Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Faith And Foreign Policy In India: Legal Ambiguity, Selective Xenophobia, And Anti-Minority Violence, Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

As a secular democracy, India’s constitution enshrines relatively robust safeguards for religious equality and freedom. Article 25 provides all citizens the right to “freely profess, practice, and propagate” religion, and avoids assigning to Hinduism any special role or explicit privilege (in contradistinction to the situation with Buddhism in Sri Lanka, for example). Moreover, the Indian government itself has not generally engaged in any systematic or flagrant way in the direct persecution or oppression of its religious minorities.

However, India’s religious minorities do face certain challenges. Among them are several legal and judicial issues. Judicial rulings in independent India have weakened …

"Introduction" To Theology And Science Fiction, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

What is the difference between a god and a powerful alien? Can an android have a soul, or be considered a person with rights? Can we imagine biblical stories being retold in the distant future on planets far from Earth? Whether your interest is in Christianity in the future, or the Jedi in the present--and whether your interest in the Jedi is focused on real-world adherents or the fictional religion depicted on the silver screen--this book will help you explore the intersection between theology and science fiction across a range of authors and stories, topics and questions.

Throughout this volume, …

Book Review: *Christians In South Indian Villages, 1959-2009,* By John B. Carman And Chilkuri Vasantha Rao, Chad Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

An unedited and pre-publication version of the published review.

Book Review: *Hindu-Catholic Encounters In Goa,* By Alexander Henn, Chad Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

No abstract provided.

The Violence Of Conversion: Proselytization And Interreligious Controversy In The Work Of Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Chad Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Critics of Christianity in India have frequently accused Christianity of being a predatory, imperialistic religion with absolutist tendencies, and have framed Christian evangelism as an aggressive, uncouth act. More recently, however, and in an idiom that resonates with many contemporary Indians, Swami Dayananda Saraswati (1930-) has made the more controversial claim that the attempt to convert another person is itself an act of violence. In three parts, the paper 1) describes Dayananda’s claims, while bringing them into conversation with the arguments of earlier critics of Christianity (e.g., Mahatma Gandhi, Sita Ram Goel, Ashok Chowgule, Arun Shourie), 2) analyzes and critique …

How Jesus Became God: One Scholar’S View, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. James McGrath's brief analysis of early Christology. Originally presented as a seminar paper at the University of Michigan, March 19, 2015.

Hobby Lobby’S ‘Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs’: The Problem Of Theological Terminology In American Politics And Jurisprudence, Brent Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Abstract of Brent Hege's conference paper presented at: Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Annual Meeting Albuquerque, NM, Feb. 2015.

Explicit And Implicit Religion In Doctor Who And Star Trek, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

It has often been proposed that the original series of Star Trek reflected a modern, enlightenment perspective on religion, and that subsequent spinoffs like Deep Space Nine moved in a more post-modern direction. Doctor Who, the longest running science fiction show, provides an interesting basis for comparison. Both television shows offer similar tropes, and in both instances, the rhetoric that claims to explain away religion in scientific terms ends up treating it as literally true. Both shows depict our universe as populated with “natural gods” which are sometimes explicitly identified with the gods and demons of ancient human religious literature.

Monotheism, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

James McGrath's contribution to the forthcoming edition, Vocabulary for the Study of Religion.

Forward To The Son Of God: Three Views Of The Identity Of Jesus, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

James McGrath's Forward to: The Son of God: Three Views of the Identity of Jesus, by Charles Lee Irons, Danny Andre Dixon, and Dustin R. Smith. Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2015.

Mythicism And The Making Of Mark, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Carrier’s approach allows him to say that every single thing he finds in the relevant sources is “exactly what we’d expect” if mythicism is true – “as symbolic myth, every oddity is explained, and indeed expected.” This is because “they made this up” is compatible with everything that any text says – especially if one excludes in advance the possibility of using traditional critical methods and criteria for determining that some details may reflect actual historical events.

Professor Mcgrath Offers A Scholarly Take On Religion And Doctor Who, Marc Allen, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Take TV viewers on trips through time and space for 50 years and you’re going to pick up some admirers—including some scholarly ones. That’s what’s happened with Doctor Who, the British series that is celebrating 50 years this month.Two of the show’s fans—Butler University Professor of Religion James McGrath and Andrew Crome, a lecturer in the history of modern Christianity at the University of Manchester (England)—have compiled a new book, Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith: Religion and Doctor Who, in which 19 scholars who also are Doctor Who fans weigh in on how the longest-running science fiction …

“Did Jesus Die In Outer Space? Evaluating A Key Claim In Richard Carrier’S On The Historicity Of Jesus, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The attempt to use later sources, interpreted in ways that are at best open to dispute, in an attempt to argue against what generations of skeptical scholars have concluded to be likely with respect to the early Christian sources, is never going to make mythicism seem more probable than the hard-earned and intensely-researched consensus of historians and scholars, namely that there was a historical Jesus of Nazareth.

Contesting Faith, Truth, And Religious Language At The Creation Museum: A Historical-Theological Reflection, Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, attempts to demonstrate the flaws in contemporary science and to offer an alternative explanation of human origins and biological complexity rooted in a specific reading of the biblical narrative. This effort, however, is paradoxically rooted in the worldview of modern science and the Enlightenment. This article will examine the Creation Museum’s definitions of faith, truth, and religious language and will compare these definitions to those of mainline Protestant Christianity to uncover the historical and theological presuppositions of Creationist and mainline Protestant engagements with contemporary science.

