scholarly journals Karl Barth�s understanding of mission: The Church in relationship

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Bentley

As the Church is moving towards its 21st century of existence, it is confronted by challenges it has never known before. This changing world demands self-reflection within the Church. It has to consider its place, identity and function, thereby giving rise to the exploration of its mission. In this article, the ecclesiology of Karl Barth is explored. By considering Barth�s understanding of the Church�s relationship with different parties such as God, other religions, those outside the Christian faith, the State and its own inner dynamics, the Church will be reminded of its missionary function in the world.

Author(s):  
Michael P. DeJonge

This chapter continues the examination of Bonhoeffer’s first phase of resistance through an exposition of “The Church and the Jewish Question,” turning now to the modes of resistance proper to the church’s preaching office. Because such resistance involves the church speaking against the state, it appears to stand in contradiction with Bonhoeffer’s suggestion earlier in the essay that the church should not speak out against the state. This is in fact not a contradiction but rather the coherent expression of the political vision as outlined in the first several chapters of this book, which requires that the church criticize the state under certain circumstances but not others. The specific form of word examined here is the indirectly political word (type 3 resistance) by which the church reminds the messianic state of its mandate to preserve the world with neither “too little” nor “too much” order.


Author(s):  
Michael P. DeJonge

Chapter 3’s discussion of kingdoms and orders in the context of political life leads naturally into the topic of this chapter: the church, the state, and their relationship. The present chapter locates the state (or, better, political authority in general) in relationship to Chapter 3’s categories by presenting it as one of the orders by which God’s structures the world. It is an important actor in the temporal kingdom, where God has ordained it to preserve the world through law. The church in its essence is an agent of the spiritual kingdom, bearing God’s redemptive word to the world. The themes of preservation and redemption, the kingdoms, and the orders find many of their concrete expressions in themes of the church, the state, and their relationship.


1971 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert T. Osborn

The confessing church forgot that Barth's interest in the integrity of the church was not an end in itself, but rather in the interest of the service of the church in and for the world.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-231
Author(s):  
Clara M. Austin Iwuoha ◽  

The demons of racism, bigotry, and prejudice found in society at large are also found in the Christian Church. Despite the very nature of Christianity that calls on Christians to be a counter voice in the world against evil, many have capitulated to various strains of racism. Some Christian denominations have begun to explore racism in the Church and have developed responses to addressing the issues in both the Church and the world. This article examines the historical context of race and religion in the Christian Church, and addresses the current efforts of some Christian denominations to become proactive in the struggle against racism. Jesus, in His Word, calls believers to pursue peace and oneness. The paper holds that racial harmony and racial unity are possible, but there are many false, old and d beliefs that will have to be crushed under the hammer of God's Word in order to get to a place of real peace.


2020 ◽  
pp. 135-145
Author(s):  
O. A. Balabeikina ◽  
N. M. Mezhevich ◽  
A. A. Iankovskaia

The relevance of any material offered to the scientific and expert community depends on many factors. Objectively, the presence of this or that issue in the center of public attention has a positive effect on the actualization of this or that article. However, there is an obvious danger. Academic approaches that accidentally find themselves in resonance with global trends can fall victim to political conjuncture. Relevance in this case can fall victim to the political moment. Moreover, this or that topic, being in the center of public discussion, negatively affects the academic understanding of the problem. All this fully relates to the question of the relationship between the state and the church in modern Europe and Russia.A few words about global trends. Their essence boils down to the growing confrontation between supporters of new ideological approaches and traditionalists, among whom are many adherents.The relationship between religion and the state testifies to the fact that states and societies have not yet learned to draw an effective line between their interests and those of adherents. This fact presupposes careful state and public participation in the affairs of the church. However, acknowledging this circumstance is not enough. The state must clearly know what, where and how is happening in the church sphere of the life of society in cases where church affairs can affect public and state security.It is also known that almost all the leading churches, to a greater or lesser extent, provide official reporting to the state. However, working with this reporting, its scientific analysis is not always representative.Objective. The presented article is aimed at a partial solution of the problem of increasing the effectiveness of academic research of the church` activities. Moreover, it is made based on official church statistics.The author’s position is the following. States and societies have no right to let go of this vital sphere of life. The functions of the state, in this case, are at least controlling. The ineffective execution of its functions by the state can be revealed in many countries of the world. The situation in France is nothing more than a reference case of a problem that, to one degree or another, exists in most of the countries of the world, which are distinguished by ethnic and confessional heterogeneity.


