scholarly journals New England Election Sermons: A Model for a Public Pulpit

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
TIMON CLINE
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Common Good ◽  
State Politics ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Square ◽  
Good Government ◽  
The Common ◽  
Colonial New England ◽  
Public Concerns

This article surveys the now largely foreign practice of election sermons delivered in colonial New England. The ultimate aim of the study is to provide a way forward for contemporary pastors: first, to challenge the modern bifurcation of the religious and the so-called secular in the public square; second, to chart a middle course between the extremes of blind partisanship and anemic passivity in commenting on public concerns. The content of election sermons also challenges prevailing evangelical notions of good government by presenting a more integrated sociopolitical life, emphasizing older priorities of the common good, justice, and prudence. KEYWORDS: Puritanism, New England, election sermons, preaching, public theology, church Iand state, politics, common good

scholarly journals Doing Public Theology in African Christianity: A Reflection on Communiques by Churches in Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 190-200
Author(s):  
Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
African Christianity ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The People ◽  
The Common ◽  
Public Concerns

Faith in public life can be associated with Christianity in Ghana from the days of the early Western missionaries. Christian faith perspectives on matters of public concerns however, assumed a wider scope with the practice of regular issuance of communiques to governments and the people of Ghana by the churches. Christian ministry is expected to be holistic. A holistic approach in Christian ministry is considered to lead to the holistic development of the nation for the common good and the glory of God. Church leaders subsequently, bring their faith perspectives to matters of public concerns as a ministerial mandate to be in pilgrimage with the people. The study is a reflection on how the churches’ communiques are done and the factors that make the communiques theological in the public space. It further seeks to identify the contribution of the construction of communiques to public theology in Christianity in Ghana. The study as qualitative, examines both available primary and secondary sources. Copies of communiques of some selected churches, ecumenical bodies and joint communiques by ecumenical bodies are examined to appreciate insights of communiques by the churches. The study seeks to make a contribution to the theological construction of public theologies in Ghana and African Christianity. KEYWORDS: Public Theology, African Christianity, Communique, Common Good

scholarly journals Reflexivity and Rapprochement: Explorations of a ‘Postsecular’ Public Theology

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-289
Author(s):  
Elaine Graham
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Public Square ◽  
New Models ◽  
The Common

Abstract Accounts of secularization, decline and marginalization in relation to the public position of religion in western society have failed to account for the continued vitality and relevance of religion in the global public square. It is important, however, to challenge simplistic accounts and think of the new visibility of religion (not least in Europe) in terms of complexity and multi-dimensionality. This article will ask how public theology might contribute constructively to repairing our fractured body politic and promoting new models of citizenship and civic engagement around visions of the common good.

Jonathan Edwards, The Ethics of Virtue and Public Theology

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Guyette
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Jonathan Edwards ◽  
Common Morality ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Square ◽  
The Common

AbstractIn The Nature of True Virtue, Jonathan Edwards does not deny that common morality is important; benevolence, beauty, conscience, justice, love for family and country are all threads in the fabric of a common morality. Without love for God as their chief end, however, the ‘virtues’ of common morality do not rise to the level of true virtue. This incommensurability can be problematic for Christian ethics in the public square. Edwards understood his project within the horizon of a commonwealth founded on Christian faith, but modern liberal democracies envision a different relationship between religious discourse and public life. In these contexts, so different from Edwards’ setting, pluralism and tolerance are among the keys to a peaceful pursuit of the common good. With these differences in view, then, I explore what contribution Edwards’ work on virtue might make to the practice of public theology in the areas of environmental ethics, bioethics and immigration policy.

The Purpose and Practice of a Public Theology in a Time of Climate Change

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 356-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive Pearson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Public Agenda ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Common ◽  
Level Of Concern ◽  
Opinion Polls

AbstractThe nature of a public theology is to concern itself with the common good and the flourishing of all. The subject of climate change is to the forefront of the public agenda. Now and then the level of concern can slip down the opinion polls and it does attract a concerted degree of scepticism. It is nevertheless an issue that can allow us to consider the purpose and practice of a public theology. This article sets out to draw upon the insights of others who have contributed to this issue of the International Journal of Public Theology. It also sets out to place this work inside other discussions on what is a public theology and its intersection with an ecotheology.

