Showing papers by "Protestant Theological University published in 2016"
TL;DR: Theology of Nature as mentioned in this paper ) is a research project on theology of nature, which was initiated by Prof. Johan Buitendag and Dr Muis, who participated in the research project.
Abstract: Prof. Dr Muis is participating
in the research project,
‘Theology of Nature’, directed
by Prof. Dr Johan Buitendag,
Department of Dogmatics
and Christian Ethics, Faculty
of Theology, University of
Pretoria and Dean of the
Faculty of Theology. Prof.
Muis is a research associate
of Prof. Buitendag.
8 citations
01 Sep 2016
TL;DR: In this paper, the consequences of the spatial practices in the Anglican choral evensong in the Netherlands regarding (religious) meaning making are investigated, taking into account the secular-sacred tensions which are so characteristic for the Netherlands as a secularized, or rather: post-Christian country.
Abstract: Since the 1980s, increasingly more choral evensongs are organized in the Netherlands, outside of the context of the Anglican Church. The evensongs attract a lot of people. Sometimes these performances are ‘staged’ as a (mostly reformed) worship, sometimes as a concert, or as a worship and a concert at the same time. Most evensongs are performed in monumental churches, which due to the 16th Century Reformation have been ‘dispositioned’. The changed disposition of the inside of these churches has considerable consequences for the spatial practice of the evensongs. Research questions in this article are: What are the consequences of the spatial practices in the Anglican choral evensong in the Netherlands regarding (religious) meaning making? Four sub questions will be answered: (1) In which church buildings are evensongs performed? (2) What is the disposition in these churches? (3) How is space used in the evensongs? (4) How to interpret this? We will interpret the Dutch spatial practices taking into account the secular-sacred tensions which are so characteristic for the Netherlands as a secularized, or rather: post-Christian country.
5 citations
TL;DR: Praying as a conversation with God as discussed by the authors explores the notion of hearing the voice of God in a non-sensory way and argues that it is not a superstitious belief.
Abstract: The awareness of God’s presence and the experience of his works – key notions in practices of prayer – find reasonable doubt in our secular age. Meanwhile, there are, worldwide, many communities of faith where people enthusiastically pray and hold that they hear the voice of God. How can we understand this sense of God’s presence? In prayer, people express their hope and fear, and they do so with heart and mind. This subjective involvement is characteristic for prayer. At the same time, supplicants address God in the conviction that God is present and active. Critics of religion, however, criticise this ‘external’ realm of the divine and consider prayer a superstitious delusion. Passages of William James and John Calvin help us to get some insight in the ‘object’ of our religious consciousness. Furthermore, William Alston defends a non-sensory mystical perception of the divine. Using these insights, the author explores prayer as a conversation with God and reflects on the notion: hearing the voice of God.
5 citations
TL;DR: The United States and Canada stand at a turning point, which manifests as spreading support and legalization of physician-assisted dying, while the Netherlands has gone through developments with more than one turning point.
5 citations
01 Sep 2016
TL;DR: The Societas Liturgica International Congress of Worship and Formation (SILF) as mentioned in this paper was the first time that women and men have been invited to address it.
Abstract: T you, Madam President, for the invitation to speak here. I am particularly honoured to serve Societas Liturgica in this way. But allow me to say that it is not just me who is addressing our congress here. My presentation presents and reflects the research of various research networks in which I participate, primarily the network of my own chair in Practical Theology − more specifically of Worship and Formation − in Amsterdam and my colleagues there; in the second place, that of colleagues from other institutions, especially of the Institute of Ritual and Liturgical Studies − until recently based at Tilburg University, now in Amsterdam − and in South Africa, with whom I have extensively cooperated and co-published.1 We have moved past the time that research was the work of one – eh, yes, usually: − man. Research in my opinion is teamwork of intensively cooperating women and men in creative, inspiring and increasingly international teams.
5 citations
4 citations
TL;DR: In a recent book Living in the Memories of God (2012), Swinton argued that dementia is as much relational and social as it is neurological as mentioned in this paper. But he does warn against the moral implications of a radical relational approach.
Abstract: One of John Swinton’s objectives in his recent book, Dementia: Living in the Memories of God (2012), is to “deterritorialize” dementia: dementia is not the privileged domain of the neurologist. Following Tom Kitwood (1997), Swinton argues that dementia is as much relational and social as it is neurological. But he does warn against the moral implications of a radical relational approach. The belief that people are kept in the memories of God offers the only adequate description and approach to dementia. This review will present Swinton’s argument and raise critical questions about his understanding of the hegemonic role of theology.
2 citations
01 Oct 2016
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a collection of essays that reveal both the many similarities and the poignant differences between ancient myths in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and modern secular culture and how these stories were incorporated and adapted over time.
Abstract: In Religious Stories in Transformation: Conflict, Revision and Reception, the editors present a collection of essays that reveal both the many similarities and the poignant differences between ancient myths in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and modern secular culture and how these stories were incorporated and adapted over time. This rich multidisciplinary research demonstrates not only how stories in different religions and cultures are interesting in their own right, but also that the process of transformation in particular deserves scholarly interest. It is through the changes in the stories that the particular identity of each religion comes to the fore most strikingly.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the hermeneutic of love in the Great Commandment leads us to accentuate a theology of "creation out of love" ( creatio ex amore ), and this hermemeutic further questions the framework of common theological approaches to migration studies, urgently asking for more awareness when building a theological vocabulary of contemporary manifestations of human mobility.
