Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230085
D. Moe, James C. Scott
Romans 13:1–7 is a potential key text in determining the theological response of the churches in Myanmar to the 2021 coup. The text presents those who invoke its use with a dilemma that requires resolution and decision. Is it an oppressive text that justifies the coup and commands the church’s blind obedience to the coup-led state? Does Paul’s exhortation to be subject to the governing authorities’ (13:1) justify the line of the church’s uncritical obedience? Or does his description of the governing authorities as ‘servants for good’ (v.4) provide the basis for resistance to the coup conceived as adharma or untruth or evil? James Scott’s creative theory of hidden transcripts suggests that the text can be read as a script for a public theology that demands the church’s faithful disobedience to the coup. It invites a fresh reading of Paul being resistant to empire in a hidden and indirect way. Rom: 13.4 may then be placed in dialogue with Rom. 12:9 (‘resisting evil and loving good’). Through a hermeneutic of correspondence between Paul’s texts and contemporary protesters of the coup forms of everyday public resistance to the military power are disclosed. The text becomes a vehicle through which the goals of the resistance movement can be set in a biblical case for a public theology.
{"title":"Reading Romans 13:1–7 as a Hidden Transcript of Public Theology","authors":"D. Moe, James C. Scott","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230085","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Romans 13:1–7 is a potential key text in determining the theological response of the churches in Myanmar to the 2021 coup. The text presents those who invoke its use with a dilemma that requires resolution and decision. Is it an oppressive text that justifies the coup and commands the church’s blind obedience to the coup-led state? Does Paul’s exhortation to be subject to the governing authorities’ (13:1) justify the line of the church’s uncritical obedience? Or does his description of the governing authorities as ‘servants for good’ (v.4) provide the basis for resistance to the coup conceived as adharma or untruth or evil? James Scott’s creative theory of hidden transcripts suggests that the text can be read as a script for a public theology that demands the church’s faithful disobedience to the coup. It invites a fresh reading of Paul being resistant to empire in a hidden and indirect way. Rom: 13.4 may then be placed in dialogue with Rom. 12:9 (‘resisting evil and loving good’). Through a hermeneutic of correspondence between Paul’s texts and contemporary protesters of the coup forms of everyday public resistance to the military power are disclosed. The text becomes a vehicle through which the goals of the resistance movement can be set in a biblical case for a public theology.","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89015420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230080
C. Pearson, D. Moe
{"title":"Editorial: Public Theology In Extremis","authors":"C. Pearson, D. Moe","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230080","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"95 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80481754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230084
Timothy C. Geoffrion
Myanmar’s citizens have been devastated by the military coup on February 1, 2021, and by the ensuing violence, destruction, and chaos. As the people are struggling to cope with the horror and suffering, Christian faith and spirituality are playing significant roles for Myanmar Christians, albeit in different ways, depending on their personal spiritual preference (temperament) and theological perspective. This article explores the four major psycho-spiritual orientations (temperaments) using a paradigm developed by Dr. Corrine Ware: head spirituality (Type 1), heart spirituality (Type 2), mystical spirituality (Type 3), and social action spirituality (Type 4). In a separate section, ‘Hope amid Suffering’, I discuss how varying theological perspectives are producing at least three different kinds of hope (in terms of content and timing): hope for deliverance now; hope for deliverance later; and hope now and later. In short, Christian faith and spirituality are functioning as indispensable sources of hope amid great suffering.
