Berlinian Pluralism and Abrahamic Monotheism

This article examines the longstanding suspicion that value-pluralism is intrinsically incompatible with monotheistic commitment, an objection that threatens to undermine the resurgence of pluralist ideas in different denominational strands of contemporary Christian political theology. Since value-pluralism is often taken to be closely wedded to the logic of political liberalism, the charge of incompatibility carries a special force. For, taken together, the two claims imply that monotheistic commitment sits uneasily alongside political liberalism. Having set out the version of value-pluralism expounded in the thought of its most influential contemporary advocate, the article raises three objections to the doctrine. It then examines ways to refine it before concluding that there is no reason to suppose that, so refined, it is intrinsically incompatible with monotheistic commitment.     

A Popular Public Theology

Abstract

The article begins by exploring what is meant by a popular public theology drawing on the work of the missiologist Werner Ustorf. A popular public theology refers to the informal and unofficial theological speech of society, distinct from the more formal theology of the Church and academy. Such popular public theology is found in contemporary culture, albeit often in diffuse and incoherent form. It is then argued that a popular public theology has an inbuilt relevance to the concerns of society, avoids problems associated with public theologians needing to be fluent in more than one academic discourse, and is not in danger of being reliant on the social sciences. Finally, it is suggested that by discussing the implications of cultural theological statements, public theologians are able to contribute critically to social and political debates.     

Discovering the antipodes

Recent work on the past of Australia and New Zealand is surveyed in terms broadly relevant to the many evolving geographies of European settlement overseas since the eighteenth century. Although there was uncertainty about the future of historical geography in the antipodes during the late 1960s, a good deal has been accomplished in the last six years. Recent work has been strongly empirical as historical geographers, and others, have sought to understand the complexity of local development. In this process of discovery, there are immense possibilities for further work. New questions asked of new sources, incisive analyses and thoughtful syntheses will reveal much about the development of society and setting in these outposts of nineteenth-century European expansion.     

Historical archæology of Philadelphia

Historical Archaeology -