More Than a Feeling: A Queer Notion of Survivance

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurel C. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Thought

This essay explores, in part, queer theory's queerness in relation to the religious (Christian) and ethnic (European) frame that largely produced it. Although affect and temporality theories offer important possibilities—finally—for queering Christian theology, I suggest that even these may not escape the ossifying tendencies of conceptual closure so dominant in the trajectories of European and Christian thought. Gerald Vizenor's (Anishinaabe) theory of survivance, developed out of a Native American "postindian" philosophical context, opposes settler colonial closures of "the Indian" and may help illuminate and break through queer theory's (and theology's) entrapping reliance on ethnic European concepts to work through persistent problems of identity, eschatology, and ontology.

Methodological Traps, Pitfalls, and Fallacies in the Study of Intellectual Silence

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 225-237
Author(s):  
Donald Ostrowski
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Peter Abelard ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Church Curriculum

This article is a response to four responses to my book Europe, Byzantium, and the “Intellectual Silence” of Rus’. That book in turn responded to the question posed by Francis Thompson, “Where was the Russian Peter Abelard?” It began with two premises − that theology was “the crown jewel of disciplined thought” in both the Eastern and Western Churches during the medieval period and that medieval Christian theology represented an amalgamation of prior Christian thought with Neoplatonism. The literature of early Rus’ was little more than what would have been contained in a large Byzantine monastic library, because those in charge of educating the newly baptized pagan Rus’ on the basic principles of Christianity felt compelled to provide them only necessary information to save their souls. But why did the package not include the seven liberal arts (including dialectic), which were the basis of the Western Church curriculum?

The Science of Life

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donovan O. Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Biological Sciences ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
William James ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Christian Thought

This chapter examines broad transformations in Christian thought that came to pass over the course of the nineteenth century through exposure to new developments in the life sciences. Taking William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802) as a starting point, it shows how a conception of an unchanging God that could be demonstrated through rational proof was affected by the new emphasis on change in the biological sciences, especially in the aftermath of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859. Rather than suggesting that these new themes weakened Christian faith, however, a close examination of Christian thought in the latter half of the nineteenth century shows that encounters with science energized Christian theology, philosophy, and practice. This trajectory culminated with the development of the psychology of religion, as exhibited by the American pragmatists William James and Charles S. Peirce. George Eliot’s Middlemarch serves as a guide to the complexity of these transformations.

The Divine Ideas Tradition in Christianity

2021 ◽  
pp. 12-40
Author(s):  
Mark A. McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Thought

We can understand the multiple roles that the divine ideas tradition played in the history of Christian thought by beginning with an analogy: as a great author draws upon her own consciousness and self-understanding to give life to all the realities within the world of her novels, in an analogous way, the divine ideas teaching holds, God’s eternal and infinite knowing and loving of Godself is the creative exemplar or archetype for the existence of every creature in time, and also the intelligible form or idea by which the truth of every creature may be known. Intensifying the transformation of Plato’s forms by the Middle Platonists, Augustine grounds the divine ideas firmly within Trinitarian theology. We can trace the role of the divine ideas across the full range of Christian doctrines as well as in its influence upon the mystical or contemplative dimension of Christian theology.

The Divine Ideas Tradition in Christian Mystical Theology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Christian Theology ◽  
Christian Belief ◽  
Early Modernity ◽  
Presence Of God ◽  
Belief In God ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Racial Injustice ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The Mind

By the time of early modernity, a widely deployed tenet of Christian thought had begun to vanish. The divine ideas tradition, the teaching that all beings have an eternal existence as aspects of God’s mind, had functioned across a wide range of central Christian doctrines, providing Christian thinkers and mystical teachers with a powerful theological capacity: to illuminate the Trinitarian ground of all creatures, and to renew the divine truth of all creatures through human contemplation. Already by the time of the Middle Platonists, Plato’s forms had been reinterpreted as ideas in the mind of God. Yet that was only the beginning of the transformation of the divine ideas, for Christian belief in God as Trinity and in the incarnation of the Word imbued the divine ideas tradition with a remarkable conceptual agility. The divine ideas teaching allowed mystical theologians to conceive the hidden presence of God in all creatures, and the power of every creature’s truth in God to consummate the full dynamic of every creature’s calling. This book takes the form of a theological essay that brings to life the striking role of the divine ideas tradition in the teaching of its central exponents, and also suggests how the divine ideas might constructively inform Christian theology and spirituality today. Especially in an age of global crises, when the truth of the natural environment, of racial injustice, and of public health is denied and disputed for political ends, the divine ideas tradition affords contemporary thinkers a creative and contemplative vision that reveres the deep truth of all beings and seeks their mending and fulfillment.

scholarly journals Evolution of approaches to the problem of the influence of ancient philosophy on christianity

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Peshkov
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Philosophy ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Good News ◽  
Russian Philosophy ◽  
Theoretical Assumption ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
History Of Theology ◽  
Historical Moment

