Buddhist immigrants are downplaying the ethnic elements of their faith and stressing its affinity to modernity and science in order to counteract the widespread conversions to Christianity in their community. This change of emphasis and strategy is most apparent among Taiwanese Buddhists in the U.S, according to researcher Carolyn Chen of Northwestern University. Chen delivered […]
Calvinism’s spiritual side attracks young evangelicals
Calvinism continues to grow in evangelical institutions and denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, especially softer strains of the faith that emphasize spirituality as much as doctrine. The gravitation of evangelicals toward the Reformed tradition, both in theology and political thinking, has been taking place [and noted in RW] for well over a decade. Christianity […]
New Jesus traditions custom made for spiritual seekers
The Da Vinci Code is only one of several “new traditions” that are currently circulating about Jesus and finding large followings among spiritual seekers. In a paper presented at the conference of the Center for the Study of New Religions (known as CESNUR) in San Diego in July, Reender Kranenborg of the Free University of […]
Mainline protestants flourish by taking up sideline status?
A new breed of mainline Protestant congregations are growing by taking a countercultural stance in American society. That is the provocative plot-line running through the new book Christianity for the Rest of Us (Harper SanFrancisco $23.95) by Diana Butler Bass. The book is the result of a three-year study of what Bass calls “intentional” or “practicing” churches […]
On/File: August 2006
01: As part of its peace-building program, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide assistance to create the Center for Peace-Building and Reconciliation. CPBR will serve as a language and IT resource center to train 400 Buddhist monks in English and Tamil languages as well as in peace-building techniques. The project is meant to […]
Findings & Footnotes: August 2006
01: The combined Spring/Summer issue of the Hedgehog Review is devoted to the topic of “After Secularization.” A few of the articles tread the well-worn paths of the secularization debate (is religion declining or increasing?), but most introduce fresh approaches and follow the advice of Jose Casanova in his opening essay: “Sociologists of religion should be less […]
Orthodoxy’s revived role in building Eastern European identities
Religion in Eastern Europe, especially in Orthodox nations, is likely to have a growing influence in forming new national identities, according to sociologist Irena Borowik. With the fall of communist ideologies and the impact of globalization, Eastern European countries are experiencing a rapid change in their identities. This is the major difference with Western Europe, […]
Benedict XVI’s ‘Dominus Iesus’ papacy?
Vatican watchers have been trying to detect clues and patterns in the previous work of Joseph Ratzinger that might reveal the nature of his papacy as Benedict XVI. But they may need to look no further than the controversial document he penned in 2000, with Pope John Paul II’s approval, called Dominus Iesus. Writing in […]
Current Research: August 2006
01: Although the population of U.S. Catholics rose by more than a million last year, the church showed a loss of school enrollment and sacramental observance, according to the 2006 Official Catholic Directory. The directory, which gathers statistics from diocesan reports, found that Catholic school enrollment declined by 13,000 to just under 680,000 students. The decline […]
Shift to global south brings new challenges to Jewish-Christian relations
Relations between Jews and Christians are changing due to the growing influence of Christianity in the global South, according to an article in theChicago Defender (July 14). Today it is no longer a matter of Jewish groups dialoging with American mainline Protestant groups or working with evangelicals on their mutual support of Israel. The changing situation […]
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