JES

Featured JES Author: Raimundo César Barreto, Jr. on "José Míguez Bonino and the Third-World Challenge to the Ecumenical Movement"

Issue 59.3 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available! It features essays originally presented as papers for the North American Academy of Ecumenists annual meeting at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas, November 16-17, 2023.

For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes a full-text PDF version of their article available for 60 days on Project Muse. In this issue, we feature Raimundo Barreto’s "José Míguez Bonino and the Third-World Challenge to the Ecumenical Movement,” which can be accessed HERE.

Raimundo C. Barreto is an associate professor of World Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he has been teaching since 2014. He holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Seminário Teológico Batista do Norte do Brasil, an MDiv degree from McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, and a PhD in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary. Before coming to Princeton, he taught at various institutions in Brazil and was the director of the Division on Freedom and Justice at the Baptist World Alliance.

Barreto is the author of Protesting Poverty: Protestants, Social Ethics, and the Poor in Brazil (Baylor University Press, 2023) and Base Ecumenism: A Latin American Contribution to Ecumenical Praxis and Theology (Augsburg Fortress, 2025). He is working on a new book titled Christians in the City of São Paulo: The Shaping of World Christianity in a Brazilian Megacity (Bloomsbury). He is also the co-editor of the Journal of World Christianity, the general editor of the World Christianity and Public Religion Series published by Fortress Press (2017–24), and a convener of the World Christianity Conference since 2018. In addition to his publications, which include numerous journal articles and book chapters, he has served on boards and committees of various organizations, including the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI), Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC), Baptist World Alliance (BWA), Aliança de Batistas do Brasil, American Baptist Churches (ABCUSA), the Alliance of Baptists, the National Council of Churches USA, and the World Council of Churches (WCC).


In a few sentences, what is the main argument of your J.E.S. article?

This article explores the role of José Míguez Bonino in the ecumenical movement, focusing on his emphasis on a third-world perspective and the significance of addressing social justice in Christian unity. In this context, the term 'third world' refers to an emancipatory project that emerged in the 1950s, influenced by the struggles of the global South against colonialism and imperialism. This project, which influenced Bonino and other theologians from the global South, encouraged them to conceive a more inclusive and justice-oriented approach to unity. Bonino stressed the importance of basing the concept of unity in history and context, rejecting an idealized view in favor of a nuanced understanding that recognizes conflict, division, and differences. He highlighted the radical contextuality of human existence and the essential location of discourses, emphasizing the struggle for meaningful unity within a broadened understanding of oikoumene, grounded in justice and solidarity with the oppressed. This perspective makes the urgency and importance of a more inclusive and justice-oriented approach to unity a key focus for future ecumenical efforts.

 

How did you get interested in the topic?

This topic came to me as a result of my personal and academic journey. Raised in an anti-ecumenical evangelical church in Brazil, I was initially presented with resistance and misrepresentation towards the ecumenical movement. Paradoxically, this experience sparked a strong desire in me to understand and contribute to this movement.

As I delved into the history of Brazilian Protestantism, I discovered the significant role of ecumenical engagement in the struggles of the impoverished majority of the Brazilian people. This was particularly evident through a movement called Iglesia y Sociedad en America Latina (ISAL), which laid the foundations for what can be termed a Protestant branch of Latin American liberation theology. In studying this movement, featured in my book "Protesting Poverty: Protestants, Social Ethics and the Poor in Brazil" (Baylor University Press, 2023), I came to realize the significant role of José Míguez Bonino as an ecumenical figure since the early 1960s. He progressed from being a Methodist pastor advocating for local ecumenical relations in Mendoza, Argentina, to co-founding ISAL. Bonino was also the only Latin American Protestant to attend Vatican II and one of the first to interpret it in the region. His participation in the second meeting of the Catholic Episcopal Conference of Latin America in Medellin, which sparked liberation theology in the continent in 1968, was a pivotal moment in his journey. This event, along with his tenure as a regional president of the Faith and Order Commission and member of the W.C.C. Central Committee, solidified his presence and leadership in many ecumenical initiatives in Latin America and beyond.

Furthermore, as a liberation theologian in dialogue with partners from a broader ecumenical network, he contributed to reshaping prevalent perspectives in the pursuit of unity within the ecumenical movement. An invitation to discuss his role as a Latin American Protestant interpreter of Vatican II at a conference in Louvain last year finally provided me with an opportunity to highlight the theological influence of this still relatively unknown Latin American theologian on the ecumenical movement and its understanding of unity.

 

How do you think Bonino's understanding of "oikoumene" is helpful in thinking about ecumenical efforts?

