Tag: Theology and Culture

2020 Missiology Lectures at Fuller Seminary – Migration, Transnationalism, and Faith in Missiological Perspective: Los Angeles as a Global Crossroads

MISSIOLOGY LECTURES 2020

Los Angeles has long been a global crossroad of communities migrating in and out. The Missiology Lectures 2020 will explore this case study of migration, transnationalism, and interfaith engagement through keynote presentations, breakout conversations, and panel discussions over five days.

Event registrants will have access to curated content that will be released each morning, as well as the opportunity to participate in live sessions throughout the day.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS:

Dr. Kirsteen Kim, professor of theology and world Christianity and associate dean for the Center for Missiological Research, School of Intercultural Studies

Dr. Alexia Salvatierra, assistant professor of integral mission and global transformation, School of Intercultural Studies

Dr. Amos Yong, Dean, School of Intercultural Studies and School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary

FULLER studio is pleased to offer a selection of the recordings to be released in the months following the event. To stay updated on this content, sign up for the FULLER studio semimonthly email.

 

SPEAKERS AND ABSTRACTS

Campese, GioacchinoGioacchino Campese

Professor of the Theology of Human Mobility at Pontifical Urbaniana University, Italy

“Catholicity: Migration, Religion, and World Christianity”

Abstract: Migrants and refugees have been since the beginning among the main protagonists of the Christian mission and, as such, the subjects of World Christianity who have carried the faith through their cultural traditions to the ends of the earth. At the same time, with their courage, resiliency, and hope they also represent the pioneers and spokespersons of the Christian pilgrimage toward catholicity––the wholeness, fullness, inclusivity that characterizes God’s reign ––in a globalized world in which conflicts and divisions are politically and religiously motivated. It will be argued that two key concepts and practices that advance the eschatological event of catholicity are synodality and the “culture of encounter” (Pope Francis), which, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, must become two distinctive and essential elements of the mission of World Christianity in the “age of migration”.

Respondent: Dr. Cecil M. Robeck Jr., Senior Professor of Church History and Ecumenics and Special Assistant to the President for Ecumenical Relations

Dochuk, DarrenDarren Dochuk

Associate Professor of History at University of Notre Dame

“Mission: Protestant Migration and the (Re-)Evangelization of California”

Abstract: “Restless tides of humanity” had long made their way to California, with plans for redemption in tow. So noted a Southern Baptist editor when marveling at his denomination’s move into the Golden State “bringing the glad news of salvation and saying to the thousands of lost people, ‘California, here we come.’” Uttered in 1946, amid the state’s postwar boom, these are sentiments that countless Protestants have exclaimed and embraced when first encountering California and its epicenter of cultural transformation, Los Angeles. This presentation will provide a historical overview of Protestant migration in (and out of) Los Angeles from World War II to the present. While observing general patterns of movement and institutional change within Los Angeles’s sprawling Protestant community, it will pay close attention to the ways that migration has made the city a site of particularly intense and innovative evangelization, a crucible of religious transformation on a national scale, and a gateway for global Christianity.

Respondent: Dr. Robert Chao Romero, Associate Professor, César E. Chávez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, UCLA

Flory, RichardRichard Flory

Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC

“Los Angeles: Crossroads for Migrating Faith Communities”

Abstract: Los Angeles has long attracted migrants—both from different parts of the US and from other countries—who are seeking new opportunities in life. As such, the single dominant reality of the region is its diversity; there is no single ethnic group, way of life, or industrial sector that dominates the scene. This applies to the LA religion as well. Los Angeles is the most religiously diverse city in the world, as religion has been transported to the city along with those seeking that new start in life. What is it about Los Angeles that attracts and even encourages such a broad range of people and their many different religious expressions? What happens to these religions as they experience and interact with the culture and diversity of Los Angeles? And, how do they maintain their vitality as they face myriad alternative and competing religious groups and the secular pursuits that the region offers?

Respondent: Dr. Alexia Salvatierra, Assistant Professor of Integral Mission and Global Transformation, School of Intercultural Studies

Kassam, ZaynZayn Kassam

John Knox MacLean Professor of Religious Studies at Pomona College

“Faith Resources: Muslim Migration to Los Angeles”

Abstract: In the past few decades, Muslim migration to the Greater Los Angeles area has coalesced into building strong civic and religious institutions that have positioned Muslims to strengthen both their own communities and build interfaith connections. The tragic events of 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror have led to increased surveillance and violence against Muslims/misidentified Muslims both domestically and abroad. In addition to ongoing deportations, since the inception of the Trump administration the acceptance rates for Muslim refugees and migrants has diminished under the guise of national security. The larger culture of Islamophobia and population racism have brought significant challenges to Muslim communities and individuals, while the work of Muslim faith-based and civic organizations and their interfaith connections in resettling refugees shows a remarkable degree of commitment to their values.

