Mika Vähäkangas
Biographic Data
| ID | 329747 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mika Vähäkangas |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mika |
| FAMILY NAME | Vähäkangas |
| SIGNATURE | VÄHÄKANGAS M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Åbo Akademi University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7854-1128 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 24 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The Holy Spirit as “the Gift” in Charles Nyamiti's Trinitarian Theology
This article starts from the theology of the Tanzanian-born Charles Nyamiti (1931–2020), as one of the most creative in his generation of African theologians. Nyamiti proposed that ancestral veneration is a foundational human relationship which reflects divine realities. Thus, he proposed an understanding of the Trinity where the Father is the Ancestor, the Son is the Descendant, and the Holy Spirit is the mutual Oblation connecting the two. Beca…
Religion
The current issue of Approaching Religion is based on a summer school and conference arranged in Åbo/Turku, Finland, in June 2023, on the theme of 'Religion: Memory and Innovation'. The event was organized jointly by the Polin Institute for Theological Research (Åbo Akademi University), the Centre for the Study of Christian Cultures (University of Turku) and the Donner Institute for Research in Religion and Culture. The aim was to bring together …
Judging from the Inside
Recent years have seen three monographs (and some anthologies) dealing with the relationship between theology or faith and sociocultural anthropology (referred to simply as "anthropology" from here onwards). Larsen's Slain God (2014) analyses how early British anthropologists had a personal relationship with matters of faith while Furani's Redeeming Anthropology (2019) agonises the hegemony of Enlightenment secularism in anthropology. What is com…
Eco-Theology
En analys av förutsättningar för att ta etisk ställning till aktuella problem kring miljö och hållbar utveckling - med fokus på Sigurd Bergmanns bidrag.
Navigating ethnicity, nationalism and Pan-Africanism – Kimbanguists, identity and colonial borders
The Kimbanguists, whose church is based on the healing and proclamation ministry of Simon Kimbangu in 1921 in the Belgian Congo, challenge colonially defined borders and identities in multiple ways. Anticolonialism is in the DNA of Kimbanguism, yet in a manner that contests the colonially inherited dichotomy between religion and politics. Kimbanguists draw from holistic Kongo traditions, where the spiritual and material/political are inherently i…
Wenzi wa wachungaji na kanisa, written by Anneth Munga
Context and Catholicity in the Science and Religion Debate. Intercultural Contributions from French-speaking Africa, written by Klaas Bom and Benno van den Toren
Freiheit und Populismus. Verwundete Identitäten in Ostmitteleuropa, written by András Máté-Tóth
András Máté-Tóth. Freiheit und Populismus. Verwundete Identitäten in Ostmitteleuropa. Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2019. xv + 314 pp. ISBN 978-3-658-25484-1. Price: € 46,26 (available also as an e-book).In spite of its rather general sounding title, Máté-Tóth’s extensive book focusses on religion in Central Eastern Europe. However, this is done through a wide lens in such a manner that when considering the context of religion in the region, political, …
Contextual Theology
Apartheid theology understood itself as a return to the "old paths" of reformed orthodoxy -but was subsequently recognised as a deeply contextual theological legitimation of settler colonialism.As this volume recognises, it is therefore important to place the recognition of the contextual nature of theology "at the forefront of the theological process".Would this recognition suffice for a "liberating faith"?Not by itself, since doing theology req…
Finding God among Our Neighbors
Obituary – Aasulv Lande (1937–2019)
Faith in African Lived Christianity
Faith in African Lived Christianity - Bridging Anthropological and Theological Perspectives offers a comprehensive, empirically rich and interdisciplinary approach to the study of faith in African Christianity. The book brings together anthropology and theology in the study of how faith and religious experiences shape the understanding of social life in Africa. The volume is a collection of chapters by prominent Africanist theologians, anthropolo…
Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning
Witchcraft, Demons and Deliverance
From Historical to Critical Post-Colonial Theology
Negotiating Religious Traditions — Babu wa Loliondo’s Theology of Healing
Retired Lutheran pastor Ambilikile Mwasapila became the most celebrated healer in Eastern Africa for half a year in 2011. His healing consists of an herbal potion, brewed according to the recipe he got from God in dreams. According to Rev. Mwasapila, the potency of the medicine stems from the presence of the Word of God in it. It is efficient only when administered by him. He perceives himself as a prophet called by God to alleviate sufferings of…
The Prosperity Gospel in the African Diaspora
The prosperity gospel in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Hosanna Chapel, Helsinki, Finland, builds primarily on African indigenous worldviews rather than serving as a theological justification for capitalism. It is a contextual African interpretation of the gospel in a situation of tension between the expectations of extended families back home, those of the new society in which the immigrants find themselves, and the church. The African ex…
Babu wa Loliondo-Healing the Tensions between Tanzanian Worlds
Tanzanian Ambilikile Mwasapila aka Babu wa Loliondo, a retired Lutheran countryside pastor, suddenly became the most visible media personality and healer in East Africa for half a year in 2011. He had received dreams in which God provided him with the recipe for a herbal medicine that would heal all maladies. Lutheran bishops who had all but abandoned the elderly pastor in his former remote mission field eagerly approved his ministry, while recep…
