Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10028
Barnabé Hounguevou
Religious hybridity points to the religiosity of individuals who are anchored in one religious system while involved at various levels through affiliation, participation, belonging, or allegiance to other religious traditions. If religious hybridity presents some Christological challenges for African theology, it also brings some opportunities since the persistence of religious hybridity reflects particular aspects of Christian teachings or practices which need further reflections and/or actions. Some areas of the Christian teaching or rituals do not seem to provide sufficient or satisfactory answers to some African Christians who therefore feel the need to retain elements of their traditional religions. African Christian theology is compelled to respond to those unmet needs which are mainly the demands for a genuine inculturation of transitional rites, a more holistic approach to healing, and a proactive engagement with the social reality. The palaver model can be a useful tool to approach those issues.
{"title":"Religious Hybridity: Opportunities and Challenges for African Christian Theology","authors":"Barnabé Hounguevou","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10028","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Religious hybridity points to the religiosity of individuals who are anchored in one religious system while involved at various levels through affiliation, participation, belonging, or allegiance to other religious traditions. If religious hybridity presents some Christological challenges for African theology, it also brings some opportunities since the persistence of religious hybridity reflects particular aspects of Christian teachings or practices which need further reflections and/or actions. Some areas of the Christian teaching or rituals do not seem to provide sufficient or satisfactory answers to some African Christians who therefore feel the need to retain elements of their traditional religions. African Christian theology is compelled to respond to those unmet needs which are mainly the demands for a genuine inculturation of transitional rites, a more holistic approach to healing, and a proactive engagement with the social reality. The palaver model can be a useful tool to approach those issues.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73159214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10032
Martha Mapasure, A. Dillen
Catholic teachings on sexuality have long stirred controversies and global debates insofar as they put the value of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights into question. In the Catholic Church, there are ongoing debates among scholars, including theologians and feminists. Various theologians, such as Tina Beattie, have argued that the Church’s doctrines on sexuality do not take into account the daily experiences of a large group of Catholics, especially in relation to the topic of birth control. In this paper, we present a review of empirical studies on the topic of ‘lived sexual ethics.’ Using an integrative review method, we compared nine empirical studies on ordinary Catholic women’s views on and experiences with Catholic teachings on sexual ethics with three aims in mind. Firstly, we present the methodology and conceptual framework (agency) that the study used. Secondly, we present one strategy and four arguments of the Catholic women in nine different contexts. Lastly, we analyze which approaches to agency from each of these could be considered when reflecting on sexual ethics from the perspective of lived experiences of Catholics.
{"title":"Negotiating Catholic Sexual Ethics","authors":"Martha Mapasure, A. Dillen","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10032","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Catholic teachings on sexuality have long stirred controversies and global debates insofar as they put the value of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights into question. In the Catholic Church, there are ongoing debates among scholars, including theologians and feminists. Various theologians, such as Tina Beattie, have argued that the Church’s doctrines on sexuality do not take into account the daily experiences of a large group of Catholics, especially in relation to the topic of birth control.\u0000In this paper, we present a review of empirical studies on the topic of ‘lived sexual ethics.’ Using an integrative review method, we compared nine empirical studies on ordinary Catholic women’s views on and experiences with Catholic teachings on sexual ethics with three aims in mind. Firstly, we present the methodology and conceptual framework (agency) that the study used. Secondly, we present one strategy and four arguments of the Catholic women in nine different contexts. Lastly, we analyze which approaches to agency from each of these could be considered when reflecting on sexual ethics from the perspective of lived experiences of Catholics.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89758278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10031
Idara Otu
The Catholic church is a community of faith, and an agency of social transformation for a distressed African continent. Many Africans look up to the church for renewal and direction in their quest for integral development and cosmic flourishing. This expectation is gradually weaning in the face of the multidimensional challenges that weigh on Africa. Particularly, the impoverished social order and dysfunctional political systems deprive Africans of dignified lives and sustainable development. This article builds on prophetic dialogue as an ecclesiological paradigm for local churches in engaging the African social context in a manner that inspires social transformation. Grounded on prophetic dialogue, the article proposes pathways of local churches in addressing the concrete social issues and concerns of the people in their locality. These include social discernment, social palaver, and self-emptying. Drawing insights from the teachings of Pope Francis, the essay argues that these pathways offer credible and effective channels for a transformative encounter between the Catholic Church and African society.
