New Report on "Sharing the Gospel of Salvation"

Following a debate in February 2009, the General Synod asked the House of Bishops to produce a report on their understanding of the uniqueness of Christ in Britain's multi-faith society and to include examples and commendations of good practice in sharing the gospel of salvation through Christ alone with people of other faiths and of none. The report affirms the missionary activity of the English Church, and concludes in view of the "shasow side" of some historic evangelistic dndeavours that "...the fear of getting it wrong should never obscure the Christian's commitment to the good of all and to making Christ the centrepiece of that good. Too much reticence is as untrue to our history and our vocation as too much stridency." Download report.

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New Book on "Shari'a as Discourse"

The publisher writes that, "This volume exposes some of the various issues raised in relation to Muslim communities in Europe by putting the intellectual and legal traditions into dialogue. It brings together a number of scholars of Shari‘a and Islamic law with counterparts from the parallel European disciplines of hermeneutics, philosophy and jurisprudence, to explore how the processes of theological-legal thinking have been expressed and are being expressed in a more or less common intellectual framework. It provides a valuable reference for all those interested in exploring how Muslims and non-Muslims view Shari‘a law, looking at ways the European legal systems can provide some form of accommodation with Muslim customs." The book is edited by Professor Jørgen S. Nielsen, University of Copenhagen, and among many others there are contributions by Prof. Hanne Petersen on "Shari’a and Nordic legal contexts" and Prof. Lisbet Christoffersen on "Women, secular and religious laws and traditions: gendered secularization, penal law, gendering Shari’a". Read more. In Denmark the book has lead to a heated debate on shari'a and Danish law. Read more (in Danish).

Religious Freedom in a Liberal Society

This new report from the Theos think tank "tackles the silent downgrading of religious rights in contemporary Britain. It argues that human beings are naturally religious animals and have a prima facie natural right to freely exercise their religion, which should not simply be equated with the right to free speech." The report comes at a time where religious freedom is perceived to have been restricted. The author of the report Professor Trigg argues that: "If religious freedom is itself one of the most important rights, it must itself by the same token be entitled to equal respect from others. It cannot automatically be overridden in a clash of such rights." Download.

Bishop N. T. Wright on "God and Government"

In a lecture to parliamentarians, political staff, theologians and others the bishop of Durham commented on the political development in England and went on to explore the role of religion in politics. N. T. Wright set out a theological overview of God and Government and said among other things that "The day the church bends to the whim or dictate of secular government or ideology is the day it ceases to be the church. That has happened before and we mustn’t let it happen again. ... The church’s claim must therefore always be a public claim, with public implications. ... The call to allow God back into the heart of government does not mean, then, that our politicians should imagine that a hot line to God will give them ‘correct’ answers on the urgent problems they face. It does mean that, whether the politicians are believers or not, the Christian church has a vocation to create a climate of opinion in which the cry of the poor can be heard more easily, the summons to peace will sound more sweetly than the trumpet of war, and the challenge to faithful marriage will be recognised as the way to personal and social maturity and stability." Read the lecture: Download.

Free acces to leading missiological magazine

"International Bulletin of Missionary Research", which is the leading missiological magazine in the world, has now made all articles in back issues and new issues avaiable on the internet - without any payment. Users only have to register to get access to this unique collection of missiological articles by leading scholars from all over the world. In the issue on "Syncretism"  from October 2010 you may for instance read and download the very important article by Jonas A. Jørgensen, "Jesus Imandars and Christ Bhaktas: Report from Two Field Studies of Interreligious Hermeneutics and Identity in Globalized Christianity". Read more.

Report on "Conflicts over Mosques in Europe"

Stefano Allievi, professor in sociology, a the University of Padova in Italy, has just published a report on "Conflicts over Mosques in Europe" i research project on "Religion and Democracy in Europe", in which he studies the way various European countries have handled the contentious issue of mosques. In his conclusion Allievi states that the conflicts about Islam reflects the profound changes taking place not only in but also of society. "The problem of islam ... is actually a problem of plurality and of pluralization as a process, which will have an impact on the very concept of the nation-state and its relationship with one ore more religions present withinits borders." This pluralization "has now reached a level that will produce a qualitative as well as quantitative change". Download report. Read more about religion in the public sphere here.