for CSR that acknowledges the fact that religious experiences constitute non-representational but lived experiences.

Transreligious theology is possible. The question we now face concerns how to do it. With that question in mind, this paper discusses five interpretative angles on transreligious theology, five resources for transreligious theology, and five challenges facing transreligious theology.

This article seeks to define and defend the work of transreligious theology and invite a broad range of instructors from a variety of institutional settings to teach it. What is distinctive here is my definition of transreligious theology understood as the quest for interreligious wisdom. My central questions will be these: Just what is transreligious theology? Why should it be taught? Finally, this essay will take up the concrete question of how transreligious theology might be taught in a variety of institutional settings including undergraduate religious studies departments and even within the state university context.

The emerging project, Theology Without Walls, is fascinating and potentially highly fruitful, particularly given the recognized imperative for doing theology in light of a religiously plural world. But it is also a project with daunting methodological and philosophical problems. In the first part of the paper, the author describes why he is attracted to the project and how it might bear theological insight. He also frames the project along the lines of multiple religious belonging, comparative theology, and the current cultural zeitgeist. In the second part of the paper, he challenges how such a project would actually work, given various religions’ diverse and competing metaphysical claims which undergird their theological principles. Finally, he questions whether such a project would undermine the very purpose of theology for the kind of public most inclined to being influenced by it. His title’s Sic et Non (Yes and No) refers to both his commending Theology Without Walls and challenging its viability. He concludes that the collective weight leads him to challenge the project, at least until it provides a method that satisfactorily addresses his fundamental concerns.

Transreligious theologians are posed with a number of difficult questions. First, how can I understand the beliefs and practices of a worldview I do not share? Then, once I begin to construct and synthesize truth claims, how normative are the source traditions? Finally, how do we transreligious theologians judge truth claims as better and worse? By offering answers to these questions using a model of critical interreligious appropriation, we may find a basis for a critical transreligious theology that avoids naïve syncretisms and pernicious incommensurability.

Is a transreligious theology possible? A theology that is not beholden to any particular religious tradition? If so, what would it be? What would it look like? How would it be done? Perhaps more importantly, why would it be done? That is, whom would it be for? Is it a part of a larger (and perhaps privileged) pursuit of human philosophical wisdom and progress? Or are there real world communities in need of such a thing? Could it be helpful to religious traditions themselves? These are some of the questions pursued here. In response, I offer the possibility of an “interspiritual theology,” a theology that opens widely—in the spirit of exploration and hypothesis—to such questions, while aiming not to lose the heart of the theological endeavor, articulated by Evagrius of Pontus as, “The one who truly prays is a theologian; the one who is a theologian, prays truly.” As one possible strand of transreligious theological thought, interspiritual theology finds resonance with contemporary academic scholars Robert Neville, Wesley Wildman, John Thatamanil, Beverly Lanzetta and the late Raimon Panikkar, as well as real-world movements on the ground springing up outside of academia. Interspiritual theology is explained as being inter-religious, interdisciplinary, pragmatic, contemplative, and prophetic. An academic endeavor that is in partnership with (but not beholden to) religious traditions, in service to spiritual communities outside of academia, in dialogue with secular sciences, partaking of transformative wisdom, and committed to the prophetic task of service to humanity and the transformation of all of its social, cultural, political, and economic structures to reflect the deep human values of dignity, equality, compassion, love and wisdom—while also pursuing the transreligious project of understanding “as fully as possible the nature of ultimate reality.”

Is transreligious theology possible? Yes, but only as a very specific practice. If we accept the neologism „transreligious“ then we must understand it in contrast with the more traditional terms „interreligious“ and „comparative“. Interpreted this way, „transreligious theology“ describes religious discourse about ultimate reality between those with no particular religious identity. Their conversation is panreligious, treating all theological resources equally, without preference for any tradition over any other tradition. This conversation will be quite different from interreligious dialogue or comparative theology, in which participants claim a religious identity while remaining open to the insights of other traditions. Hence, „transreligious theology“ is a descriptive term rather than a prescriptive method. It is already practiced by the non-religiously affiliated who hold an interest in the spirituality of all religions. Even though it may be helpful to some, it is not a necessary practice, since effective theological development can still occur between those with specific religious identities, and by those who only study their own religious traditions.

This paper focuses on the question of how one can live out multiple religions at once. I arrive at and explore eight answers to this question in the form of eight multiple religious orientations that I argue form a continuum from lighter to more intense forms of participation, i.e., seeking, multiple religious curiosity, hybrid identity without belonging, open single belonging, single belonging with crossing over, hybrid identity with belonging, double belonging, and beyond belonging. In the end, this understanding of religious orientations gives us names and a conceptual order for multiple religious participation which together may allow us to ask old questions more carefully and ask some new questions, too. It also leaves us with a wider personal perspective on the field.

This article investigates whether transreligious theology is unavoidable in the doing of interreligious theology and dialogue. In so doing, it opens with three examples that point the way to transreligious theology (Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Keith Ward, and Francis Clooney). Various prefixes are then defined and distinguished from one another as they are often applied to the term “religious” (uni-, intra-, multi-, cross-, inter-, and trans-). These prefixes are then applied to the terms “dialogue” (transreligious dialogue) and “theology” (transreligious theology). In particular, transreligious theology is set apart by a) taking seriously the fluid and porous borders of religion and religious identities, and b) its requirement of generating something novel beyond the already established religious traditions. The question is then asked whether transreligious theology is unavoidable in the context of interreligious theology dialogue, given the vast complexity of religious identities. The article culminates by addressing two lingering challenges to transreligious theology, the perceived specter of creeping syncretism and the possibility of “frustration overload” due to the overwhelming complexity of religions and religious identities.