Mission’s public engagement: The conversation of missiology and public theology

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Kim
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
The Public ◽  
Significant Interest ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Church

The recent development of public theology, the formation of the Global Network for Public Theology, and active scholarly discussions through the platform of the International Journal of Public Theology demonstrate that there is significant interest in the public engagement of theology in contemporary society. Public theology could be identified as critical, reflective, and reasoned engagement of theology in society to bring the kingdom of God, which is for the sake of the poor and marginalized. As David Bosch suggests, mission transforms society and at the same time the concept of mission is being transformed as the church interacts with the wider society. This article aims first to highlight some key features shared by missiology and public theology; second to discuss ways and means to enhance each discipline in its engagement in society, particularly as regards the common good; and third to explore a possibility of “public missiology” or “missiology of public life” in the context of secular and multicultural societies.

What Can Economists Contribute to the Common Good Tradition?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Yuengert
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Common Pool Resources ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Private Provision ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Insight Into

Although most economists are skeptical of or puzzled by the Catholic concept of the common good, a rejection of the economic approach as inimical to the common good would be hasty and counterproductive. Economic analysis can enrich the common good tradition in four ways. First, economics embodies a deep respect for economic agency and for the effects of policy and institutions on individual agents. Second, economics offers a rich literature on the nature of unplanned order and how it might be shaped by policy. Third, economics offers insight into the public and private provision of various kinds of goods (private, public, common pool resources). Fourth, recent work on the development and logic of institutions and norms emphasizes sustainability rooted in the good of the individual.

Translating for the Commonwealth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Common ◽  
Modern Europe

This chapter begins by presenting translation as an aspect of the Erasmian legacy in England, and it argues that translation helps to heal the division discussed in Chapter 3 by enabling Protestantism and humanism to work together. Translation was part of a Protestant programme of nation-building and spreading the word for the common good, but it was also the means through which the literature of antiquity and of modern Europe was communicated to the public at large. Erasmus’ Paraphrases, Grimald's Cicero, and Hoby's Courtier are discussed in these two contexts. Translation points towards the Renaissance, as an insular purism based on Protestant fears of contamination and adulteration was superseded by a hospitality towards the foreign. The chapter ends by arguing that by the 1580s it is Protestant Bible translation that it is accused by Catholics of being literary.

unrechtliche peinliche schmehung oder dem gemeinen nutz nuetzlich?Eine Fallstudie zur Normenkonkurrenz im Schmähschriftprozess des 16. Jahrhunderts

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-149
Author(s):  
Jan Siegemund
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The City ◽  
Different Levels

AbstractLibel played an important and extraordinary role in early modern conflict culture. The article discusses their functions and the way they were assessed in court. The case study illustrates argumentative spaces and different levels of normative references in libel trials in 16th century electoral Saxony. In 1569, Andreas Langener – in consequence of a long stagnating private conflict – posted several libels against the nobleman Tham Pflugk in different public places in the city of Dresden. Consequently, he was arrested and charged with ‘libelling’. Depending on the reference to conflicting social and legal norms, he had therefore been either threatened with corporal punishment including his execution, or rewarded with laudations. In this case, the act of libelling could be seen as slander, but also as a service to the community, which Langener had informed about potentially harmful transgression of norms. While the common good was the highest maxim, different and sometimes conflicting legally protected interests had to be discussed. The situational decision depended on whether the articulated charges where true and relevant for the public, on the invective language, and especially on the quality and size of the public sphere reached by the libel.

Corporate Politics in the Public Sphere: Corporate Citizenspeak in a Mass Media Policy Contest

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nyberg ◽  
John Murray
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Public Sphere

This article connects the previously isolated literatures on corporate citizenship and corporate political activity to explain how firms construct political influence in the public sphere. The public engagement of firms as political actors is explored empirically through a discursive analysis of a public debate between the mining industry and the Australian government over a proposed tax. The findings show how the mining industry acted as a corporate citizen concerned about the common good. This, in turn, legitimized corporate political activity, which undermined deliberation about the common good. The findings explain how the public sphere is refeudalized through corporate manipulation of deliberative processes via what we term corporate citizenspeak—simultaneously speaking as corporate citizens and for individual citizens. Corporate citizenspeak illustrates the duplicitous engagement of firms as political actors, claiming political legitimacy while subverting deliberative norms. This contributes to the theoretical development of corporations as political actors by explaining how corporate interests are aggregated to represent the common good and how corporate political activity is employed to dominate the public sphere. This has important implications for understanding how corporations undermine democratic principles.

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