Religion

This study deals with the controversy triggered by Simon Vestdijk’s De toekomst der religie (‘The Future of Religion’). In this essay, Vestdijk argued that, in the long run, Christianity would be substituted by both Socialism and Buddhism. For more than fifty years after its publication in 1947, the argument has been the target of fierce attacks.

De zorg voor de naaste is een wezenlijk aspect van de abrahamitische religies. De God van aartsvader Abraham roept zijn volgelingen – joden, christenen en islamieten – op om te zien naar de mens in nood, zowel in eigen kring als daarbuiten. Deze bundel laat zien welke woorden die religies daarvoor gebruiken. Aan de hand van één trefwoord beschrijven de auteurs de sociale zorg in de eigen traditie. Ook laat de bundel zien hoe die woorden doorwerken in de organisatie van de zorg, het handelen van de gelovigen, en de zorgzame opstelling in de samenleving.

God and the Economy offers a typology of economic-theological thinking. It analyses twenty six authoritative documents on theology and economy from several christian traditions over the world and thoroughly deals with a broad range of theologies, ethical guidelines, and economic visions.

Throughout the history of theology, the doctrine of God has been approached in different ways that reflect the specific ecclesiastical, cultural, and philosophical contexts of the time. This raises the hermeneutical question of how the method of theology affects the belief content expressed by it. Or, the other way around, can certain substantial insights be detected that have a regulative function for the method of the doctrine of God?

It is common to consider religion to be a really serious matter. However, even the most serious religion does have playful aspects! In every religion, a niche has been reserved for the basic human capacity for playing with transcendent and immanent realities. Because of this insight there are implications for the study of religion: we need methodological ludism!

This study brings into focus the religious qualities of the practice of listening. It provides answers to questions such as, how does preaching connect listeners to God, what is the function of faith in hearing sermons, and how do listeners become part of the community of faith?

In this book the author examines the church to world relationship which emerges from studying a sampling of Faith and Order documents. He has chosen a blended qualitative research design, with some quantifying elements, consisting of the basics from narrative, rhetoric, and grounded theory approaches. He has performed this study by applying the strategy of multiple case study and by using ATLAS.ti software for the data management.

Development is a key concept for thinking about the global relations between nations, in particular between North and South. But what exactly does it entail and in which forms do development practices manifest themselves? Are we dealing with aid or with co-operation, or perhaps with encounter? And which motives, philosophies of life and ideas about the course of nations and other human communities are lurking behind the programs of actual development?