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The Calling of the Church in Times of Polarization
Series: - Studies in Reformed Theology, Volume: 46
In many societies all over the world, an increasing polarization between contrasting groups can be observed. Polarization arises when a fear born of difference turns into ‘us-versus-them’ thinking and rules out any form of compromise. This volume addresses polarizations within societies as well as within churches, and asks the question: given these dynamics, what may be the calling of the church? The authors offer new approaches to polarizing debates on topics such as racism, social justice, sexuality and gender, euthanasia, and ecology and agriculture in various contexts. They engage in profound theological and ecclesiological reflection, in particular from the Reformed tradition.
Contributors to this volume are: Najib George Awad, Henk van den Belt, Nadine Bowers Du Toit, Jaeseung Cha, David Daniels, David Fergusson, Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Jozef Hehanussa, Allan Janssen, Klaas-Willem de Jong, Viktória Kóczián, Philipp Pattberg, Louise Prideaux, Emanuel Gerrit Singgih, Peter-Ben Smit, Thandi Soko-de Jong, Wim van Vlastuin, Jan Dirk Wassenaar, Elizabeth Welch, Annemarieke van der Woude, and Heleen Zorgdrager.
Contributors to this volume are: Najib George Awad, Henk van den Belt, Nadine Bowers Du Toit, Jaeseung Cha, David Daniels, David Fergusson, Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Jozef Hehanussa, Allan Janssen, Klaas-Willem de Jong, Viktória Kóczián, Philipp Pattberg, Louise Prideaux, Emanuel Gerrit Singgih, Peter-Ben Smit, Thandi Soko-de Jong, Wim van Vlastuin, Jan Dirk Wassenaar, Elizabeth Welch, Annemarieke van der Woude, and Heleen Zorgdrager.
Heleen E. Zorgdrager, Ph.D. (2003), is Professor of Systematic Theology and Gender Studies at Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam, and Visiting Professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv. She has published on sexuality, gender, and rethinking Protestant soteriology from the tradition of theosis.
Pieter H. Vos, Ph.D. (2002), is Professor of Military Chaplaincy Studies and associate professor of Ethics at Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam/Groningen. He is Director of the International Reformed Theological Institute. His publications include Longing for the Good Life: Virtue Ethics after Protestantism (2020).
Pieter H. Vos, Ph.D. (2002), is Professor of Military Chaplaincy Studies and associate professor of Ethics at Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam/Groningen. He is Director of the International Reformed Theological Institute. His publications include Longing for the Good Life: Virtue Ethics after Protestantism (2020).
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Pieter Vos
1 Can Conviviality Trump Polarization? Exploring the Notion of Conviviality as Calling of the Church in Times of Polarization
Nadine Bowers Du Toit
2 Re-forming the Conversation as a Response to Polarization: A Case Study Exploration of the Dallas Statement
Thandi Soko-de Jong
3 Retrieving the Concept of Unio Mystica cum Christo and Applying It to Concepts of Sexuality in a Pluralistic Postmodern Culture
Willem van Vlastuin
4 Theological Assessment of the Gender and Sexuality Debate in the Netherlands: The Case of the ‘Nashville Statement’
Heleen Zorgdrager
5 Passivity, Abuse, and Self-Sacrifice: Daoism and Feminist Christology
Jaeseung Cha
6 “Remove the Sandals from Your Feet”: Holiness in the Dutch Euthanasia Debate
Annemarieke van der Woude
7 Sowing Hope in a Polarized Agricultural Debate
Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Phillipp Pattberg and Peter-Ben Smit
8 Reformed Social Theology: Contexts and Constants
David Fergusson
9 Preclude to a “Post-xenophobic” Future: Interrogating the 1618 Baptism Debate at the Synod of Dort
David Douglas Daniels III
