Search Results (266)

This article explores the role of Christian ethics in fostering community development within the South African context. Guided by the central question, how can Christian ethics contribute to sustainable and equitable community development in South Africa? The study examines the ethical principles and theological values that can address pressing societal issues, including poverty, inequality, and social fragmentation. Sub-questions include: What ethical frameworks within Christian thought support transformative social engagement? How can churches and faith-based organisations mobilise communities for collective action and empowerment? The analysis is grounded in a Christian-ethical framework shaped primarily by liberation theology’s emphasis on justice, the preferential option for the poor, and transformative social engagement, complemented by insights from African communitarian ethics and Protestant moral traditions. The study emphasises the importance of integrating Christian ethics into community development strategies, highlighting their potential to inspire moral responsibility, promote social cohesion, and drive holistic well-being. By aligning ethical reflection with practical application, this article offers a critical framework for understanding how faith-based principles can catalyse meaningful societal change. This investigation is significant as it provides actionable insights for religious leaders, policymakers, and development practitioners working to advance community resilience and justice in South Africa. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of how Christian ethics are vital for transforming societies. It offers insights for scholars and practitioners seeking to enhance community development within South Africa. Full article

This conceptual and spiritual autoethnographic essay proposes tendering masculinities as a framework for late-life formation that moves men from performance to presence and from control to communion. Drawing on Jungian alchemy (nigredo, albedo, rubedo) and the movements of decolonizing, queering, and befriending, the piece integrates fieldnotes with theological and depth-psychological reflection to articulate three interwoven practices for elderhood: imperfection as belonging, brokenness as illumination, and holding opposites without hardening. The argument reframes masculine strength as reliable, relational tenderness expressed through micro-practices such as grief literacy, “weaponless speech,” soul friendship (anam cara), and collaborative mentorship within families and intergenerational relationships. Implications are offered for chaplaincy, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, men’s groups, social work, and family or community contexts, with guidance on designing rituals of lament, contemplative listening, and communities of “steady tenderness.” By bridging depth psychology, poetic theology, and lived practice, the essay suggests that tendered masculinities can help families and relational systems cultivate stronger spiritual resilience, counter patterns of domination or disconnection, and contribute to communal healing. Limitations of single-author autoethnography and pathways for applied, practice-based research are noted. Full article

This article examines the question of under what conditions justice-learning in German-language Christian religious education (CRE), and thus in religious instruction (CRI)—both as content and as form—can live up to its normative self-image as a language school of freedom. The thesis pursued here is that this requires a self-enlightened approach to justice that critically receives the analytical power of postcolonial theories, but resists their epistemological relativism and remains anchored in the biblical heritage of God’s universal and at the same time preferential justice. After exploring the philosophical and theological heritage of reflections on justice and the resulting aporias in the theory and practice of CRE, postcolonial theories are examined in terms of their potential and their own theoretical limitations. This makes it possible to outline orientations for a self-enlightened, difference-sensitive, and at the same time universally-oriented reflection on justice that productively integrates postcolonial insights without abandoning the constitutive subject-orientation of CRE. Full article

This paper focuses on T. C. Chao’s (Zhao Zichen, 赵紫宸, 1888–1979) poeticizing theology practice, in which he applied poetry to expound and express theological thought. By employing research methodology that integrates historical and logical analysis, this study examines the historical context and the author’s personal theological mission, so as to investigate the formation of his poeticizing theology. This paper analyzes T. C. Chao’s poetry from multiple aspects, including the form, the expression, the core of his thoughts and the poetry’s peculiarities. We found that T. C. Chao’s poeticizing theology shows cultural fusion and a mystic inclination at the textual level, reflecting peculiarities in contextualization, ethics and indigenization at the theological level. These characteristics of T. C. Chao’s poeticizing theolog provide great significance in offering spiritual comfort, advancing indigenous theology, and responding to contemporary intellectual trends. Furthermore, it remains instructive for current practices of cross-cultural fusion that take Chinese culture as the main subject, and emphasize the fusion of inner spirituality and creative transformation. Full article