The Theology Without Walls (TWW) project attempts to interpret spiritual experiences without subjecting them to a priori criteria from religious traditions, but TWW does not substitute universalized secular criteria for religious criteria. Some have promoted “multiple religious belonging” as a prism through which to interpret the experiences of people participating in more than one spiritual path. Yet the concept of multiple religious belonging still presumes a framework in which communal traditions coordinate one’s spiritual experiences. For TWW, however, belonging does not have to be religious or interreligious or multireligious. The manner in which practitioners thematize, or refuse to thematize, their journeys is not a prerequisite for participation in TWW. Is TWW then a sect of the disaffiliated that rejects communal encounters and traditions? How does TWW operate in practice? Raimon Panikkar’s writings on the Trinity demonstrate how a theologian/practitioner well versed in two traditions responds to what he calls “the cosmotheandric experience” by articulating how trinitarian presence is not primarily a doctrine but contrasting facets of reality to which Christianity and Hinduism bear witness. Panikkar’s work is a model of how scholars working with TWW can engage with traditions and simultaneously remain attentive to the particularities of everyday reality.

The purpose of this essay is to unpack the relevance of William James for the project of a transreligious theology. While the resources of reason and spiritual experience have long been employed to arbitrate both within and between different spiritual traditions, I argue that James offers a third principle: the encouragement of the morally active life, along with a corresponding depiction of the universe in which our efforts may contribute to the nature of things.

This article systematically derives a common pluralist theology from the works of theologians Roger Haight and Amir Hussain. It then discusses this emergent definition of pluralism through the perspective of intent, an examination of exclusive claims and the historicity of formative context. Finally, potential approaches and areas are outlined, such as revelation, salvation, and historicity, in which a pluralist theology can advance a Theology “Without Walls.”

Since the publication of Bergin’s classic 1980 paper “Psychotherapy and Religious Values” in the Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, an enormous amount of quality research has been conducted on the integration of religious and spiritual values and perspectives into the psychotherapy endeavor. Numerous empirical studies, chapters, books, blogs, and specialty organizations have emerged in the past 35 years that have helped researchers and clinicians alike come to appreciate the value of religion and spirituality in the psychotherapeutic process. While so much has been accomplished in this area of integration, so much more needs to occur in order for the psychotherapeutic world to benefit from the wisdom of the great religious and spiritual traditions and values. While state-of-the-art quality research has and continues to demonstrate how religious and spiritual practices and values can be used effectively to enhance the benefits of behavioral and psychological interventions, too often the field either gets overly focused on particular and perhaps trendy areas of interest (e.g., mindfulness) or fails to appreciate and incorporate the research evidence supporting (or not supporting) the use of certain religiously or spiritually informed assessments and interventions. The purpose of this article is to reflect on where the field integrating religion, spirituality and psychotherapy has evolved through the present and where it still needs to go in the future. In doing so I hope to reflect on the call for integration that Bergin highlights in his classic 1980 paper.

I review changes in social trends, psychological science, psychotherapy practice, and theology— which have been so profound they have often seemed like revolutions—since the landmark publication by Allen E. Bergin, “Psychotherapy and Religious Values,” in 1980. I attempt to predict some current and future trends that will shape the practice and research in the treatment of religious people for psychological disorders, including theological changes toward more open theology, less doctrinally centered religions, more attention to individual spirituality, and more relational psychology and theology. In the field of psychotherapy research, efficacy studies are no longer the gold standard of research, replaced by large trials demonstrating effectiveness and dissemination. The expensive research required will likely cut the amount of research done on religiously and spiritually accommodated treatments; thus winnowing of treatments is likely in the future. Practitioners will need to become competent to counsel people using many religious and spiritual accommodations. I acknowledge that predicting the future accurately is at best tentative, and I urge that this be read with circumspection.

Research on therapist effectiveness (i.e., therapist effects) is important for spiritually oriented psychotherapy to mature and flourish as a specialty. Therapist effects are described and compared to treatment effects, and then a research-based profile of the effective therapist is sketched. This characterization is similar in both spiritually-oriented psychotherapy and secular psychotherapy, which has no spiritual orientation. The challenge for this specialty is for research to integrate both therapist effects and treatment effects to inform psychotherapy training. This discussion is framed within Alan Bergin‘s (1980) “hope“ that the psychotherapy profession would become more comprehensive and more effective.

The present article extends the work of Allen Bergin by illustrating the therapeutic clash of liberal individualism and theism in an actual therapy case. As many scholars have demonstrated, liberal individualism has long been the “disguised ideology” at the assumptive base of many psychotherapy theories and practices. The case shows how the lead author was an “agent of culture,” to use Bergin’s terms, in his therapy with a Christian woman. It explains how he attempted to persuade her, without realizing it, to move from her basically Christian values to an individualist emphasis on happiness, instrumentalism, freedom from, autonomy, openness, and independence. Recommendations to deal with these issues are described.

