Theology Of Reconciliation In The Context Of Church Relations

Christians are called to be peacemakers in a world rife with conflict, but how should Christians respond when the source of strife is not outside the church but within it? Built on an in-depth analysis of three Palestinian church splits, this text examines the cultural and theological implications of intra-church conflict in Arab evangelical communities in Israel. Translating Miroslav Volf’s formative theology of reconciliation into her contemporary Palestinian context, Dr Rula Khoury Mansour provides a critical evaluation of both Volf’s theory and Palestinian peacemaking models. Through her research and analysis, Dr Mansour develops a Middle Eastern theology of reconciliation and encourages congregations around the world to develop greater cultural and theological awareness in their quest to experience lasting peace within their churches and wider communities.

Theologians and scholars of religion draw on rich resources to address the complex issues raised by political reconciliation in the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, South Africa, Northern Ireland and elsewhere. The questions addressed include: Can truth set a person, or a society, free? How is political forgiveness possible? Are political, personal, and spiritual reconciliation essentially related? Explorations in Reconciliation brings Catholic, Protestant, Mennonite, Jewish and Islamic perspectives together within a single volume to present some of the most relevant theological work today.

What might reconciliation and forgiveness mean in relation to various forms of personal, structural, and historical violence across the African continent? This volume of essays seeks to engage these complex, and contested, ethical issues from three different disciplinary perspectives – Biblical Studies, Systematic Theology and Practical Theology. Each of the authors reflects on aspects of reconciliation, forgiveness and violence from within their respective African contexts. They do so by employing the tools and resources of their respective disciplines. The end result is a rich and textured set of interdisciplinary theological insights that will help the reader to navigate these issues with a greater measure of understanding and a broader perspective than what a single approach might offer. What is particularly encouraging is that the chapters represent research from established scholars in their fields, recent PhD graduates, and current PhD students. This is the first book to be published under the auspices of the Unit for Reconciliation and Justice in the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology.

This work brings the fields of Christian theologies of atonement and reconciliation and Liberal Quaker theology into dialogue, and lays the foundation for developing an original Liberal Quaker reconciliation theology. This dialogue focuses specifically on the metaphorical language employed to describe the relationship of interdependence between humans and God, which both traditions hold as integral to their conceptions of human and divine existence. It focuses on these areas: the sin of human division and exclusion; atonement and reunification of humans and God as a response to sin; and the metaphors Liberal Quaker use to describe this interdependent relationship, specifically the metaphor of Light. This unique approach develops an original model of reconciliatory interdependence between humans and God that is rooted in both Christological and Universalist Liberal Quaker metaphorical and theological categories and utilizes the Liberal Quaker language of God as interdependent Light towards a new theology.

In the discourse of mission as reconciliation, in spite of existing consensus about God as the author of reconciliation, and the inseparableness of the dimensions of reconciliation, there is a disagreement on the issue of to what extent the vertical dimension of reconciliation should be addressed and sought in pursuing the horizontal dimension of reconciliation. After engaging the theologies of four Christian thinkers and practitioners of reconciliation, Karl Barth, Miroslav Volf, Son Yang-won, and Desmond Tutu, this dissertation argues that the vertical and horizontal dimensions of reconciliation are in mutually promoting relationship, direct and indirect promotion respectively. This study evaluates that the vertical dimension of reconciliation should be reinforced in Robert Schreiter’s theology of reconciliation. Schreiter notes that the church has traditionally tended to focus on the vertical dimension, overlooking its responsibility in the horizontal dimension. The indivisible dimensions of reconciliation have mistakenly been separated. However, as a reflective reaction, if the church concentrates on the horizontal reconciliation, merely assuming the vertical reconciliation, the church runs the risk of making the same mistake conversely. The vertical reconciliation should be the foundation on which the horizontal reconciliation is based and should continuously guide all the aspects of the church’s work of reconciliation. The vertical reconciliation enables horizontal reconciliation. Also, the alpha and omega of the Christian understanding of reconciliation is the vertical reconciliation between God and humanity. Grounding South Korean churches’ missiology in reconciliation regarding the North Korea mission is an urgently needed job. A more wholesome and robust theology of reconciliation should be presented for the missiology in the Korean context. The national division between South and North Korea has resulted in the South-South conflicts and the issue of North Korean refugees. South Korean churches should exert themselves in the ministry of reconciliation, concentrating on justice, hospitality, and renewed spirituality.

Modern ethnic tension and conflict, fueled by poverty and despair, have led to a worldwide escalation of hostility among peoples. From Bosnia to Rwanda to Sri Lanka there seems to be no end to the list of countries in conflictÑand the deep divisions along religious lines that become fuel for the fires. Ethnic conflict challenges peacemakers and, in particular, peacemakers in the churches. The Reconciliation of Peoples: Challenge to the Churches, this collection of fifteen original essays, reports on the efforts of church-based groups to foster reconciliation between former combatants in many different contexts. The opening essay by coeditor Harold Wells explores biblical perspectives on forgiveness, reconciliation, and grace. The essays on particular conflicts reflect upon actual efforts and achievements by Christian churches, organization, and individuals to bring about reconciliation among former enemies. These conflicts include peoples divided (the Irish, the Koreans, the Rwandans/Burundians), peoples persecuted internally by their own ruling elite (the Chileans, the Fijians), peoples tragically deprived of land and home (the Palestinians), and peoples torn apart by war (the Germans, the Poles, the peoples of the Balkans). Reconciliation in these contexts is the only way for two parties to rewrite their histories and enter upon a new path. The concluding essay by coeditor Gregory Baum reflects theologically on the meaning and demands of reconciliation, and on why it is at times so difficult for churches to take on the role of mediator.

Hardly any other topic is as important for the coexistence of mankind as the question of justice and reconciliation. In this volume, we want to examine this important question from different interdisciplinary and international perspectives in order to develop an overall understanding that will contribute to reconciliation in various cultural and religious fields of conflict in the world. Particular attention will be paid to the theological perspective on reconciliation, in which justice and restoration of relationships play a central role.