Journal of Ecumenical Studies
Contents of Volume 56 (2021)
Fall 2021 Vol. 56.4
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Christian Faith Affirmation and Action in a Pandemic World: Pondering while on Pause
Deenabandhu Manchala
The pandemic, while hurrying the world onto a frightening path toward an unknown future, has also exposed its devious traits, including the sharp systemic inequalities that exposed the poor to both the virus and hunger, the neglect of life priorities over economic growth, and the hideous pursuits of authoritarian regimes amid the pandemic. Simultaneously, there is a worldwide surge of people’s resistance as well as increasing collaboration among people to dream of a new world that is just and safe for all. It is time for churches to reimagine their presence and actions in the world. By drawing on the restlessness and yearnings of the moment, this essay explores and offers some signposts for the ongoing reflection on churches’ affirmations and actions. When truncated understandings of life instigate narrow pursuits that cause breaches in the interconnected web of life, the affirmation of faith needs to be intentionally a theology of life that asserts God’s intentions for life. When its current virtual mode seems to run the risk of further alienation from people, the church needs to search for credible expressions to be an instrument of God’s saving grace, regardless of its forms and modes. COVID-19 compels the need to reimagine the “sentness” of mission as a vocation on behalf of the vulnerable earth and its people. Diakonia, as the church’s expression of participation in mission, would then imply both reaching out in compassion and actively engaging in nurturing and accompanying people in search of a new world with justice and dignity for all.
Bonhoeffer in India: An Embodied Theology of Public Engagement
Rakesh Peter-Dass
Indian politics rejects the separation of religion and state, while India’s Constitution enshrines the freedom of religion in the public space. Rajeev Bhargava at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies has explained that India’s secularism represents a “principled distance” of the state from religions. The state is supposed to be dharmnirpeksh or religion-neutral. Recognizing the place of religion in India’s public life, this essay uses resources from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology to devise an ethical form of dharm-state relations in India, applying the religious thought of Bonhoeffer to the challenge of secularism in contemporary India. Bonhoeffer’s writings ask religions and states to guarantee certain inalienable human rights that derive from God. This strategy seeks to ensure a mutually enriching relationship between religion and state in society. The essay shows how those who ground human relations in a rights-rich anthropology, as Bonhoeffer did, possess particular resources to affect the ethical coexistence of religion and society in contemporary India.
A Christian and Muslim Plea for Education about “the Other” in Areas of Conflict
David G. Kibble, Qari Asim
Societies in conflict usually portray negative images of “the other,” such images often being transmitted through the education system. Using school curricula in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Israel and Palestine as examples of such a negative transmission, it is argued that real peace between societies in conflict will be developed only where especially the younger generation is enabled to see things through the eyes of those who are traditionally seen as their enemies. It is shown how such a more empathetic education is not just politically useful but is also demanded by both Christianity and Islam—the faith traditions present in both of the conflicts studied.
The Qur’ānic View of History, Revelation, and Prophethood: An Exercise in Comparative Theology*
Betül Avcı
This essay examines the qur’ānic view of revelation and prophethood in relation to the biblical and early Christian theologies of revelation. It argues that Christian theology of revelation, inspired by the Bible and early church Fathers, has a progressivist nature. Accordingly, while Christian revelation culminates in the Incarnation, the preceding period stands as a preparation. However, the qur’ānic account of revelation and prophethood suggests neither a gradual development awaiting the Prophet Muhammad nor a preceding preparation for him. This is because Allah is Merciful and Just and has always been equally accessible to all humanity. In the end, while the Prophet Muhammad is the final select individual as a prophet who conveyed the communication between God and the creation, Islam is the final account of this communication and the system of right conduct. Such finality suggests neither fulfillment nor culmination as believed in Christianity.