Several decades ago Bergin promoted the then-controversial idea of considering religious values in psychotherapy. Much has changed in the intervening years; psychotherapists now have numerous resources available to help them in considering religious and spiritual issues in psychotherapy. In addition to considering values, we suggest there is a place to consider religious virtues in psychotherapy. Virtues are distinct from values in that the former assume a telos (created purpose or end). Whereas values focus on who we are, virtues also focus on who we are becoming. Using the three primary values from the Christian religion— faith, hope, and love—we illustrate how a virtue-based psychotherapy might consider the person of the psychotherapist and the transformational process of psychotherapy. In each case we offer potential research questions, as Bergin did in his landmark publication.

While acknowledging that many theological beliefs and religious practices facilitate mental health and emotional stability, the major purpose of this paper is to identify and demonstrate that some of these same beliefs and practices can also contribute to mental instability if understood incorrectly and practiced unwisely. The unique content of this paper is a pastoral, clinical, and historical narrative concerning the relationships of religious belief and practice with the mental health of 16th century priest, pastor, professor, and Protestant reformer Martin Luther. Specifically, this paper discusses Luther’s personal experiences with mental and emotional instability, including depression and scrupulosity, and explores ways that discovering and embracing the principle of grace assisted him in dealing with his own mental and emotional crises. This paper also treats ways that both psychological and theological understanding of the relationship between the doctrinal principles of grace and human volition can assist both health care professionals and clergy to provide effective care to those they serve.

The last several decades have ushered in an abundance of creative activity and wisdom with regard to spiritually and/or religiously informed psychotherapy. Most of these pursuits have led to significant and positive changes, both in thought and practice, in the way that human psychology is seen as intersecting (and interacting) with religious, theological, and spiritual dimensions of experience. At the same time much has been neglected amidst these advances. In the present paper, we submit that one vital area of neglect may be found in an implicit retreat from sacred encounter in favor of instrumentalized approaches to psychotherapy. We argue for a spiritually transcendent psychotherapy that implicitly attends to relational and semiotic phenomenology while retaining pragmatic gain.

Following a review and analysis of Allen E. Bergin’s article “Psychotherapy and Religious Values,” this paper anticipates future directions for integrating clients’ religious and spiritual values in psychology and psychotherapy research and practice. The author argues that to support Bergin’s suggestion that such values are no longer “at the fringe of clinical psychology [but rather] at the center” of our comprehension of personality and its aspirations, researchers and clinicians in psychology need to go beyond the “methodolatry” denounced by Bergin and associated with probabilistic practices. For that purpose, she first presents the considerations of Experiential Ontological Phenomenology (EOP), to which the concept of will is added, as a methodological scientific foundation to a value-based model in psychotherapy. She then introduces the principal concept of this model, the fundamental value, presented in relationship with the second most important concept, the psychological nub, derived from psychoanalytic concepts. The third basic concept, the subjective process, borrowed from the humanistic approach, is mentioned as being included in the EOP theory. Finally, a brief case study demonstrates how this model constitutes a point of integration at which theistic values or belief systems and psychological studies and practice meet.

This pilot study investigates spiritual development as progressing in accordance with chakra theory. Chakra theory posits that spirituality emerges in a developmental monotonic fashion with increasing degrees of connection and spiritual awareness. People further into the progression generally show greater mental health and stronger character virtues, while individuals in earlier stages of development show greater pathology and lower levels of character virtues. Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used in a sample of 1633 adults from the United States to empirically derive five profiles of spiritual connection, which reflected the monotonic progression predicted by the chakra theory. Participants who were low on all five variables of spiritual connection (3% of participants) were labeled the “Disconnected” class, and participants who were high on all five variables were labeled the “Highly Connected” class (16% of participants). The Disconnected class showed the greatest psychopathology (depressive and anxious symptoms) and lowest levels of positive psychology traits (gratitude, grit, satisfaction with life, selfcompassion, and flourishing), while the Highly Connected class showed the lowest psychopathology and highest levels of positive psychology traits. The other three classes, which fell between the Disconnected class and the Highly Connected class, carried intermediate levels of psychopathology and character strengths. Findings support future investigation on a universal progression of spiritual development based upon chakra theory.

Recent studies have demonstrated that when suffering or in psychological distress, religious clients tend to recover faster and with better outcomes when mental health professionals (MHPs) seek to integrate their clients’ religious beliefs and practices in psychotherapy. As described in the literature and highly-recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines, promotion of an accurate and sensitive integration of a client’s religious and spiritual beliefs is implied among MHPs: the awareness of the particularities, the differences and barriers that religious clients might encounter when seeking help; the knowledge and respect of those specific characteristics and needs; and the development of specific competencies. A mixed-methods approach was used to conduct this study, with the aim of understanding the role which religiosity and spirituality play in mental health and the psychotherapeutic processes of religious members and clients in Portugal. Eight focus groups and three in-depth interviews were conducted, with a total of 41 participants. Participants stated their religiosity as vital aspects in their life and reported religious/spiritual practices as their primary coping strategies. They recognised that their religiosity should not be concealed or marginalised in the context of their psychological and/or psychiatric treatment, but revealed apprehensions, dilemmas and barriers prior to disclosure. MHPs and services were seen as a possible source of help, but often as a last resort. Participants who sought professional help overall seemed to be satisfied with the service provided to them, although such treatment was mostly related to symptoms relief. Also, many concerns were shared, among them were both their wish for a religious match/ similarity with their MHP, and the perception of a lack of sensibility by their MHP towards religious and spiritual issues. Conclusions and implications for research are provided.