Respondent: Dr. Matthew Kaemingk, Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Associate Dean for Fuller Texas

Kim, Rebecca Rebecca Y. Kim

Frank R. Seaver Chair of Social Science, Professor of Sociology, and the Director of the Ethnic Studies program at Pepperdine University

“Inclusion-Exclusion: Asian Migration and ‘Christian’ California”

Abstract: This paper examines how Asian immigrants and their descendants are making their own mark in and outside of the Californian “Christian” landscape despite their history of exclusion in US society. I first discuss the various cultural and structural barriers that Asian immigrants encountered in their efforts to become part of the United States, particularly in California. I then explore how Asian Americans are reshaping and revitalizing the Californian “Christian” landscape through their churches, campus ministries, and missions organizations, and how they are constructing their distinctive faith, theology, and religious practice. I also explain how Asian American Christians hold the keys to a more united multiracial future in California and beyond. I do this by incorporating past and present social scientific research on Asian American Christians, including my own, and drawing from in-depth interview data from the Religious Leadership and Diversity Project (2014–2016).

Respondent: Dr. Daniel D. Lee, Assistant Provost for the Center For Asian American Theology and Ministry and Assistant Professor of Theology and Asian American Ministry

Rodriguez, DanielDaniel Rodríguez

Divisional Dean of the Religion and Philosophy Division and Professor of Religion and Hispanic Studies at Pepperdine University

“Transnationalism: Latino/a Faith Connections with Latin America”

Abstract: This paper contributes to a growing body of literature in the relatively new field of “diaspora missiology,” defined by The Seoul Declaration on Diaspora Missiology as “a missiological framework for understanding and participating in God’s redemptive mission among people living outside their place of origin” (2009). More specifically, this paper advances the diaspora mission discourse in North America by drawing attention to the evangelistic opportunities and theological challenges presented by the Hispanic evangelical church in the United States. Missiological insights from the Latin American diaspora, as well as the early church, suggest that an important step for leaders in the worldwide mission of God is to embrace and actively promote our identity as “a colony of resident aliens” living in modern-day Babylon. The rise of nationalistic, xenophobic, and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies in the United States underscore the importance of this paper for God’s missionary people in 2020.

Respondent: Dr. Lisseth Rojas-Flores, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology

Sanchez, LeopoldoLeopoldo A. Sánchez M.

Werner R. H. and Elizabeth R. Krause Professor of Hispanic Ministries at Concordia Seminary

“Theological Approaches to Migration: Their Impact on Missional Thinking and Action”

Abstract: Theological approaches to migration can take as their starting point hospitality to migrants, law and reform considerations, models on the role of the church in society, and the notion of special relations. What are the potential strengths of each of these approaches to migration for dealing with a complex issue? We argue that a multidimensional theology of migration, which accounts for a diversity of perspectives and concerns, has the potential to promote fruitful missional thinking and action.

Respondent: Dr. Carly L. Crouch, David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament

Sexton, Jason_Jason Sexton

Visiting Research Scholar at the California Center for Sustainable Communities in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA

“Borders: Citizenship in California”

Abstract: As California’s cultural epicenter, LA stands at a crossroads: 100+ languages spoken in public schools; the world’s second largest Mexican city; enormous populations of citizens of countries around the world. Like California, LA has projected its image to the world as a place belonging. Yet amid a growing presence of global citizens, this has not always translated to full citizenship. With perpetual amnesia amid the cultural production, especially forgetting injustices done to minorities and Native Californians, California’s residents face difficult positions. Throughout a history of inclusion and exclusion, new ways of coexisting have marked California’s approaches. This was often fueled by California churches’ inchoate understandings of kingdom or heavenly citizenship, which rather than enabling faithful discipleship often disabled more responsible approaches that could have better sought the good of California and its many residents who seek to experience the better lives of the California dream.

Respondent: Dr. Andrea Smith, Professor of Ethnic Studies, UC Riverside

Theology & Pop Culture Series CPF: Theology & H.P. Lovecraft

Click here for this CFP: Call for Papers: Theology and H.P. Lovecraft
(For more on the larger “Theology & Popular Culture” series by Lexington Books / Fortress Academic, click here.)