Oikoumene is a word derived from the Greek, which generally means "the whole inhabited world," and which, since its absorption into Christian vocabulary, has been defined both religiously and politically. The question is, who defines oikoumene? And, who is part of the oikoumene, and who is left out? There was a time when this word referred to those who lived within the boundaries of the Roman Empire. Later, it became a reference to the Christian world while preserving the memories of the church's connections with the empire. Over the centuries, it has been used in different ways. Yet, oikoumene has often been defined by those in positions of power and privilege.

In the modern era, it was adopted by the ecumenical movement in reference to the Christian ideal of universal unity inspired by Jesus's prayer in John 17. What José Míguez Bonino and others have brought to the table is the need for ecumenical efforts to take seriously those who have been made invisible in those conversations and for Christians everywhere to do a self-examination to see how they have been complicit in the exclusion and erasure of others. Thus, the terms in which oikoumene is defined must be revisited, and the voices of the victims of oppression, the poor, and all those who remain excluded must be heard. His understanding of unity is broader than the classical call for church unity, and it challenges not only ecumenical conversations on Christian unity but also Christian self-understanding and priorities. I engage in a fuller conversation on this topic in my new book, Base Ecumenism: A Latin American Contribution to Ecumenical Praxis and Theology, (Series: Shapers of Ecumenical Theology) with Augsburg Fortress Press, which should be out in Spring 2025.

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Featured JES Author: Rev. Dr. Gisela Uzukwu on "Crisis of Faith: Today's African Christians and Mami-Wata"

Issue 59.2 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available! For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes a full-text PDF version of their article available for 30 days on Project Muse. In this issue, we feature Gisela Uzukwu’s "CRISIS OF FAITH: TODAY’S AFRICAN CHRISTIANS AND MAMI-WATA.” A full-text PDF version of the article can be accessed HERE.


Dr. Gesila Nneka Uzukwu is a scholar of New Testament Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty of Arts, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Nigeria. She holds a bachelor’s in Philosophy, bachelor’s in Theology, M.A and Licentiate in Theology and Religious Studies, and PhD in New Testament Studies (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium).

Her research interests are in New Testament Studies, Pauline literature, gender studies, and African Spiritualities and Theodicy. She is currently the Head of Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Nasarawa State University. She is the author of The Unity of Male and Female in Jesus Christ: An Exegetical Study of Galatians 3:28c in Light of Paul’s Theology of Promise. With her doctoral defence in New Testament Studies, she became the first African Woman to have obtained a Doctorate in Biblical Exegesis in Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. She has written several articles in both National and International journals. She is also a member of several editorial boards, such as, (a) Sapientia Logos: A Journal of Biblical Research & Interpretation in Africa; (b) THE CATHOLIC VOYAGE African Journal of Consecrated Life. A Publication of the Conference of Major Superiors of Nigeria; (c) Rubicon – NSUK Journal of Philosophy and Religion.

What is the argument of your J.E.S. article?

The J.E.S. article examines African Mami-wata spirituality in conversation with the present crisis of faith witnessed by many African Christians at the grassroots. The works of David Barrett, Philip Jenkins, and Andrew Walls have reiterated the intriguing shift in the center of Christianity to the Global South. In spite of all the creative theological enterprise that this paradigmatic shift has brought about, the issues of theodicy and Mami-wata spirituality have not been given the attention they rightly deserve. Yet, at the grassroots of African Christianities, Mami-wata spirituality in different forms has been used as an interpretative grid to explain the harsh existential problems confronting many African Christians. Unfortunately, systematic theologies in the Western traditions and their low-cost imitations in Africa have not engaged this crisis of faith at the grassroots of African Christianity, which is readily caused by the pragmatic appropriations of Mami-wata spirituality as a hermeneutical tool in order to interpret the existential problems of many African Christians. 

How, in your view, has the figure of Mami-Wata offered a solution to the problem of theodicy that Christianity has not?

The failure of African Christianity in its inability to solve the political and economic crisis of the African continent has further led many African Christians to seek help and solutions within the cultural precinct of traditional African spirituality. Historically, African Pentecostal Christianity has, for more than four decades now, mouthed the promises of wealth and prosperity to the African continent. Yet, most African Christians are living daily within the purview of enormous poverty and underdevelopment. Consequently, many African Christians are turning away from this Pentecostal message and seeking wealth and prosperity promised now by African Mami-wata advocates. Consequently, it seemed both African Pentecostal Christianity and Mami-wata religions were competitively at the long head in their quest to win over the soul of the African people.  Beyond this contestation, African Mami-wata spirituality appears to be winning in spite of the superficial victories of African Christianity in its populous character. For example, Mami-Wata spirituality deploys a realistic interpretative lens to the problem of good and evil. The theoretical and dogmatic nature of the Christian faith and its theology is not always at home with the African people since Africans are very practical in their representations of culture, traditions, and spiritualities. Guided by this understanding, some Africans would readily engage their African problems and solutions within their spiritual and traditional worldviews. Within this context, Mami-Wata spirituality has provided some Africans a fitting prism to engage their problems and find solutions. Similarly, the belief in witchcraft or spiritual manipulations is so prevalent and deeply embedded in the psyche of many Africans, (and Nigeria particularly) that it is almost impossible to explain the presence of evil without recourse to the mishap of spiritual beings.  Despite the many deliverance centers and prayer houses all across Africa, yet many African Christians underneath still romance with traditional African spiritualities. In Nigeria, this cultural romance embraces the inclusiveness of Mami-wata spirituality rather than the excessive dualism between good and evil as found in mainstream Africa Christianity.