Sensitivity to religious diversity is an important part of multiculturally competent psychotherapy in the United States, but few resources exist for working with Pagan clients. Using a simultaneous parallel interviewing procedure, we reviewed the literature, conducted qualitative interviews with, and solicited online feedback from Pagans, to write a manuscript on culturally-sensitive therapy with followers of Paganism. Our participant-informant experts indicated that Paganism is nature-oriented, rooted in historical beliefs and practices, polytheistic, and revering the feminine divine. Pagans believe in harming none and judging no one, celebrate many different holidays and worship rituals, believe in multiple deities, cosmic balance, Magic, and an afterlife, and often have spiritual or mystical experiences. Pagan character traits include open-mindedness, individualism, multiculturalism, experientialism, feminism, sex, and sexuality. Participants described encountering many stereotypes of Pagans, including evil Pagans, teenaged Goth chicks, witches, New Age Hippies, just a phase, sex-crazed perverts, and within- Pagan stereotypes. They described their attitudes about mental health and psychotherapy, and (perhaps idiosyncratic to our sample) they also described a process of religious identity development similar to the sexual identity development of people who are GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered). We discuss recommendations for counselors and psychotherapists, including assessment and diagnostic issues, the client/counselor relationship, sense of humor, autonomy and personal responsibility, stigmatization, relationships, sex and sexuality, identity issues, ethical issues, and Pagans as healers.

The article engages the topic of the religious values of Hispanic immigrant charismatic Catholics, or carismáticos, and how these values manifest when carismáticos suffer from chronic depression. Their religious values prompt carismáticos to understand chronic depression as spiritual misalignment, which in turn prompts spiritual realignment and religious healing as the most effective means to address this mental illness. As a result, the carismáticos’ religious experiences lead them to conclude that psychotherapy is ultimately ineffective. While the carismáticos are beginning to make room for psychiatric medicine, they still perceive psychotherapists as holding values that irretrievably conflict with charismatic religious values. Engaging Bergin’s 1980 article “Psychotherapy and Religious Values,” this current article shares Bergin’s concern regarding the rift between religious values and psychotherapist’s values, and suggests the need for a more communal, religious approach to psychotherapy amongst practitioners of charismatic Catholicism.

This study illustrates the application of a literary methodology to the analysis and translation of biblical poetry. The aim is twofold: first and foundational, to reveal salient aspects of the beauty and power of Psalm 13 in the original Hebrew; and second, to experiment with different methods of communicating the original meaning of the psalmist’s passionate prayer with respect to lyric form, content, and function in Chichewa, a major Bantu language. After a thorough examination of the principal structural and stylistic features of the biblical text, a typical lament psalm, several published and unpublished Chewa translations are critically discussed. The ultimate purpose is, as the title of this paper suggests, to produce an acceptable, functionally equivalent, poetic version of the Hebrew text in the vernacular. In conclusion, the main principles illustrated in this study are summarized in an effort to encourage more dynamic, idiomatic, indeed melodic translations of the Scriptures in local languages, where circumstances allow. “How long” must so many reader-hearers suffer under the burden of a less than communicative version of the Psalter in their mother tongue?

This article claims that the cognitive effects of music on the brain reinforce the Biblical exhortation to “Sing to the Lord a new song” (Psalm 96:1, Colossians 3:16). Then it explores how this is borne out in poetic translations of Biblical Hebrew poetry into indigenous song forms in Natügu [ntu] and English [eng]. The numerous positive results of using sung poetic translations support the psycholinguistic literature, and suggest that to achieve similar benefits it should become standard best practice in Bible translation to set Biblical poetry translations to music.

The Hebrew word “dabar” is translated in the King James Bible by no fewer than 82 different English words. This article explores how and why it is translated like this, considering some of the issues at stake in Bible translation more generally, and with the King James Bible, in particular. It examines more closely six ways in which translation decisions either affect interpretation or reveal the translation process. It draws out implications for translators, readers, and for evaluating the KJB.

Translations by two early women Bible translators, Julia E. Smith (1792-1886) and Helen Barrett Montgomery (1861-1934), reflect their difference in purpose in attempting the translations as well as their level of knowledge of translation theory and linguistics. Smith translated merely for personal use in her own small society; her major concern was faithfulness to what she termed “the literal meaning.” Montgomery, on the other hand, wrote in consideration of her audience; she wanted to communicate clearly and naturally in idiomatic terms. Smith was inward-focused, whereas Montgomery was outward-focused.

Bible translation is traditionally in the hands of theologians, whose focus is on the meaning of the source text rather than on what modern readers are able to understand. This paper attempts to show where translation theory, or more specifically, the Skopos theory of translation, may help Bible translators to produce texts that “work” or “function” for the intended audience without betraying their trust that they are reading God’s word in their own language. After a brief overview of the development of Translation Studies, we shall take a quick look at some guiding principles of Bible translation, as explained in prefaces of modern versions, before presenting the main ideas of Skopos theory and illustrating them by a few examples from the New Testament. The conclusion will sum up the fundamental hypotheses of the skopos-theoretical concept “Function + Loyalty.”