Bahá’í Prayers for Good Governance
Christopher Buck
Bahá’u’lláh, in his last will and testament, encouraged, if not obliged, Bahá’ís to pray for their respective rulers and governments, which is effectively the same as praying for good governance, peace, and prosperity. This essay presents a newly authorized translation of a Bahá’í prayer, “A Prayer for the confirmation of the American Government”—along with a provisional translation of a prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for the Ottoman State and Caliphate. Bahá’í prayers for good governance are analyzed and discussed in comparative perspective with Jewish, Catholic, and Islamic prayers for good governance in the American context, introduced as phenomenological parallels. Bahá’u’lláh’s injunction to pray for one’s rulers is a precept that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá put into practice—to good practical effect. Moreover, he revealed several prayers for good governance for use by the Bahá’ís themselves, to offer, wherever they may reside, on behalf of their governments. Several such prayers are presented, with comments as to their respective historical contexts and purpose.
In the Second Vatican Council’s Nostra aetate, the Church teaches that, in Hinduism, “men contemplate the divine mystery and express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and through searching philosophical inquiry.” In Hinduism, the internal experience of God (anubhava) is of central importance, and it is this that removes ignorance. In the traditions (Sampradayas) of Vishishtadvaita (in Vaishnavism and Shaivism), Dvaitadvaita, and Achintya bheda-abheda (in Vaishnavism), which integrate the Dvaita (dual) and the Advaita (nondual) schools of thought, we see an emphasis in simultaneous difference and nondifference between the human person and the divine, as and when the eternal union occurs. A theological point of contact is noted between the identified Hindu Sampradayas and Catholic teachings on the ultimate relationship between God and the human person. Through the commonalities in the understanding of our eternal destiny and their implications for human life, there are other plausible contacts identified between the theological universes of these Sampradayas and Catholicism. The various Sampradayas chosen here are examined, and their commonalities are identified; then, the points of intersection with Catholicism are studied. Schemas are developed to aid in appreciation of the holy truths that Hindus and Catholics share, and distinctions are drawn out. To communicate the sense and reference in these cases and to promote dialogue, translations render the relevant concepts accessible and relatable to the faithful of both traditions. For core Catholic concepts, Sanskrit equivalents are constructed and explained, using Indian philosophy to communicate the sense and reference necessary for mutual understanding. The schemas and the framework laid out here should aid dialogue regarding the mystery of God, recognized uniformly in both these Sampradayas and Catholicism.
Summer 2021 Vol. 56.3
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Introduction
Aryeh Botwinick
On November 18–20, 2018, Annabel Herzog (Professor of Political Science at the University of Haifa in Israel) and I (Professor of Religion and formerly Professor of Political Science, both at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA) organized a conference at Haifa with the title, "Asymmetry, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and Abrahamic Peace." The two issues of J.E.S. of which I am guest editor constitute the papers from the conference. As many of the essays make clear, the asymmetries in military power and resources between the Israelis and the Palestinians are a major source of the conflict. The multinational and multidimensional conference brought together Israeli, Palestinian, American, and European scholars to discuss the origins, sources, and evolution of the conflict, its current status, and possible modes of resolution.
Theopolitical Notes on Israel's Declaration of Independence
Warren Zev Harvey
In 2018, the Knesset of Israel, led by its right-wing coalition, adopted the Nation-State Law, which affirmed that the State of Israel is the "nation-state of the Jewish people" and only the Jewish people. Many have contrasted this law with Israel's 1948 Declaration of Independence, which promised "complete equality of social and political rights" to all citizens, "irrespective of religion, race, or sex," and expressed a commitment to the moral teachings of the biblical prophets. The Declaration was written by socialists and rabbis, while the Nation-State Law was written by right-wing nationalists. The Declaration focused on three prophetic values: freedom, justice, and peace.
The Nation-State Law, Populist Politics, Colonialism, and Religion in Israel: Linkages and Transformations
Ayman Agbaria
This essay discusses the content of the Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, focusing on its religious language. In doing so, the essay links the law with three points of gravity: religious-ethnonationalism, populism, and colonialism. Specifically, the essay highlights how the Nation-State Law is a manifestation of the religious right politics in Israel, which seeks to consolidate the Jewish nature of the state, to entwine the nature of Israel as a state for the Jews with its absence of borders, to devalue the political significance of citizenship, and to gain a wide consensus on the right of self-determination as a religious right derived from the Jewish sacred texts rather than as a political right based on international law.
