The Complex Hybridity of Ham Sok-Heon

This paper examines the multiple elements of Korean Quaker Ham Sok-Heon’s religious, political, and theological identity from the perspective of hybridity, with a special focus on the impact of that hybridity on Quaker reconciliation theology. In this article, I outline the basic elements of his ideas and context, emphasising the ways in which they interact in the intricate web of his thought. I also outline ways in which both reconciliation and Liberal Quaker theology are present in his ideas, and how exploring these overlaps would strengthen theological and ethical thought in both of these areas. His ideas are relatively unknown outside of Korea, due in part to the fact that very few of his writings have been translated: both literally translated from Korean, but also figuratively translated into non-Korean contexts. As I argue, however, his ideas are actually highly ‘translatable’ to both reconciliation theology and Liberal Quaker theology. As a result, I argue that any subsequent construction of Quaker reconciliation theology which fails to take Ham’s work into consideration is incomplete, especially due to the potential implications of his work to respond to the complex hybrid nature of both reconciliation and Liberal Quaker theology

The Theology of Reconciliation as a Contemporary Political Theology: The Present State of the Balkan Region and Its Possible Outcomes

The article aims not only to give an insight into the theological premises of the problem of reconciliation, but it also suggests the practical implementation of this theology within the body of the public policies of the countries of the West Balkans. I have tried to clarify elementary terms inherent in both post-conflict and contemporary theology, especially prominent within the theology of reconciliation which revolves around searching for possible solutions for a lasting and a viable peace. The theology of reconciliation should not remain within the scope of academic speculation, but it should be implemented by religious organizations as a means for conveying their ethical and religious norms in the contemporary world

Background of King\u27s Preaching Theology (Chapter One of King\u27s Speech: Preaching Reconciliation in a World of Violence and Chasm)

Excerpt: From birth, King was surrounded and influenced by the black faith community. Both his maternal grandfather and his father were successful African-American Baptist preachers in Atlanta, Georgia. Put simply, King was a product of the black church in America: How exactly, then, did the black Baptist church-or the black church in general-influence King\u27s reconciliatory preaching theology? There are at least three significant elements of the black church tradition that influenced King: the freedom tradition, open-ended Christian practices, and the particular interpretative tools of allegory and typology

Posterity or Prosperity? Critiquing and Refiguring Prosperity Theologies in an Ecological Age

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, prosperity theologies have simultaneously received a warm reception by some and a critical cold shoulder by others. With emotive responses provoked on both sides, what cannot be ignored is the influence prosperity thinking has, and will have, on the global church. Yet, little to no attention has been devoted to the intersection between prosperity theology and the issues surrounding the ecological crisis, such as climate change, environmental degradation, human greed, and wanton consumerism. Does such an intersection exist? This article explores this question by contrasting prosperity theology’s divine economy and agrarianism’s great economy. In sum, it suggests that the uncritical reception of prosperity teachings— though they speak pointedly to real, felt human needs—can ultimately create ecologically harmful, if not anti-ecological, modes of thinking and living within its adherents

Serbian Orthodoxy Between Two Worlds

Orthodoxy has, by the Providence of God, been placed between Western Christianity, and Sunni Islam. Church nationalism (phyletism) has always been present in political and linguistic nationalism in the former Yugoslavia. The relationship between Serbian Orthodoxy, with Islam and Western Christianity is not satisfactory. In order to become satisfactory, it would be important for the Orthodox Church to create a new theology which would, primarily, be a theological (Orthodox) response to the signs of the times. However, this has not become the reality as of yet

Quakers and Creation Care: Potentials and Pitfalls for an Ecotheology of Friends (Chapter Five in Quakers, Creation Care, and Sustainability)

While Friends have a strong tradition of activism around the social justice issues of each era, we also tend to spiritualize our faith, disconnecting it from the material world. Environmental concerns are arguably one of the most important social justice issues of of our time, and in many ways, activism, advocacy, and lifestyle witness seem like natural ways for Friends to engage in social justice in this time in history. This essay will explore some of the historical and theological strengths Friends can draw from our tradition that can help build a particularly Quaker ecotheology, as well as some of the portions of the Friends tradition that get in the way of practicing our faith in a more sustainable way

The Agony of the Infinite: The Presence of God as Phenomenological Hell

Much recent academic literature on the afterlife has been focused on the justice of eternity and whether a good God could allow a person to experience eternal suffering in Hell. Two primary escapes are typically suggested to justify never-ending punishment for sinners: the traditional view focuses the blame for an individual’s condemnation away from God onto the sinner’s freely chosen actions; the universalist position denies the eternality of the punishment on the grounds that God’s inescapable love and eventual victory over evil will bring all souls into His presence. I propose a third option that hinges on the possibility of Heaven itself being experienced as eternal punishment to demonstrate that if God’s presence is both the blessedness of Heaven for some and the agony of Hell for others, then the biblical affirmation of the universal restoration of all with the eternal punishment of some need not remain paradoxical