Armed conflict management increasingly demands new normative and strategic frameworks that preserve human life while maintaining effective deterrence capabilities. This study develops a multidisciplinary framework for rethinking armed conflict through the concept of just peace, integrating theology, ethics, law, technology, and empirical communication analysis. The research analyzes 7957 YouTube videos from NATO, the United Nations, and the Vatican, published over two years, employing semantic network analysis, modularity-based community detection, and sentiment analysis to identify emerging discourse patterns around peace, technology, and regulatory complexity. The findings suggest that contemporary socio-technological conditions are increasingly framed in ways that open a discursive space for rethinking conflict management beyond exclusive reliance on large-scale lethal force. Positive messaging correlates with higher audience engagement, while concepts such as law, ethics, religion, and technical standards emerge as interconnected regulatory domains. The study concludes that just peace is not naïve pacifism but a strategic, normatively grounded reorientation in contemporary deterrence thinking. Effective implementation requires integrated regulatory frameworks combining legal norms, ethical principles, religious values, and technical standards. The evolving technological landscape may allow deterrence systems to move beyond exclusive reliance on lethal force toward more humane and efficient conflict-management mechanisms. Full article

This article examines how religious experience is articulated through genre in the poetry of the seventeenth-century Ottoman Mawlawī shaykh Neshāṭī (d. 1674), focusing on the striking contrast between his ghazals and non-ghazal compositions. While Neshāṭī’s qaṣīdas, mathnawīs and other formal genres employ an explicit and direct religious language—addressing God, the Prophet, sacred figures, and doctrinal themes—his ghazals are dominated by imagery of wine, love, and the beloved, which at first glance appears markedly profane. Rather than reading this contrast as a sign of secularization or doctrinal inconsistency, the article argues that it reflects a conscious poetic strategy shaped by the expressive style of the ghazal. Through a close reading of Neshāṭī’s Dīwān, the study demonstrates that religious meaning in ghazals is not absent but deliberately rendered implicit. Drawing on motifs such as the mirror, secret (sirr), annihilation (fanāʾ fīʾllāh), and states of spiritual contraction, Neshāṭī transforms the language of human love into a vehicle for divine experience. In this context, the ghazal emerges as a genre particularly suited to conveying religious meaning through ambiguity, emotional intensity, and symbolic indirection rather than overt doctrinal exposition. By situating Neshāṭī within both the Mawlawī tradition and the aesthetics of Sabk-i Hindī, this article highlights how genre manifests religious expression in Ottoman poetry. It proposes that divine encounter in Neshāṭī’s work is realized less through explicit theological discourse than through the affective and symbolic potential of the ghazal. In doing so, the study offers a new reading of Neshāṭī’s poetry and contributes to broader discussions on the relationship between literary/lyrical genre, mysticism, and religious experience in Islamic literary traditions. Full article

This article advances a constructive theological account of Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI) for Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) engaged in interreligious dialogue (IRD). Drawing on a practical–theological methodology, the study follows four interrelated steps—descriptive–empirical, interpretive, normative, and pragmatic—to examine how AI-enabled practices such as translation, textual analysis, and cross-scriptural synthesis are reshaping contemporary forms of dialogue among religious and non-religious communities. Through the empirical mapping of current AI applications, interdisciplinary interpretation informed by social and ethical analysis, and normative theological evaluation, the study identifies both the opportunities and risks of AI-mediated IRD. On this basis, it synthesizes three interdependent dimensions that structure the proposed framework: (1) Ethics, which clarifies the moral purpose and values guiding AI use; (2) Technology, which addresses mediation, governance, and power in AI systems; and (3) Humans, which centers institutional responsibility, agency, and sustainability within FBOs. From this synthesis, the article introduces an AI–IRD Integration Framework that translates theological and ethical reflection into practical guidance for responsible AI adoption. The study contributes an original interdisciplinary perspective that equips religious leaders, theologians, policymakers, and faith communities to engage AI not merely as a tool, but as a human-centered partner in fostering inclusive, sustainable, and ethically grounded dialogue in an era of AI–human coexistence. Full article

