Women on the Move in the New Testament

This article discusses the relation between gender and migration in the New Testament. Six cases of women on the move are presented: Mary, the mother of Jesus; the women in the Jesus movement; three women from the first generation of Christ-believers, Prisca, Lydia and Phoebe; and the unnamed slave woman from Acts 16:16. It is argued that these cases reveal a variety of causes for migration and also depict women who are quite different when it comes to social location and power. The article also discusses the importance of migrant networks in the first century, including religious networks such as the Jewish diaspora. It is argued that women played a key role in the migrant networks presented in New Testament texts.

Religion and Politics in the European Union

This chapter investigates the political mobilization of religious networks in the construction of the European Union by focusing on the role of key religious organizations in dialogue with European institutions, from the 1950 Schuman Declaration to the institutionalization of religious dialogue in Article 17 of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. It sets out a typology of transnational religious structures, elaborates the main policy areas for religious/convictional actors, and discusses major challenges to the present structure and nature of the European Union, paying particular attention to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Brexit), the movement of forcibly displaced populations, and the rise of populism and right-wing nationalism.

Moscow Shi‘ite Communities in the Post-Soviet Period

This article is devoted to the study of Shi‘ite Muslims, natives of Transcaucasia, South Asia, and Southern Dagestan, settled in the Moscow region during the post-Soviet period. The study is based on the author’s field materials (2017–2021). There are three main stages of the formation of Shi‘ite communities in Moscow: activities individual activists in the 1990s; sustainable development in the 2000s; and full-fledged autonomous existence in the 2010s. The article shows that the Shi‘ites in Moscow are not united in the one whole community, moreover, communities representing different ethnic groups are independent of each other. They develop separately; at the same time, some neophytes stand apart. The structure and social relations in Shi‘ite communities largely reproduce patterns of social organization of their homeland. Ethnic, cultural and linguistic borders do not become transparent. Political events and upheavals in the exodus countries activate the national and ethnic feelings of the Moscow Shi‘ites. The Shi‘ite communities have built interstate religious networks, which allow them to continue their autonomous development in the Moscow region.

‘Op proef doeltreffend gebleken, kunnen we spreken van een bereikt ideaal’

‘Proved effective on trial, we can speak of an achieved ideal’ Abraham Kuyper and the mechanical voting machine, c. 1895-1905 During the latest presidential elections in the United States, unfounded conspiracy theories sprung up concerning alleged ballot box fraud by compromised voting machines. Although different voting machines had been used in the Netherlands since 1966, concerns over their reliability ended this in 2007. This article investigates the forgotten but ultimately failed attempt to introduce mechanical voting machines a century earlier. It focuses on the role played by prominent politician Abraham Kuyper, who personally visited the Standard Voting Machine Company in Rochester in 1898. The article illustrates how Kuyper’s transatlantic political and religious networks facilitated the voting machine’s transfer, rather than scientific connections. Paradoxically, the introduction of proportional representation in 1917 marked the end of tentative attempts to develop a Dutch version of the American mechanical voting machine. The implementation in the voting process turned out be too expensive, too early, and too complicated for the Dutch electoral system at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Western-Educated Chinese Christian Returnees, Nationalism, and Modernity: Comparison Between the Pre-1949 Era and the Post-1978 Era

For more than 100 years, China has seen waves of students and scholars heading overseas and studying in the West as well as the concomitant returning waves. This study draws on information obtained from secondhand documents and firsthand field studies to analyze and compare two returning waves involving the complex dynamics of globalization/indigenization of Christianity in China. The first returning wave began in the early 1900s and lasted until 1950, in which many went overseas because of their connections with Western missionaries. The second returning wave is currently occurring following the study-abroad fever after 1978, in which many were exposed to the proselytizing endeavor of overseas Chinese Christian communities and eventually converted to Christianity before returning to China. The article compares the following themes in relation to these two groups of Christian returnees: their negotiation with their religious identities upon the return, perceptions on the meaning of Christianity to themselves and to China, their transnational religious networks, and potential implications to the glocalization of Christianity in China. Consequently, it involves the following topics that are important throughout the modern Chinese history: modernity/religion paradox, East–West interaction in relation to Christianity, contributions of Western-educated professionals to China, glocalization of Christianity in China, and complex internationalist/nationalist interaction.

An Exploratory Study on the Practice of Pagsasanto by Openly-Gay Santeros

This exploratory study was conducted to inquire into the experiences of gay santeros – those who take care of religious statues or imahes that are used for Catholic religious activities. The study looked into the entry of the santeros to the practice of pagsasanto, their access to the imahe, their reasons for entering and maintaining the practice, and the benefits that they perceive to derive from it. Through conducting interviews with openly-gay santeros, it was found that early exposure to their religious family, school, and local community influenced them into entering the practice of pagsasanto. On access to the imahe, the participants were either owners of the imahe through purchase, donation or inheritance, or caretakers of the imahe through entrustment by their religious networks. On reasons for entering and maintaining the practice, it was found that such was conducted and maintained for egoistic reasons, self-expression, legacy, or spirituality. Lastly, it was found that advantages on health and subsistence, personal development, and social rewards were the perceived derived benefits from the practice of pagsasanto. These findings suggest implications pertaining to the dynamics of religiosity and non-normative gender identity in the Philippines where the Church finds willing caretakers among gay Catholics while gays find an avenue for the expression of gender identity and creativity in the task given to them.

The Power of Philanthropy

This article explores aspects of Middle Eastern and North African (mena) Jewry in the first half of the twentieth century through their engagement with philanthropy. Specifically, this article demonstrates how many urban Jewish communities in mena adopted and adapted Western European philanthropic structures to fit the needs of their local communities by engaging with multiple public spheres (Jewish, Arab, imperial) that were, at times, in conflict with each other. By highlighting the transnational nature of mena Jewry in the twentieth century, this article demonstrates the importance of philanthropic networks as an articulation of power and social status. Finally, this piece suggests that local Jewish philanthropic initiatives can act as a prism by which we understand power structures within transnational religious networks.

‘Holland and we were bot one in our cause’: The Covenanters’ ‘Dutch’ Reception and Impact

This article examines aspects of the reception of the covenanters and their cause in the Dutch republic from the start of the civil wars to the return of the Restoration exiles almost five decades later. It begins by looking at the foundations of the Scottish-Dutch religious relationship before addressing the Dutch reaction to the rise of the covenanters, the arrival of Scottish exiles in the Dutch republic and the formation of several Scottish-Dutch religious networks, with particular attention paid to publishing and translation activities. The article concludes with reflection on the reception and impact of covenanter ideas as interpreted by their Dutch supporters.

Chatting at Church: Information Diffusion through Religious Networks

This paper shows the causal relationship between mutual religious association and the formation of social ties. We analyze dyadic relationships and show that joint attendance at a religious institution (RI) increases the probability of sharing information with and trusting a peer. We use a novel spatial instrumental variable strategy that combines insights from homestead inheritance institutions with triangular distances between peers and RI locations within villages in Kenya. We find that shared attendance at a RI increases the likelihood of receiving advice from a peer by 30 percentage points, demonstrating the strong impact of “weak ties” formed through social spaces.