{"title":"Prophetic Dialogue: Ecclesiology for a Vital Church","authors":"Idara Otu","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10031","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The Catholic church is a community of faith, and an agency of social transformation for a distressed African continent. Many Africans look up to the church for renewal and direction in their quest for integral development and cosmic flourishing. This expectation is gradually weaning in the face of the multidimensional challenges that weigh on Africa. Particularly, the impoverished social order and dysfunctional political systems deprive Africans of dignified lives and sustainable development. This article builds on prophetic dialogue as an ecclesiological paradigm for local churches in engaging the African social context in a manner that inspires social transformation. Grounded on prophetic dialogue, the article proposes pathways of local churches in addressing the concrete social issues and concerns of the people in their locality. These include social discernment, social palaver, and self-emptying. Drawing insights from the teachings of Pope Francis, the essay argues that these pathways offer credible and effective channels for a transformative encounter between the Catholic Church and African society.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"179 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83003295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10030
Stefanie Knauss
Cinema is one of the great media of storytelling that, with its images and sounds, draws viewers into a different world and addresses their bodies, minds, and hearts. In this contribution, I will develop an argument for African cinema as a source of narrative theology that is contextual and liberative in its critical and constructive functions. In conversation with African women’s and queer theologies, I will then reconstruct the narrative theologies emerging from films produced in Africa that address women’s issues and diverse sexualities. I argue that they develop, through images of the pain of sexism and homophobia, a theology of hope of flourishing life. Thus, they contribute to the life of a church that is able to overcome prejudice, recognizes the gifts of its diverse communities, and is a space for all to flourish in love.
{"title":"Images of Pain, Images of Hope: African Films as Narrative Theologies of Gender and Sexuality","authors":"Stefanie Knauss","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10030","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Cinema is one of the great media of storytelling that, with its images and sounds, draws viewers into a different world and addresses their bodies, minds, and hearts. In this contribution, I will develop an argument for African cinema as a source of narrative theology that is contextual and liberative in its critical and constructive functions. In conversation with African women’s and queer theologies, I will then reconstruct the narrative theologies emerging from films produced in Africa that address women’s issues and diverse sexualities. I argue that they develop, through images of the pain of sexism and homophobia, a theology of hope of flourishing life. Thus, they contribute to the life of a church that is able to overcome prejudice, recognizes the gifts of its diverse communities, and is a space for all to flourish in love.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87179142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-29DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10029
S. C. Ilo
This essay contests the regnant narratives that the center of gravity of Christianity is shifting to Africa. First, it is not always clear what theorists mean as to what constitutes the centering of Christianity and what ‘shifting centers’ mean beyond the claims of the demographic, social and cultural history of Christian expansion. Furthermore, the field of world Christianity and the methods for studying it continue to evolve, pointing more to a divergence than a convergence in both method and subject matter. Through critical study of old and emerging methodologies, the essay proposes that the claims about world Christianity and its variants and features in Africa must be rethought in ways that give value to the actual faith and context of Africans. The essay proposes four possible approaches for developing an account of Christianity in Africa and the world, focusing on theological, missional, and biblical prescriptive perspectives, that complement the predominant descriptive, sociological, and historical accounts of Christian expansion in Africa in current scholarship.