How do Mami-Wata’s various positive and negative qualities provide a model of feminine divinity beyond the passive form of the Virgin Mary?

Mami-Wata spirituality fiercely engages African problems through the recognition of its active power, energetic presence, and aggressive personality. The fierceness of her anger is traditionally acknowledged particularly in combative defence of her devotees and to punish persons acts of sacrilege against her. In contrast, the traditional picture of the Virgin Mary embodies the opposite of this Mami-wata spirituality. The Virgin Mary is largely passive and operates only within the restrictive context of the Catholic faithful, while Mami-wata is directly connected to all human beings who use water. Interestingly, the usual praise of the Virgin Mary for her docility and submissive nature does not entirely resonate with the present African drive, spirit and energy which aggressively in tandem with Mami-wata personality advocate for the confrontation of all the dehumanized condition of their corporate existence instead of merely submitting to the status quo. In this regard, rather than the Virgin Mary model of submissiveness, the subversive personality of the Mami-Wata deity appears dynamically intriguing for many African Christians at the grassroots.

Why have Western and African Christianities alike struggled to engage seriously with the informal sites of religious expression such as those you surveyed in this study in this study?

African Christianity remained methodologically enslaved to the approach, areas of research interests, and concerns of Western Christianity. This paternalistic control and cultural hegemony of the West on African Christian theological discourses do not allow very often the engagement of contextual and local realities, which may be weird or strange to the Eurocentric interests of Western scholarship. Breaking this hegemony, research in Mami-wata repositioned past studies in theodicy, particularly in the discourse of systematic theology, to engage the contextual realities of the African people. Most importantly, the emerging field of World Christianity needs these local discourses in order to show the variegated character of Christianity, and the regional contours in expressions, struggles, and presentation of Global Christianity.  

How did you get interested in the topic?

I was brainstorming together with` Dr Matthew Michael, a colleague of mine at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies here in Nigeria, when we suddenly realised that the standard discourses on theodicy in systematic theologies have not given recognition to the local discourses in theodicy which do not take the traditional path of talking about theodicy in direct relationship to God, but did not include the cultural significance of other supernatural beings in the discourses of theodicy. Dr. Michael encouraged me to pursue this important academic trajectory, and I am so glad I did because it clearly suggests the need to rewrite works on theodicy to include discourses on local deities or other contending spiritual entities. Consequently, this research interest already suggests that discourses on theodicy as done in the West should not be paternalistically imposed on other contexts such as Africa because the nature of discourses on theodicy is a little bit different here.

What is your next project?

As for my next project, I am working in collaboration with Dr. Michael on a book on “Mami-Wata spirituality and Theodicy.”  We hope that this work will bring to mainstream discourses on African Christianity and European systematic theologies the intriguing conversations on how local discourses on theodicy could enrich global Christian theology.

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2023 Book Review Roundup: Journal of Ecumenical Studies

As 2023 comes to a close, we are happy to report that the Journal of Ecumenical Studies reviewed 14 books this year! We had a great selection of important interreligious and ecumenical works highlighting the diversity of the fields in 2023. 


Our year started with Eugene Fisher reviewing Fred Lazin’s book American Christians and the National Interreligious Task Force on Soviet Jewry: A Call to Conscience, published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Read it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890324.  

 

Glenn B. Siniscalchi reviewed David Bentley Hart's That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation, published by Yale University Press, commenting that “This book is a mesmerizing defense of the claim that everyone will freely submit to the Christian God…” Read it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890325

 

Seth Ward reviewed Susanne Scholz’s and Santiago Slabodsky’s edited volume, The New Diaspora and the Global Prophetic: Engaging the Scholarship of Marc H. Ellis, published by Lexington Books/Fortress Press. Review: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890326 

 

"The supreme value of the book is Kasimow’s remarkable gift of self-portraiture.” Peter A. Huff reviewed Harold Kasimov’s book Love or Perish: A Holocaust Survivor's Vision for Interfaith Peace, published by iPub Global Connection.

Read it now at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890328. 

 

Jonathan C. Friedman reviewed Peace and Faith: Christian Churches and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Cary Nelson and Michael C. Gizzi and published by Academic Studies Press. The review is available here at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890327.