10 Protestant Schools and Hospitals in the Context of Religious Polarization in Yogyakarta
Jozef Mepibozef Nelsun Hehanussa
11 Election and Hope: Van Ruler and Dort
Allan J. Janssen
12 Polarization and the Pursuit of Unanimity in the Church: Ecclesiastical Decision-Making in the Dutch Reformed Tradition
Klaas-Willem de Jong and Jan Dirk Wassenaar
13 Fighting against Polarization: The Indonesian Communion of Churches, Religious Plurality and Sexual Orientations in Indonesia
Emanuel Gerrit Singgih
14 Developing Koinonia in an Age of Polarization The Significance of Ecumenical Dialogue, with Particular Reference to The International Reformed Anglican Dialogue (2015–2020)
Elizabeth Welch
15 No Calling without Being Called: The Vocatio Interna at the Heart of Sanctification
Henk van den Belt
16 ‘They Are in the World, But Not of the World’: Biblical and Contextual Reflections on Church, Alterity and Self-Otherizing
Najib George Awad
17 Theology of Migration in the Discourse of the World Council of Churches and the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary (2015–2019)
Viktória Kóczián
18 Against Polarization: Forming a Sense of ‘Otherness’ from a Conversation between Anthropology and Neo-calvinism
Louise Charlotte Prideaux
Epilogue
Heleen Zorgdrager
Index
Introduction
Pieter Vos
PART 1: Polarization in Church and Society
1 Can Conviviality Trump Polarization? Exploring the Notion of Conviviality as Calling of the Church in Times of Polarization
Nadine Bowers Du Toit
2 Re-forming the Conversation as a Response to Polarization: A Case Study Exploration of the Dallas Statement
Thandi Soko-de Jong
3 Retrieving the Concept of Unio Mystica cum Christo and Applying It to Concepts of Sexuality in a Pluralistic Postmodern Culture
Willem van Vlastuin
4 Theological Assessment of the Gender and Sexuality Debate in the Netherlands: The Case of the ‘Nashville Statement’
Heleen Zorgdrager
5 Passivity, Abuse, and Self-Sacrifice: Daoism and Feminist Christology
Jaeseung Cha
6 “Remove the Sandals from Your Feet”: Holiness in the Dutch Euthanasia Debate
Annemarieke van der Woude
7 Sowing Hope in a Polarized Agricultural Debate
Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Phillipp Pattberg and Peter-Ben Smit
PART 2: Polarization and the Reformed Tradition
8 Reformed Social Theology: Contexts and Constants
David Fergusson
9 Preclude to a “Post-xenophobic” Future: Interrogating the 1618 Baptism Debate at the Synod of Dort
David Douglas Daniels III
10 Protestant Schools and Hospitals in the Context of Religious Polarization in Yogyakarta
Jozef Mepibozef Nelsun Hehanussa
11 Election and Hope: Van Ruler and Dort
Allan J. Janssen
12 Polarization and the Pursuit of Unanimity in the Church: Ecclesiastical Decision-Making in the Dutch Reformed Tradition
Klaas-Willem de Jong and Jan Dirk Wassenaar
PART 3: The Calling of the Church
13 Fighting against Polarization: The Indonesian Communion of Churches, Religious Plurality and Sexual Orientations in Indonesia
Emanuel Gerrit Singgih
14 Developing Koinonia in an Age of Polarization The Significance of Ecumenical Dialogue, with Particular Reference to The International Reformed Anglican Dialogue (2015–2020)
Elizabeth Welch
15 No Calling without Being Called: The Vocatio Interna at the Heart of Sanctification
Henk van den Belt
16 ‘They Are in the World, But Not of the World’: Biblical and Contextual Reflections on Church, Alterity and Self-Otherizing
Najib George Awad
17 Theology of Migration in the Discourse of the World Council of Churches and the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary (2015–2019)
Viktória Kóczián
18 Against Polarization: Forming a Sense of ‘Otherness’ from a Conversation between Anthropology and Neo-calvinism
Louise Charlotte Prideaux
Epilogue
Heleen Zorgdrager
Index
All interested in the relationship between social and political realities of polarization and the role and mission of the church from Reformed theological perspective.