International and Area Studies Commons^™

Serbian Orthodoxy Between Two Worlds, Marko P. Djurić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Orthodoxy has, by the Providence of God, been placed between Western Christianity, and Sunni Islam. Church nationalism (phyletism) has always been present in political and linguistic nationalism in the former Yugoslavia. The relationship between Serbian Orthodoxy, with Islam and Western Christianity is not satisfactory. In order to become satisfactory, it would be important for the Orthodox Church to create a new theology which would, primarily, be a theological (Orthodox) response to the signs of the times. However, this has not become the reality as of yet.

Book Review: God, Hierarchy, And Power: Orthodox Theologies Of Authority From Byzantium., James R. Payton

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Ashley M. Purpura, God, Hierarchy, and Power: Orthodox Theologies of Authority from Byzantium. New York: Fordham University Press, 2018. 226 pages. $65.00 (hardcover). ISBN: 978-0-8232-7837-4.

This book is a reworking of the author’s 2014 doctoral dissertation on the history of Christianity at Fordham University. It deals with intriguing questions about hierarchy as a theological ideal in Orthodoxy and the ways that ideal was understood and interpreted by leading figures during the Byzantine era, as they dealt with problems and failures in the way hierarchy actually functioned. The author draws attention to problems she perceives in the way hierarchy has been …

Protestants And The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: In Search Of Inclusive Solutions, Mykhailo Cherenkov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Post-Soviet Protestants, having gotten used to living in coexistence with an atheistic society over the course of 70 years, have discovered something new in the years since Ukraine gained independence—Orthodox tradition. It did not happen at once, but the first attempts have been made at reclassifying the relationship between Protestants and Orthodox as other, not foreign. However, the Orthodox other is not the only other. In dialogue with the official Orthodox Church, it is easy to lose sight of the diversity within Orthodoxy (Orthodox churches are “other” to each other), and also the coexistence in the same cultural arena of …

Two Types Of Crisis In Central And Eastern Europe, András Máté-Tóth

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In contemporary public discourses, the term “crisis” is often used. Anything and everything might be named or categorized as a crisis. Thus, the term seemingly becomes devalued. I, however, argue that after some differentiation, it is possible to speak about crisis in regards to our societies in Central and Eastern Europe.

In social theory, the term "crisis" is currently used not primarily to describe one particular societal phenomenon, but rather the entire area of today’s society and culture. Crisis, for social theorists, seems to be the fundamental phenomenon which serves as a main theoretical framework to understand the contemporary societal …

Waiting On The White Smoke: The Russian Evangelical Alliance's 15th Annual Convention In Moscow, William Yoder

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Moscow — It took a while for the white smoke to climb up the chimney. That’s the Roman Catholic metaphor the 66-year-old Alexander Fedichkin, the Russian Evangelical Alliance’s president, used to describe the protracted internal negotiations leading up to his appointment for an additional three-year term. Consequently, the REA’s fifteenth annual conference, held on February 22, 2018, in Moscow’s Lutheran Peter-and-Paul-Cathedral, began late.

Fedichkin, a long-time Baptist Union pastor in Moscow, has served as president since 2013. General-Secretary Sergey Vdovin, a pastor within the “Association of Churches of Evangelical Christians” in Moscow, has held this position since 2011. The initial …

Frontmatter (Volume 38, Issue 2), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Interdisciplinary Team-Based Pastoral Care Model For Estonian Healthcare Institutions: The Professionals' Insight And The Model Adjustments, Liidia Meel

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The current article addresses the application potential of an interdisciplinary team- based pastoral care model in Estonian healthcare institutions. To support the inclusion of pastoral care in Estonian healthcare institutions, the initial model of interdisciplinary team-based pastoral care was created as a theoretical construction. The current article deals with the model applicability and aims to adjust the model to be adaptable to different healthcare institutions in Estonia. To inform the model adjustments, a qualitative research was conducted in three Estonian hospitals that have included pastoral care provision in different organizational forms. The expert sample consists of pastoral caregivers of these …

The Mountain Stands: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Zulu Christians' Approaches To Spiritual Health, Makayla Lagerman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Spiritual health is a vital component of individual wellness that can be described in many ways; most commonly, it is thought of as the connectivity of the inner spirit to others, the world, transcendental beings, and more. From personal experience, I know that the state of my spiritual wellbeing can greatly impact my physical and mental health. For this reason, actively considered how to think about spiritual health for one of the first times in my life.