Woman At The Well, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. James McGrath's contribution to Bible Odyssey, a Society of Biblical Literature initiative.

Monotheism, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

James McGrath's contribution to: The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Ethics. , 2015. Print.

The Inter-Religious Riot As A Cultural System: Globalization, Geertz, And Hindu-Christian Conflict, Chad Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

An analysis of Hindu-Christian violence, through the lens of Clifford Geertz's "Religion as a Cultural System."

Jesus And The Money Changers (John 2:13-16), James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. James F. McGrath's Contribution to Bible Odyssey, a Society of Biblical Literature initiative.

Which John? The Elder, The Seer, And The Apostle, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. James McGrath's contribution to Bible Odyssey, a Society of Biblical Literature initiative.

Mythicism And The Mainstream: The Rhetoric And Realities Of Academic Freedom, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

But when it comes to the mythicism proffered by people whose knowledge of relevant languages, historical texts, ancient cultures, and other such data is minimal or non-existent, and whose works consist only of web pages and self-published books, scholars are under no obligation to waste their valuable time on such matters any more than on the countless other topics which web sites and self-published books address, and which a quick perusal shows to be bunk.

Introduction, Chad Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

An Introduction to the edited volume, Constructing Indian Christianities.

He Shall Be Called A Nazorean: Intertextuality Without An Intertext?, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Inexact quotations are a common phenomenon in Biblical intertextuality, and some suspected allusions are so fleeting and/or imprecise as to leave interpreters wondering whether an allusion was intended or not. But in at least one instance, Matthew 2:23, we have a reference to something unspecified prophets are supposed to have said, namely that “He shall be called a Nazorean,” which may not in fact have any intertext at all.

Hindu-Christian Conflict In India: Globalization, Conversion, And The Coterminal Castes And Tribes, Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

While Hindu-Muslim violence in India has received a great deal of scholarly attention, Hindu-Christian violence has not. This article seeks to contribute to the analysis of Hindu-Christian violence, and to elucidate the curious alliance, in that violence, of largely upper-caste, anti-minority Hindu nationalists with lower-status groups, by analyzing both with reference to the varied processes of globalization. The article begins with a short review of the history of anti-Christian rhetoric in India, and then discusses and critiques a number of inadequately unicausal explanations of communal violence before arguing, with reference to the work of Mark Taylor, that only theories linking …

Revisiting The Mandaeans And The New Testament, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The Mandaeans have been known to scholars for as long as there has been modern scholarship. Thanks to advances in technology, you can now find some of their ancient texts online, and videos of their baptismal rituals on YouTube. Yet as fascinating as the Mandaeans are, and as much as modern technologies can facilitate greater familiarity with them, the amount of attention that they receive is surprisingly sparse – although there are encouraging signs that that is at least beginning to change.

Review Of "Thinking Christ: Christology And Contemporary Critics", Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

A review of Thinking Christ: Christology and Contemporary Critics by Jane Barter Moulaison.

Theology, Politics, And Antimodernism In Nazi Germany: Problematizing Theological Rhetoric And Political Theology, Brent A. R. Hege

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

A review essay of:

Hitler’s Theology: A Study in Political Religion. By Rainer Bucher. Translated by Rebecca Pohl. Edited and with an introduction by Michael Hoelzl. London: Continuum, 2011. xx+140 pp. $120.00 Cloth, $34.95 Paper

Theological Tractates. By Erik Peterson. Edited, translated, and with an introduction by Michael J. Hollerich. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2011. xxx + 256 pp. $75.00 Cloth, $24.95 Paper

Review Of The Sacrifice Of Jesus: Understanding Atonement Biblically, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Article reviews the book "The Sacrifice of Jesus: Understanding Atonement Biblically," by Christian Eberhart.

Does The Divine Physician Have An Unfair Advantage? Healing And The Politics Of Conversion In Twentieth-Century India, Chad Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

An examination of the issue of medical allurement in historical/contemporary Indian Christianity.

Polemic, Redaction, And History In The Mandaean Book Of John: The Case Of The Lightworld Visitors To Jerusalem, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

It is unclear whether there is anything of historical usefulness that can be gleaned from the details of the depictions of figures such as John the Baptist, Miriai, and Jesus in the Mandaean Book of John. This does not mean, however, that the text cannot provide useful information about the history of the Mandaeans, and of their interactions with other religious communities. By analyzing the evidence for redaction in certain key sections, and by distinguishing between core elements and peripheral additions to the stories recorded in it, it is possible to draw conclusions about the tradition history of the material, …

Polemic, Redaction, And History In The Mandaean Book Of John: The Case Of The Lightworld Visitors To Jerusalem, James F. Mcgrath

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

It is unclear whether there is anything of historical usefulness that can be gleaned from the details of the depictions of figures such as John the Baptist, Miriai, and Jesus in the Mandaean Book of John. This does not mean, however, that the text cannot provide useful information about the history of the Mandaeans, and of their interactions with other religious communities. By analyzing the evidence for redaction in certain key sections, and by distinguishing between core elements and peripheral additions to the stories recorded in it, it is possible to draw conclusions about the tradition history of the material, …