{"title":"Suffering and Spirituality in Myanmar Today: Hope amid the National Crisis","authors":"Timothy C. Geoffrion","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230084","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Myanmar’s citizens have been devastated by the military coup on February 1, 2021, and by the ensuing violence, destruction, and chaos. As the people are struggling to cope with the horror and suffering, Christian faith and spirituality are playing significant roles for Myanmar Christians, albeit in different ways, depending on their personal spiritual preference (temperament) and theological perspective. This article explores the four major psycho-spiritual orientations (temperaments) using a paradigm developed by Dr. Corrine Ware: head spirituality (Type 1), heart spirituality (Type 2), mystical spirituality (Type 3), and social action spirituality (Type 4). In a separate section, ‘Hope amid Suffering’, I discuss how varying theological perspectives are producing at least three different kinds of hope (in terms of content and timing): hope for deliverance now; hope for deliverance later; and hope now and later. In short, Christian faith and spirituality are functioning as indispensable sources of hope amid great suffering.","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79077320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230087
D. Moe
This article is a contextual reflection on the religious dimensions of reconciliation and anti-coup resistance. In doing so, the article addresses some fresh methodological issues and nuanced approaches to religions and public life. It begins by suggesting a paradigm shift in reimagining a public theology of religions and reconciliation that calls for engaging not only with academics, but also with lived practitioners. It critically examines the paradoxical role of religions. It first examines why and how religions play role in the politics of nationalism and tribalism and then suggests how interreligious ethics should be utilized as alternative sources for reconciliation. It shows how the coup creates a kairos for a transformative vision of interreligious solidarity and interethnic reconciliation. It then examines the ongoing stories of interreligious activist everyday resistance to the coup as adharma. Given that resisting the coup in public life is dangerous, the article also argues that public theology is not just about the reflection on public witness, but also about the hidden witness of faiths. It concludes by suggesting how religions shape the moral vision of ethnic reconciliation, federal democracy, mutual embrace of identity and otherness.
{"title":"A Burmese Public Theology of Religions and Reconciliation after the 2021 Coup","authors":"D. Moe","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230087","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article is a contextual reflection on the religious dimensions of reconciliation and anti-coup resistance. In doing so, the article addresses some fresh methodological issues and nuanced approaches to religions and public life. It begins by suggesting a paradigm shift in reimagining a public theology of religions and reconciliation that calls for engaging not only with academics, but also with lived practitioners. It critically examines the paradoxical role of religions. It first examines why and how religions play role in the politics of nationalism and tribalism and then suggests how interreligious ethics should be utilized as alternative sources for reconciliation. It shows how the coup creates a kairos for a transformative vision of interreligious solidarity and interethnic reconciliation. It then examines the ongoing stories of interreligious activist everyday resistance to the coup as adharma. Given that resisting the coup in public life is dangerous, the article also argues that public theology is not just about the reflection on public witness, but also about the hidden witness of faiths. It concludes by suggesting how religions shape the moral vision of ethnic reconciliation, federal democracy, mutual embrace of identity and otherness.","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82874453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230089
Pauli Xu
{"title":"Winning by Process: The State and Neutralization of Ethnic Minorities in Myanmar, written by Jacques Bertrand, Alexandre Pelletier, and Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung","authors":"Pauli Xu","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230089","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79998919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230083
T. Myint
The military coup of February 1, 2021 ended Myanmar’s nominal transition to democracy. That transition had begun with the 2010 election under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. The coup and post-coup Myanmar’s crises are the tip of the iceberg of a long endured political crisis about how to build an inclusive political system that respects the ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity of Burmese society at large. This article argues that the 2021 military coup itself may be a much-needed event for the future history of Burma: the coup has provoked resistance across ethnicity and religion to an unprecedented level.
{"title":"The Necessity of a Polycentric Federal Democracy in Myanmar","authors":"T. Myint","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230083","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The military coup of February 1, 2021 ended Myanmar’s nominal transition to democracy. That transition had begun with the 2010 election under the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. The coup and post-coup Myanmar’s crises are the tip of the iceberg of a long endured political crisis about how to build an inclusive political system that respects the ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity of Burmese society at large. This article argues that the 2021 military coup itself may be a much-needed event for the future history of Burma: the coup has provoked resistance across ethnicity and religion to an unprecedented level.","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82309497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230082
Elijah Young
This article explores the role of some prominent ethnic minority armies in the course of resistance to the coup. It selectively describes how some ethnic minorities such as Karen, Kachin, Karenni, Chin, Rakhine, Wa, and Shan play leadership role in the resistance movement before and after the 2021 military coup. It emphasizes the ongoing movement of how the 2021 coup created a window of opportunity for the interreligious collaboration between such ethnic minority groups and ethnic majority Bamar groups. It then shows how their interethnic collaboration blocked coup makers from consolidating their powers. The article also highlights how some ethnic minority Christian leaders, pastors, lay Christians, nuns, and priests witness their prophetic and apostolic faith in various ways of hidden and public resistance.