Gender, narratives, and religious competition among the Sonjo of Tanzania
For about sixty years, Christian mission has encountered the resistant Sonjo traditions, and much of the competition between religions has happened in the realm of narratives. Sonjo myths and stories change according to the religio-political needs, and Christians make use of stories or versions of myths that gain them leverage against the traditional religion. Christian mission attempts to utilize women's position as an argument for its benefit. …
How God Became African
Gerrie ter Haar is among the most experienced analysts of contemporary African Christianity. In much of her work she has insisted on the necessity of approaching African Christians on their own terms. This book can be seen as a concise presentation of her central findings on African Christianity, and as a manifesto. The manifesto consists of a few theses. The first is that in Africa we are witnessing a major reinterpretation of Christianity which…
Mission and Development
Ghambageu Encounters Jesus in Sonjo Mythology
Christian missions have worked among the Sonjo of North Tanzania for six decades. In spite of this, there are very few converts to Christianity. However, teachings of Christianity have been largely absorbed into Sonjo traditional religion. The apotheosized Sonjo cultural hero Ghambageu has gained an ever-increasing importance in Sonjo religion to the extent that it seems to be on a way towards a peculiar monotheism. The personality of Ghambegeu h…
Globalization and the Re-Shaping of Christianity in the Pacific Islands
In Search of Foundations for African Catholicism
This study deals with the interaction between neo-Thomism and African traditional thinking in Charles Nyamiti's theological methodology. The approach of the study is groundbreaking as it is the first monograph published on the theological method of any African theologian. The question about the position and relevance of Western philosophical-theological systems in a non-Western context also has a wider relevance concerning contextual theologies i…
Faith in African Lived Christianity
Faith in African Lived Christianity - Bridging Anthropological and Theological Perspectives offers a comprehensive, empirically rich and interdisciplinary approach to the study of faith in African Christianity. The book brings together anthropology and theology in the study of how faith and religious experiences shape the understanding of social life in Africa. The volume is a collection of chapters by prominent Africanist theologians, anthropolo…
Babu wa Loliondo-Healing the Tensions between Tanzanian Worlds
Tanzanian Ambilikile Mwasapila aka Babu wa Loliondo, a retired Lutheran countryside pastor, suddenly became the most visible media personality and healer in East Africa for half a year in 2011. He had received dreams in which God provided him with the recipe for a herbal medicine that would heal all maladies. Lutheran bishops who had all but abandoned the elderly pastor in his former remote mission field eagerly approved his ministry, while recep…
Negotiating Religious Traditions — Babu wa Loliondo’s Theology of Healing
Retired Lutheran pastor Ambilikile Mwasapila became the most celebrated healer in Eastern Africa for half a year in 2011. His healing consists of an herbal potion, brewed according to the recipe he got from God in dreams. According to Rev. Mwasapila, the potency of the medicine stems from the presence of the Word of God in it. It is efficient only when administered by him. He perceives himself as a prophet called by God to alleviate sufferings of…
Ghambageu Encounters Jesus in Sonjo Mythology
Christian missions have worked among the Sonjo of North Tanzania for six decades. In spite of this, there are very few converts to Christianity. However, teachings of Christianity have been largely absorbed into Sonjo traditional religion. The apotheosized Sonjo cultural hero Ghambageu has gained an ever-increasing importance in Sonjo religion to the extent that it seems to be on a way towards a peculiar monotheism. The personality of Ghambegeu h…
In Search of Foundations for African Catholicism
This study deals with the interaction between neo-Thomism and African traditional thinking in Charles Nyamiti's theological methodology. The approach of the study is groundbreaking as it is the first monograph published on the theological method of any African theologian. The question about the position and relevance of Western philosophical-theological systems in a non-Western context also has a wider relevance concerning contextual theologies i…
Globalization and the Re-Shaping of Christianity in the Pacific Islands
Ghambageu Encounters Jesus in Sonjo Mythology
Christian missions have worked among the Sonjo of North Tanzania for six decades. In spite of this, there are very few converts to Christianity. However, teachings of Christianity have been largely absorbed into Sonjo traditional religion. The apotheosized Sonjo cultural hero Ghambageu has gained an ever-increasing importance in Sonjo religion to the extent that it seems to be on a way towards a peculiar monotheism. The personality of Ghambegeu h…
Mission and Development
How God Became African
Gerrie ter Haar is among the most experienced analysts of contemporary African Christianity. In much of her work she has insisted on the necessity of approaching African Christians on their own terms. This book can be seen as a concise presentation of her central findings on African Christianity, and as a manifesto. The manifesto consists of a few theses. The first is that in Africa we are witnessing a major reinterpretation of Christianity which…
Gender, narratives, and religious competition among the Sonjo of Tanzania
For about sixty years, Christian mission has encountered the resistant Sonjo traditions, and much of the competition between religions has happened in the realm of narratives. Sonjo myths and stories change according to the religio-political needs, and Christians make use of stories or versions of myths that gain them leverage against the traditional religion. Christian mission attempts to utilize women's position as an argument for its benefit. …
