Philosophical And Theological Responses To Syncretism

Theological and Philosophical Responses to Syncretism: Beyond the Mirage of Pure Religion by Patrik Fridlund and Mika Vähäkangas (eds.) elaborates the consequences of admitting the unavoidable syncretic nature of religions in theology and philosophy of religion.

Theological and Philosophical Responses to Syncretism: Beyond the Mirage of Pure Religionby Patrik Fridlund and Mika V�h�kangas (eds.) elaborates the consequences of admitting the unavoidable syncretic nature of religions in theology and philosophy of religion.

This book focuses on dual belonging within Hindu-Christian contexts. Written by experts in a variety of fields, the chapters explore the theological, philosophical, and cultural anthropological debates relating to religious pluralism, religious language, and social identity while addressing the fact that both Hindu and Christian forms of self-understandings have been significantly moulded through their interactions in South Asia and across certain Euro-American horizons. The limits of the definition of dual belonging are tested via case studies, and contributors address the question of whether there is anything distinctive about dual belonging across Christianity and Hinduism specifically. A timely contribution to the emerging subject of dual religious belonging, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of Hindu studies and Christian theology, Hindu-Christian comparative theology, religious pluralism, interreligious relations, the sociology and anthropology of religion, and comparative theology and philosophy.

Rethinking the history of African enslavement in the western Indian Ocean through the lens of Iranian cinema From the East African and Red Sea coasts to the Persian Gulf ports of Bushihr, Kish, and Hurmuz, sailing and caravan networks supplied Iran and the surrounding regions with African slave labor from antiquity to the nineteenth century. This book reveals how Iranian cinema preserves the legacy of this vast and yet long-overlooked history that has come to be known as Indian Ocean slavery. How does a focus on blackness complicate traditional understandings of history and culture? Parisa Vaziri addresses this question by looking at residues of the Indian Ocean slave trade in Iranian films from the second half of the twentieth century. Revealing the politicized clash between commercial cinema (fīlmfārsī) and alternative filmmaking (the Iranian New Wave), she pays particular attention to the healing ritual zār, which is both an African slave descendent practice and a constitutive element of Iranian culture, as well as to cinematic sīyāh bāzī (Persian black play). Moving beyond other studies on Indian Ocean and trans-Saharan slavery, Vaziri highlights the crystallization of a singular mode of historicity within these cinematic examples—one of “absence” that reflects the relative dearth of archival information on the facts surrounding Indian Ocean slavery. Bringing together cinema studies, Middle East studies, Black studies, and postcolonial theory, Racial Blackness and Indian Ocean Slavery explores African enslavement in the Indian Ocean through the revelatory and little-known history of Iranian cinema. It shows that Iranian film reveals a resistance to facticity representative of the history of African enslavement in the Indian Ocean and preserves the legacy of African slavery’s longue durée in ways that resist its overpowering erasure in the popular and historical imagination. Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and/or extended descriptions.

Hispanics are embracing the gospel in record numbers, swelling to well over 150 million believers today. In light of such unprecedented growth, evangelicals need resources to better understand their new Latino brothers and sisters. Then Came Hispangelicals delivers. This much-needed primer surveys the history, philosophical antecedents, cultural developments, and religious heritage of the Hispanic world. Far from blind to the potential challenges, Dr. Rudolph Gonzalez proffers a thoughtful and balanced evaluation of Hispanic cultures from a Christ-centered, evangelical perspective. Without apology, he makes a case for the gospel as the only historical message with the power to resolve the Latino's perpetual search for a satisfying identity. Hispanic evangelicals will be encouraged and empowered as they wrestle with the magnitude of the challenge they face, committing to living under the rule of the mind of Christ. A must-read for all evangelicals in this current cultural moment.

The growing pluralization of religion and culture in Europe means that we encounter an increasing number of Buddhist immigrants as well as ‘Western’ converts. Against this background, in June 2018, the Academy of World Religions and the Numata Center for Buddhist Studies at the University of Hamburg (Germany), invited scholars of Theravāda, East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism. The questions discussed referred to: - Does Buddhism matter today? What can it contribute? - Must Buddhism adapt to the modern world? How can Buddhism adapt to a non-Asia context? - When Buddhism travels, what must be preserved if Buddhism is to remain Buddhism? The contributions in this volume show not only that Buddhism matters in the West but that it already has its strong impact on our societies. Therefore, universities in Europe should include Buddhist theories and techniques in their curricula.

Mission and Money; Christian Mission in the Context of Global Inequalities evaluates Church mission and the ethics of the global economy. Contributions are based on keynote presentations at the IAMS Europe Conference held in April 2014 in Helsinki, Finland.

Our modern era is not unique in its fascination with angels and the spirit world. Paul's young converts in Colossae also had a keen interest in the subject, but some of them allowed this interest to distort their newfound Christian faith. Defining the exact nature of the Colossian heresy, however, has been a perennial challenge to interpreters. The Colossian Syncretism offers groundbreaking evidence on the true nature of the problem that the Apostle Paul opposed so vehemently. Drawing upon little-known angel inscriptions, magical texts, and archeological evidence from Asia Minor, the author argues that the Colossians tried to combine Paul's teachings about Christ with local pagan and Jewish folk beliefs. The result was a syncretism that kept them captive to the fear of evil spirits, dependent on the power of magic and amulets, and blind to the liberating power of the indwelling Christ, the supreme Creator and Lord of all spiritual principalities and powers. In addition to unearthing the historical background of Paul's letter to the Colossians, The Colossian Syncretism presents Paul's strategy for addressing the religious syncretism he faced there. It thus provides a working model for Christian missionaries and evangelists discipling converts from today's religiously pluralistic societies.