Abstract: The present article, with a special attention to migration dynamics, envisions a theology-missiology relevant to both academic and non-academic settings by means of a quest to place theology at the heart of the definition of missiology. The article argues that a theology-missiology defined through ‘love God’ and ‘love your fellow human being’ reboots the agenda for theology’s engagement with migration studies. The article seeks to demonstrate that the ‘hermeneutic of love’ in the Great Commandment leads us to accentuate a theology of ‘creation out of love’ ( creatio ex amore ), and this hermeneutic further questions the framework of common theological approaches to migration studies, urgently asking for more awareness when building a theological vocabulary of contemporary manifestations of human mobility. The discussion on ‘migrant churches’ points to some problems of the migration terminology used currently. The article ends by spelling out interdisciplinarity in terms of intradisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, pluridisciplinarity, and infradisciplinarity.
1 citations
TL;DR: The Dutch Roman Catholic theologian Erik Borgman (1957), who developed a cultural theology, was appointed as a visiting professor at the liberal Protestant theological Mennonite Seminary in Amsterdam as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Dutch Roman Catholic theologian Erik Borgman (1957), who developed a cultural theology, was appointed as a visiting professor at the liberal Protestant theological Mennonite Seminary in Amsterdam. In this article, his progressive Roman Catholic theology is compared to a liberal Protestant approach. The historical backgrounds of these different types of theology are expounded, all the way back to Aquinas and Scotus, in order to clarify their specific character for the sake of a better mutual understanding. Next, the convergence of these two types of theology in the twentieth century is explained with reference to the philosophy of Heidegger. Finally, the difficulties posed by postmodern philosophies to both a progressive Roman Catholic theology and a liberal Protestant theology are shown. It is asserted that both types of theology claim that the insights of their particular tradition can be relevant beyond this tradition to modern and postmodern humans.
1 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue for a qualitative approach and seek to contribute to the discussion of investigations of adolescents' faith from the authors' experiences in empirical qualitative studies on adolescents and faith, as well as the literature.
Abstract: Various qualitative studies on adolescents and faith have been conducted at the research Centre for Youth, Church and Culture of the Protestant Theological University Amsterdam-Groningen in recent years. One finding of the Centre is that there exists a lack of knowledge about good methodologies for research on faith and adolescents. This article presents an explanation of why specific methodologies are needed for adolescents and reviews possible research approaches based on the authors’ experiences. The researchers argue for a qualitative approach and seek to contribute to the discussion of investigations of adolescents’ faith from the authors’ experiences in empirical qualitative studies on adolescents and faith, as well as the literature.
TL;DR: In this article, the role of Mary in the lives of a particular kind of Christians who have a complex liturgical make up: Lebanese women who come from Orthodox and Maronite backgrounds and who by marriage join Lebanese Protestant churches.
Abstract: Marian images are powerful and active in the lives of many faithful Christians. This research looks at the role of Mary in the lives of a particular kind of Christians who have a complex liturgical make up: Lebanese women who come from Orthodox and Maronite backgrounds and who by marriage join Lebanese Protestant churches. While one would suppose that Protestantism and Marian devotion should exclude each other, we show that in this case a creative ambiguity is at work where images of Mary help qualify the relationship with the divine.
TL;DR: In this paper, a decision taken by the general synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, in 1914, on the issue of church members who did not recognise infant baptism is discussed.
Abstract: Tolerance is an aspect of the balance between power and freedom This contribution starts from a decision taken by the general synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, in 1914, on the issue of church members who did not recognise infant baptism The synod decided that - on certain conditions - 'tolerance can be practiced' towards such members This contribution analyses and evaluates this decision, with particular attention for the distinction made between fundamental and non-fundamental faith issues It shows how this decision is related to the broader context of early twentieth century political life in the Netherlands (the 'Pacification of 1917'), and it concludes with some thoughts on the costliness of true tolerance
TL;DR: In this article, a comparison is made between polytheistic stories about the annihilation of mankind and the monotheistic Old Testament story of the flood, and it is shown that there are small but important indications in the text describing violence in the name of God that God is broader minded in this regard than many religious hardliners see Him.
Abstract: As a contribution to the ongoing discussion about the relation between monotheism and violence a comparison is made between polytheistic stories about the annihilation of mankind and the monotheistic Old Testament story of the flood. There appear to be many ambiguities in Genesis 6-9, also concerning the image of God. This leaves room for criticism on the abuse of power. Whereas polytheism tends to fatalism, monotheism seems to offer a more hopeful view. It cannot be denied, however, that the Old Testament also testifies of monotheism which does not tolerate deviating religious views and in this way can be used to legitimize violence. Nevertheless, there are small but important indications in the text describing violence in the name of God that God is broader minded in this regard than many religious hardliners see Him. Inspired by a text of Leonard Cohen one could call them ‘cracks’ in the holy scriptures which will help to let more light of tolerance come in.
TL;DR: In this article, an explorative questionnaire study among both churchgoers and non-churchgoers was conducted who chose to attend the so-called Night of the Churches in the Netherlands, and the results reveal that this event hardly changed respondents' image of the church and that more churchgoers than non-Churchgoers were interested in new forms of being church.
Abstract: How should we understand the paradoxical phenomenon that people are showing substantial interest in new events organized by the church in a western-European society that is characterized by dwindling church attendance? An explorative questionnaire study among churchgoers ( n = 1016) and non-churchgoers ( n = 317) was conducted who chose to attend the so-called Night of the Churches in the Netherlands. The majority of the respondents indicated that they experience the Night of the Churches to be a qualitatively different phenomenon from other festivals (e.g., museum night or music festival). Our data suggest that for both churchgoers and non-churchgoers shared bonding experiences (e.g., a special feeling of connectedness, contact with a higher spirit, together with unknown people) are what makes a Night of the Churches unique. Additionally, the results reveal that this event hardly changed respondents’ image of the church and that more churchgoers (22%) than non-churchgoers (13%) were interested in new forms of being church. Again, shared bonding experiences make the difference when it comes to being open to new ways of being church.