{"title":"Contesting the Shifting Center of World Christianity to Africa: Methodological Reconsiderations","authors":"S. C. Ilo","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10029","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This essay contests the regnant narratives that the center of gravity of Christianity is shifting to Africa. First, it is not always clear what theorists mean as to what constitutes the centering of Christianity and what ‘shifting centers’ mean beyond the claims of the demographic, social and cultural history of Christian expansion. Furthermore, the field of world Christianity and the methods for studying it continue to evolve, pointing more to a divergence than a convergence in both method and subject matter. Through critical study of old and emerging methodologies, the essay proposes that the claims about world Christianity and its variants and features in Africa must be rethought in ways that give value to the actual faith and context of Africans. The essay proposes four possible approaches for developing an account of Christianity in Africa and the world, focusing on theological, missional, and biblical prescriptive perspectives, that complement the predominant descriptive, sociological, and historical accounts of Christian expansion in Africa in current scholarship.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"148 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88662690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-21DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10027
William I. Orbih
The praxis of reimagination explores the dynamic relationship between imagination, story, and praxis. Colonialism has greatly impacted the African church’s imagination of clerical authority. The African church needs to reimagine church authority. This requires a greater attentiveness to the story of God’s redeeming love in the person and ministry of Jesus. It also requires we recognize the equal dignity and co-responsibility of laity and clergy in the church’s mission. While the story of Christ’s sacrificial love, the climax of God’s ongoing involvement in human history has priority in the Christian imagination, the ongoing Synod on Synodality is an opportunity to tell and listen to fresh stories of hope, development, and responsible leadership in contemporary Africa.
{"title":"Clericalism and the Problem of Leadership in Africa: Reimagination as Praxis","authors":"William I. Orbih","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10027","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The praxis of reimagination explores the dynamic relationship between imagination, story, and praxis. Colonialism has greatly impacted the African church’s imagination of clerical authority. The African church needs to reimagine church authority. This requires a greater attentiveness to the story of God’s redeeming love in the person and ministry of Jesus. It also requires we recognize the equal dignity and co-responsibility of laity and clergy in the church’s mission. While the story of Christ’s sacrificial love, the climax of God’s ongoing involvement in human history has priority in the Christian imagination, the ongoing Synod on Synodality is an opportunity to tell and listen to fresh stories of hope, development, and responsible leadership in contemporary Africa.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85031570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-21DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10026
F. Bakker
This article scrutinizes some biblical texts playing an important role in motivating missionaries to separate from their children on a young age so that they were able to receive proper school education. The children received this schooling on a place far away and often also in another country. Thorough analysis demonstrates that the meaning of these texts was almost always different from the sense many missionaries and mission organizations extracted from them. Mirabile dictu these biblical pericopes were very seldom discussed within missiological academic literature.
{"title":"Missionaries’ Children and the Bible: A Critical Response to Some Theological and Missiological Views","authors":"F. Bakker","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10026","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article scrutinizes some biblical texts playing an important role in motivating missionaries to separate from their children on a young age so that they were able to receive proper school education. The children received this schooling on a place far away and often also in another country. Thorough analysis demonstrates that the meaning of these texts was almost always different from the sense many missionaries and mission organizations extracted from them. Mirabile dictu these biblical pericopes were very seldom discussed within missiological academic literature.","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72655370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-05DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10024
Frances S. Adeney
{"title":"Birthing Revival. Women and Mission in Nineteenth- Century France, written by Michele Miller Sigg","authors":"Frances S. Adeney","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10024","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85408515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-bja10025
E. Beltramini
{"title":"Mediating Catholicism. Religion and Media in Global Catholic Imaginaries, edited by Marc Loustau, Kristin Norget, and Eric Hoenes del Pinal","authors":"E. Beltramini","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-bja10025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10025","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"2015 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73300882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-03DOI: 10.1163/1572543x-20230001
Pavol Bargár
{"title":"After Whiteness. An Education in Belonging, written by Willie James Jennings","authors":"Pavol Bargár","doi":"10.1163/1572543x-20230001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-20230001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20660,"journal":{"name":"Protocol exchange","volume":"66 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81001584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}