A New Temporality of Religion

In his insightful essay »Prophetic Religion and the Future of Capitalist Civilization« Cornel West fervently addressed a question of our abilities to imagine a more empathetic, more compassionate, and also more hospitable world, in which we could foresee, or perhaps already lay ground for a future community where the word religion would simply mean that we live our lives in the consciousness of our finitude and thus in an existential and cognitive humility. This kind of religion (not far from Dewey’s or Rorty’s ideals) would enable us to see beyond the margins of any narrow-minded religious ideology or any violent incarnation of religion. Based on these initial thoughts, we first wish to discuss two basic concepts of contemporary political theology – community and vulnerability. We shall argue that we need to offer in contemporary political theology a basic ethico-democratic response, infused with our imaginative capacity for remembrance (Benjamin, Metz) and future hope (West, Dewey, Unger). We will argue with Unger (The Religion of the Future) that we need to live through accepting an enhanced vulnerability, being shared in our democratic (and) religious communities. From this view any loss of human life and its potentials is a sign of a grave injustice, and a catastrophe from an ethical point of view. Finally, we will propose the so called reverse thesis on religion – namely that today, perhaps, we should first look at religion in its radicalized ethico-political form which only later enables us to think about its various variations and incarnations within different traditions and cultures. We will argue that it is within this newly acquired temporality of religion and its inherent ontologico-political paradox, that it is possible to imagine a future place where recurrent hope for a life is reborn and nurtured within future pluralistic / inclusivistic / democratic / post-Christian communities, based on compassion and shared vulnerability, and not any more on power, or any other form of violence.

The Relevance of God's Covenant for a Reformed Theology of Religion

ABSTRACT: In God's Revelation, the structure of the covenant consists of God's promises and Israels answer to them. In the covenant God has revealed Himself personally to both individuals and his chosen people. In the theology of religion developed by Hendrik Kraemer, there are two types of religion: The (prophetic) religion based on Gods revelation and the other (naturalist) religions are based on efforts to grasp the identity of his real self with divine reality, this is called as trans-empirical self realization. What is the essence of religion based on God's self revelation? God's revelation is the only source of all knowledge about true spirituality and the salvation in Christ. The Bible as the witness of God's revelation to prophets and apostles is the criterion of all religious truth. The Bible relates the history of redemption, gives a foundation to personal faith, and is the only guidebook to the life and work of the Christian community. From this starting point I try to analyze the Biblical concept of religious truth as the standard for determining religions, and to give a real answer to Gods self revelation. KEYWORDS: covenant, revelation, faith, religion.

Reviving the Civil Religious Tradition

Philip S. Gorski’s chapter provides historical context for progressive religious groups’ use of civil religious rhetoric. Through an analysis of Barack Obama’s efforts to resurrect the civil religious tradition during his two campaigns and terms as president, this chapter revisits and reconstructs the vision of American civil religion that was originally advanced by Robert Bellah in 1967. The chapter shows that the American civil religion is woven out of two main threads: the prophetic religion of the Hebrew Bible and an Anglo-American version of civic republicanism. It also distinguishes the civil religious tradition from its two main rivals: religious nationalism and radical secularism.

The role of Christianity in mending societal fragility and quelling violence in Liberia

This article has benefited from the research entitled �The role of Christianity in post-war Liberia�. It is a study that attempts to examine and investigate how Christian faith and spirituality can play a role in a campaign for social peace, justice, development and unity. This article describes and evaluates a cross section of strategies and policies which theologians can employ to develop and sustain peace and foster reconstruction plans among perpetrators and victims of a brutal civil war. It attempts to answer the following question: what role can Christianity play to effectively lessen the animosity that engendered the years of hostilities in Liberia and facilitate the healing of wounds?Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article sets forth a debate about the role Christianity ought to play in societal conflict. Christian religion is a prophetic religion by nature and it should serve as a source of peace, reconciliation and healing for human relationships. Examples of what the role of authentic church could be are cited from a Liberian context. It is further argued that all sectors of society, women, men and children may be agents of peace and unity. The article concludes by setting parameters for sustainable peace in Liberia.

Wahai Pengikut Kristus, Mainkanlah Drama yang Mentransformasikan Itu!

This article calls Christians to engage in true, transformative action, in Indonesia. To attain to such an alluring provocation, I employ the theatrical ideas of Kevin J. Vanhoozer—namely his thought contribution of "the drama of doctrine"—which I propose finds a suitable complement in Miroslav Volf’s "prophetic religion"- descriptor of Christianity." The combination results in the constructive theopoetic composite I call "transformative drama"—namely, theatrical Christian action that effects change within and leverage impact upon the social locations of the transformative-active Christian.