scholarly journals Rawls Goes to Church

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-148
Author(s):  
Bob Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Local Churches ◽  
Episcopal Church ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
Mainline Protestant

Many mainline Protestant communities want to be welcoming while preserving their identities; they want to be shaped by the central claims of the faith while making room for those who doubt. And crucially, they want to do this in a way that leads to vibrant, growing communities, where more and more people gather to worship, encourage one another, and live out the Gospel. How should the Episcopal Church—and other mainline Protestant denominations, insofar as they’re similar—try to achieve these goals? I suggest that local churches borrow some resources from John Rawls’s Political Liberalism. On the view I outline, it’s valuable for local churches to see themselves as akin to political bodies composed of reasonable citizens. The idea, in essence, is that the relevant kind of reasonableness would make congregations more unified even while tolerating more diversity, and would accomplish all this without giving up their distinctly Christian identity.

The Protestant Episcopal Church, Black Nationalists, and Expansion of the West African Missionary Field, 1851–1871

1988 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Oldfield
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
The United States ◽  
West African ◽  
Second Century ◽  
The West ◽  
Episcopal Church ◽  
American Missionaries ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
The Church

One of the most boldly conceived assaults on benighted Africa during the nineteenth century was that undertaken by mainline Protestant denominations in the United States. With the brash confidence characteristic of the age, hundreds of American missionaries were dispatched from New York and Baltimore to convert the heathen tribes of Africa and wrest a continent from ruin. If the experience of the Protestant Episcopal church is at all typical, however, these efforts not infrequently aroused suspicion and open hostility. In fact, Episcopal penetration of Liberia in the second half of the second century was remarkable for a long and bitter contest with black nationalists who were intent on using the church as a vehicle for their own personal and racial ambitions.

Metamorphoses of the Jesuits: Sexual Identity, Gender Roles, and Hierarchy in Catholicism

1990 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter McDonough
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
New Ventures ◽  
International Order ◽  
Society Of Jesus ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
Mainline Protestant

Since the Second Vatican Council opened in 1962, several changes have occurred in the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits have suffered a drop in manpower: Membership in the international order peaked at over 36,000 men in 1965 and had fallen by 1988 to below 25,000. Another change has been ideological: The Jesuits seem to have shifted from a conservative or disengaged posture toward a progressive and occasionally radical stance on social and political matters, and they have struggled to implement this orientation by abandoning some of their routine commitments and taking on new ventures in “faith and justice.” Finally, the Society of Jesus has deregimented its procedures in the areas of training and governance. It would appear that the liberalization that took place in mainline Protestant denominations over several decades was recapitulated by the Jesuits in a shorter period.

The Obstacles to a Christian Presence

2021 ◽  
pp. 255-278
Author(s):  
George M. Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
State Universities ◽  
Literary Study ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
State University ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
Mainline Protestant

By the 1920s and 1930s those concerned with keeping a Christian presence faced many challenges. One solution was for mainline Protestant denominations to strengthen their student ministries, especially on state university campuses. One approach was to sponsor “Bible chairs” in which qualified professors taught courses on the Bible or Christian religious themes for credit. By 1940 virtually all church-related schools and most state universities had departments of religion. These were liberal Protestant institutions and emphasized scientific and literary study of religion. Despite these efforts higher education was rapidly growing in many other areas, so religion remained peripheral to most of their activities. As compensation this was an era of building huge chapels. Student religious life declined; the YMCA and YWCA in particular declined as did evangelical religious interests. Chapel requirements largely disappeared. The dominant liberal Protestants emphasized teaching character and becoming good citizens grounded in the broadly Christian tradition.

The Reunion of the Episcopal Church, 1865

1940 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-140
Author(s):  
Henry T. Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
American Civil War ◽  
The Other ◽  
Episcopal Church ◽  
New Material ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
Church Organizations ◽  
The Church

When the American Civil War began, the Southern dioceses of the Protestant Episcopal Church organized a Confederate Church. Contrary to sentiment in the other popular Protestant denominations, there was in 1861 little hostility between the Confederate and Northern leaders of this Church. As the war progressed, however, bitterness developed until in 1865 at the close of the war many wanted to retain separate church organizations. Despite these animosities, some bold spirits succeeded in bringing about the reconciliation of the dioceses of the Church. The story of this reunion has been told before, but new material recently made available warrants a new analysis.

The Queer Thresholds of Heresy

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-428
Author(s):  
Ju Hui Judy Han
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Semantic Ambiguity ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
Presbyterian Church In Korea ◽  
Queer Theology ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
Mainline Protestant

Abstract Disputes over heresy are not new or uncommon, as mainline Protestant denominations in South Korea have historically deemed numerous minor sects and radical theologies to be heretical to the Christian faith. However, when the largest evangelical denomination in the country, the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapdong), began investigating Reverend Lim Borah (Im Pora) of the Sumdol Hyanglin Church in 2017 and subsequently ruled her ministry to be heretical, they charted new grounds by denouncing LGBTI-affirming theology and ministry as heresy. This article traces the semantic ambiguity and politics of the term for heresy, idan, and highlights the intersection of heretical Christianity, gender and sexual nonconformity, and ideological dissidence. The argument is that growing interests in queer theology and calls for LGBTI-affirming ministry stoked the flames of efforts by beleaguered Protestant denominations to use heresy to discredit and stigmatize dissident practices, and that rather than simply stifle dissent, the subsequent controversy also exposed the limits of dominant power and the contours of vital resistance.

