The strong ascetic nature of Jainism has not prevented a growing movement within the religion from appealing to yoga-seeking Westerners with practices and teachings stressing a healthy mind and body, writes Andrea Jain in the journal Nova Religio (February). The Jain religion has traditionally emphasized spiritual enlightenment through renunciation of the body and its senses, […]
Buddhism in the U.S.—global and hybrid
Buddhism in the U.S. today represents a global religion more than an American one, particularly as it is entering a stage of “hybridity,” according to Buddhist scholar Charles Prebish. In an interview with the Buddhist magazine Tricycle (Spring), Prebish says that talk of developing an “American Buddhism” is “almost passé … Buddhist communities everywhere in […]
Black theology looks back to ancient church for racism critique
Black theology has often occupied the radical edge of the Christian theological spectrum, but a spate of recent books by black theologians suggests that it is reaching back to more traditional sources, reports the Christian Century magazine (February 8). Such theological works as Willie Jennings’ The Christian Imagination, J. Kameron Carter’s Race: A Theological Account […]
Santorum as standard bearer of the religious right
The most obvious sign of the strength of the Catholic-evangelical alliance is the wide support of evangelicals for Catholic Rick Santorum in the Republican primary races. Time magazine (April 2) notes that the force propelling Santorum to his unexpected victories is his “devout and driven network of social conservatives,” made up of religious leaders, anti-abortion […]
Not one, but many emerging churches
The use of the label ‘emerging’ for describing a variety of congregations suggests similarity, but it actually covers a range of distinctive practices, writes Jason Wollschleger (Withworth University, Spokane, WA) in an article published in the Review of Religious Research (March). The article is primarily based on case studies of three congregations in the Pacific […]
Evangelical and Catholic alliance recharged over religious freedom
Religious freedom has become a new galvanizing force in the Catholic–evangelical alliance, particularly as Christianity is coming under new repression in Islamic societies and as orthodox Protestant and Catholic churches charge that their convictions are being driven out of the public square in the West. Evangelicals and Catholics Together, an ongoing dialogue group organized by […]
Rally representing ‘tipping point’ for atheist activism, influence?
It was billed as the “largest secular gathering in human history,” but the Reason Rally, held on March 24 in Washington, DC, also revealed how organized atheism has gained considerable unity and a measure of support and traction in popular culture during the last decade. The rally, which was organized and sponsored by 20 atheist […]
On/File: January/February 2012
Remembering stories about heroic “Bible smugglers,” few people in the West realize that one of the largest Bible printing plants in the world, the Amity Printing Company, is located in Nanjing, China. It is reported that 55 million copies of the Bible for Christians in China have been printed there since the printing plant was […]
Findings & Footnotes: January/February 2012
01: Reflections, the magazine of Yale Divinity School, devotes its fall issue to religion and theology and the social media. The issue serves as a window into the question of how mainline Protestants are dealing with the new technology. The issue’s 22 articles suggest a growing engagement with the new media, yet also a concern […]
Japan’s earthquake creates new religious alliances
Over ten months have passed since Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Sociologist Peter Berger once said that religion legitimates the “marginal situation” that is best represented by death. This legitimation can be seen individually and collectively, and the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami will definitely be seen as “marginal situations.” Although it did not become […]
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