Jim Wallis,Faith Works: Lessons on Spirituality and Social Action

Abstract

This is a response to John Milbank that further unfolds our debate published as The Monstrosity of Christ edited by Creston Davis and published by MIT Press, 2009. My response to Milbank takes its point of departure from Pascal's wager.     

Doreen Finneron and Adam Dinham (eds.), Building on Faith: Faith Buildings in Neighbourhood Renewal

Abstract

This article responds to Adam Kotsko's counter-positioning of Thomist-Milbankian hierarchy on the one hand and Deleuzian-Surinian univocity on the other as competing visions for an ontologically grounded universal socialism. Pointing to Milbank's declaration that it would be "ridiculous" to debate Christianity's universality, Rubenstein raises suspicion about the ethical and political value of universality as such. Ultimately, she points to Jean-Luc Nancy's notion of "sharing" as a means of relating existents that neither reconsolidates a static hierarchy nor abolishes transcendence. Rather, sharing "shares beings out," clearing a space for genuine debate among those who are essentially different.     

The Euro: Faith Hope and Parity

The inauguration of the euro as the currency of the European Union is the most far‐reaching step so far taken in the long‐term movement for regional political and economic integration. The new money demonstrates that the initial customs union established by the Treaty of Rome has grown to such an extent that member states are willing to surrender control over their national central banks and currencies. Only three members of the EU have refused to join—Britain, Denmark and Sweden. Despite widespread scepticism, the euro so far has been a success. The new currency, while a dramatic innovation, is also congruent with financial dimensions that can be traced through the history of the European Community. The experience of inflation in the 1960s and 1970s was a powerful incentive to establish strong European central banking institutions. The euro is both derivative from and competitor with the US dollar, and American historical experience over the long term as well as foreign policies since the Second World War are germane to analysis. For Britain, remaining outside the euro zone so far has not brought negative consequences and may have been beneficial to the economy. For most member governments of the EU, the opportunity to pool resources through a regional currency understandably has been a persuasive incentive, especially given the enormous growth of private capital markets. The creation of the euro has been facilitated by the shifting nature of money. Currencies have changed from distinctive national components of the highly structured Bretton Woods system to relatively freely traded commodities, and the traditional distinctive characteristics of money have been blurred with the evolution of credit markets, financial instruments and technology. The fundamental test of the euro will occur when member states face differentiated political pressures to inflate economies in order to combat unemployment. To date, the European currency has been the latest confirmation of the insight of Jean Monnet and others to employ economic integration to reduce the likelihood of a resurgence of militarism and war.     

Practicing Faith in Public Life

Abstract

Miroslav Volf’s book, A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good, offers a valuable guide to how people of faith can engage in politics by calling on the best of their traditions, holding modest expectations, and remaining nonviolent. From the perspective of Catholic Social Teaching, Volf’s model can be viewed as appropriately, but cautiously hopeful. Yet, given contemporary suspicion of religion in politics, the challenges of acting prophetically in a pluralistic society, and the responsibility of Christians to “be the church,” it may be wise to begin with local actions rather than hoping to change the world by political means.     

胡杨 传说中的信仰

<正>胡杨,沙漠,荒原,孤烟,落日,黄羊。沧海桑田,当曾经的古海成为如今的西部荒原,苍凉成为主色调。尽管这是个传说——"生而一千年不死,死后一千年不倒,倒了一千年不朽"——但却让很多人坚信不疑。在一片茫茫中,能坚守住信仰的,才能成为英雄。1生活的神奇,在于多彩。蓝天白云、红叶褐干,远离霓虹和尘嚣,去荒原朝圣,不再膜拜铜臭,向荒原的守护者们深深鞠躬,心里的污浊一扫而空。2这胡杨,像极了中国的农民,在贫瘠中自得其乐,在匮乏中默默耕耘。如果你不接近他们,他们总是不起眼的,但靠近之后,你会惊叹他们的伟大!伊甸园的欢乐是无人能拒的。每个人有每个人的伊甸园,他们甘愿于此。     

罗马时代的信仰危机

异教时期的罗马国教具有公共性、反个人崇拜及相对宽容等特点。自从元首政治建立之后,随着东方思想的大量涌入,有关个人灵魂拯救的秘传崇拜开始打破公共崇拜对于信仰领域的垄断;皇帝崇拜日益冲击着城邦宗教中的共和与民主传统;与此同时,帝国政府对于异己思想表现得越来越不宽容。这种信仰危机随着3世纪社会总危机的爆发而日益加剧,其最直接的后果就是造成了普遍的道德危机。基督教的崛起有效地缓解了公共崇拜与私人信仰之间的张力,彻底瓦解了个人崇拜赖以存在的基础,并用一套全新的伦理原则重塑了社会的道德模式,因而最终结束了这场长达四百年之久的信仰危机。     

The Role of Faith in Historical Research

The implied strategy and the history projected in the new book of Jens Bruun Kofoed, Text and History, fails to measure up to the critical principles of both theology and science established by Thomas Acquinas' centuries' old distinction between faith and reason. An apologetic intention in Kofoed's book attempts to demonstrate that the biblical history of his evangelical faith is not unreasonable. Thomas Thompson, on the other hand, thinks it is necessary to hold the line between faith and science, which St. Thomas drew some seven centuries ago. What Kofoed argues in an effort to project a history of Israel, which would be an alternative to that of the “Copenhagen school” is not science. Nor are his rules of evidence those that the world of secular history requires. Led by an apologetic rhetoric and understanding of historical argument, Kofoed's revised Århus dissertation is dominated by a critique of the “Copenhagen school,” which attempts to show that an alternative answer is not impossible. Although emphasizing the historical methods of Thompson and Niels Peter Lemche in his critique, Kofoed neglects to include in his discussion their discussions of method or, in Lemche's case, anything he has written before 1991. His understanding of their dependency on the Annales school is clearly mistaken as is his understanding of the debates about the relationship between historicity, genre and composition. Finally, his discussion of the comparative method is misleading and ill informed.