scholarly journals Experiencing Justice from the Inside Out: Theological Considerations about the Church’s Role in Justice, Healing, and Forgiveness

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Jason Sexton
Keyword(s):  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Social Actor ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
Inside Out ◽  
The Church

Recent suggestions have been made that theology may have more to offer on matters related to the subjects of punishment, corrections, and rehabilitation than has often been acknowledged in the scholarly literature. This essay sets out to explore the merits of such claims with regard to how they might assist ongoing efforts to address mass incarceration, including the theological dimensions of punitive justice along with other potentially redemptive realities that theological reflection may illuminate and make more visible. Consideration will be given to the ongoing role that religion plays in the life of the prison before giving consideration to the ontology of the church as a social actor, especially as locally-constituted within the prison—the ecclesia incarcerate, or the prison church. The theological rationale for the basic existence of such an actor is explored along with the effects of such a vision for this kind of transformation the church may experience along with both promises and potential challenges that come with the church having its own ontology, not as a given, but as a creature of grace.

scholarly journals Onherhaalbaar, onontdoenbaar: Die doop as simbool van eenheid in die kerk

2013 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Van Oudtshoorn
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Spiritual Journey ◽  
Spiritual Experiences ◽  
The One ◽  
Expanded Concept ◽  
The Church ◽  
Significant Milestone

Irrevocably singular: Baptism as a symbol of unity in the church. In this article I conduct a phenomenological analysis of the concept ‘one baptism’ in Ephesians 4:4−6. Such an analysis seeks to reveal the essence of a particular concept by bracketing out the theological and ideological presuppositions usually associated with it. The essential concept is then expanded by linking it to the terms most closely surrounding it in the text. A critical theological reflection on the expanded concept shows that ‘one baptism’ refers to an event by which believers are inducted, once and for all, into the church as the one body of the one Lord, Jesus Christ. The church exists through the presence of the one Spirit who binds believers in an unbreakable bond of love to God and to each other. Because baptism can never be undone or repeated, any liturgical act depicted as a ‘re-baptism’ is, by definition, impossible. This means that churches that baptise the children of believing parents are able to accommodate requests from people who, having been baptised as an infant, in later life wish to celebrate and testify to some significant milestone in their spiritual journey by means of an official church ritual. Such ritualised testimonies, however, refer to the existential lifeworld of believers (their repentance, confession of faith etc.) and are distinct from baptism that refers to the singular eschatological work of Christ and thus cannot be repeated. The church should, however, take pastoral care to ensure that people do not substitute their own spiritual experiences for the reality of salvation that is founded on the singular act of God, for us once and for all in Christ, to which baptism irrevocably refers.

The 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church and the Liturgy: New Wine in Old Wineskins?

2016 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-701
Author(s):  
Bryan Cones
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Center Of Gravity ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Episcopal Church ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Liturgical Reform ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

The 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church generated a significant number of resolutions related to the church's liturgy, most of which passed both Houses, including resolutions authorizing preparation of the revision of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982. A review of the resolutions related to liturgy and music, however, raises fundamental questions about the kind of liturgical reform the church may undertake and how it may integrate growing appreciation for linguistic and cultural diversity in the church, including the insights of feminist, postcolonial, and LGBTQ theological reflection and those produced by theologians of color. This essay argues that serious engagement with these questions suggests a completely reimagined liturgical “center of gravity” that integrates the insights of liturgical scholarship and practice since the authorization of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and The Hymnal 1982, while providing the flexibility to respond to the church's current diverse contexts.

scholarly journals Curriculum design in theology and development: Human agency and the prophetic role of the church

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverley Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

The field of theology and development is a relatively new sub-discipline within theological studies in Africa. The first formal post-graduate programme was introduced at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa during the mid-1990s. In the early years it was known as the Leadership and Development programme and since 2000, as the Theology and Development programme. Over the past twenty years, this programme has graduated over 160 BTh Honours, 100 MTh, and 15 PhD students. This article outlines the history of the programme, addresses its ideological orientation, its pedagogical commitments and preferences in curriculum design. It further argues that theological reflection on “development” must seek to understand the prophetic role of the church in responding to the complexities of the social issues facing the African continent.  Key to this discussion is the contested nature of “development” and the need for theological perspectives to engage this contestation through a social analysis of the global structures of injustice. This requires an engagement with the social sciences. It is this engagement of the social sciences with theological reflection, the essay argues, that has enabled the students who have graduated from the Theology and Development Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to assist the church and faith-based organisations to become effective agents of social transformation.

scholarly journals Depictions of holy monks in the western bay of the Church of the Virgin in Studenica

Zograf ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 65-90
Author(s):  
Milos Zivkovic
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  
Scholarly Literature ◽  
Research Results ◽  
The Church