This essay contributes to the Judaic conceptualization of peace by bringing Walter Benjamin's essay "Critique of Violence" into conversation with the nonviolent practice of the Israeli NGO, Rabbis for Human Rights. It analyses Benjamin's critique of liberal peace and legal instrumentality by questioning his distinction between pure, divine violence and instrumental violence by focusing on the story of Korah's rebellion. Moving to Benjamin's equation of pure violence with nonviolent conflict resolution, I argue that the latter is the appropriate means to achieve "justpeace." Rabbis for Human Rights' scriptural interpretation indicates that nonviolent peacebuilding can be modeled on the agonistic struggle between divine law and human intercession. They use legal means to challenge the state violence of occupation in pursuit of justice and peace.
Contra Fundamentalism: Negative Theology, Skepticism, and Infinity
Aryeh Botwinick
Religious fundamentalism is a major source of political instability in the world. The literalizing of God and religious texts infuses followers of the three Western monotheistic religions with an impetus to fight to the death any nation or group that they feel opposes their understanding of what God demands of them. From even before the era of the official promulgation of monotheistic doctrine, an alternative reading of the supreme Power in the universe has been available. This alternative reading has been officially canonized in Western religious thought as negative theology. Negative theology states that we can only know what God is not—but not what God is. Since God brings the explanatory quest to a halt, God can only be infinite. It is a contention of this essay that the structure of negative theology duplicates the structure of skeptical argument—and they both issue forth in incoherence. The only mode of relationship to God that is available to us is a mystical one, which means that no person can base their relationship to God on the premise of certainty. Fundamentalism then rests on a vulnerable set of rational arguments, which the essay seeks to explore and expose.
How Can Islamic Education Support Pluralism?
Sobhi Rayan
This essay sets out to analyze the concept of difference in the Qur'ān from a philosophical point of view. Generally speaking, this means that people of various cultures can co-exist in harmony in one society through mutual relations of tolerance. The essay also aims to determine the reciprocal interaction of benefits and values among societies through human and moral interactive relations. This divine address has been revealed in order to legalize the principle of difference that exists among human beings, making it a supported divine right and a natural law that one cannot deny or object to, but can rather deal with and benefit from. Against this quality of difference and cosmic dissimilarity, God reserved for Godself the quality of Oneness and denied it to living creatures and inanimate objects. The reader of the qur'anic verses realizes clearly that the attempt of some people to impose God's Oneness upon the life of others, and to force them to conform and be similar by compelling them to assume the same image is only aggression against the Oneness and unity of God, which clashes with the original spontaneity that characterizes the entity of human beings.
The United State of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Nation-State Religion
Elad Lapidot
This essay offers a critical reflection of the discourse concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its basic hypothesis is that the notion of "conflict," a situation of radical disagreement, necessarily assumes an even more radical agreement on the unity underlying the difference: an agreement on the situation. Its basic question is accordingly: What is the underlying agreement that is presupposed and imposed, that is, performed, by the discourse of an Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What is the "united state" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What are the logos and logic that generate this synopsis of different, conflicting, warring narratives? Drawing on Marx, Schmitt, Heidegger, Arendt, and Anidjar, the essay attempts to look at the notion of an Israeli-Palestinian conflict as arising from the hermeneutic unity of a liberal logos of state and a fundamentalist logos of religion.
Palestinian-Christian theologian Naim Ateek has argued against the Zionist interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, claiming that it favors a national reading of the bible and contradicts the Christian understanding of a universal God. Ateek's use of the terms universalism and nationalism ought to be understood in the context of the post-World War II encounter between the Christian discourse on Judaism and the discourse on Liberation Theology, as well as in the context of a political conflict over land/territory that has turned increasingly national-religious. The Exodus paradigm is a useful case in point, as it is central to both the Zionist movement and Liberation Theology. Although liberation theologians perceive the Exodus story as an integral part of its own religious history, the Zionist movement's reading of this story creates a monopoly on this paradigm that prevents Palestinian theologians from using it for their own purposes.