The growth of Charismatic Christianity is arguably one of the most significant religious developments of the past century. Originating as a Protestant renewal movement in the United States, it expanded throughout the twentieth century, establishing Pentecostal churches, inspiring renewal movements within traditional denominations, and fundamentally reshaping Evangelical Christianity. While its theological and social features have been widely examined, the role of worship music remains a relatively understudied aspect of Charismatic life, despite its centrality in contemporary Christian practice. Situated within the framework of international migration and based on research in Slovenia, this article explores Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), particularly contemporary worship music (CWM), as a transnational vehicle of Charismatic and Evangelical Christianity. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and a qualitative analysis of a public database of translated songs, the study surveys CWM in Slovenia and discusses the homogenization of worship styles and the marginalization of local CWM production. The article concludes by reflecting on the notion of interdenominational homogenization in worship music. Full article

This study examines the dialectic between “navigating secularism” and “lived religion” in the context of modern Jewish Orthodoxy, focusing on the rulings of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (1910–1995) regarding secular Jews. The research relies on two analytical models: Ravitzky’s theological model, based on the Chazon Ish’s distinction between a “full wagon” and an “empty wagon”; and the phenomenological model of Zohar and Sagi, which examines the halakhic distinction between belonging to the religious collective versus the ethnic collective. Contrary to the consensus of 20th-century halakhic authorities, who applied the category of “captured child” (tinok shenishba) to modern secular Jews, Rabbi Auerbach rejects this categorical expansion and reinstates the traditional halakha: one who publicly desecrates the Sabbath has the status of a gentile in all matters. This normative decision yields far-reaching halakhic implications: prohibition of a secular person’s contact with wine, prohibition of inviting a secular person for festivals, and more. The study identifies an internal tension in Rabbi Auerbach’s rulings: theoretically, he considers whether it might be preferable to die than to live as a gentile, but practically, he permits saving secular Jews on the Sabbath based on extra-halakhic theological reasoning. This tension reflects a conflict between his loyalty to halakhic deontology and his humane character. The study classifies Rabbi Auerbach within the ahistorical approach, which views the halakhic conceptual system as an eternal entity. Nevertheless, the religious public perceives him as a lenient authority toward secular Jews. This gap is explained through Wolfgang Iser’s hermeneutics and the category of “textual indeterminacy”: readers interpret his words through the prism of an expectation for tolerance, based on their perception of his warm personality, thereby creating a subjective textual meaning. Full article

This article examines the conversations between Mary and Jesus included in the Przemyśl Meditation—the most extensive Old Polish narrative work recounting the lives of Christ and His Mother. The analysis reveals a complex, dual image of Mary: on the one hand, she appears as a humble and helpless woman; on the other, as a powerful intercessor endowed with profound theological awareness. This duality is also reflected in her attitude toward her Son. In some passages, Mary identifies Jesus with the Father, emphasizing the unity of the Trinity, while in others, she clearly contrasts them, seeing in Jesus the suffering Son, obedient to a stern and relentless Father. The article explores the causes of these ambivalences, focusing on the narrative functions of the dialogues, their place within the structure of the work, and relevant extratextual contexts. The findings highlight the richness of medieval Marian thought and the theological tensions that shaped its expression in Polish religious literature. Full article

