Transition To Christianity

The vibrant and complex life of the eastern Mediterranean during a time of reinvention and renewal is the subject of the exhibition Transition to Christianity and this accompanying catalogue, which explore a period of extraordinary creativity and reveal new and largely unknown aspects of the Greek world of Late Antiquity. The exhibition is jointly organized by the Onassis Foundation (USA) and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture - Byzantine and Christian Museum, with the academic support of an advisory committee from the Program in Hellenic Studies at Princeton University.

This book discusses in detail how Orthodox Christianity was involved in and influenced political transition in Ukraine, Serbia and Georgia after the collapse of communism. Based on original research, including extensive interviews with clergy and parishioners as well as historical, legal and policy analysis, the book argues that the nature of the involvement of churches in post-communist politics depended on whether the interests of the church (for example, in education, the legal system or economic activity) were accommodated or threatened: if accommodated, churches confined themselves to the sacred domain; if threatened they engaged in daily politics. If churches competed with each other for organizational interests, they evoked the support of nationalism while remaining within the religious domain.

Based on candid interviews with thousands of young people tracked over a five-year period, this book reveals how the religious practices of the teenagers portrayed in Soul Searching have been strengthened, challenged, and often changed as they have moved into adulthood.

This book explores the recent trend toward the transformation of religious symbols and practices into culture in Western democracies. Analyses of three legal cases involving religion in the public sphere are used to illuminate this trend: a municipal council chamber; a town hall; and town board meetings. Each case involves a different national context—Canada, France and the United States—and each illustrates something interesting about the shape-shifting nature of religion, specifically its flexibility and dexterity in the face of the secular, the religious and the plural. Despite the differences in national contexts, in each instance religion is transformed into culture or heritage by the courts to justify or excuse its presence and to distance the state from the possibility that it is violating legal norms of distance from religion. The cultural practice or symbol is represented as a shared national value or activity. Transforming the ‘Other’ into ‘Us’ through reconstitution is also possible. Finally, anxiety about the ‘Other’ becomes part of the story of rendering religion as culture, resulting in the impugning of anyone who dares to question the putative shared culture. The book will be essential reading for students, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of sociology of religion, religious studies, socio-legal studies, law and public policy, constitutional law, religion and politics, and cultural studies.

The title Christian Transition could strike one as non-committal, general enough to be applicable to a great many subjects. But the urgent message of the Introduction highlights a very glaring gap for the present generation both in the contents and the manner of presentation of our Catholic faith. To fill that gap Fr Joseph Shiels suggests a way forward, sharing with us his awareness of Christian transition, as St Teresa of Avila had described it, taking place within himself. Fr Joseph Shiels is an Irish Columban priest who spent his working years as a missionary in the Southern Philippines. Fundamentally, this book witnesses to two graces experienced by the author during that time. The first grace, which came early in his career, was a refreshed awareness of a traditional teaching of the Church. This is the teaching that the real, essential Christianity within us is that we are in this world to be divinised. Christian transition is the name of the process of divinisation. The author reminds us of this doctrine by presenting it in an unashamedly attentiongetting phrase, namely 'becoming-God-along-with-God'. Such a phrase is no more than the kind of advertisement that comes out of countless publicrelations offices. But no less: in terms of its summing-up of the implications of what our Christian faith really was, and still is, offering to all its members. His second, supplemental grace is that, in mid-life, after an apparently chance introduction to a book outlining the teaching of St Teresa, our author tried the contents for size - and found they fitted! The contents gave him a Teresian understanding that a progression and development - to some extent verifiable - was possible in the spiritual life of the ordinary Christian. Still in the style of an advertising executive, Teresian teaching is presented in simplified form, originally to make it accessible those to whom he had ministered, now, to inform and encourage his readers. Starting from two parables of Jesus, Fr Shiels' fresh and intriguing approach supplies a strongly scriptural basis for his account of his new awarenesses, and his witness to their potential to transform our lives too. In conclusion he shows that these graces are are really the essence of Christianity for all Christians; his experience is simply a case study of what is no more than the humble beginnings of a Christian transition, in accordance with, and by application of, theteachings of St Teresa of Avila. Fr Joseph Shiels opens up the riches of the Christian tradition to a new generation, showing how we too are invited to share in this very transition which will change our lives forever.

The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture In our fast-growing post-Christian, postmodern culture, the church often finds itself marginalized and ineffective in mission. The new emerging church is both hopeful and frightening compared to more traditional forms of Christianity. However, these "two churches" need each other. The Church in Transition presents honest stories of the failures and successes of a variety of transitioning fellowships.

How important is religion for young people in America today? What are the major influences on their developing spiritual lives? How do their religious beliefs and practices change as young people enter into adulthood? Christian Smith's Souls in Transition explores these questions and many others as it tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of emerging adults, ages 18 to 24, in the U.S. today. This is the much-anticipated follow-up study to the landmark book, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Based on candid interviews with thousands of young people tracked over a five-year period, Souls in Transition reveals how the religious practices of the teenagers portrayed in Soul Searching have been strengthened, challenged, and often changed as they have moved into adulthood. The book vividly describes as well the broader cultural world of today's emerging adults, how that culture shapes their religious outlooks, and what the consequences are for religious faith and practice in America more generally. Some of Smith's findings are surprising. Parents turn out to be the single most important influence on the religious outcomes in the lives of young adults. On the other hand, teenage participation in evangelization missions and youth groups does not predict a high level of religiosity just a few years later. Moreover, the common wisdom that religiosity declines sharply during the young adult years is shown to be greatly exaggerated. Painstakingly researched and filled with remarkable findings, Souls in Transition will be essential reading for youth ministers, pastors, parents, teachers and students at church-related schools, and anyone who wishes to know how religious practice is affected by the transition into adulthood in America today.