 

Journal of Ecumenical Studies co-editor David Krueger reviewed Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry’s book The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, published by Oxford University Press. Check it out at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/890329  

 

Our summer edition included three reviews, starting with Joseph Loya’s review of Catholics without Rome: Old Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and the Reunion of Negotiations of the 1870s by Bryn Geffert and Leroy Boerneke and published by the University of Notre Dame Press. Available now at at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/902009 

 

“What is most interesting about this impressive, multi-authored volume is its genuinely ‘catholic’ character.” – Robert Nicastro in his review of Marc Pugliese and John Becker’s Process Thought and Roman Catholicism: Challenges and Promises published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. Read it now at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/902010 

 

Eugene Fisher reviewed Teaching the Shoah: Mandate and Momentum by Zev Garber and Kenneth L. Hanson for @CamScholars. You can read it on our ProjectMUSE at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/902011!  

 

We finished the year strong with 5 reviews in our winter edition! Zev Garber returned with a reviews of @RMikva’s Interreligious Studies: An Introduction published by @CambPressAsses Read it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914311

 

Zev Garber additionally reviewed Kenneth Hanson’s Luke: Illuminating the Sage of Galilee for @centergcrr.

Read it at the JES now! https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914312 

 

“This book is an emotive and critical reflection by Jewish and Christian clergy and academics on To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven (TDW)” Zev Garber’s review of From Confrontation to Covenantal Partnership: Jews and Christians on Orthodox Rabbinic Statement of "To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven Read it hear at: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914313 

 

Nathan Maroney reviewed A Handbook on the Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith by @DrCraigAEvans and David Mishkin, published by @hendricksonpub.

Available to read now at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914315

 

Finally, Zev Garver also reviewed The Nun in the Synagogue: Judeocentric Catholicism in Israel by Emma O'Donnell Polyakov for @PSUPress.

You can access it like all other reviews on our ProjectMUSE at https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/56/article/914314 


We had a great selection of books and are excited to see what 2024’s releases offer. If you are interested in reviewing a book with the JES, visit https://dialogueinstitute.org/book-reviews for more information and our recommendations of books to review. See you in 2024!

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Featured JES Author: So Jung Kim on "Speaking In-Between: Vernacular Spirituality of a Woman in Late Chosǒn Korea"

The Fall Issue 58.4 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available! For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes a full-text PDF version of their article available for 30 days on Project Muse. In this issue, we are featuring So Jung Kim’s "Speaking In-Between: Vernacular Spirituality of a Woman in Late Chosǒn Korea." A full-text PDF version of the article can be accessed HERE.

So Jung Kim (Presbyterian Church, USA) is the Associate for Theology in the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, PCUSA. She has a Ph.D. (2021) from the University of Chicago (IL) Divinity School. Her entries on James Cone and Womanist Theology are included in Charles Taliaferro and Elsa J. Marty, eds., A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion, 2nd ed. She has published a reflection on liturgy during the pandemic in Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts and a book review for the International Review of Mission. She has taught as an adjunct at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, and in her present position, teaches and resources Presbyterian constituents in local, national, and global settings.

She has presented at workshops and panels in several settings in the U.S., including, most recently, the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago. Ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), her research interests involve several forms of theology, anthropology, Korean Christianity, and ecumenism.


In two sentences, what is the argument of your J.E.S. article?

In my scholarly exploration, I examine the transcultural and transhistorical ramifications of ordinary language usage on Christian spirituality. The focal point of my analysis is the case of Yi Suni, a Korean female martyr. I posit that Yi Suni’s employment of sermo humilis, a literary style historically linked with Augustine, signifies a Spirit-inspired influence independent of Western missionary involvement. While prior research has addressed Yi Suni’s dual identity as a Confucian woman and a Catholic, I underscore the significance of scrutinizing her linguistic expressions, particularly evident in her letters, to understand better the challenges she faced within her transcultural milieu.

How does your reading of Yi Suni’s letters from prison help us to see her as more than a “virgin martyr” as typically understood among Korean Catholics?

In the ensuing section of this exposition, my attention is directed toward the spiritual dimensions of sermo humilis within Yi Suni’s correspondence penned on her deathbed letters. I delve into the intricate interplay between Confucian and Christian virtues, as evident in her writings. The discussion navigates through Yi Suni’s intricate negotiation of her conflated identity as a Confucian daughter and a Christian virgin martyr. I highlight the nuanced perspective that the contemporary emphasis on her ascetic life as a virgin martyr might present an incomplete portrayal of who she is – still, a filial daughter and a wife in a Confucian society.

In scrutinizing the text, I aim to unravel the multifaceted aspects of her identity, the messages conveyed therein, and how she grapples with the complexities of her era in a nuanced way. In the West, people tend to be classified into rigid religious categories such as Christian or Confucian.