This project sought to explore Zulu Christians’ approaches to spiritual health in concurrence with my own. This was done by interviewing one Swazi …

Methodism In Macedonia Between The Two World Wars, Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

After World War I ended, the part of Macedonia commonly called Vardar Macedonia was incorporated into the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (subsequently renamed Yugoslavia). It was officially proclaimed to be a part of Serbia as the Serbian government did not recognize a separate Macedonian nationality. Some 10 stations of the American Board, including the Bitola Girls' School, were in this area. The American Board attempted to maintain a semblance of unity in the Balkan Mission, but Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia were on such unfriendly terms that this was not feasible. For a while the American Board was …

Frontmatter (Volume 38, Issue 1), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Religion, Media, And Marginality In Modern Africa, Felicitas Becker, Joel Cabrita, Marie Rodet

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

In recent years, anthropologists, historians, and others have been drawn to study the profuse and creative usages of digital media by religious movements. At the same time, scholars of Christian Africa have long been concerned with the history of textual culture, the politics of Bible translation, and the status of the vernacular in Christianity. Students of Islam in Africa have similarly examined politics of knowledge, the transmission of learning in written form, and the influence of new media. Until now, however, these arenas—Christianity and Islam, digital media and “old” media—have been studied separately.

Religion, Media, and Marginality in Modern Africa …

Orthodoxy And Protestantism Through The Centuries, Gjoko Gjorgjevski

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The aim of this paper is to describe the history and actual relations between the Orthodox East and the Protestant West. This paper will both examine and show the beginning, the continuation and the present situation of the Protestant-Orthodox dialog, communication, influences, convergences and differences, as well as the disputes and attempts to overcome disagreements. It will give an overview of the most important dialogues and scholarly exchanges over the centuries.

The Theological And Geographical Origins Of Protestantism In Albania, David Hosaflook

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Albanian Protestant Movement has both a theological and a geographical origin. Theologically, the movement could only begin after parts of the Bible were translated into Albanian, because the Protestant doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” demands that believers understand the Holy Scriptures. Therefore, in Protestant missions to the Ottoman Empire, Bible translators usually preceded evangelists and the founding of churches. In 1827, the publication of the first Albanian New Testament was a significant achievement, but it was practically useless to most Albanians, who were illiterate (especially in their mother tongue). Hence, the Protestant missionary endeavor included linguistic and educational efforts to …

Announcement Of Changes, Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Ever since this publication transitioned from printed to electronic copies a remarkable upsurge in readership occurred. Readers need only to access http:digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/ to see both the geographical distribution and the number of downloads on a monthly and yearly basis, going back to the year when our web editor, Alex Rolfe placed us on the Digital Commons platform. Alex, who is a librarian at George Fox University, has also provided his library as the mailing address of OPREE.

Special Issue: Protestantism In The Balkans (Macedonia, Serbia, And Albania), Ruzhica Cacanoska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This issue of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe is published as part of the celebration of the 500-years of the Protestant Reformation. In fact, this issue contains the works presented by its authors at the scientific gathering organized within the anniversary by the Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research, a branch of “St. Cyril and Methodius University” in Skopje, Macedonia). The program, Scientific Wednesday, was held on November 1 , 2017. The scholarly gathering was titled Protestantism in the Balkans. Prof. Ruzica Cacanoska, as a member of the advisory editorial board of this journal, and also as …

Protestantism In Macedonia Today, Ruzhica Cacanoska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Protestantism arrived in Macedonia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Since then, a number of Protestant communities were established and their current membership is relatively small. The United Methodist Church in the Republic of Macedonia is considered to be traditional and is listed as such in the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. The contemporary Protestant structure is composed of 12 Evangelical-Protestant churches. The subject matter of this paper is a sociological research on the Protestant communities in Macedonia and it will focus on key issues related to the structure and functioning of their communities, their mutual cooperation, …

Congretional/Methodist Church In Macedonia, Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Prior to the end of the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 and during portions of World War I, the territory of Macedonia was served by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (hereafter ABCFM) with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. The form of Protestantism promoted by ABCFM was Congregationalism but in the Balkans, they called their churches Evangelical, which is often used as a synonym for Protestants. After the end of World War I, the ABCFM was unable to continue to financially support and staff this mission field outside of Bulgaria as proper and turned their work in Macedonia (which had …

Protestantization Of The Roma From Southeastern Serbia, Dragan Todorović

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The Protestantization of the Roma refers to the recent process of mass involvement of Serbian Roma in small religious communities of Protestant provenance.

The research was conducted using the deep interview method on the basis of a structured questionnaire with baptized believers of Roma nationality belonging to the Christian Baptist Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Adventist Church, and Evangelical Pentecostal Church in the territory of Southeastern Serbia. The sample included both Roma and non-Roma high clergy of the abovementioned religious communities, as well as religious leaders of major religions of the region (Serbian Orthodox Church and Islamic Community).