Cosmic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft is the paragon of atheistic nihilism in fiction. For many, Lovecraft is diametrically opposed to everything most fundamental to Christianity, and the only way we might fruitfully engage with Lovecraft’s thought would be to categorically reject it. What hath Arkham to do with Jerusalem? But this volume will explore Lovecraft’s fiction and philosophy from the perspective of Christian faith, exploring ways in which Lovecraft’s extreme positions can helpfully illuminate the distinctives of Christian theology, through both agreement and disagreement. Even if Lovecraft’s sombre vision of the universe cannot be aligned with Christianity, Christian scholars may still value his contributions as those of a Hume or a Nietzsche–a respectable opponent who can sharpen thought and cast new light upon doctrine by way of polemical debate. And if, as is possible, Lovecraft represents a uniquely American, 20th-Century perspective on life and society, then it is even more incumbent upon theologians to attend to him.

The overarching task of the volume will be to show how Lovecraft can sharpen theological discourse, and to explain what so many theologians find appealing in Lovecraft’s corpus. The editor is looking for chapter contributions that deal directly with Lovecraft and the themes he broaches in some specific and circumscribed way. General or diffuse proposals will not be considered. The theological element need not be Christian, but the majority of the chapters will approach the subject from this angle. This is a scholarly project and all writers are expected to engage with the secondary literature as well as the primary texts.

 Possible topics include:

  • Lovecraft and Apologetics
  • Lovecraft’s Anti-theological Aesthetics and the Argument from Ugliness
  • Lovecraft, Nietzsche, the New Science, and the Death of God
  • Lovecraft and the Bible
  • Lovecraft and a Theology of Race
  • Depictions of Cult and cultus
  • Lovecraft and the Transcendentals
  • Lovecraft’s Appropriation of the ANE
  • Lovecraft and Theological Anthropology–The Value of the Human Person
  • August Derleth and the Christian Reinvention of the Cthulhu Mythos
  • Lovecraft and the Puritans

Please send a 1-2 page chapter proposal and CV to theologyandlovecraft@gmail.com.
Proposals will be evaluated and approved beginning March 1, 2020.

If your chapter is selected, be prepared to submit your draft by September 1, 2020. Chapters should be approximately 20 pages (5-6,000 words).

Call for Papers: Theology and Tolkien

No proper list of the greatest works of English literature in the twentieth century can exclude the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. His works are not only much-read and beloved, but also Hollywoodized (Peter Jackson), and have launched (or, perhaps, re-envisioned) an entire genre of fiction. As a result, they have made an indelible impression on popular culture, even more so after the release of Jackson’s films.

It is not surprising that Tolkien’s works are ever so subtly deeply theological. Though Tolkien (perhaps wisely) eschewed the outright Christian allegory of his friend-in-writing, C. S. Lewis, there is no doubt from the close reading of his works (as well as a consideration of his personal correspondence) that Tolkien’s world is deeply indebted to Christian theology—even if we may suggest that his work is the ‘Esther’ of the Inklings. Media derivatives, while hewing close to the source material, also put a unique spin on the works’ theology, even as it moves from books to movies to pop culture.

We invite submissions for a peer-reviewed volume on Theology and Tolkien for the Theology and Popular Culture series published by Lexington Books / Fortress Academic. The volume editor is Douglas Estes (associate professor, South University).

The primary objective of this book will be to investigate theological themes in Tolkien’s works—broadly defined—with an eye to pop culture. To help the reader understand the purpose of this book, the essays within will not interact with Tolkien the individual, or his historical background, only his narrative works and their derivatives. Essays will sit at an intersection of theology, culture, and narrative/film.

Essays should focus on the theology of works set within the Tolkien universe in any media, including but not limited to the literary works, the movies, the video games, and the artwork.

 

Although many of the projected essays will likely consider the primary works, we are especially keen to ensure at least a third of the essays consider theological aspects in Peter Jackson’s film trilogies; further, to have a few essays that use other starting points such as the legendarium, the art of Alan Lee or John Howe (or other), the languages or the culture, the video games, or other, for theological investigation.

Current contributors include Philip Ryken (author of The Messiah Comes to Middle-Earth), Alison Milbank (author of Chesterton and Tolkien as Theologians), and Lisa Coutras (author of Tolkien’s Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-earth).

