Doing Theology at the Grassroots

Doing Theology at the Grassroots PDF Author: Kalilombe, Patrick A.
Publisher: Luviri Press
ISBN: 9996098206
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
Patrick Kalilombe has been distinguished for more than twenty-five years as a pioneering theologian and ecclesiologist. Circumstances have determined that much of his best work has been produced and published outside Malawi and through such diversity of outlets that it is very difficult for students and others to have access to his work as a whole. Hence we are convinced that his collection of his essays will have a very wide appeal, both in Malawi and beyond. The chapters are quite varied in their origins and subjects but the reader will not take long to notice recurrent themes: the author's missionary vocation, the critical role of the "grassroots" in theological construction, the integrity of Chewa traditional beliefs, the combination of Catholic commitment with radical openness to all religious and cultural traditions. Throughout the book is a series of photographs which lead progressively through the events of Bishop Kalilombe's 25th Jubilee celebration at Mua in 1997.

Grassroots Asian Theology

Grassroots Asian Theology PDF Author: Simon Chan
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
ISBN: 0830895442
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 221

Book Description
A dynamic chapter of church history is now being written in Asia. But the theological inflections at its heart are not well understood by outsiders. Simon Chan explores Asian Christianity at its grassroots, sustaining level and finds a vibrant, implicit theology that is authentically Asian. More than a survey, this is a serious and constructive contribution to Asian theology.

The Church as the Family of God and the Care for Creation

The Church as the Family of God and the Care for Creation PDF Author: Khisi, Maximian
Publisher: Mzuni Press
ISBN: 9996060624
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Book Description
Of late there has grown in African Catholicism the concept of Church as the Family of God, Familia Dei, which has enhanced greater social cohesion among the members of the Church and strengthened interpersonal relationships among them. This book is an endeavour to offer a path towards the solution of the problem of environmental crisis through the theological discipline of ecclesiology. Using the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe's understanding of Church as the Family of God, the book concludes that the application of the concept of Church as family of God, while bringing great social cohesion among the people, failed to extend to human relationships with the natural world, in fact It has broadened the human feeling of superiority over the natural environment. The book provides an ecclesiological complementarity which promotes a universal fraternity among people and the natural world ,and recommends an ecclesiological concept of Church as New Creation, Nova creatio. This would serve as a call for human beings to make a new ecological conversion, leading new lifestyles, change in their models of nature-worldviews, and change in the models of production and consumption.

Maoism and Grassroots Religion

Maoism and Grassroots Religion PDF Author: Xiaoxuan Wang
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190069384
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
Maoism and Grassroots Religion explores grassroots religious life under and after Mao in Rui'an County, Wenzhou of southeast China, a region widely known for its religious vitality. Drawing on unexplored local state archives, records of religious institutions, memoirs, and interviews, it tells the story of local communities' encounter with the Communist revolution, and its consequences, especially competition and struggles for religious property and ritual space. Xiaoxuan Wang shows that Maoism permanently altered the religious landscape in China, especially by inadvertently promoting the localization and even (in some areas) expansion of Protestant Christianity, as well as the reinvention of traditional communal religion. He contends that the post-Mao religious revival had deep historical roots in the Mao years, and cannot be explained by contemporary economic motives and cultural logics alone. The book calls for a new understanding of Maoism and secularism in the People's Republic of China.

A History of the Last Church of God and His Christ

A History of the Last Church of God and His Christ PDF Author: Gondwe, Wezi Makuni
Publisher: Mzuni Press
ISBN: 9996060187
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Book Description
Some scholars classify the Last Church of God and His Christ under the ecclesiastical-cultural bloc known as African Indigenous Churches (AICs). David Barret has divided the world’s Christians into seven major ecclesiastical blocs. However, there are many large churches and denominations which do not define themselves under any of these three terms, and often reject all three. As far back as 1549 (Japan) and 1741 (USA), new types of Christianity have emerged that do not fit readily into any of these preceding six major blocs. These consist of denominations, churches and movements that have been initiated, founded and spread by black, Non-White or non-European peoples without European assistance, mainly in the Global South, but also among Black and Non-White minorities in the Western World. The African Indigenous Churches fall under this category. The aim of the book, is to examine the history of the Last Church of God and His Christ International in Malawi from its beginning (1916) through the years and to portray a picture of its current existence in its various branches: What developments and changes have taken place over the years? What has been the relationship of the church to African culture? How has the church grown or expanded? Has the church been able to maintain its unity? And what has been the relationship of the church with other churches?

