Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

A Balancing Act: Reading 'Amoris Laetitia', Peter Steinfels, Paige E. Hochschild, William L. Portier, Sandra A. Yocum, Dennis O'Brien

William L. Portier

Five religious scholars provide commentary on Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Pope Francis's 2016 apostolic exhortation on love in the family.

A Modus Vivendi? Sex, Marriage & The Church, William L. Portier, Nancy Dallavalle, Christopher C. Roberts, Tina Beattie, R. R. Reno, Patricia Hampl, Luke Timothy Johnson, Leslie Woodcock Tentler, Paul Baumann

William L. Portier

During the 1960s, nearly 80 percent of adult Americans were married. A recent analysis of U.S. census data reported that only 52 percent of adult Americans were married in 2009. That is the lowest percentage reported in the 100 years the Census Bureau has collected such information. The reasons for this dramatic cultural shift are well known: high rates of divorce; changing attitudes toward premarital sex; social acceptability of cohabitation; the weakening of the stigma surrounding out-of-wedlock births and single parenting; the postponement of marriage and children for academic or professional reasons.

Among those with only a high-school education or …

Here Come The Nones! Pluralism And Evangelization After Denominationalism And Americanism, William L. Portier

William L. Portier

This essay begins with a four-part overview of American Catholic history focused on the building and dissolution of an immigrant Catholic subculture. The final period, “Catholics and the Dynamics of Pluralism (1968-present)” leads naturally into a discussion of the demography of Catholics in the United States. Particular attention is given to the trend to disaffiliation among millennials and how best to interpret it. Pastoral and theological reflections on the demography of disaffiliation emphasize the need for the church in the United States to take on an evangelical form more suited to a pluralism that is post-denominational and post-Americanist, and how …

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

James F. McGrath

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

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

James F. McGrath

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.

A Genealogy Of The Confession Of Faith In Mennonite Perspective, Susan L. Trollinger

Susan L. Trollinger

This essay offers a genealogy, in the Foucauldian sense, of the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective. Thus, it provides an account of the origins of the document and its uses over time with attention given to the politics of both. The essay argues that the Confession was critical for the merger of the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church especially as it took on the function of the "teaching position" of the church. By way of a case study, the essay explores recent uses to which the Confession has been put. The essay concludes by discussing …

What Is Religious Freedom?, Brent Hege

Brent A. R. Hege

Last year's passage of Indiana's Religious Freedom Act set off a storm of controversy about the nature of religious freedom and the status of LGBT rights in Indiana. In this presentation, Dr. Brent Hege from the Department of Philosophy, Religion, and Classics will discuss the meaning of religious freedom, offer some historical context for understanding the RFRA, and challenge the theological assumptions supporting this new law.

They Fell Silent When We Stopped Listening: Apophatic Theology And 'Asking The Beasts', Eric D. Meyer

Eric Meyer

The Catholic Enlightenment. The Forgotten History Of A Global Movement, Ulrich Lehner

Ulrich L. Lehner

No abstract provided.