Possible topics could include:

  • Theology proper / the creation story in The Silmarillion
  • Eudaimonia and the Hobbit life
  • Just war/pacifism in LOTR/Hobbit/movies/legendarium
  • Theological anthropology of various races
  • Theology of friendship between humans, dwarves, elves/Samwise, Frodo
  • Divination and palantíri
  • Theological implications of Tolkien languages (Sindarin or the Black Speech)
  • The absence of God
  • Satanology and Morgoth (or Sauron)
  • Theology of hope in LOTR/legendarium
  • Angelology and the Maiar (Istari and/or Balrogs)
  • Original sin and Orc / Elf history
  • Light and hope in the art of Alan Lee
  • Sin/corruption and the rings of power/Nazgûl
  • Eternal life, the Grey Havens, and the extended narrative closure of Jackson’s ROTK
  • Justice, human economy in Jackson’s TDOS
  • Ecotheology and Ents
  • Two Towers and Augustine
  • Theological imagination
  • Theological appropriation of paganism
  • Theological theme in any work

(These are merely ideas to spur thinking, great ideas beyond these are encouraged.)

The target audience for this book is scholars of religion, theology, and literature, though given the topic essays are to be written in a manner accessible to the average educated reader and jargon-free. Prospective contributors should submit abstracts of 300-700 words and full CVs to theologyandtolkien@gmail.com by May 15, 2020. Contributors should expect to deliver full chapters of 5000–6000 words by May 15, 2021, with editorial revisions due by Aug 15, 2021.

About the Editor:

Douglas Estes (PhD, University of Nottingham) is associate professor of New Testament and practical theology at South University. Douglas has written or edited nine books; his most recent books are a Greek grammar resource, Questions and Rhetoric in the Greek New Testament (Zondervan, 2017), and an edited volume (with Ruth Sheridan) on narrative dynamics in John’s Gospel, How John Works: Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel (SBL Press, 2016). He is the editor of Didaktikos: Journal of Theological Education (Lexham Press) and a regular contributor to Christianity Today.

For more information see: Pop Culture and Theology.

CFP: Theology and Spider-Man, Lexington Books/Fortress Academic (Proposal Due November 30, 2019)

Call for Papers: Theology and Spider-Man
Volume Editor: George Tsakiridis, PhD
Abstract and CV Due: November 30, 2019
Final Paper Due: May 1, 2020

He’s the classic superhero of the Marvel age: Spider-Man. Marvel comics wouldn’t be the titan of content it is without him. He’s been portrayed in multiple comic books, television series, and movies. His marketing is ubiquitous. There are few superheroes of the last fifty years that match his prominence. Spider-Man is a perfect match for the Theology and Pop Culture series.

Spider-Man has always been a fun superhero. He exemplifies youthful innocence combined with deep love and loss. This volume will explore themes of identity, happiness, and relationship, as well as look at bioethical issues. After all Peter Parker is a scientist at heart, and bioethics and science are interwoven into the narrative and the villains in ways far greater than other superheroes of his prominence. Salvation and anthropology will be central also, as most all superhero explorations are. The nuance and flavor changes, but the key themes remain the same. In complement to a themed volume, I encourage essays that look at individual presentations of Spider-Man and the theology contained therein. For example, looking at the theology of the multiple cartoon series, the comic books, and many multiple series of movies.

Some potential topics will include:

-Bioethics in Spider-Man (I can foresee more than one entry on this topic given the fact that science and experiments are such a central part of the series, i.e. Lizard, Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man, etc.).

-Harmatiology/Soteriology in Spider-Man

-Theological Anthropology in the Villains of Spider-Man (and Spidey himself!)

-Identity as a Theological Construct in the Various Incarnations of Spider-Man

-Theology and Religious Themes in the 1967 Cartoon Series

-Theology and Religious Themes in Television and Movies

-An Iconography of Spider-Man: Toys and Marketing

-The Icon of Spider-Man: Differing Portrayals by Different Artists – The Visual Theology of Steve Ditko to Todd McFarlane and Beyond

-Feminist Theology and the Women of Spider-Man: Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, and The Black Cat (to name a few)

-J. Jonah Jameson: An Examination in (not so much) Care for the Other

-Applying Theological Categories to Spidey in Video Games.

-Spidey in Two-Natures: The Symbiosis of the Black Suit and Peter Parker (and Venom)

Other topics, theses, and overall great essay ideas are welcome, but the predominate focus should be on the portrayals of Spider-Man in various media forms and the theological categories that transcend those forms.

Abstracts should be between 500 and 750 words and should present a basic outline of your potential contribution to the volume and potential methodology. If you make the initial cut, you will be contacted by Dr. Tsakiridis to discuss and finalize your contribution to the volume. Send an abstract and a CV to theologyandspiderman@gmail.com. Final drafts will be approximately 5,000 to 8,000 words, but exact word counts for each article will be discussed at the time of acceptance.

Contact Info:
Dr. George Tsakiridis
South Dakota State University

 

For the Full announcement see: https://popularcultureandtheology.com/2019/09/06/call-for-papers-theology-and-spider-man/