From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism

From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism PDF Author: Darren Dochuk
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393079279
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 560

Book Description
A prize-winning, five-decade history of the evangelical movement in Southern California that explains a sweeping realignment of American politics. From Bible Belt to Sun Belt tells the dramatic and largely unknown story of “plain-folk” religious migrants: hardworking men and women from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas who fled the Depression and came to California for military jobs during World War II. Investigating this fiercely pious community at a grassroots level, Darren Dochuk uses the stories of religious leaders, including Billy Graham, as well as many colorful, lesser-known figures to explain how evangelicals organized a powerful political machine. This machine made its mark with Barry Goldwater, inspired Richard Nixon’s “Southern Solution,” and achieved its greatest triumph with the victories of Ronald Reagan. Based on entirely new research, the manuscript has already won the prestigious Allan Nevins Prize from the Society of American Historians. The judges wrote, “Dochuk offers a rich and multidimensional perspective on the origins of one of the most far-ranging developments of the second half of the twentieth century: the rise of the New Right and modern conservatism.”

Re-Constructing Grassroots Holocaust Memory

Re-Constructing Grassroots Holocaust Memory PDF Author: Irina Rebrova
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110689049
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
The main objective of the book is to allocate the grass roots initiatives of remembering the Holocaust victims in a particular region of Russia which has a very diverse ethnic structure and little presence of Jews at the same time. It aims to find out how such individual initiatives correspond to the official Russian hero-orientated concept of remembering the Second World war with almost no attention to the memory of war victims, including Holocaust victims. North Caucasus became the last address of thousands of Soviet Jews, both evacuees and locals. While there was almost no attention paid to the Holocaust victims in the official Soviet propaganda in the postwar period, local activists and historians together with the members of Jewish communities preserved Holocaust memory by installing small obelisks at the killing sites, writing novels and making documentaries, teaching about the Holocaust at schools and making small thematic exhibitions in the local and school museums. Individual types of grass roots activities in the region on remembering Holocaust victims are analyzed in each chapter of the book.

Geography of Grace

Geography of Grace PDF Author: Kris Rocke
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780985233402
Category : Christian life
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Book Description
How do we make sense of God's love among the urban poor, and among the rest of us who are hungry for good news in the hard and sometimes forgotten places of our own lives? Rocke and Van Dyke invite us to discover for ourselves the unexpected nature of grace among those who have been labeled the least, last and lost-and their inextricable link to the forgotten and disturbing stories in the Bible. Graphic but never gratuitous, Rocke and Van Dyke are lyrical, poetic, irreverent, and playful. They are as rigorous in their study of applied theology as they are accessible in their storytelling. The authors share their own discovery of that which has been "hidden since the foundations of the earth," and they do it by standing with those who have stood alone, finding joy in being counted among the transgressors. They offer a new kind of orthodoxy that is as old as the gospel itself. Far from a dogmatic theology, the burden of this book is uncommonly light, but it is not without its demands. If you are up for a life-changing adventure, then get ready to "assume the risks." "In this challenging book, graceful writing meets grace-full theology. The wounds of the world cry out in poetry and poignancy; the call to care crushes complacency; places below rise to expose suffering and healing in the depths; darkness shines upon light, transforming Word and world in reading, hearing and doing." Phyllis Trible, Author of Texts of Terror "This is a beautiful book and a true book, proving again that they are the same thing! You will get to the essentials quickly here, and in a way that will change you both painlessly and painfully." Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M. Author and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation

Doing Theology with Humility, Generosity, and Wonder

Doing Theology with Humility, Generosity, and Wonder PDF Author: Damayanthi Niles
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 150643360X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 105

Book Description
This book looks at how Christians can think about their own theology in a manner that will allow them to not only be more open to interfaith dialogue but also to see that conversation as essential to what it means to be a Christian. For much of history, Christian theology has been used to undergird and justify imperial power. This has required a theological construction that advances a vision of belief that stands above and against the world and other faiths, or at the very least acts as the one vision under which all the others must unite. Empire and the colonizing enterprise do not lend themselves well to plural ways of understanding Christian faith, let alone a plurality of religious faiths. To take plurality seriously, we need a Christian theology that sees itself as a participant in that plurality.

Alternatives Unincorporated

Alternatives Unincorporated PDF Author: George Zachariah
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317545281
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194

Book Description
The victims of environmental destruction are often sidelined in eco-theology and environmental discourse. Movements for ecological justice fail to take into account the voice of those at the grassroots. 'Alternatives Unincorporated' presents an environmental ethics that begins with those on the margins. Using the key example of the Narmada Dam in India and the popular resistance movement which built up against the project, the book examines the collective action of subaltern communities in caring for their local environment. The book frames these movements as theological texts that inform a life-affirming earth ethics. The aim of the book is to challenge prevailing social and ecological dynamics and to affirm the interconnectedness of social justice and environmental action.