Islamist Groups as Providers of Social Services for Children within the Palestinian Community in Israel
Haneen Magadlah
This essay aims to uncover the methods and strategies adopted by Islamist groups in the Arab community in Israel in providing social services for children. It describes the results of a case study that focuses on the observation of the work of two Islamic groups in Baqa al-Gharbiya, an Arab city in the immediate vicinity of the Green Line. The study adopts the methodology of qualitative research through in-depth interviews with sixty persons, including children. The characteristics of the services these groups provide will be identified, as well as the links among the organizations and with other community and government organizations. The results indicate that these Islamist groups have a significant presence and influence in the Arab community, as they are active in the political and social spheres comparable to Islamist social service providers in other countries in the Middle East. Palestinian Arab clients prefer to turn to the Islamist groups for help over public social services provided by Israel. When they reach out, it is easier to build trust due to their shared religious and social background. The Israeli institutions, by contrast, represent an intrusive, alien force that they associate with land expropriation and neglect in providing social services.
Education between Critique and Theology
Yotam Hotam
Recent debates in Israel highlight a resurfacing of the tensions between secular education and religion by assuming a clear separation between a critical attitude towards religion, and the preparing of students for a life of religious obedience. Drawing on Theodor Adorno's discussion of education from the 1960's, I wish to challenge this taken-for-granted assumption. I show how Adorno's famous educational appeal for "critical self-reflection" can be traced back to its theological sources. Specifically, I argue that in Kierkegaard's theology of love, Adorno found a particular case for bringing together critique and theology that he then brought to bear on his educational position in which secular education and religion do not represent contradictory elements.
Spring 2021 Vol. 56.2
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Special Section
North American Academy of Ecumenists 2020 Annual Meeting, Online (in Lieu of Kansas City)
Cutting Edge Ecumenism: Toward Ecumenism in the Mid-21st Century—Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
Alan T. Perry
Fundamental Ecumenics Revisited: A Near-Forgotten Intellectual Framework as a Toolkit for the Mid-Twenty-First Century*
Aaron T. Hollander
During the 1970's, at the Catholic Ecumenical Institute of Münster, a group of scholars strove to theorize the human processes of understanding, communication, identification, and institutionalization that animate (and all too often compromise) ecumenical dialogue. The Münster group, led by Peter Lengsfeld, published Ökumenische Theologie: Ein Arbeitsbuch in 1980. This work was ahead of its time, yielding a wealth of resources for interpreting the entanglement of religious communities with one another and the epistemological force of those communities' oppositional identities. The Arbeitsbuch, however, was met upon publication with indifference or hostility in its own context and has received nearly no attention outside of Germany. This essay argues that the interpretive apparatus pioneered by Lengsfeld's working group—synthesized by John D'Arcy May as "fundamental ecumenics"—offers rigorous and adjustable diagnostic tools commensurate with needs emerging in the mid-twenty-first century. After introducing the framework pioneered by Lengsfeld and his collaborators and assessing the criticisms and reassessments that it subsequently met in the German academy, the essay sketches the contours of a fundamental ecumenics reformulated for the contemporary North American context, aiming to revitalize the discipline for analyzing the dynamics and stakes of human division—whether within, between, or beyond religious traditions.
Ecumenical Dialogue and the "Insight Approach" to Conflict Mediation: A Suggestion Based on Lonergan for a Minor Methodological Innovation
Elisabeth J. Nicholson
"Receptive Ecumenism," as a methodology for ecumenical dialogue, appreciates and values the authentic witness of ecclesial traditions, communities, and identities. Receptive Ecumenism emphasizes the importance of self-examination and self-correction over and against any sense that these activities are the sole responsibility of the "other." Thus, there are notable affinities between Receptive Ecumenism and Bernard Lonergan's method of self-appropriation, which "catches oneself in the act" of the operations of consciousness and opens onto spaces for discernment, self-correction, heightened authenticity, and conversion. This essay proposes that the explicit and intentional inclusion of threat-to-care strategies, drawn from the "Insight approach" to conflict mediation based on Lonergan's method, might help the practice of Receptive Ecumenism achieve its aims.