This paper describes …

The Independent Churches And Proselytism In The Balkans, Kostake Milkov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The emergence of the new churches in the Balkans is a relatively recent phenomenon, and it is mainly connected with the Evangelical wing of Protestantism. Apart from the Congregationalist missions within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-nineteenth century including the Methodists and to a much smaller extent, the Baptists and the Pentecostals., and their spinoffs, mainly resulting from geopolitical shifts post-World War I, most of the Evangelical missionary endeavors on the territory of Former Yugoslavia began after the fall of Communism, These aspects are the focus of my essay, although some of the conclusions are also applicable to the Protestant …

Medieval Heresis And Protestantism, Maja Angelovska-Panova

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In addition to the current social and political circumstances, the appearance of heresies and reform movements during the Middle Ages. was largely determined by the educational tendencies and movement of humanism, which concentrated on the matter of the human being. Thisarticle offers a digressive analysis that examines the appearance, essence, and significance of Bogomilism, Catharism, Waldensians and their implications for later reform movements—more specifically Protestantism. It should be emphasized that in this context, such ideas, characteristic of medieval heresies, impacted Protestantism, as seen in the works of John Wycliffe (1328-1384) and Jan Hus (1369-1415). In fact, they were qualified to …

Seeing Witchcraft, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

When Christians in Zambia struggle with witchcraft, they also struggle with African cultural and religious concepts that deal with life’s ambiguities and that require discernment. It is not by working against the cultural and religious heritage, but by working with it, as far as possible, that the pastor can identify the broken relationships towards which many witchcraft discourses point. However, before we place the concepts of witchcraft into the realm of superstition (as are the trends of mission Christianity) or the demonic (as are the trends of charismatic Christianity), the Church has the duty to look at the concepts, stay …

Allocutio: Articulating The Task For The Future Of African Catholicism, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu

Journal of Global Catholicism

This essay charts how Catholicism can become more indigenously African and respond better to African needs and concerns.

The Devil Of The Missionary Church: The White Fathers And Catholic Evangelization In Zambia, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

This article examines how Western Catholic missionaries in Zambia dealt with claims of witchcraft and Satanism. Within an analytic frame that draws upon cultural history, theology, and anthropology the article also considers how African Christians appropriated missionary notions of the devil.

Learning Religion In The Presence Of The Other: Mission And Dialogue In World Catholicism, Matthias Scharer

Journal of Global Catholicism

Based on selected texts of the Second Vatican Council and related to the process of the Council and Church experiences thereafter, this article offers a brief insight into the theological method known as communicative theology (CT). One of the factors most challenging to mission and dialogue in world Catholicism is the perpetual presence of the “other” as a stranger. This learning religion in the presence of the “other” is not the exception; this article argues that it is, in fact, very typical of mission and dialogue in Africa as well as in Europe

Relationships Between Religious Denomination, Quality Of Life, Motivation And Meaning In Abeokuta, Nigeria, Mary Gloria Njoku, Babajide Gideon Adeyinka

Journal of Global Catholicism

Inter-disciplinary research that combines methods in psychology of the impact of religious change in Africa and theological approaches has been very scant in Nigeria. This study examines the relationship among religious denominations, quality of life, motivation and meaning in life in Abeokuta metropolis in Ogun State, Nigeria using psychological and religious tools. The study hypothesizes that members of the Roman Catholic denomination would differ from members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Living Faith Church in motivational factors and meaning making.

The Ecclesiology Of Pope Francis And The Future Of The Church In Africa, Bradford E. Hinze

Journal of Global Catholicism

A consideration of the future of African Catholicism in light of the ecclesiology of Pope Francis. The article explores how themes in Francis's ecclesiology work together to challenge centralization, clericalism, and triumphalism in the church by promoting practices of synodality and how these elements support the church’s mission to work against forms of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and the most fundamental matrix of colonial power by advancing radical democracy in society

Editor's Introduction, Mathew Schmalz

Journal of Global Catholicism

An overview of African Catholicism. Part Two: Retrospect and Prospect, third issue of the Journal of Global Catholicism. A summary of the work of Bradford Hinze, Mary Gloria Njoku, Matthias Scharer, Mary Sylvia Nwachukwu, and Bernhard Udelhoven. Among the topics considered: African ecclesiology, African wellness and quality of life in Africa, interreligious dialogue in Africa, African Biblical scholarship, witchcraft and the Catholic Church.

The Rise Of Latino Protestants, Aida Isela Ramos

Faculty Publications - Department of Sociology

Excerpt: "During one of my first visits to a church in San Antonio for the Latino Protestant Congregations Project, the pastor invited a church member to speak about his experience in a federal immigration detention center. An elderly gentleman rose from his seat with a Bible tucked under his arm. For the next hour, this man, a Salvadoran undocumented immigrant, told his story."

Review Of Makrides, Wasmuth, And Kube's "Christentum Und Menschenrechte In Europa. Perspektiven Und Debatten In Ost Und West., Dr. Regina Elsner

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Review Of Akšamija's "Letter Pismo, Brief, List, Risālah", Paul Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.