scholarly journals Dalit Theology and Indian Christian History in Dialogue: Constructive and Practical Possibilities

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Andrew Ronnevik
Keyword(s):  
History Of Christianity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Foundational Work ◽  
Christian History

In this article, I consider how an integration of Dalit theology and Indian Christian history could help Dalit theologians in their efforts to connect more deeply with the lived realities of today’s Dalit Christians. Drawing from the foundational work of such scholars as James Massey and John C. B. Webster, I argue for and begin a deeper and more comprehensive Dalit reading and theological analysis of the history of Christianity and mission in India. My explorations—touching on India’s Thomas/Syrian, Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal traditions—reveal the persistence and complexity of caste oppression throughout Christian history in India, and they simultaneously draw attention to over-looked, empowering, and liberative resources that are bound to Dalit Christians lives, both past and present. More broadly, I suggest that historians and theologians in a variety of contexts—not just in India—can benefit from blurring the lines between their disciplines.

The Idea of the Church in Christian History

1952 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilhelm Pauck
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Church History ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Church ◽  
Christian History

It is customary to describe and interpret the history of Christianity as church history. To be sure, most church historians do not emphasize the special importance of the “church” in the Christian life they study and analyse; indeed, they deal with the idea of the church, with ecclesiological doctrines and with ecclesiastical practices as if they represented special phases of the Christian life. But, nevertheless, the fact that all aspects of Christian history are subsumed under the name and title of the “church” indicates that the character of Christianity is held to be inseparable from that of the “church”; the very custom of regarding Christian history as church history indicates that the Christian mind is marked by a special kind of self-consciousness induced by the awareness that the Christian faith is not fully actualized unless it is expressed in the special social context suggested by the term “church.”

Conflit et utopie au sein des Églises. La perspective socio-historique de Jean Séguy

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-500
Author(s):  
Carlo Prandi
Keyword(s):  
Max Weber ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ernst Troeltsch ◽  
Christian History

Jean Seguy’s (1925–2007) research followed two intertwined paths. The principal path was that of methodology: his research on the history of Christianity was conducted within the framework of the sociology of Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch. The French social historian was also interested in apocalyptic and utopian phenomena, both on the Catholic and on the Reformation side, with the intention of grasping the similarities between them, if not their common roots. The result is an innovative reading of Christian history, with an original methodology in the French context. Séguy’s work continues to question the historiography of Christianity in both its cognitive and methodological contributions, and as a result our understanding of the classics of modern sociology.

scholarly journals On teaching Christian history in the postmodern world

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Denis
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Location ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Degree Of Approximation ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Transient Nature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian History

Is there truth in history? Historians are commonly expected to produce ‘facts’ and to be ‘objective’. If they teach the history of Christianity, their audience sees in them the depositors of the ‘truth’ on the history of church. Showing the contradictions of the church’s discourse in the past and highlighting the essentially transient nature of church doctrine are perceived as a threat. Yet, our knowledge of the Christian past is provisional and limited. It depends on the quality of the historical sources at our disposal. Consciously or not, it is always the result of a process of knowledge construction. The aim of this article is to explore the triple challenge – pedagogical, pastoral and intellectual – that researchers in history of Christianity face in the exercise of their profession. Historians trained in the tradition of historical criticism consider that an historical narrative can claim a certain degree of approximation of the truth if the documents on which it is based pass the test of authenticity, reliability and validity. Without necessarily denying that truth exists somehow and somewhere, postmodern historians – and this also applies to Christian history – insist that any form of historical knowledge is constructed and that all approaches to truth are situated in terms of period, geographical location, social environment, class, gender, age and race. The study of history of Christianity brings discomfort. But in the end, one gains from confronting the critical challenges of the discipline. Faith will come out stronger if it faces the reality of the human condition.

Leaving Providence Behind

2011 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 366-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Porterfield
Keyword(s):  
Social Stress ◽  
Church History ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Primary Documents ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
American Society ◽  
Christian History

The first issue of the journal Church History appeared in 1932—seventy-nine years ago—the year William Warren Sweet was president of the American Society of Church History. It was a time of considerable pain and social stress in many parts of the world. Perhaps in response to this turmoil, the inaugural issue conveyed a deep-seated optimism about the future. A bracing faith in the providential course of history characterized the three essays in that first issue and the authors conveyed that faith with erudition, narrative flair, and sweeping knowledge of Christian history. Few authors today exert such broad command of events in the larger history of Christianity, or display such facility with a wide range of primary documents, and few write with such ebullience. Such may be the price of leaving behind a world where providence is clearly in sight.

Melania

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The Political ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Travel Patterns ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Christian History

The lives of Melania the Elder and Melania the Younger span one of the most important periods of Christian history, reaching from the reign of Constantine through the reign of Theodosius II. They and their family members were well known to some of the most influential political and cultural figures of the period; their patronage promoted the work of major Christian thinkers from both before their time and during it. Their property and travels connected the political, economic, and religious worlds of the late antique Mediterranean. This volume examines the history of early Christianity as it was created and imagined through the lives of the two Melanias. The volume overlays the history of Christianity with a set of narratives that explore themes in the lives of the Melanias, such as constructions of gender, asceticism, orthodoxy and heresy, family and wealth, travel, patterns of memory, worship and hagiography. The resulting collaborative portrait of this family, its influence, and its interests offers a new window on to early Christian history, not by portraying Christianity as a timeless entity unfolding over centuries, but by considering in more complex ways the lives, representations, and later reception of two late ancient persons who attempted to be Christian.

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