The Prosperity Gospel in the African Diaspora
The prosperity gospel in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Hosanna Chapel, Helsinki, Finland, builds primarily on African indigenous worldviews rather than serving as a theological justification for capitalism. It is a contextual African interpretation of the gospel in a situation of tension between the expectations of extended families back home, those of the new society in which the immigrants find themselves, and the church. The African ex…
Babu wa Loliondo-Healing the Tensions between Tanzanian Worlds
Tanzanian Ambilikile Mwasapila aka Babu wa Loliondo, a retired Lutheran countryside pastor, suddenly became the most visible media personality and healer in East Africa for half a year in 2011. He had received dreams in which God provided him with the recipe for a herbal medicine that would heal all maladies. Lutheran bishops who had all but abandoned the elderly pastor in his former remote mission field eagerly approved his ministry, while recep…
Witchcraft, Demons and Deliverance
From Historical to Critical Post-Colonial Theology
Negotiating Religious Traditions — Babu wa Loliondo’s Theology of Healing
Retired Lutheran pastor Ambilikile Mwasapila became the most celebrated healer in Eastern Africa for half a year in 2011. His healing consists of an herbal potion, brewed according to the recipe he got from God in dreams. According to Rev. Mwasapila, the potency of the medicine stems from the presence of the Word of God in it. It is efficient only when administered by him. He perceives himself as a prophet called by God to alleviate sufferings of…
Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning
Finding God among Our Neighbors
Obituary – Aasulv Lande (1937–2019)
Faith in African Lived Christianity
Faith in African Lived Christianity - Bridging Anthropological and Theological Perspectives offers a comprehensive, empirically rich and interdisciplinary approach to the study of faith in African Christianity. The book brings together anthropology and theology in the study of how faith and religious experiences shape the understanding of social life in Africa. The volume is a collection of chapters by prominent Africanist theologians, anthropolo…
Contextual Theology
Apartheid theology understood itself as a return to the "old paths" of reformed orthodoxy -but was subsequently recognised as a deeply contextual theological legitimation of settler colonialism.As this volume recognises, it is therefore important to place the recognition of the contextual nature of theology "at the forefront of the theological process".Would this recognition suffice for a "liberating faith"?Not by itself, since doing theology req…
Eco-Theology
En analys av förutsättningar för att ta etisk ställning till aktuella problem kring miljö och hållbar utveckling - med fokus på Sigurd Bergmanns bidrag.
Navigating ethnicity, nationalism and Pan-Africanism – Kimbanguists, identity and colonial borders
The Kimbanguists, whose church is based on the healing and proclamation ministry of Simon Kimbangu in 1921 in the Belgian Congo, challenge colonially defined borders and identities in multiple ways. Anticolonialism is in the DNA of Kimbanguism, yet in a manner that contests the colonially inherited dichotomy between religion and politics. Kimbanguists draw from holistic Kongo traditions, where the spiritual and material/political are inherently i…
Wenzi wa wachungaji na kanisa, written by Anneth Munga
Context and Catholicity in the Science and Religion Debate. Intercultural Contributions from French-speaking Africa, written by Klaas Bom and Benno van den Toren
Freiheit und Populismus. Verwundete Identitäten in Ostmitteleuropa, written by András Máté-Tóth
András Máté-Tóth. Freiheit und Populismus. Verwundete Identitäten in Ostmitteleuropa. Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2019. xv + 314 pp. ISBN 978-3-658-25484-1. Price: € 46,26 (available also as an e-book).In spite of its rather general sounding title, Máté-Tóth’s extensive book focusses on religion in Central Eastern Europe. However, this is done through a wide lens in such a manner that when considering the context of religion in the region, political, …
Judging from the Inside
Recent years have seen three monographs (and some anthologies) dealing with the relationship between theology or faith and sociocultural anthropology (referred to simply as "anthropology" from here onwards). Larsen's Slain God (2014) analyses how early British anthropologists had a personal relationship with matters of faith while Furani's Redeeming Anthropology (2019) agonises the hegemony of Enlightenment secularism in anthropology. What is com…
The Holy Spirit as “the Gift” in Charles Nyamiti's Trinitarian Theology
This article starts from the theology of the Tanzanian-born Charles Nyamiti (1931–2020), as one of the most creative in his generation of African theologians. Nyamiti proposed that ancestral veneration is a foundational human relationship which reflects divine realities. Thus, he proposed an understanding of the Trinity where the Father is the Ancestor, the Son is the Descendant, and the Holy Spirit is the mutual Oblation connecting the two. Beca…
Religion
The current issue of Approaching Religion is based on a summer school and conference arranged in Åbo/Turku, Finland, in June 2023, on the theme of 'Religion: Memory and Innovation'. The event was organized jointly by the Polin Institute for Theological Research (Åbo Akademi University), the Centre for the Study of Christian Cultures (University of Turku) and the Donner Institute for Research in Religion and Culture. The aim was to bring together …
Sociology (20 works) · Philosophy (19 works) · Religious studies (13 works) · Theology (12 works) · Christian Theology and Mission (11 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · History (9 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (9 works) · African cultural and philosophical studies (7 works) · Law (7 works)