This contribution examines the key aspects of the aggiornamento of Ignatian spirituality promoted by French Jesuits through the journal Christus between 1954 and 1967. The founding of the journal can be understood as a response to a sense of identity crisis among French Jesuits, likely provoked by the Fourvière crisis and the abrupt end of the worker-priest movement, which was eventually prohibited by Rome. In this context, the call to reconnect with Ignatian sources became imperative to foster theological and spiritual reflection capable of shedding light on the tensions of the present. The generation led by Maurice Giuliani, Michel de Certeau, and François Roustang—who spearheaded this editorial project—distanced itself from the hermeneutics of their predecessors, particularly Joseph de Guibert, as regards the spiritual history of the Society of Jesus. Instead, they emphasized a mysticism of action, the necessary integration of spirituality and apostolic works, the ecclesial implications of Ignatian service, and a bold, increasingly open dialogue between Ignatian tradition and the human sciences. Full article

This study examines worship perceptions in conservative Korean Presbyterian churches through a liturgical-theological interpretation of nationwide survey data collected from pastors, lay congregants, and the next generation within a major conservative Presbyterian context in Korea. Analyzing programmatic priorities, preaching emphases, expected outcomes of worship, and patterns of participation, the study identifies both enduring strengths and structural tensions in contemporary worship practice. While worship remains strongly Word-centered and oriented toward personal faith formation, items related to liturgy and sacrament are largely absent, reflecting a sermon-centered and programmatic understanding of worship. Interpreted within their historical and cultural formation, these patterns are examined as liturgical-theological structures rather than merely empirical trends. In response, the article proposes five future directions for worship renewal, emphasizing a more integrated relationship between Word and sacrament, participatory engagement, worship education, and generational and multicultural inclusivity. Full article

From the winter of 2024 through the spring of 2025, public plazas in Seoul, particularly Yeouido and Gwanghwamun, became major sites of anti-martial law political mobilization. A striking feature of these protests was the visible leadership and participation of young women, who transformed civil resistance into a festive and affective form of collective action through cheering sticks and performative solidarity. The main driving force behind the political mobilization of young women was the increased influence of feminism after the “feminism reboot” in Korea since 2016. During the civil resistance, they were also active in solidarity with various minorities. The resistance was successful, and Korea has regained the order of a democratic society. However, young women who had experienced autonomous protest and mutual solidarity found themselves, upon returning to their everyday lives, still facing the remaining task of struggling against patriarchal cultures and institutions. Among them, Christian women confronted an even more inhospitable sphere—that of the Korean Protestant church, which remains largely constrained by patriarchal norms, a Christian–Confucian mixture. A representative example is the emphasis on “women’s calling” based on fundamentalist/sexist readings of the Bible. The huge gap between current social change and the church situation is reflected in the recent phenomenon of many young female Christians’ de-churching. In confronting the incongruous realities of young Christian women, this study seeks to provide an ethico-theological basis for a feminist reinterpretation of the Protestant concept of “calling”. After analyzing the social/existential topos of young Korean Christian women in the recent Korean context, this work considers a feminist reinterpretation of the “creation order” and “calling” in the process of an intersubjective dialog between the Bible and pre-patriarchal Korean cultural resources of “Mago-affiliated” myth, Seolmundaehalmang (the Great Grandmother Seolmun) narratives in particular. By providing sociological, ethical, and theological resources to construct new norms of “calling”, this research contributes to enabling young Christian women in Korea to overcome their existential fragmentation and to seek forms of women’s calling that are attuned to their historical moment and identity. Full article

This paper examines the cultural and theological dimensions of Weet-Bix, an iconic Australian cereal produced by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, a department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). It argues that Weet-Bix simultaneously embodies SDA principles of health and holiness while concealing these religious origins through secular branding. Drawing on historical and doctrinal foundations of SDA dietary reform, the study shows how Sanitarium’s commitment to plant-based nutrition reflects a theology of bodily purity and moral discipline. At the same time, marketing strategies recast these spiritual imperatives as national virtues of health, sport, and family life. Through analysis of corporate culture and a case study of the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon, the paper explores the tension between Sanitarium’s public-facing secularity and its religious roots, revealing how SDA foodways persist beneath the surface of Australian consumer culture. This research contributes to understanding the hidden influence of religion on everyday food practices and the construction of national identity. Full article