My Cup Runs Over: Full and Fuller Communion in the Ecumenism of the Future
Scott A. Sharman
Scholarly attention to the topic of full communion agreements is not new in the study of ecumenism. Nevertheless, with certain full communion relationships recently marking significant anniversaries and new agreements still being established, there remain opportunities to derive fresh inspiration from them for the ecumenical movement more broadly. Full communion relationships can discover new ways of sharing ecclesial life, moving from ecclesial autonomy to interdependence. Linking local partnerships can lead to regional or global possibilities. Relationships in one place can be leveraged to advance them in another. Life in full communion builds up a cognitive infrastructure that can lead to new creativity in response to intracommunal and extraecumenical concerns. Full communion becomes fuller, filled to overflowing, and carrying us toward the ecumenical future.
ARTICLES
Pope Francis Describes What Is True and Holy in Islam
Moussa Serge Hyacinthe Traore
On October 28, 1965, the Catholic Church reported to her sons and daughters that she rejects nothing that is true and holy in the world religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all people (Vatican II, Declaration Nostra aetate, n.2). This article answers the question: "What is true and holy in Islam according to the actual leader of the Catholic Church: Pope Francis?" A landmark in Muslim-Christian relations was reached with the visit of Pope Francis to the United Arab Emirates and the publication of a joint document with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in 2019. Within a general framework of Pope Francis's thought the article inquiries his specific vision of Muslims and Islam. It critically comments on what Pope Francis wrote on Muslims and Islam in his programatic letter Evangelii gaudium in which he pours out all his soul, mind, heart and dream. Pope Francis weaves very well his thought on Islam and Muslims with the Second Vatican Council's teaching. At the core of his reflections lies the concept of authentic religion that excludes any form of violence.
How the Idea of a "Global Ethic" Arose—And a Catholic Christian's Reading of the Qur'ānic Basis for It
Leonard Swidler, Hans Küng
This essay strives to achieve two main purposes. First, it records the personal and historical story of the movement for a global ethic. Asked to write it for an Iranian publication, the article also addresses Christian-Muslim relations. Growing out of World War II, the history includes records of the Una Sancta movement, the formation of the World Council of Churches, Vatican II, and the friendship between Hans Küng and the author that initiated the global ethic movement that was drafted and signed at the 1993 World Parliament of Religions. Then, a dialogue begins between the author and his understandings of Islam and how the tradition supports both Christian-Muslim relations and the movement for a global ethic.
Explorations and Responses
Response to Leonard Swidler's "How the Idea of a 'Global Ethic' Arose—And a Christian's Reading of the Qur'ānic Basis for It"
Riffat Hassan
Book Reviews
A Church of Islam: The Syrian Calling of Father Paolo Dall'Oglio by Shaun O'Neill (review)
Christian Krokus
A Christology of Religions by Gerald O'Collins (review)
G. R. Willis
Winter 2021 Vol. 56.1
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ARTICLES
More than half a century ago, Lynn White, Jr., launched a debate that is still ongoing. It is difficult to bypass his critical views of monotheistic religious traditions to the present ecological crisis. This essay attempts to review some recent works by responding to White’s central thesis, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” which seemingly offers a negative judgment on a monotheistic religious approach to the environment. Being critical of White’s and his critics’ arguments, it seeks both to present an unbiased and neutral overview and to enrich the present discussions on environmental issues from faith perspectives.