Author(s):  
Dražen Marjanac

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia represented a community of six republics with socio-cultural, social and economical differences that increased over the decades, leading to disintegration of the state. Factors that led to the collapse of the state are numerous, such as cultural and religious differences, nationalism, structure and function of the state system, internal and external factors of disintegration, change in the world politics, different levels of economic development of the republics.The economic system of Yugoslavia was based on self-managing model, a hybrid of both capitalism and socialism, which was considered to be the most effective use of capital goods, increasing workforce productivity, distributing the income and creating a product competitive for the domestic and foreign markets. However, this system had tremendous disadvantages which in addition to the changes in the world market led to the state of recession, very high inflation, decrease in workforce productivity and competitiveness of the final products in the markets, eventually resulting in the collapse of the entire system and disintegration of Yugoslavia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 335-365
Author(s):  
Shanthini Pillai

Abstract In this paper, I focus on the influence of the Société des Missions étrangères de Paris (MEP) on the performative poetics of Christian faith and citizenship among Malaysian Catholics. Using the central trope of the house, both in its general context of home and dwelling, and its Christian context of the church as a house of worship, I specifically show how cross-border movements, through intersections of individual, material, and cultural mobility stretching across centuries have led to synekistic practices of subject formation in the religious sphere. In this way the paper interjects into discourses on conflict between Christianity and the state and highlights alternative notes of interdependencies and creative synergies.


2018 ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
Pekka Sulkunen ◽  
Thomas F. Babor ◽  
Jenny Cisneros Örnberg ◽  
Michael Egerer ◽  
Matilda Hellman ◽  
...  

From its ancient origins in small-scale gaming sites in local communities, gambling in the 21st century has become a global industry and an increasingly standardized pastime across the world. The growth started in the early the 20th century, and accelerated in the past few decades. The history of gambling is a history of regulation. Gambling has always been controlled by political powers and still is in both democratic and non-democratic countries. Islamic and communist regimes have been most negative for moral reasons. Countries dominated by Protestant Christian faith have been critical, because of the value they have placed on work and honesty, even when they have not seen prosperity as a sin. Since the 1980s gambling has been de-regulated in many countries, with the justification that gambling is legitimate economic activity and problem gambling should be the policy target.


Author(s):  
Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde ◽  
Mirjam Künkler ◽  
Tine Stein

In this personal reflection, Böckenförde portrays the dilemma he faced during his tenure as a judge on Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court: trying to bridge his Christian Catholic spirituality with his work as a high-ranking public servant in a secular state. He describes his struggle with the Catholic teachings prior to Second Vaticanum, which at that time still defined the state as ideally Catholic and demanded every believer in public office to act as a vanguard for Christian natural law. But by committing himself to the public good, Böckenförde sidestepped the requirement of the Catholic Church and fully embraced the democratic, religiously neutral political order. Böckenförde justified his position (deviant in the eyes of the Church) by insisting on the strict neutrality demanded from a judge. He pointed to the so-called Church Compromise of the Weimar Republic (Weimarer Kirchenkompromiss), which established the neutrality of the state with regard to religion, and which was re-adopted in West Germany after 1949. He also relinquished his consultative role in the Central Committee of Catholics once he was nominated to the Constitutional Court. Even in cases affecting abortion, he only dealt with the issues at hand as a judge, not as a Catholic. In his view, Christian spirituality can manifest itself in faithfulness to one's office and an integrity that is open to the world.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kerr

Presenting a large threat to irreplaceable heritage, property, cultural knowledge and cultural economies across the world, heritage and cultural property crimes offer case studies through which to consider the challenges, choices and practices that shape 21st-century policing. This article uses empirical research conducted in England & Wales, France and Italy to examine heritage and cultural property policing. It considers the threat before investigating three crucial questions. First, who is involved in this policing? Second, how are they involved in this policing? Third, why are they involved? This last question is the most important and is central to the article as it examines why, in an era of severe economic challenges for the governments in the case studies, the public sector would choose to lead policing.


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