One of the strongest heritages of the Reformation for Christianity was to return to the central role given to the Bible, translated in local dialects. Christianity expanded thanks to the translation of the Bible in vernacular languages worldwide. Most importantly, the people who had been victims of prejudices of race supremacy could now have access to God in their own language, culture, and idioms without intermediaries. It is largely thanks to Bible translations that the majority of those churches in Africa, born of European mission activities, continued to develop positively after the end of the colonial age, and that independent African churches emerged. (Series: Theology in the Public Square / Theologie in der Ã?Â?ffentlichkeit, Vol. 10) [Subject: African Studies, Christian Studies]

Thomas C. Oden surveys the decisive role of African Christians and theologians in shaping the doctrines and practices of the church of the first five centuries, and makes an impassioned plea for the rediscovery of that heritage. Christians throughout the world will benefit from this reclaiming of an important heritage.

This volume is the documentation of a workshop at the "Dietrich Bonhoeffer Centre for Public Theology" in Kigali, that took place in February 2018 and discussed what can be gained from Bonhoeffer's theology for contextual theologies in Africa as well as in Europe. The core feature of the workshop in February 2018 was a competition in which students from Butare/Huye presented the findings of their examination of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life and work. The prize-winning contributions are documented in this volume. Papers from the European perspective were contributed by doctoral candidates and students of the Ruhr University Bochum, and the chairing and commentary of the event was shared amongst Dr Clemens Wustmans (Berlin), Dr Christine Schliesser (Bern), the President of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda, Dr Pascal Bataringaya (Kigali), the Dean of the Theological Faculty of the Protestant Institut of Arts and Social Sciences, Olivier Munyansanga, Ph.D. (Huye/Rwanda), and Prof. Dr Traugott Jähnichen (Bochum).

In this volume, on the basis of three consultations which took place in Seoul and Geneva (2016, 2017, 2018), theologians from Yonsei University's College of Theology in Seoul, South Korea, and from the Theological Faculty at the University of Geneva reflect together on three of the main challenges facing Christian theology today. First, questions related to religious pluralism and multiple religious belonging are addressed. Second, the `promise' of an enhanced human being through technology and other means is discussed. Third, the reality of the threat humanity represents to our ecosystem is considered. Each of these themes is examined from a Korean as well as from a Western European perspective, for Christian theology, in our day, can no longer afford to remain limited to its own geographical context.

The 500th anniversary of Luther's 95 theses in 2017 was the first such commemoration in which the global dimensions of the reformation were highlighted. This volume - the outcome of a conference held at the Fachhochschule fur Interkulturelle Theologie Hermannsburg in June 2016 - reflects theological, political and social interactions between Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe and explores new ways in which Reformation and World Christianity can be connected. It also analyzes negotiation processes in selected countries, focussing especially on the role of churches in social development, transformation processes and international discourses.

Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity constitutes an exceptional religious tradition flourishing in sub-Saharan Africa already since late antiquity. The volume places Ethiopian Orthodoxy into a global context and explores the various ways in which it has been interconnected with the wider Christian world from the Aksumite period until today. By highlighting the formative role of both wide-ranging translocal religious interactions as well as disruptions thereof, the contributors challenge the perception of this African Christian tradition as being largely isolated in the course of its history. Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in a Global Context: Entanglements and Disconnections offers a new perspective on the Horn of Africa’s Christian past and reclaims its place on the map of global Christianity.

What has been the role and understanding of religion in the last hundred years, and what can be the meaning of religion today? There is a well-known ongoing process of secularization in the Western world. Is there also a return of religion? And what does the fate of religion mean for an understanding of the Christian faith? These are topics of this book. The articles originate from the actual fields of research of an interdisciplinary group of scholars, who took part in a symposium held in Bergen Nov. 2019. The contributions relate to specific contexts in the modern history of religion from the perspective of religious studies, theology, philosophy and sociology.