3,020 research outputs found
The Apologetics of Modern Culture Wars:The Case of Weimar Germany
No full textThis chapter proposes that apologetics, a term borrowed from Christian theology, can provide a new analytical tool for understanding and comparing the structures and dynamics not just of religious but also of secularist movements in modern culture wars. It builds an ideal-typical model of apologetics using observations of the German Christian Churches of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and then tests it on the anticlerical associations of the socialist and communist movements. The chapter then examines apologetics as a zone of contention in which religious and secularist actors exchanged ideas and strategies in the course of their conflict. It seeks to demonstrate the value of this approach to the history of ideas through a conceptual historical exploration of Weltanschauung or worldview. It argues that competition with National Socialism and Communism led some German Protestant apologists to pursue definitions of ‘Christian worldview’ that brought them close to elements of their opponents’ worldviews
Introduction
No full textThis chapter gives an overview of the history of religious competition and secular-religious politics in the twentieth century. It introduces two key terms of this volume, secularism and apologetics. It proposes apologetics as a novel way to understand not only how religious but also secular actors defend their ideological positions. Following a history of the term apologetics in church use, this chapter proposes a model of apologetics neutralized of its narrowly Christian context that can be used for comparison across time and space. This introductory chapter then offers some general findings about the nature of religious competition in the twentieth century, before discussing in a comparative fashion the contributions to this volume
What Might a Joint History of Christianity and Secularism Look Like?:The Case of Worldview
No full textVideo of the inaugural lecture of Prof. Todd Weir, given at University of Groningen on May 28, 2019. In this lecture ‘What might a joint history of Christianity and secularism look like? The case of worldview’, Professor Weir explores how he intends to develop his chair of the History of Christianity and Modern Culture in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Groningen. The title of his lecture is taken from a question once posed by Talal Asad, who asked what an anthropology of the secular might look like? Weir lays out how he writes an entwined history of religion and secularity. His lecture revolves around secularism, worldview and heritage, three concepts that are central to his past, current and future research.<br/
When was the monist century?
Full text linkIn this article, Todd Weir argues that an analysis of historical monism helps us recognize that part of the attraction of monism for contemporary scholars resides precisely in its anticlerical barb, its tendency towards heterodoxy and its offer of a universal ground
A conversation with Yuri Slezkine
Full text linkInterview with historian Yuri Slezkine, conducted by Todd Weir and Sonja Luehrmann
When was the monist century?
Full text linkIn this article, Todd Weir argues that an analysis of historical monism helps us recognize that part of the attraction of monism for contemporary scholars resides precisely in its anticlerical barb, its tendency towards heterodoxy and its offer of a universal ground
When was the monist century?
Full text linkIn this article, Todd Weir argues that an analysis of historical monism helps us recognize that part of the attraction of monism for contemporary scholars resides precisely in its anticlerical barb, its tendency towards heterodoxy and its offer of a universal ground
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