Christianity in Iran: A Brief Survey

This article reviews the long and varied history of Christianity in the country now known as Iran. The historical emphasis is on the Assyrian Church of the East, although other churches are also mentioned. The relationship, successively, with Zoroastrianism and with Islam, as the dominant religious traditions, is discussed, as are its implications for the wider Islamic world. Western contacts with Iran, and, in particular, those of western churches, are also examined. In the light of this historical analysis, and from discussion of the situation since the Islamic Revolution, some conclusions are advanced about the prospects for Christianity in the new contemporary context.     

Toward Epistemic Decolonial Turn in Missio‐Formation in African Christianity

This article is framed with the World Council of Churches' (WCC) mission statement Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes, which seems to be reviving academic interests in missio‐formation as an interdisciplinary field study. The mission statement, which is framed in a postcolonial missional discourse, seems to show interest in how missio‐formation as academic discipline can expose the intersectionality of questions of power, politics, and culture in Africa. The matters of agency, subjectivity, pedagogy, and rhetoric are perceived as central to the envisaged public missio‐formation discourse. Hence, this article argues that the nature of the mission statement must also be comprehended as means for decolonizing missio‐formation paradigm in Africa within a decolonial framework which gives critical attention to how missions have functioned as a colonialist mechanism for colonializing African Christian minds and subjectivity.     

诚:基督宗教与儒家的一点比较

诚是一种位格性的德性,与三个方面的人格性存有相关。基督宗教伦理中诚的对象是上帝。作为世界的使在者,上帝自身的诚为人的诚提供了本体论根由及命令。对上帝的诚内在地要求着对他人的诚,并且,上帝作为一种超验的监督,保证了对他人之诚的目的性。儒家伦理之诚与基督宗教不乏相似,但在儒家,由于诚的对象“天”没有人格,诚的对象实际上是人自己,在诚之中人只对自己的良心负责。另一方面,诚被儒家当作达到修齐治平的手段。加上没有来自超验之维的监督,这两个方面极易使人欺谎不诚而又心安理得,“问心无愧”。     

儒学与基督教的对比--温伟耀博士访问四川大学道教与宗教文化研究所演讲摘要

温伟耀博士于2003年9月14-18日到四川大学宗教所访问.为宗教所和哲学系师生发表了大型系列演讲.演讲的主要内容是儒学与基督教的对比及宗教经验的探索.温伟耀博士现任香港中文大学宗教系副教授,兼任山东大学哲学与社会发展学院客座教授、华南师范大学宗教文化研究所客座教授及四川大学宗教学研究所客座教授.他早年毕业于香港中文大学物理系,后来转学哲学,先后在英国牛津大学获得基督教神学及哲学博士学位和香港中文大学的儒学博士学位.他的研究专长是中国文化与基督教、系统神学、中国哲学、灵修学.     

A Lateral Reading of Religion: Christianity in Sister Relationships

Sociologists of religion continue to give precedence to parent–child transmission in studies on religion and family. In doing so, other kinds of family relationships that also influence religious beliefs and practices remain in the background. In this article, instead of using a vertical lens, religion in the family is approached through a lateral reading of sisters’ religious lives. Drawing on 13 biographical accounts, which included family diagrams and time-lines, conducted with adult women who identified as sisters and as Christian, this article examines the intersection of religion with practices of intimacy and social context. By looking laterally, this article explores the mutual shaping of religion and sibling ties and gives recommendations for the way this under-researched area can expand the sociological study of religion within families.     

Ancient Christianity in Cyberspace: A Digital Media Lab for Students

“Ancient Christianity, Ancient Cities – and Cyberspace?” was a teaching experiment combining the study of theology, religion, history, and new computer technologies. The course included both a regular class meeting and a concurrent digital media lab. All student assignments were digital. Students came in with a wide variety of technical knowledge and backgrounds in classical and religious studies. In addition to learning about the history and theology of early Christianity, students became critical learners of technology within the ideal of a liberal arts education.     

Chaos and Christianity: A Response to Butz and a Biblical Alternative

This article responds to M. R. Butz's (1995) fundamental conclusion regarding chaos and Christianity, briefly discusses the compatibility between the two perspectives, and offers a biblical model for counselors in assisting Christian clients in embracing chaos.     

“Theology of Presence” in African Christianity: A Transforming Missiological Factor for Women in Contemporary Pentecostal Churches in Africa

Following the independence of many African countries, Christianity has been gaining freedom through indigenizing the church. Christian churches in Africa are self‐indigenizing, self‐innovating, and self‐criticizing their practices and theologies. However, women in African churches remain in an uncomfortable zone. African, biblical, and missionary cultures have been named as sources of discrimination of women in the church. This paper deploys a “theology of presence” to claim that contemporary Pentecostal Christianity (CPC) in Africa, with some continuity in African worldview and biblical cultures, has touched upon and answered women's complex and challenging questions that for a long time have been denied by Christian missionaries. The paper shows how theology of presence, in the “witnessing” and “healing” practised by CPC, has been transforming the missiological factor for women. The paper suggests learning from other models for transformation than policies and gender mainstreaming tools, since these have had little impact. The paper recommends research on hermeneutical reading of the Bible and providing more innovative skills to help women break the silence of being violated.     

传统信仰与基督宗教的冲突与融会:张店镇个案研究

以一个中原乡镇为例,考察了当地的传统信仰与西方制度化的基督宗教的冲突与矛盾、互动与融会。研究表明,除了在偶像崇拜与祖先供奉的问题上发生矛盾与冲突以外,两者为争夺信众和主导地位而发生的宣传战也是一个重要表现。其融会与互动则体现在"民俗的兼容"、"价值伦理的比附"及"信众的流动"等方面。文章并探讨了教籍多元的问题,认为由于教籍多元现象的存在,儒释道三教合一的文化仍是当地的重要基石。