The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, now complete, particularly helps one study common words, both ordinary words and words with theological freight. Such study suggests some myopia in how English translations render words such as ḥesed, ’āhēb, sānē’, yārē’, dāraš, biqqēš, ‘ebed, nāsā’, yĕšû‘āh, mišpāt, and ṣĕdāqāh. The paper considers ways of translating some of these words and then considers Isaiah 56:1. This example also points to the usefulness of keeping the same translation for a particular word, to help readers perceive links within the text. There is thus a case for stepping back from recent practice associated with dynamic equivalence.

After offering a short overview of the history of Hebrew translations of the New Testament from the Middle Ages to our time, this article focuses on the purposes of the different translations as reflected in what has been written and said about them by the translators themselves and by other people involved in their dissemination. Five such purposes are identified: 1. Jewish polemics against Christianity in the Middle Ages. 2. Christian study of the Hebrew language. 3. The quest for the Hebrew “original” of the New Testament. 4. The mission to the Jews. 5. The needs of the Christian communities in the State of Israel. Concluding remarks are then made regarding the way in which Hebrew translations of the New Testament were perceived throughout the ages and regarding the role they played.

This article discusses the translation of verbs in the Book of Ecclesiastes from Hebrew into Greek. Each Hebrew verbal category is examined in turn. Qal perfective verbs are found to be primarily rendered via the Greek aorist indicative, while Qal imperfective verbs are translated primarily by both the future indicative and by the aorist subjunctive. Qal participles are rendered almost equally by Greek participles and Greek finite forms (usually present), while Qal infinitives and imperatives are rendered by their equivalents in Greek. With regard to other Hebrew stems, these general trends hold true, but it is noted that Piel and Hiphil verbs are translated overwhelmingly by Greek active forms (almost never deponent or middle), while the Niphal is predictably rendered by passive Greek forms. Besides these general trends, the article makes note of exceptions and oddities which help to elucidate the ancient translator’s understanding of both the Hebrew and Greek verbal systems.

Jewish versions of the Bible frequently feature extensive commentaries in addition to translated text. In many instances these commentaries elicit as much attention as the translation itself—if not more. Typically combining grammatical and exegetical remarks, these commentaries accompany both freer and more literal renderings and may contain non-Jewish and non-traditional commentators along with substantial offerings from mainstream Jewish exegetes. The erudition displayed by these Jewish translators is extensive, often aimed at a more learned audience than the translated text itself. Overall, such Jewish versions may be seen as efforts to open up for non-Hebrew readers the intentionally ambiguous language of the original, where lexical and grammatical multivalence are characteristic features—features that are frequently lost when rendering words and expressions from one language to another.

This article examines the possible contribution of discourse analysis to the field of Bible translation. Drawing upon some developments in translation studies regarding discourse, this article proposes that attention to discourse considerations can help Bible translation move beyond the usual opposition of formal and dynamic equivalence.

Gender neutral language has been one of the most hotly debated issues in Bible translation in recent decades, especially in translations into English. The article presents some aspects of this problem expanding the perspective and comparing gender neutral language usage in modern translations of Scripture into English and Polish: the New International Version and the Paulist Bible and the Poznan Bible, with occasional references to other English and Polish translations. Renditions of selected New Testament terms such as anthrōpos, anēr, adelphos/adelphoi and huioi are examined, as well as English and Polish translations of diakoneo when it describes women accompanying Jesus in the synoptic gospels. Translations of “Junia/Junius” (Rom 16:7) are also compared as well as the issue of Phoebe the “deaconess” in Rom 16:1. The author concludes that solutions concerning gender neutral language in English and Polish translations of the Bible, sometimes similar, are not identical due to differences between these languages, due to different socio-linguistic norms characterizing Polish and English audiences respectively and due to the fact that the English translation is addressed to the evangelical Christians, while the Polish ones to the Catholics.

Translation of the Bible or any other text unavoidably involves a determination about its meaning. There have been different views of meaning from ancient times up to the present, and a particularly Enlightenment and Modernist view is that the meaning of a text amounts to whatever the original author of the text intended it to be. This article analyzes the authorial-intent view of meaning in comparison with other models of literary and legal interpretation. Texts are anchors to interpretation but are subject to individualized interpretations. It is texts that are translated, not intentions. The challenge to the translator is to negotiate the meaning of a text and try to choose the most salient and appropriate interpretation as a basis for bringing the text to a new audience through translation.

This article presents a study of Ezekiel 1 in five unpublished Christian Arabic manuscripts dated from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries. We will demonstrate that the manuscripts, in principal, represent two different versions. Both versions are based on the Syriac Peshiṭṭa but various degrees of influence from the Septuagint are evident. Our main aim is to examine the approach to translation exhibited in the manuscripts. In general, the earliest witness represents a literal translation which pays attention to structural affinity but allows for minor deviations, mainly omissions for the sake of the target language. In the younger manuscripts, an increasing number of additions are introduced as a means of commenting, clarifying and ornamenting the biblical narrative. It appears that texts in the traditional liturgical languages were still in use, which explains their non-literal and target-oriented character.

Mary Sidney’s (1561-1621) interesting and entertaining free translations of the Psalms using lyric poetry forms prized by the Renaissance literary world highlight women’s roles often glossed over by male translators. In addition, Mary Sidney chooses to translate Hebrew ṣeḏeq as ‛just’ in contrast to the King James’s ‛righteous’, perhaps reflecting her concern for community justice, while the king spiritualized the concept in order to protect his position and right to enforce royal wishes.