{"title":"The Role of Ethnic Minorities in the Resistance Movement","authors":"Elijah Young","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230082","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article explores the role of some prominent ethnic minority armies in the course of resistance to the coup. It selectively describes how some ethnic minorities such as Karen, Kachin, Karenni, Chin, Rakhine, Wa, and Shan play leadership role in the resistance movement before and after the 2021 military coup. It emphasizes the ongoing movement of how the 2021 coup created a window of opportunity for the interreligious collaboration between such ethnic minority groups and ethnic majority Bamar groups. It then shows how their interethnic collaboration blocked coup makers from consolidating their powers. The article also highlights how some ethnic minority Christian leaders, pastors, lay Christians, nuns, and priests witness their prophetic and apostolic faith in various ways of hidden and public resistance.","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85404689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230081
Scot Marciel
The Myanmar resistance’s urgent task is to push the hated, brutal military out of political power once and for all. Just as importantly, however, it simultaneously needs to create the best possible conditions for any future democratic government to succeed. This goal will require addressing a wide range of difficult issues that either have lingered unresolved for many years or that have grown out of the post-2021 coup and subsequent conflict. These include restructuring the security forces, developing and implementing a system of federalism, building rule of law, tackling long-standing identity issues, and rebuilding and reinvigorating the economy. It will also need to establish an interim governance structure and decide how to maintain security and basic governance during the inevitable transition period. The international community should step up efforts to help the resistance achieve both of these goals, including by increasing aid, training and scholarships and establishing a “Friends of Myanmar Democracy Group” to coordinate approaches.
{"title":"The Twin Challenges Facing Myanmar and How the World Can Help","authors":"Scot Marciel","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230081","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The Myanmar resistance’s urgent task is to push the hated, brutal military out of political power once and for all. Just as importantly, however, it simultaneously needs to create the best possible conditions for any future democratic government to succeed. This goal will require addressing a wide range of difficult issues that either have lingered unresolved for many years or that have grown out of the post-2021 coup and subsequent conflict. These include restructuring the security forces, developing and implementing a system of federalism, building rule of law, tackling long-standing identity issues, and rebuilding and reinvigorating the economy. It will also need to establish an interim governance structure and decide how to maintain security and basic governance during the inevitable transition period. The international community should step up efforts to help the resistance achieve both of these goals, including by increasing aid, training and scholarships and establishing a “Friends of Myanmar Democracy Group” to coordinate approaches.","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74587483","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230086
Layang Seng Ja
The parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) is a classic paradigm of perception and blindness. The story reflects ideas of identity in the time of Jesus but also raises issues that are pressing in our world today and the tendency to divide humanity into categories. This parable challenges us to question this categorization, to step across the boundaries it draws. Drawing on firsthand experience of the coup and Covid, this article seeks to read the parable and explores how it challenges us to rethink our identity and role in the context of a serious political and humanitarian crisis. It also examines how some neighbouring nations’ failure to show their humanitarian aid toward the victims of the coup are analogous to the priest and Levite’s failure to help the victim beaten up by robbers. The article suggests that the good Samaritan’s neighbourly act of assisting the victim serves as a moral example for reconsidering the identity of the church and her cross-cultural act of healing, assisting, and advocating for the victims, prisoners, and refugees.
{"title":"Who Is My Neighbour? Reading the Good Samaritan in the Context of the Coup","authors":"Layang Seng Ja","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230086","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) is a classic paradigm of perception and blindness. The story reflects ideas of identity in the time of Jesus but also raises issues that are pressing in our world today and the tendency to divide humanity into categories. This parable challenges us to question this categorization, to step across the boundaries it draws. Drawing on firsthand experience of the coup and Covid, this article seeks to read the parable and explores how it challenges us to rethink our identity and role in the context of a serious political and humanitarian crisis. It also examines how some neighbouring nations’ failure to show their humanitarian aid toward the victims of the coup are analogous to the priest and Levite’s failure to help the victim beaten up by robbers. The article suggests that the good Samaritan’s neighbourly act of assisting the victim serves as a moral example for reconsidering the identity of the church and her cross-cultural act of healing, assisting, and advocating for the victims, prisoners, and refugees.","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79261442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-05DOI: 10.1163/15697320-20230078
C. Pearson
{"title":"World Christianity and Interfaith Relations, edited by Richard F. Young","authors":"C. Pearson","doi":"10.1163/15697320-20230078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-20230078","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43324,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Public Theology","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2023-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84751302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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