The study is dedicated to the figures of holy monks in the west bay of the Church of the Virgin in Studenica, painted during the restoration of the original murals in 1568. The paper seeks to establish the identity of some saints who were previously incorrectly identified, as well as the identity of those who were unobserved in previous studies. It also discusses to what extent the choice of holy monks to be depicted was determined by the original iconographic program. The research results confirm the hypothesis that has for long been present in scholarly literature; according to it, during the restoration of frescoes in the Studenica katholikon, the painters largely repeated the original painted program. Nevertheless, judging by the example of the holy monks depicted in west bay, it may be concluded that in some cases they departed from the original iconographic program. In selecting new saints to be depicted they must have relied on the Menologion.

scholarly journals Manifesting the Sacred: John La Farge’s The Lampbearer as a Model for Catholic Presence in the World

Lumen et Vita ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin LaBadie
Keyword(s):  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Present Patient ◽  
American Artist ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The World ◽  
Union With God ◽  
The Church

What does it mean for the Church to be in the world? In this paper, I propose that it means for the Church to be sacred, i.e., all Catholics are called to live sacredly. How is the sacred defined? To answer this question, I look to the American artist, John La Farge (1835-1910), whose works are currently being displayed at Boston College's McMullen Museum. The exhibition examines La Farge's "lifelong efforts to visualize the sacred." Given this, I offer a theological reflection on La Farge's painting of the Wise Virgin in order to elucidate what it means to live sacredly: being in tension between the transcendent and the imminent. In other words, to live sacredly means to be attentive, patient, and faithful to the ultimate coming of God's kingdom, yet also to be present, patient, and concerned with the practical worldly challenges of today. This sacredness begins to manifest God's love and kingdom on Earth even if there is still a longing for God’s full glory which is not yet present. This is how the Church is to be in the world. The Church should be attentive to the numerous challenges on Earth while remembering her ultimate end is union with God in Heaven. To forget this latter point would make the Church a mere NGO detached from God while to forget the former would make the Church an arthritic institution detached from those who suffer. Therefore, all Catholics are called to live in the tension between the transcendent and the imminent.

Faith, Praxis, and Practical Theology: At the Interface of Sociology and Theology

Horizons ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Lawler
Keyword(s):  
Practical Theology ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Actual Situation ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

ABSTRACTThis essay is an exercise in practical theology, the theological reflection arising out of and in response to the church's actual situation. Practical theology insists that it is not enough to analyze the church's actual situation with deductive, ahistorical theological principles, but that it is necessary, first, to uncover and, then, reflect critically on the actual situation to test it for the presence of the Spirit, relevance, and significance in light of the gospel. Practical theology grows out of the relationship between theoria and praxis which, for the church, is the relationship between faith and praxis. The essay argues that to recognize scientifically the church's actual situation and to perform the required theological reflection practical theology requires sociology.The essay explores, therefore, the relationship between practical theology and the data of sociological research. It also examines the theological realities, sensus fidei and reception, and explores their relationship to that data. The exploration is concretized theologically by a consideration of the sociological data and theology about two Catholic moral doctrines, divorce and remarriage without prior annulment and artificial contraception. A theological reflection on the actual situation of both doctrines and a sociological consideration of the data suggest the conclusion that a dramatic development and re-reception of both doctrines, in line with previous dramatic developments of doctrine in the church, is under way.

Confessional Theology in Public Places

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason S. Sexton
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Public Places ◽  
The World ◽  
Christian Missionary ◽  
The Church

This article considers the nature of public theology by assessing essential features of western public space and precisely how Christian confession takes shape in those contexts. In doing so the article argues that instead of understanding theology as something done primarily from the church to the world, perhaps it is best acknowledged that theology is done within the setting of common societal structures, in particular locations and in situations where believers are enabled to confess the hope within them. An understanding of this dynamic nature of Christian confession and the variegated expositions of theological reflection corresponds to the dynamic expressions of faith, in word and deed, which correspond to the Christian missionary impulse.

For the Sake of the World: Stephen B. Bevans and Johannes C. Hoekendijk in Dialogue

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32
Author(s):  
Dale T. Irvin
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Key Points ◽  
The World ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Inside Out ◽  
The Church

In his 1998 article titled “God Inside Out: Toward a Missionary Theology of the Holy Spirit,” Stephen Bevans referred to Johannes Hoekendijk’s 1964 publication The Church Inside Out as his starting point. This article follows Bevans’s lead in exploring Hoekendijk’s legacy and contribution to theology and mission today. At key points I draw the connection of Hoekendijk’s thinking with that of Bevans, highlighting in the end the manner in which they both agree that the church itself is not of ultimate importance to God, but the world into which the Spirit still sends us in mission.

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