Introduction. The article analyzes various views expressed in domestic and foreign criticism on the problem of the boundaries and the degree of influence of ancient thought on the Christian tradition. The article analyzes the question not only about the distortion of the ancient philosophy of Christianity, but also about the legitimacy of the influence of the "Hellenic" Christianity itself on the cultures of other peoples. Special attention is paid to the analysis of similarities and differences in approaches to this issue in philosophical thought in the West and in Russian philosophy.Materials and Methods. The main material for this article is the monograph of G. V. Florovsky's "Christianity and Civilization: Selected works on theology and Philosophy", as well as an extensive article by P. B. Mikhailov – "The concept of Hellenization of Christianity in the history of theology". In addition, the research material is the works of other domestic and foreign authors analyzing the problem under consideration. The article uses the methods of comparative analysis, generalization and historical and philosophical analysis.Results. The analysis shows that the concept that arose in Protestantism, the substitution of evangelical preaching in the late Christian thought with alien ideas of ancient philosophy, has undergone an evolution. Modern criticism emphasizes that the accusation itself is based on the German philosophy of history, which does not accept the phenomenon of the Gospel as a Tradition, i.e., Traditions. In this way, it divides the Gospel and Tradition and closes the Gospel in a specific historical moment. According to the scholars, it is necessary to distinguish between the declaration of the substitution of the gospel by philosophy as a theoretical assumption, and historical reality, as a process of realization of the Good News that took place in the second century and in subsequent time. At present, the idea of the identity of the internal content of the confessional faith and the diversity of external, cultural forms of its expression is becoming relevant.Discussion and Conclusions. The author of the study managed to conduct a comparative and systematic analysis of the approaches that determine the strength and scope of the influence of ancient philosophy on Christian theology, in the works of both domestic and foreign thinkers. As a result, the author managed to carry out a comprehensive analysis of various approaches in assessing the degree of influence of ancient philosophy on Christian theology, as well as to trace the evolution of these ideas.

The Entanglement of Christian Theology and the Coloniality of Power: The Possibilities of a Response

2018 ◽  
pp. 31-48
Author(s):  
Joseph Drexler-Dreis
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The Way ◽  
Historical Theory

The second chapter investigates the link between Christian thought and the historical matrix decolonial thinkers have theorized as the coloniality of power. In light of the historical theory of coloniality and Christian theology’s entanglement in coloniality, this chapter opens up options for what decolonization might look like within theological reflection. This chapter begins with the task of considering the place of Christian theology within the coloniality of power. It then moves to offering possibilities for decolonizing descriptive statements of the human person, ways of knowing, and eschatological imaginations, and introduces the concept of decolonial love by engaging the way Chela Sandoval has used this term. Introducing these options leads to a threshold question for thinking from a Christian theological perspective within a decolonial project: Can members of communities that have been rendered nonpersons through various manifestations of the coloniality of power think and speak theologically on their own terms?

The practice of music in youth ministry and the mystery of the Divine

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Christopher Demuth Rodkey
Keyword(s):  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Life Meaning ◽  
Unique Position ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Youth Minister ◽  
Philosophical Questions ◽  
Musical Preferences

How do musical preferences of youth influence conceptions of transcendence and imminence of the Divine? This article will address this question based upon responses of teens to a Life Meaning Inventory administered by the Youth Theological Initiative at Candler School of Theology. The teens' responses will point toward important philosophical questions that wrest the foundations of Christian theology; this is to say that these questions position the youth minister in a unique position to address the polarity of transcendence and immanence in Christian thought. As such, this essay suggests that a discussion of transcendence and immanence offers a new means of thinking about or re-thinking the practice of music in youth ministry.1

Zionism and Post-Holocaust Christian Theology: A Jewish Perspective

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-54
Author(s):  
Mark Braverman
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The Political ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Holy Land ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Contemporary Christian ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
State Of Israel

Analysis of the Israel–Palestine conflict tends to focus on politics and history. But other forces are at work, related to beliefs and feelings deeply embedded in Judeo-Christian tradition. The revisionist Christian theology that emerged following the Nazi Holocaust attempted to correct the legacy of Christian anti-Semitism. In the process it has fostered an unquestioning support of the State of Israel that undermines efforts to achieve peace in the region. The conflict in Christian thought between a commitment to universal justice and the granting to Jews a superior right to historic Palestine permeates the current discourse and is evidenced in the work of even the most politically progressive thinkers. The article reviews the work of four contemporary Christian theologians and discusses the implications of this issue for interfaith dialogue, the political process, and the achievement of peace in the Holy Land.

scholarly journals Locating nature and culture: Pan-Homo culture and theological primatology

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy R. Howell
Keyword(s):  
World View ◽  
Evolutionary Relationship ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Learning Behaviours ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Cultural Skills

Studies of chimpanzee and bonobo social and learning behaviours, as well as diverse explorations of language abilities in primates, suggest that the attribution of �culture� to primates other than humans is appropriate. The underestimation of primate cultural and cognitive characteristics leads to minimising the evolutionary relationship of humans and other primates. Consequently my claim in this reflection is about the importance of primate studies for the enhancement of Christian thought, with the specific observation that the bifurcation of nature and culture may be an unsustainable feature of any world view, which includes extraordinary status for humans (at least, some humans) as a key presupposition.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The scientific literature concerning primate studies is typically ignored by Christian theology. Reaping the benefits of dialogue between science and religion, Christian thought must engage and respond to the depth of primate language, social, and cultural skills in order to better interpret the relationship of nature and culture.

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