The choice of the editors of the Common English Bible (CEB) to translate Greek, Aramaic and English phrases as either “The Human One” or “the human being” has been controversial. However, it renders the “literal” meaning of a stock idiom that was in use both in the Aramaic of Jesus’ day and in the Hebrew and Aramaic language in the OT. For those who are not taught the literal meaning of the idiom, the traditional literalistic word-for-word translation of ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου as “the Son of Man” is either meaningless or misleading both in terms of Christology and for following the narrative of the Gospels. An accurate translation of the sense of the Aramaic and Hebrew idiom was virtually a necessary choice for semantic accuracy, and reflects the CEB’s purpose and translation theory. It is also a missional choice to render the Word of God in a way that is understood in the target audience’s language. However, the majority of the public that purchases Bibles has religious and theological commitments and tends to expect or even demand specific theological vocabulary and technical terms that are part of a specialized religious register, even though it is misunderstood. Therefore, the CEB engages in “norm-breaking” by attempting to choose vocabulary from registers that are currently in use in the English language in comparable contexts as those that are represented in the source text.

One of the central metaphors in the New Testament involves the familial imagery of God as “father” and Jesus as God’s “son.” The epithet of “son of God” for Jesus is understood by Christians to be metaphorical, rather than literal, and evokes a complex network of theological concepts. However, for Muslims, these epithets for God are extremely problematic—according to the Qur’ān, God “begetteth not nor was he begotten.” This article compares the renderings of divine familial terms in two Arabic translations representing indigenizing and foreignizing approaches to translation within Islamic contexts and explores the implications of each translation in promoting different kinds of covert religious selfcensorship.

Our translation of biblical passages, and our selection of translations, has an effect on their liturgical use and the values we teach. By choosing a gender-neutral translation we may make a statement of gender inclusion, but at the same time some worshipers may find the change from a familiar translation jarring. Should we sacrifice the value of inclusion for the comfort of a familiar text? Psalm 23 is a case in point. The strong masculine imagery of the psalm, and its well-known translation, put off those who seek gender-neutral language for prayer and sacred texts. But do the King James and RSV translations, or a modernized version, have inherent sacredness, as well as comfort through their familiarity? This paper explores the nuances of some of the issues involved in a gender-neutral translation of Psalm 23 (and other texts) within the liturgical context of the synagogue.

Using interpretative resources from contemporary recognition theory with a special focus on the notion of mediated recognition, this paper discusses the nature and degree of methodological agreement as manifested in three twelfth-century dialogues. The first source to be considered was written by Gilbert of Crispin, and known as Disputatio Christiani cum Gentili (Disputation of Christian with a Pagan), ca. 1093. The second source was composed by the Christian convert Peter Alfonsi, whose dialogue Dialogi contra Iudaeos (Dialogue against the Jews) was written about 1110. The third source to be considered is Peter Abelard’s treatise Collationes, a dialogue with three participants and the narrator, written between 1127 and 1132. In particular, the paper discusses the role of reason, the principles of argument, and the potentially-shared set of rules these dialogues employ, thereby bringing the agreement among conflicting parties into focus. In this respect, the novel interpretative approach based on recognition theory also differs markedly from the standard reading of apologetic texts, which usually emphasizes conflict and disagreement.

The concept of recognition is increasing in importance in political and social philosophy as a means of explaining and dealing conceptually with the problems of multiculturalism. Nevertheless, the phenomena which this concept signifies, namely human capacities for intersubjectivity, belong to human beings even before the development of the modern concept. This article explores how the content of the concept of recognition plays a role in two Platonic philosophies of Late Antiquity, those of the Neoplatonic philosopher Proclus and the Christian philosopher, monk and theologian Maximus the Confessor. It is shown that their versions of a metaphysics of the Good provides the foundation for a moral and ethical vision of human life which makes recognitive judgements – which make acts of recognition possible – a necessity for human action. Although proper recognition pertains to the rational recognition of the First Cause as the true end of all human action, nevertheless Proclus and Maximus make recognitive judgements not only possible but a necessary function of even the lower, irrational faculties of soul. In this way, they explain how human beings have an innate capacity at all levels of cognition for recognizing things and other people as goods to be pursued or avoided.

Two opposing opinions about “the Maccabees” feature in the homily On Eleazar and the Seven Boys. According to the homilist, “the Maccabees” can be recognized as martyrs; yet, many others fail to see it. The construction of this conflict relies heavily on another confrontation identifiable in the same text: a dialogue between the homilist and “the Jew”, who thinks differently and, in the opinion of the homilist, incorrectly. These tensions in the source may be taken to reflect “identity-political” issues of the time and evaluated accordingly. My analysis challenges this view by emphasizing how difficult it is to reconstruct historical encounters between persons/groups based on such a source. I suggest, instead, that the conflict and dialogue should be considered parallel examples of how, in the context of late antiquity, a Christian intellectual mind conceptualizes “difference” (of opinions or between identities) and how it deals with it. The analysis shows that the homilist’s argumentation is built on seemingly commonsensical or authoritative fair-to-all “facts”. Yet, interactions with others provide the homilist with ways to govern and re-produce those very facts. Rather than social struggles, the interactions reflect and represent the level of otherness contained in the discourse of the homilist.