What can Yi Suni’s story teach us about the fluidity of religious identities? 

The emergence of stringent religious categorizations in the modern Westernized world can be attributed not merely to “the West,” but specifically to its colonial and imperial impact. This influence has, in turn, engendered diverse forms of religious conflicts in the world under Western colonial influence. Yi Suni’s correspondence marks an early instance of this modern religious inclination, albeit an independent attempt to choose Catholicism with agency. However, despite the agency, her letters illustrate the inherent challenge in the notion of being committed to one religion between religious identities. The reality reflected in the letters underscores the coexistence of multiple religious affiliations within an individual’s identity and contextual framework.

I pose the question of whether the compelling force of Western religion, which necessitates choosing one religious identity over another, may engender confusion and potentially violate one’s choice to remain who she is in between more than two languages, cultures, and religions. Simultaneously, I wonder whether the possibility that acknowledging the fluidity of religious identities could alleviate such inner turmoil. Yi Suni’s utilization of diglossic vernacular language in her letters serves as a manifestation of this struggle, highlighting the complexity inherent in navigating diverse religious influences within her identity. However, we are still left with “what if?”

How did you get interested in the topic?

My academic journey has been centered on exploring various facets of Christianity and its global trajectory, encompassing both theoretical and practical dimensions. This led me to complete a doctoral dissertation at the University of Chicago, Divinity School, which delves into the transformation of everyday language use in Christian religiosity and spirituality, examining its evolution within transhistorical and transcultural contexts. During this research journey, I encountered Yi Suni’s letters, which became a focal point in a chapter of my dissertation.

What is your next project?

As for my next project, I am developing my doctoral dissertation into a comprehensive book. This endeavor aims to serve as a foundational theory aligned with future works, contributing to academic discourse and offering valuable insights to religious communities in the diaspora.

Furthermore, my ongoing research expands into the intricate tapestry of Christianity as a religion and its spiritual practices. I explore how it integrates cultural, ethnic, and diasporic elements, focusing on the intersections of nationality, racial-ethnic identity, gender, and sexuality. This exploration is grounded in the understanding that these intersecting factors shape the lived, everyday experiences of individuals within the Asian diaspora. The resonance of these experiences extends across the transcultural and transnational journey of Christianity, manifesting on local, national, and global scales.

Thank you, Dr. Kim!

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Featured JES Author: Effiong Joseph Udo on Dialogue and Democracy in Africa

The Summer Issue 58.3 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available. For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes available a full-text version of their article for 30 days on Project Muse. In this issue, we are featuring Effiong Joseph Udo's "A Reimagination of Dialogue and Democracy in Africa via an Afrocentric Reading of the Parable of the Sower (Lk. 8:4–8)." A full-text version of the article can be accessed HERE.

Effiong Joseph Udo, Ph.D., currently teaches New Testament Literature, Hermeneutics, and Dialogue at the Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He is president of The Pan-African Dialogue Institute and director at the Centre for Deep Dialogue and Critical Thinking at the same University. His doctoral thesis on St Luke’s soteria (salvation) concept grounded his understanding of the ministry of Jesus as a spirit-filled campaign for prioritization of justice and human well-being in the society of his days. This inspired Dr. Udo’s research interests in biblical exegesis to promote social justice, human rights, peacebuilding, interfaith relations, as well as ecumenism.

He is an Ambassador for Peace of the Universal Peace Federation, New York, a member of Professors World Peace Academy, as well as a postdoctoral International dialogue fellow of King Abdullah Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), Vienna, Austria.


In two sentences, what is the argument of your J.E.S. article?

In the article, I attempted to show how a pan-Africanist reading of the Second Testament Parable of the Sower in Lk. 8:4–8 informs a reimagination of dialogue and democracy in Africa. The study suggests that dialogue and democracy—which are ethically guided by the principles of equality, tolerance, cooperation, participation, and inclusion—are, in practice, complementary and mutually reinforcing, and these widely embraced values are present in African social systems, such as the ethics of communalism and ubuntu.

Many observers have characterized democracy as a Western import to African societies, but you have shown that many values and practices in traditional African societies are deeply democratic. What can democracies in Europe and North America learn from democratic African societies?

Guided by the lived ethics of ubuntu and communalism, Africans are socially and culturally oriented in values toward relationships, friendship, hospitality, cooperation, and tolerance of ‘the other’. I recommend that sustained efforts must be made by all stakeholders to deepen the knowledge and practice of these values in order to strengthen democratic engagements in Africa, Europe, North America, and other democratic societies in the world.

How did you get interested in the topic?