scholarly journals Constructively Managing Program-related Conflict In Local Churches

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Dunaetz
Keyword(s):  
Role Playing ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
Local Churches ◽  
Social Goal ◽  
Evangelical Churches ◽  
Lay Members ◽  
Effective Program ◽  
Pastoral Staff ◽  
Children's Program

Interpersonal conflict surrounding church programs is a major source of distress for both pastoral staff and lay members of evangelical churches. Such conflict, when destructive, may severely hinder the achievement of program objectives. However, conflict when managed constructively may lead to a more effective program and strengthened relationships. This empirical study seeks to understand the conditions under which program-related conflict in evangelical churches leads to detrimental outcomes and those which lead to constructive outcomes. In a role-playing, survey-based experiment of American church attenders ( N = 276), participants’ satisfaction with conflict outcome was measured in a scenario with various outcomes concerning their program-related goal (maintaining the starting time of a mid-week children’s program) and their social goals (e.g., having a better relationship with the director of the children’s program, being affirmed in their Christian identity, and ensuring that decisions are made fairly). The study indicates that, in a conflict concerning a children’s program, church attenders who have a salient social goal achieved, but not their program-related goal, will be more satisfied than church attenders who have their program-related goal achieved but not a salient social goal.

Ethnicisation, Marriage and Early Christian Identity: Critical Reflections on 1 Corinthians 7, 1 Peter 3 and Modern New Testament Scholarship

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Horrell
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Mixed Marriage ◽  
Christian Identity ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
New Testament Studies

In the discipline of New Testament studies there are particular reasons for critical vigilance concerning the ways in which historical reconstructions can be shaped by a sense of both religious and ethnic or racial superiority. This risk applies specifically to the contrasting depictions of Judaism and Christianity, and it is notable that, despite the changing phases of scholarship, the tendency to replicate a dichotomy between an ethnically particular Judaism and a universal, open, trans-ethnic Christianity persists. As one facet of a critical consideration of this dichotomy, this essay considers two specific texts that contribute to the ethnicisation of early Christian identity: 1 Corinthians 7 and 1 Peter 3. In the former, Paul develops two principles that are significant in the ethnicisation process: endogamy as norm for the contraction of marriage (1 Cor 7.39) and the assumption that children with a Christian parent (even in a so-called ‘mixed marriage’) are part of the Christian community (1 Cor 7.14). The later household codes further develop this idea that the household is a place for the reproduction and generation of Christian identity. In 1 Pet 3.1–6, part of the letter's household code where mixed marriage is again an issue, two features of the text are of particular interest: its focus on a ‘way of life’ (ἀναστροφή) and the connections drawn between conduct and ancestry. In both of these respects, 1 Peter seems to be constructing a form of group-identity that shares features in common with Jewish notions of group-belonging in the period. The ‘ethnicising’ features of these texts raise questions about any categorical contrast between Jewish ethnicity and Christian inclusive trans-ethnicity. Why then is such a depiction of the Christian achievement – which in many ways parallels depictions of modern Western political liberalism – so enduring and appealing within the discipline? It is suggested that the answer must be sought in the religious and ethnic or racial location of that scholarly tradition.

Mainline Protestants and Divestment as International Economic Activism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maia Hallward
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Methodist Church ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
Mainline Protestant

Mainline Protestant denominations in the United States have a history of using divestment as an economic form of nonviolent moral activism. While such activism can have a domestic focus, at times church divestment efforts have emphasized foreign policy issues as an extension of church activism in the areas of social justice and moral reform. Churches have used economic activism such as divestment from apartheid South Africa and investment screens to prevent church pension and other funds from being used for products and services—such as alcohol, tobacco and munitions—deemed “immoral” by church bodies. The case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict illustrates the broader themes and tensions involved in church divestment debates, given the media coverage that has been generated by the topic due to the special relationship between Christians and the holy land and the troubled history of Christianity and anti-Semitism. Some Protestant denominations, particularly those with a history of engagement in Israel/Palestine, have responded to the Palestinians’ call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) to advance their freedom and human rights. However, such responses have not been immune from debate and controversy. Some mainline Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), the United Methodist Church, and the Episcopal Church have debated resolutions dealing with church divestment from companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Such resolutions have resulted in pushback from some parties, including efforts to criminalize boycott of Israel.

scholarly journals Not by Bread Alone: Mobility Experiences, Religion, and Optimism about Future Mobility

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 237802311984980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Reynolds ◽  
Matthew May ◽  
He Xian
Keyword(s):  
Historically Black ◽  
Upward Mobility ◽  
Objective Measures ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Catholic Women ◽  
Protestant Denominations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Religiously Unaffiliated ◽  
Mainline Protestant

Americans are quite optimistic about their chances of upward mobility, but sometimes even they have their doubts. The authors examine how mobility experiences boost or dampen American optimism about mobility and how the relationship is connected to religion. The authors find that Americans whose subjective financial situations have recently worsened are less optimistic, whereas those whose situations have improved are more optimistic. Objective measures of mobility were not connected to optimism. The authors also found that men affiliated with historically black Protestant denominations and Hispanic Catholic men and women are more optimistic than the religiously unaffiliated. Additionally, downward mobility is associated with different outcomes for different groups: very small drops in optimism among Hispanic Catholic women but unusually large drops among mainline Protestant and Hispanic Catholic men. The authors encourage more study of Hispanic Catholic women because their experiences may be useful for preserving optimism among other Americans during tough economic times.

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