This paper argues that Emmanuel Levinas’ critique of the “ontological imperialism” does not amount to a perfunctory and rejective attitude towards ontology. Against the commonly held interpretation of Levinas, I argue that if we keep in mind that the understanding of the other is grounded on and determined by ethical recognition of the person, ontological recognition of the other person does not necessarily entail violent relation towards of the other person. Moreover, ethical recognition provides a standard of evaluation for ontological recognition and traditional theological discourse. The distinction between the two forms of recognition is essential to Levinas’ account of “religious life”. The two forms of recognition are nevertheless interconnected, if not reducible to one another. It is only when we lose sight of the fundamental ethical perspective that the ontological recognition is in danger of becoming violent and repressive.

The last two decades have seen the (re)emergence of the concept of recognition in ethical and political theory. Oftentimes, recognition is seen as a deeper, more developed version of tolerance, without the problems that tolerance purportedly has. We should not “merely” tolerate different individuals, identities and cultures, but recognize them, or so the argument goes. This move from tolerance to recognition is not without its critics. We will outline some of these criticisms and address them with the resources provided by the theory of recognition. We will suggest that while some of the criticisms are unfounded, the move from tolerance to recognition has a number of problems that the critics have correctly pointed out. The relationship between tolerance and recognition is complex: both have their own aims and functions. We will suggest that there are cases–especially ones that involve deep moral disagreements–where tolerance is a more reasonable aim than recognition.

G. W. F. Hegel’s idea of recognition has become one of the central concepts of social and political philosophy and social theory. In feminist philosophy of religion recognition has also a prominent role. One problem which troubles philosophical discussions of recognition is the lack of adequate communication between different research traditions. This article describes briefly the original source of inspiration of contemporary discussions of recognition, Hegel’s own idea of recognition as it is narratively depicted in his Phenomenology of Spirit. It also takes up Hegel’s problematic views of women and the sphere of the family. The text tries to show how the Hegelian ideas have inspired three prominent feminist philosophers of religion: Luce Irigaray, Grace M. Jantzen and Pamela Sue Anderson. These philosophers are connected to the two ways of reading Hegel: the (predominantly) French tradition and the Critical Theory. It is argued that while Irigaray and Jantzen present important criticisms of the prevailing religious attitudes, they are unable to combine this criticism with a feminist view that would allow religion to be taken seriously. In this respect, Anderson’s – still undeveloped – theory of recognition is a more promising attempt.

This article explores the possibilities offered by theories of recognition and identity politics for a better understanding of religious – in this case, Christian – environmentalism. Insights related to recognition are gleaned from literature in ecological theology. Themes for further research and possibilities for practical adaptation are explored. It is argued that theories of recognition help to understand the dynamics related to processes where a certain group asks for more recognition of nature. Identity questions and developments in environmentalism are clarified by an understanding of what happens when partial recognition is granted. The role of mutuality as a basis for recognition is widened by Arto Laitinen’s proposal for recognition as “adequate regard” for something, i.e. for an ecosystem. The complex relations between humans and non-human nature are explored through such themes as reciprocity and the question of “voices” of nature. Creaturely difference and the role of seeing a “face” in nature are discussed in relation to recognition. The significance of place and environmental conditions for recognition are probed. Special attention is given to Andrew Dobson’s application of Nancy Frazer’s theory of transformative recognition to environmental matters, which offers new ways of understanding the role of non-human nature in politics, ethics and discussions on justice.

This paper argues for a wider presentation of the term ‘recognition’ that includes ‘religion’ as a dimension of recognition. Toward this end, the author draws on the Canadian philosopher, Charles Taylor, who considered whether religion might be a supportive context for the promotion of recognition. Recognition for Taylor includes recognition not only of sameness, but, significantly, recognition of difference. As the author of this paper highlights, Taylor’s argument for recognition of difference is an important resource in any theological reflection on the possibility of religious recognition.

This essay traces a genealogy of the modern concept of race, and modern racism, in relationship to the intellectual shifts that led to the secularization of knowledge during the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Through an analysis of the evolution of the central concept of “The Great Chain of Being” from the Classical through Medieval and Early Modern periods, I argue that the decline of religion in the West was a necessary condition for the rise of modern conceptions of race and racism.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued an online statement in February 2012 rejecting all racism, in any form. The statement followed nearly two centuries of tortured struggles with racism promulgated by church leaders, instituted in everyday practices, and integrated into Latter-day Saint scriptures. While rhetoric renouncing racism from the LDS Church is a welcome step, religions need to compliment language undoing racism with concrete actions. This article examines ways that the LDS Church may work towards actually ending various forms of racism. It focuses attention on the role of settler colonial grave robbery, the loot from which was used in the production of Mormon scriptures advocating white privilege. These acts of violence against Native people continue into the present, as illustrated by the recent occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge by Mormon militiamen, extensive trade networks in antiquities in Mormon communities, unethical uses of Native American DNA, and ongoing efforts by Utah legislators to undermine tribal sovereignty. Current rhetoric condemning racism appears to serve as a mask for the continued imbalance of power in a land-rich institution in which the highest positions of authority remain exclusively in the hands of white men. Reciprocal acts of repatriation, initiated but never finished by early LDS Church leaders, need to be re-activated if Mormons are to effectively repudiate racism in its many forms.

