Redefining Christian Identity

Cultural interaction in the Middle East since the Rise of Islam - such was the title of a combined research project of the Universities of Leiden and Groningen aimed at describing the various ways in which the Christian communities of the Middle East expressed their distinct cultural identity in Muslim societies. As part of the project the symposium "Redefining Christian Identity, Christian cultural strategies since the rise of Islam" took place at Groningen University on April 7-10, 1999. This book contains the proceedings of this conference. From the articles it becomes clear that a number of distinct "cultural strategies" can be identified, some of which were used very frequently, others only in certain groups or at particular periods of time. The three main strategies that are represented in the papers of this volume are: (i) reinterpretation of the pre-Islamic Christian heritage; (ii) inculturation of elements from the new Islamic context; (iii) isolation from the Islamic context. Viewed in time, it is clear that the reinterpretation of older Christian heritage was particularly important in the first two centuries after the rise of Islam, the seventh and eighth centuries, that inculturation was the dominant theme of the Abbasid period, in the ninth to twelfth centuries, whereas from the Mongol period onwards, from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries, isolation more and more often occurs, although inculturation of elements from the predominantly Muslim environment never came to a complete standstill.

Recent decades have seen major shifts in our understanding of Christian identity. This timely book explores contemporary theological theory in asking what makes a Christian in the twenty-first century. Engages with developments in contemporary theological thought, assessing the work of leading figures Rowan Williams, John Milbank, and Kathryn Tanner Challenges accepted ideas of Christian identity by revealing largely unexplored perspectives on how sin affects its formation Contributes to vexed debates about Christian identity at a time when Christianity is expanding in some regions, yet in decline in many parts of the Western world

Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Union Theological Seminary, 2013 under title: Affect, violence, and belonging in early Christianity.

This Festschrift honours Dr. Gerrit Reinink on the occasion of the end of his professional career as a senior lecturer of Syriac and Aramaic studies at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. The Festschrift includes, in addition to a brief biography and a complete bibliography of Reinink's scholarly writings, fifteen articles, arranged according to the chronology of their topics and covering a wide variety of subjects, ranging from the days of Julian the Apostate to the year of the fall of Constantinople, through the period of Late Antiquity, the Byzantine period, early Islam and the Middle Ages. The authors are all prominent experts in the field of Syriac studies and adjacent areas. The title of the book, Syriac Polemics, is a clear reference to one of Reinink's favourite research topics: Eastern Christian reactions to the rise of Islam. This volume is a valuable contribution to the study of Syriac literature and culture in general.

This book is rooted in the quest for Christian identity in the Southern African context where Christianity is faced with many stark challenges, internal tensions and experiences of rapid social change. The book explores six aspects of the highly complex notion of Christian identity, namely Christian institutions, a Christian ethos, Christian rituals, Christian experiences (with specific reference to the notion of ?faith?), Christian narratives (with specific reference to the category of ?revelation? and the place of the Bible in the Christian tradition) and Christian doctrine.

In Christian Identity amid Islam in Medieval Spain Charles L. Tieszen explores a small corpus of texts from medieval Spain in an effort to deduce how their authors defined their religious identity in light of Islam, and in turn, how they hoped their readers would distinguish themselves from the Muslims in their midst. It is argued that the use of reflected self-image as a tool for interpreting Christian anti-Muslim polemic allows such texts to be read for the self-image of their authors instead of the image of just those they attacked. As such, polemic becomes a set of borders authors offered to their communities, helping them to successfully navigate inter-religious living.

We all see ourselves in different ways. When you look in the mirror, when you think about your life, and the things you've done, or maybe the things you hope to do. Do you see yourself the way your Father in Heaven sees you? I think that deep down, most of us- at least I know I do- look at ourselves, and we think something along the lines of, "I'm not good enough", whether because of our physical appearance, the way we think we treat people, or what we've done, we all, at some point or another, buy in to the lie, that we aren't good enough, and maybe even, that we aren't deserving of love. When you take a real, deep, long, hard look at our innermost self, is there a part of you that thinks "how could GOD love me?". Well if there is, I would love to help answer that deafening question, that sits in the deepest parts of our souls. Because even if you already know the classic, cliche, churchy answer, that Jesus loves you- which is true- the depth of what that really looks like, may surprise you. My hope is that this book helps you to know exactly what the Father thinks when He looks at you, and helps you to rediscover your true identity.

The volume offers contributions reflecting the understanding of Christian identity in the midst of changing cultural, socio-economic, political and religious context in a a globalized world.