The African Union 2063 Agenda track on peace and democracy motivated my research. I sought to understand the presence, nature, and effects of civil society organizations’ engagements with African states and people to promote peace, human rights, and democratic ideals in the continent. I hoped that the effort would help in widening the Dialogue Institute’s contributions to deepening democratic ideals of freedom through its scholarship in dialogue and training in religious pluralism and democracy around the world. Working with Dr. David Krueger as a dialogue consultant for Africa with the Dialogue Institute, I also thought the Institute would be enriched by the exchange of experiences and perspectives of Africa’s traditional, academic, political, and religious leaders, youth, women, professional groups, and institutions because their dialogue and peacebuilding engagements are directed toward the African Renaissance.

In a few sentences, can you describe how the articles in this issue of the JES connect to the vision for The Pan-African Dialogue Institute?

It is remarkable that the project also gave birth to The Pan-African Dialogue Institute. In the course of my travels, I was able to bring together colleagues, civic leaders, and professionals in various disciplines, as well as youth and women’s groups from a number of African countries; and together we created The Pan-African Dialogue Institute. One could learn more by visiting: www.africadialogue.org. So far, members of the new institute include people from 18 African countries, and this number is still growing. Some individuals who had been on the DI African contacts, including the Study of the U.S. Institute on Religious Pluralism alumni, have also joined the Institute. Part of the rationale for creating the Institute was to serve the DI Board with a central body to relate with whenever Africa is on the agenda. 

I believe that the creation of The Pan-African Dialogue Institute represents a significant milestone for the DI under the leadership of Dr. Krueger as well as a lasting testimony of Prof. Leonard Swidler’s inspiration. It flows from Swidler’s mentorship and encouragement to Dr. Mutombo Nkulu-N’Sengha, founder of the DI-supported Bumuntu Peace Institute in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and my humble self of the University of Uyo in Nigeria to unite African scholars and professionals to embrace dialogue. This is why the Institute will remain in constant collaboration with the Dialogue Institute at Temple University. Created to foster multi-sectoral dialogue on issues in religion, culture, sciences, environment, law, economy, information, communications, technology, gender, and politics that promote democratic ideals and human rights in the Continent, and so on, the Institute is established as a civil society think tank. It seeks to unite African professionals and leaders to promote dialogue engagement that is rooted in Pan-Africanism and contribute to the building of policies and practices for the sustainable development of Africa. African professionals who are based in the continent and in the diaspora, from any field of life, as well as friends of Africa are welcome to join us; for dialogue is at its best in company, and not in isolation. 


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Featured JES Author: Robert B. Slocum on Bonhoeffer’s Theology of Resistance

The Winter issue 58.1 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available. For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes available a full-text version of their article for 30 days. In this issue, we are featuring Robert B. Slocum's "Thrown into God’s Arms: The Sacrificial Grace of Dietrich Bonhoeffer." A full-text version of his article is available on Project Muse and be accessed HERE.

Robert B. Slocum (Episcopal Church) has been an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky's College of Medicine, Dept. of Internal Medicine (voluntary faculty), in Lexington, KY, since 2017, and a Narrative Medicine Facility program coordinator for the University of KY HealthCare since 2015. He teaches an elective course for fourth-year medical students on the narrative basis for patient care and resilient practice. He taught at St. Catharine College, Springfield, KY, 2008–16, and was dean of its School of Arts & Sciences, 2011–13. He has also taught theology and religion at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI; Mount Mary College (now University), Milwaukee; Carthage College, Kenosha, WI; and Nashotah (WI) House Seminary, During 1986–2002 and 2007–09, he served in ordained ministry positions and as a part-time chaplain, 1993–98, in a Veterans Administration Medical Center in Milwaukee. He was a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Air Force, 1978–83. His B.A. and J.D. are from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; his M.Div. from Nashotah House Seminary; his D. Min. from the University of the South, Sewanee, TN; and his Ph.D. (1997) in systematic theology from Marquette University. He has authored four books, most recently The Anglican Imagination: Portraits and Sketches of Modern Anglican Theologians (Ashgate, 2015; Routledge, 2016), and edited or co-edited ten others, including Discovering Common Mission: Lutherans and Episcopalians Together (with Don S. Armentrout; Church Publishing, 2003). His nearly forty articles have appeared in theological or medical journals and as book chapters, and he has made presentations at more than two dozen theological and medical conferences. He is married to Victoria Slocum and has three adult children.


In two sentences, what is the argument of your J.E.S. article?

Identifying with the oppressed in both the U.S. and Germany, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said the church of Christ lives in all people, beyond all national, political, social, and racial boundaries. He offered an ecumenical vision of the Christian church that greatly transcends the Christian nationalism of National Socialism in Germany; he saw that God’s love for the world and incarnational Christian spirituality can be expressed through political action and active resistance.

How did you get interested in the topic?

