Read more
Zusatztext In a context where the practices of the Church have become a central concern! Jan-Olav Henriksen offers a nuanced and provocative contribution from the Philosophy of Religion of this fast developing field. This book will be an enduring resource and dialogue partner for all of those who are setting out on the complicated enterprise of using theological ethnography as a means to study the lived practices of the Christian community. Informationen zum Autor Jan-Olav Henriksen is Professor of Philosophy of Religion in MF Norwegian School of Theology, Norway. Zusammenfassung Jan-Olav Henriksen reconstructs and analyzes Christianity as a cluster of practices that manifest a distinct historically and contextually shaped mode of being in the world. Henriksen suggests that these practices imply a complicated relationship between the tradition in which they originate, the community that emerges from and is constituted by that tradition, and the individuals who appropriate the tradition that these communities mediate through their practices. Thus, to think of Christianity simply in terms of belief is misleading and represents an underdetermination of its distinct character. Henriksen further argues this relationship needs to be described primarily as practices aimed at orientation and transformation. His analysis points to Christianity’s similarity to other religions in regard to the functional or pragmatic dimensions it displays. Examining facets such as prayer, the use of scripture, preaching and doctrine, Henriksen emphasizes that the element that makes a practice distinctively Christian is how it relates to and is informed by the Jesus story. Inhaltsverzeichnis AcknowledgmentsINTRODUCTIONPart I THEORY FOR UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIANITY AS PRACTICE1. RELIGION AS ORIENTATION, TRANSFORMATION, AND LEGITIMIZATION OF HUMAN PRACTICES IN EVERYDAY LIFE2. LIVED RELIGION INSTEAD OF RELIGION AS BELIEF3. PRACTICES OF ORIENTATION AND TRANSFORMATION ARE SOCIAL PRACTICES4. HOW FOCUS ON PRACTICES MAY RESHAPE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION5. TO ACCESS THE WORLD AS WORLD: SEMIOSIS6. RITUAL PRACTICES AS COGNITIVE PROSTHETICS7. IN CONCLUSION Part II CHRISTIANITY RECONSTRUCTED: CLUSTERS OF PRACTICES SHAPED BY A STORY8. (HI-)STORY AS RESOURCE FOR ORIENTATION AND TRANSFORMATION 9. THE CONTENT OF THE STORY: WHAT JESUS PRACTICED AS THE BASIS FOR (ECCLESIOLOGICAL) PRACTICE10. A MORAL COMMUNITY THAT STEWARDS THE ABUNDANT GIFTS OF GOD 11. PRAYER AS MEANS OF TRANSFORMATION AND ORIENTATION: THE EXAMPLE OF THE LORD’S PRAYER 12. A REINTERPRETATION OF THE SCRIPTURES AND THE CONCRETE USE OF SCRIPTURE IN THE CHURCH 13. PREACHING AS A CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE: BETWEEN COMMUNICATIVE AND STRATEGIC ACTION 14. COMMEMORATION OF JESUS’S PRACTICES: OPENNESS TOWARD BOTH PAST AND FUTURE 15. PUZZLES FOR ORIENTATION: SUFFERING, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION 16. A THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSION: HOW TO PRACTICE “GOD”? 17. IS CHRISTIANITY A RELIGION? ARE BELIEF AND DOCTRINE OPPOSED TO PRACTICE? 18. CONCLUSION Bibliography Index...
