Symposium on the Politics of Discipleship

The Church and Postmodern Culture website is hosting a three-part online symposium on Graham Ward's new book The Politics of Discipleship. The first contribution was from Ronald Kuipers, Senior Member in Philosophy of Religion at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto, Ontario. His reflection can be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here. Here's a brief abstract:

In the best Christian tradition, Graham Ward has, in The Politics of Discipleship, performed a true service—particularly for his Christian readers. While I think it is fair to say that one of the book’s primary messages is directed at a Christian audience (which is not to say that this is its only intended audience), at the same time the book does much more here than merely preach to the converted. The book instead calls for the conversion of the converted. That is to say, this book succeeds, in rather arresting fashion, to show Christians, especially those living in affluent Western societies, how deaf they have become to their faith’s true calling. The book severely criticizes what Ward calls “Christian accommodationism” to the powers that be, and with that dares Christians to be “impolite”—to turn from this accommodating stance and instead respond redemptively to the chasm that yawns between the world Scripture promises will one day come into reality, a world of justice and shalom, and the one human beings are now busily setting up, one in which “[t]he forces of dehumanization, dematerialization, and depoliticization are strong and hegemonic; new poverties and new slaveries proliferate; and we are sleepwalking into a future that threatens to overwhelm if grace and transcendent goodness cannot prevail" (Ward, p. 300).

Messianism - Jewish and Christian Perspectives

Applications are currently being accepted (deadline 15 February) for a summer course on "Messianism - Jewish and Christian Perspectives" which will take place at the Central European University in Budapest, July 5-16, 2010. A number of renowned experts will give lectures and teach intensive seminars, but also the course participants will be invited to present their own research. Detailed information about contents, teachers, application procedures, and funding opportunities can be found by clicking here. We especially invite applications from advanced graduate students and young faculty. If you have any questions, please contact Matthias Riedl at Visriedl@ceu.hu. 

The course is a co-operation between the Center for Jewish Studies at the CEU, and Duke University's The Gerst Program for Political, Economic, and Humanistic Studies and Center for International Studies. The course is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 

Here's an excerpt from the course website:

This course will explore the ancient messianic idea, its spatial expansion, and its ideational development up to the present. The topic will be approached from a wide variety of disciplines (Political Science, History, Philosophy, Anthropology), sharing a common focus on the messiah as a central and enduring symbol of Jewish and Christian societies and their interconnected eschatological expectations.

Returning to the Church Conference

From January 4-6, 2010, the Returning to the Church: Valuing Theological Education conference will be held at St. Stephen's House at the University of Oxford in association with the Centre for Theology and Philosophy.  On Tuesday, Graham Ward will be presenting a paper entitled, "The Lay Theologian: Working at the Coal Face." As well, on Tuesday Timothy Stanley will be presenting a paper entitlted, "The Return of the Scroll: From Codex to Google." To download a PDF of the conference poster click here.

Political Theology Conference

This coming 14-15 December, the Political Theology for the 21st Century: Trends and Tasks conference will be held at the Institute for Political Science at Corvinus University-Budapest. The conference has been organised by the International Research Network on Religion and Democracy. Paper's will be given by Professor Lieven Boeve on "The Interruption of Political Theology," and, "Political Theology and Its Discontents," by Dr. Michael Hoelzl. 

World Sinology Conference

Professor Ward and Professor KüngThe World Sinology Conference opened on October 30th at the University of Renmen in Beijing China. As the Renman University website notes: "Over 180 domestic and overseas scholars gathered in RUC and discussed on the theme of 'Sinology and Cross-Cultural Communication.'" During the conference, Li Xueqin, a historian from China's Tsinghua University, introduced the origin of Sinology: 

Sinology is a result of cross-cultural communications, and the study of it will further promote that communication. It came into being in the 16th and 17th century when Chinese culture and Western culture met each other. People from both sides were keen on learning about each other. Sinology was developed in Western countries on the subjects of Chinese history, culture, language, etc. Meanwhile, Western learning, a late Qing Dynasty term for Western natural and social sciences, was developed in China.

The conference was "aimed at promoting exchanges and cooperation in the international study of Sinology and highlighting the value of Chinese culture in building a harmonious world." Among the scholars present were Professor Graham Ward from the University of Manchester and Professor Hans Küng from the University of Tübingen (pictured above). Professor Ward gave a paper on "Christianity and the State," which explored the role played by the State in the coming of Christianity to China in the 6th century through the Nestorians who were being persecuted in Persia at the time.

Autumn 2009 Doctoral Seminar

This academic year's first doctoral seminar (PDF) met this past week, and thanks are due to all who participated. Here's a list of topics discussed: 

• Laodicean Rhetoric in 17th Century Church Reform
• A Reflection on the Book “The Wounded Researcher”
• Re-investigating Paul’s “Powers”
• The Intolerance of Tolerance
• “Ethnic Religion”: Hervieu-Leger and the Study of Religious and National Identities
• The Politics of Religious Institutions in Lebanon
• Representation in Hegel
• A Review Carl Schmitt’s, The Concept of the Political
• Reconciling Schmitt and Metz
• Cacophony in Rights Discourse: Contrasting Agamben and Benhabib