I examine racial and ethnic dynamics in encounters between Tanzanian church personnel, and visiting American partners or short-term missionaries. Contemporary mission work in Tanzania is situated within a historical context that includes, but is not ultimately determined by, race or ethnicity. Several kinds of engagements and partnerships exist between American religious organisations and the Tanzanian church, which I describe ethnographically, and discuss how encounters between Tanzanian Christians and American visitors become ethnically inflected. Two cases—encounters with Maasai and Chagga people respectively—provide a comparative illustration. Finally, I address the role played by new types of partnership between Tanzanian and American religious organisations, and how themes of hospitality and identities as guests and hosts contribute to encounters between American and Tanzanian Christians. In these encounters, multiple areas of shifting meanings of race come together, resulting in disjunctures of understanding. I suggest that these disjunctures, coupled with the guest-host dynamic and the lack of in-depth knowledge characteristic of short-term mission in general, reveal patterns of social inequality and tensions inherent in the changing context of Christian mission.

This paper examines the phenomena of non-western missionaries evangelizing in the West through a case study of a Korean mission movement in the United States. It discusses how Korean missionaries of color were able to evangelize white Americans in the late 1970s and have had some success in crossracial evangelism. It argues that Korean missionaries practiced a theology of sacrifice to evangelize white Americans. They practically embraced suffering, self-denial, and service and specialized in sacrifice to evangelize Americans. An important part of this theology, however, included uplifting and privileging white converts. Given their long history with white-American missionaries and American imperialism, Korean evangelicals were privy to a white-dominant racial hierarchy in American society. This affected those whom the missionaries in my study viewed to be the “real Americans” and the “ideal native” converts in America. It also shaped how they sought to evangelize and draw the white population into their congregations.

The relationship between Christianity and racism in the United States has a long history. In an age of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘colour-blind’ ideology, explicit forms of racism have become less conspicuous. Still, disparities arise across the country’s human economy, and explicit statements of egalitarianism are incongruent with practices of discrimination in U.S. Christian churches. This article explores this incongruence and the relationship between Christianity and implicit forms of racism. By discussing theological individualism and the principle of ‘homophily’, the article contributes to discussions about the relationship between the moral and human economy. Through this, a Christian morality of salvific aspiration is translated into a morality of personal economic responsibility and duty.

Prayer shawl ministries, overwhelmingly led and staffed by women, aim to give comfort to the bereaved. Shawl makers often want to respond to communal tragedy and grief such as mass shootings. This case study uses qualitative interviews with shawl makers from white and African-American ministry groups, placing their statements in the context of benevolent handwork, disaster response, and the culture of mass shootings. The ordinary theology of shawl makers is forged in a “chronic mode,” responding to individual instances of grief in the ministry’s neighborhood. “Crisis mode” operations, where shawls are part of multifaceted mobilization efforts to bring relief to a large number of victims, may clarify, test, extend, or alter these meanings. White shawl makers were appalled at the suffering inflicted by the Sandy Hook school shooting and took pride in their ability to make a difference, while black shawl makers were guided by concerns about discipline, process, and preservation of community. These results suggest that perceptions of normalcy influence the response of caretaking ministries to violence and trauma, revealing a distinction between restorative efforts and the development of resilience.

This article is an exploratory look into the experiences of five ethnic-minority youth from the Los Angeles region who experienced and engaged with White Evangelical outreach organizations (WEOO) and short term mission (STM) groups over the period of five years. This article employs their qualitative narratives and examines the effects that race, gender, and racism had on them. Added narrative from emerging ethnic-minority adults is also applied in this article to discuss those impacts, albeit on a specific region of the country, of (STMs) which have become increasingly well-known over the past decade. The purpose of this article is to examine and explore the effects of WEOOs and STMs on the populations they are intending to serve. From the research findings, I will illustrate 1) subtle racism, microaggression, and patriarchy from WEOOs and 2) allow the narrative of ethnic-minority experiences to chronicle their experience in these types of organizations. Lastly, this article will briefly propose alternatives and insights from the data gathered.

This essay investigates the power and limits of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s theology of revolutionary love through a dialogue with Kim Chi-Ha. I will argue that King’s theology of revolutionary love may be revitalized within a globalized context through a dialogue with Kim’s philosophy of dan, that includes an “agonized violence of love”, in order to offer a continuing praxis of love of enemy and love of neighbor, salvation for sinner and sinned-against. I show how in King’s theology, love subsists in justice and then how it is illustrated by and is challenged by the grotesque image at the conclusion of Kim’s poem, Chang Il-Dam—a mutual beheading in which the heads of the sinner and sinned-against are switched in a new creation. I argue this because Kim envisions this violence as eschatological and salvific, leading to social transformation also based upon a kind of revolutionary love. As the global influence of King’s theology continues to be studied, this particular dialogue shows how King’s theology of nonviolent revolutionary love, as a “global flow”, can be revitalized to highlight the costliness of justice and the nonviolent transformative nature of love that are embedded in salvation for sinned-against and sinner, oppressed and oppressor.

Recent surges of immigration in Western countries have produced statements about what successful assimilation requires. While it is commonly believed that proper assimilation in the West is rooted in shared democratic values, this article argues that beneath such values lies a Christian image of humanity, which, due to the colonial endeavor, is mostly clearly manifest by the white body. As a result of the link between whiteness, Christianity, and civility that develops within the western colonial context and persists into early twentieth-century U.S. immigration, one’s spiritual state as well as one’s fitness for social inclusion are judged along racial lines. By identifying this relationship, the present essay demonstrates the role that Christianity has played in the relentless, racially rooted visual distinction of those who are judged to fit within civilized society and those who are seen as a threat to the established social order.