I was fascinated by Bonhoeffer's heartfelt devotion and academic achievement that provided the foundation for his unflinching Christian witness, resistance, and sacrifice. He spoke up and acted with great courage at a time when many Christians in his country looked the other way in the face of great evil. The story of his willingness to apply his faith in resistance and direct action against Nazi tyranny also provided an effective example and good material for discussion in undergraduate courses I taught on topics such as Christ and culture, quests for God, and applied ethics.

Your article poses a stark contrast between the Confessing church movement associated with Bonhoeffer and the dominant German Christian movement that became co-opted by Nazi ideology. Do you see parallels in the world today and how best can Bonhoeffer speak to the challenges we face?

Like us, Bonhoeffer lived in a time of great conflict and abuse of vulnerable minorities who were seen as outsiders by the powerful. The response of German Christians to the threats of National Socialism generally ranged from anemic to complacent to complicit;  Bonhoeffer's frustration was palpable.  He expressed faith through prayer and justice instead of powerful religious organizations and sought a future form of the church that might be unexpected—nonreligious in a conventional sense, but able to convert and transform. He consistently sacrificed his own safety to resist the oppression of the German people, while expressing and living the unity of faith and action in the world through sacrificial grace. 

What is your next project?

I am continuing to explore perspectives on "war and faith" from the mid-19th century to the present. I define "war" broadly to include intense struggles outside the context of declared wars such as civil rights and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, as well as declared wars. I believe that sometimes in the worst situations, we reach out for the divine most earnestly, stating our beliefs, understandings, and sources of meaning most clearly. I am currently beginning to research the writings and witness of Dorothy Day.

Article Abstract:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer encountered Aryan nationalism and racism with sacrificial grace and Christian opposition. One of the first and the very few to speak out against the Nazis and to follow through with active resistance, he resisted Nazi intrusions into the life of the German church and the impact of Nazi bigotry on Jews and others excluded from full participation in German society. During his time in New York City at Union Theological Seminary and at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, he witnessed the impact of racism in the United States. Identifying with the oppressed in both the U.S. and Germany, he said the church of Christ lives in all people, beyond all national, political, social, and racial boundaries. Offering an ecumenical vision of the Christian church that greatly transcends the Christian nationalism of National Socialism, he moved from academic and pastoral ministry to direct action against Nazi oppression by smuggling Jews out of Germany, using ecumenical contexts to spread word about resistance to the Nazis, and seeking the overthrow of Nazi leadership. Self-sacrificing in his devotion to public activism, he saw that God’s love for the world and incarnational Christian spirituality could be expressed through political action. He expressed faith through prayer and justice, not in powerful religious organizations, and sought a future form of the church that might be unexpected—nonreligious in a conventional sense, but able to convert and transform. He consistently sacrificed his own safety to resist the oppression of the German people, while expressing the unity of faith and action in the world through sacrificial grace. 

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Book Review: Blacks and Jews in America: An Invitation to Dialogue

Terrance L. Johnson and Jacques Berlinerblau, Blacks and Jews in America: An Invitation to Dialogue. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2022. Pp. 224. $26.95.

Volume 57, Number 4, Fall 2022 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies features a book review of Blacks and Jews in America: An Invitation to Dialogue. The review is written by Dialogue Institute executive director, David M. Krueger. The book has been useful in informing the organization’s various programs on Black-Jewish Dialogue and Understanding. In collaboration with the American Jewish Committee, the Dialogue Institute will be hosting history and dialogue programming in March and April, 2023. We are actively recruiting a spring 2023 intern to assist with research and curriculum development. Position description can be found HERE.

Below is an excerpt of the review, and the rest can be read HERE on Project Muse. The full text PDF is open access until February 1, 2023.

Among minority groups in the U.S., Blacks and Jews have had a unique relationship, often characterized by collaborations in music, sports, and the common pursuit of civil rights. One of the most iconic images of this relationship is the image of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marching side-by-side during the American civil rights movements of the 1960’s. However, the relationships between Blacks and Jews have also been fraught with disagreements over questions of Israel/Palestine policy and commitment to racial justice. Drawing on their experience teaching a class on Blacks and Jews in America at Georgetown University, the authors take a fresh look at the complicated and contested history of the relations between these two groups, identifying the key obstacles to constructive dialogue.

In the early-to-mid-twentieth century, Jews and Blacks lived near one another in many urban areas, but this is less common today. Due to white flight in the latter half of the twentieth century, neighborhoods and schools are highly segregated along lines of race and class. As the authors observe, Jews and Blacks today tend to see one another as strangers. As a result, there are few face-to-face encounters that happen organically. Therefore, they suggest, dialogue and relationship-building must be intentional if they are to happen. To engage in this difficult work, the authors identify several key issues that must be taken into consideration. Foremost is the power asymmetry between the two groups. In political collaborations between Blacks and Jews in the twentieth century, white Jews have typically held the financial and economic power, an imbalance that has often distorted the relationship and led to misunderstandings about motivations. According to the authors, a shared commitment to a political vision that advances structural equality for African Americans must be the starting point for meaningful dialogue between Blacks and Jews.

The establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909 is often cited as the highpoint of the “Grand Alliance” of Black-Jewish relations. During this period, the groups shared concerns about legalized racial discrimination and segregation. In time, immigrant Jews were better able to assimilate and become recognized as white—a privilege not afforded to African Americans, including Black Jews, who number more than a half million in the U.S. However, while many Jews do benefit from white privilege, they recognize that their status as white in American society is liminal. According to the authors, sincere dialogue between Blacks and Jews (including nonwhite Jews) must address the complexities of race in America.

To read more, click HERE to download a PDF from Project Muse.

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Featured JES Author: Ellen Charry on Van Buren's Theology of Jewish-Christian Reality

Dr. Ellen Charry, Margaret W. Harmon Professor of Systematic Theology Emerita at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Summer issue 57.3 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available. For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes available a full-text version of their article for 30 days. This issue, we are featuring “Paul M. van Buren's A Theology of the Jewish-Christian Reality” by Dr. Ellen Charry, Margaret W. Harmon Professor of Systematic Theology Emerita at Princeton Theological Seminary. Dr. Charry has taught interfaith theology and historical and systematic theology. She earned her PhD from Temple University and is a former student of Prof. Leonard Swidler, co-founder of the J.E.S.

In two sentences, what is the argument of your J.E.S. article?

The argument of my JES article on my beloved mentor, Paul M. van Buren, is that he is far more radical than associating him with the “death of God” movement recognized. He never understood himself as proclaiming “the death of God,” but as recognizing that classical Greek metaphysics could not account for history that is essential for rendering Christianity understandable.

How does your article help us better understand Jewish-Christian relations?

Paul’s radicality lies in his recognition that the Jewish No to Christ is a Yes to God that Christians need to take seriously. He was the first Christian theologian not only to recognize this but to work it through Christian theology, particularly through Christology that remained a central concern throughout his career. His three-volume Theology of the Jewish-Christian Reality (1980-88) remains the premier Christian theology proposing how Christian contempt for Judaism can dissolve into companioning Judaism in its walk with God alongside Christianity.

How did you get interested in the topic?

I have engaged this topic since I was three years old. It became the intellectual core of my life struggle.

What is your next project?

My current project is Who is the Israel of God? It is a peace proposal for putting down the mutual enmity that characterizes two thousand years of the Christian-Jewish relationship.

Article Abstract:

Paul M. van Buren was the first Christian theologian to argue that the Jewish No to Jesus is a Yes to God. He offered Christians and Jews fresh ways of understanding both themselves and the other. His trilogy, A Theology of the Jewish-Christian Reality, begins by honoring God's enduring covenant with the Jews and then proceeds to identify false turns both traditions have taken in their walks with God. He called both to critical self-reflection in theological conversation with the other's identity and missteps. He turned the church from being against the Jews to being alongside them and called Jews to return to God's covenant with them in order that Christian rethinking not be theologically empty.

The full text article can be accessed via Project Muse HERE.

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Featured JES Author: Kashshaf Ghani on Piety, Dialogue, and Sufi Devotionalism

Spring issue 57.2 of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies is now available. For each issue, the Diablogue features one author and makes available a full-text version of their article for 30 days. This issue, we are featuring “Creating Space for Piety and Dialogue: North American Sufi Devotionalism” by Dr. Kashshaf Ghani, assistant professor of history at Nalanda University in Rajgir, Bihar, India. Dr. Ghani spent the summer of 2018 with the Dialogue Institute as a Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) scholar studying religious pluralism in the United States. The genesis of the article began with a visit to Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, a Sufi mosque in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

ABSTRACT: The following essay studies the early history of Islamic devotional tradition in the U.S. particularly through the rise of the Sufi movements. I intend to approach this study primarily from the vantage point of historical origins and development of Sufi groups in the U.S. from the late-20th century. This approach will be grounded on the perspective of Sufism as a minority faith practice and its various manifestations in the U.S – spiritual practices, devotional exercises, artistic expression, and cross-cultural dialogue. Sufism being one such manifestation, its career in the U.S. can be identified along multiple positions of ideology and practice – drawing from normative Islamic teaching and morals, following an eclectic and universalist approach, and transplantation of Sufi practices from parent societies, like South Asia and Africa. The essay will conclude by focusing on the dimension of transnationalism through the career of a South Asian Sufi master in Philadelphia – Bawa Muhaiyadeen.

The full text article can be accessed via Project Muse HERE.

The 2018 SUSI Scholars visited the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship, a Sufi Muslim community, in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia.

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