Interreligious Dialogue as a Gateway to the Sustainable Development Goals: A Lebanese Case Study
Ziad Fahed, Anna Maria Daou
Much has been written on the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the creation of peace and of just and equitable societies; however, the role of religion in general and interreligious dialogue in particular in achieving those goals has not been extensively researched. For decades, religious actors’ and institutions’ role in conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and reconciliation has been overshadowed. This essay offers a critical analysis of the outcomes of interreligious dialogue and of its effect on the implementation of the goals through the work of the Sustainable Network of Religious Leaders in the North of Lebanon, which was launched by the Dialogue for Life and Reconciliation. The network worked extensively on matters related to gender equality and gender-based discrimination, inclusive societies, peace and justice, and creating partnerships for the goals. It pinpoints the successes, weaknesses, and challenges of this type of work and highlights the fact that it is only through comprehensive partnerships that the goals will be achieved. Through the collection of both primary and secondary data, this research aims at opening new doors toward a practical understanding of the role of interreligious dialogue in development and a better empirical analysis of its effects.
A Social Capital Perspective on the Peace Work of Religious Women
Tale Steen-Johnsen
Women are often invisible when official religious peacebuilding efforts are effectuated. However, religious women, even though often not allowed into official religious peace initiatives, are still active peacebuilders. The religious peacebuilding efforts of men have been subject to academic discussions and theorization during past decades, while the peace work of religious women has frequently been empirically described but to a much lesser extent theorized. This essay seeks to contribute to theorizing the peace work of religious women to enable more conceptual discussions on how their contribution to peace can be understood. Drawing upon older and more recent empirical descriptions of religious peacebuilding efforts led by women, I suggest that we consider how religious norms, identities, and religious organization are utilized to strengthen and create social capital in these efforts. This is a valuable perspective when seeking to understand peacebuilding efforts by religious women.
The Reconstruction of the Concept of Religion in the Baha’i Writings
Nader Saiedi
The writings of Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i faith, provide a fundamental reconstruction of the concept of religion. In this new spiritual orientation, religion is perceived as a dialogue between God and humanity. This dialogical approach emphasizes the historical nature of religion, offers a dialectical conception of the Word of God, reinterprets the concept of the Day of Resurrection, provides a new and allegorical interpretation of various scriptures, argues for the harmony between religion and reason, and defines the true aim of all religions as the spiritualization of life, the liberation of humans from various forms of prejudice, and the promotion of unity and love in the world.
A Vision of the Destination: Theological Imagination, Ecumenism, and Social Transformation
Ikenna Paschal Okpaleke
“The eyes of the mind reach the destination before the legs get there,” so say African elders. This speaks of the power of imagining and envisioning of the world that serves everybody better. An ecumenical vision of a just and peaceful Africa attests to this common wisdom. In this sense, theological imagination remains relevant for any ecumenical vision that intends to bring about transformation in the African continent. This essay argues for the importance of theological imagination in advancing any transformative ecumenical program that targets the social sphere in Africa. The reflection on theological imagination in view of ecumenical transformation will then be tested in three social areas of engagement, namely, education, politics, and gender justice. It focuses on the context of Nigeria because of its peculiar turbulent sociopolitical environment and its challenging, but promising, ecumenical opportunity.
Imago Dei and the Tensions of Ethnic Identity
Wondimu Legesse Sonessa
According to the story of creation narrated in the Bible, all human beings are created in the image of God. As God’s image-bearers, all people need equal freedom, dignity, and justice. However, this core value of humanity is being neglected, and people are mistreating, exploiting, and killing others based on their ethnic origins. A country with a multiethnic society faces the worst challenge in this regard. This essay offers biblical and extrabiblical evidence for addressing the tensions between ethnicity and humanity in the image of God from a systematic theological standpoint, whereby attention is called to a harmonious and peaceful relationship between people of different ethnic heritages.
Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology by Catherine Cornille (review)
Mark Banas
Meeting Jewish Friends and Neighbours by Marcus Braybrooke (review)
John Gillman
Forgotten Origins: The Lost Jewish History of Jesus and Early Christianity by Juan Marcos Bejarano Gutierrez (review)
Eugene Fisher
Without Ceasing to Be a Christian: A Catholic and Protestant Assess the Christological Contribution of Raimon Panikkar by Erik Ranstrom and Bob Robinson (review)
Jyri Komulainen
