1,720,995 research outputs found
Theology and (Neo)Nationalism
No full textAmong the signs and symbols carried during the attack on the United States Capitol on 6 January 2021, a picture of Jesus stood out – a white Jesus, wearing a red cap with the caption ‘Make America Great Again’. This chapter concentrates on the Christian nationalism captured in this picture. Considering European and American contexts, the author charts concepts, complications, and critiques of (neo)nationalism. To criticise Christian nationalism, the author argues, theologians need to scrutinise how Christianity has been complacent or complicit with the racism and the sexism that run through Christian nationalisms past and present. A compelling counter to ‘MAGA Jesus’ requires that theologians take this Jesus seriously in order to offer reasons and rationales for practices that claim Christianity for new solidarities both within and without the nation state
A cacophony of characters: voice and valence in the Book of Lamentations
No full textThis thesis argues that these voices are not disembodied, but embodied characters, who speak as
the city and as representatives for the city. Their dialogues and monologues present multiple
perspectives warring together to make sense of the situation they find themselves in. Five distinct
characters are discerned within the five poems of the book: Daughter Zion; a narrator or observer;
the geber; the community as a corporate character, or chorus; and finally, YHWH himself.
This thesis makes several fresh contributions. Firstly, it considers each of the speaking voices as
distinct embodied characters, and analyzes them as such; and secondly, it treats all the voices, or
characters, together. Previous studies have considered Daughter Zion’s words in parallel with
YHWH’s, or focused on the wisdom tradition aspect of the geber in Lam 3, and while some
passing attention has been given to the narrator/observer and the community who speaks as one
voice in Lam 4-5, the attention given thereto has lacked situated those communal voices with the
others in the text. This comprehensive study – through its examination of each character
individually, and exploration of the nature of their interactions – offers a deeper and more holistic
view of the drama of lyrical poetry in Lamentations
Roman Catholic theology after Vatican II
No full textThe aim of this essay is to explore the key factors, debates and diverse – even conflicting – theological instincts and approaches that have shaped the story of European and North American Roman Catholic theology in the period after Vatican II. With this, the aim also is to identify what continues to be of real significance and, likewise, where the live issues are for contemporary Catholic theology. The first main section explores something of the complexity surrounding the diverse ways in which the story of modern Catholicism can be told. Following this the heart of the chapter consists in a series of three interrelated surveys of key dimensions of change and development in Catholic theology after the Council. The first focuses upon some notable changes in the institutional context of Catholic theology. The second deals with various crucial developments in relation to its perceived task, scope, methods and sources. In turn, the third explores a number of the most significant substantive changes in recent Catholic theological understanding. The concluding section draws all of this together by reflecting on what appropriate structures might enable Catholicism to negotiate most fruitfully the continuing task of discerning the living truth of God in Christ and the Spirit
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