Religion, Politics, and New Testament Theology
Contesting Relevance and a Constructed Category
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3367366 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Timothy W Reardon (Eastern Mennonite University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 579 |
| Publication date | 2022-06-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel13070579 |
| OpenAlex | W4283390140 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 25 |
It has been suggested by some, since the time of William Wrede, that biblical theology should align itself with the scientific study of religion. More recently, these appeals have been linked to a concern for the relevance of the discipline within modern universities and amid a secular, Western world. However, the category "religion" is itself complicated, and the implications of its use are not innocent. This article investigates the socially constructed nature of religion and the political discourse that shapes it in order to assess how the appropriation of this constructed category pertains to the relevance of New Testament theology as a discipline in particular, as well as how this category has already shaped New Testament studies more generally. I suggest that, rather than aiding biblical theology's relevance, this category obscures a larger discourse that has sought to order social and political space in the modern Western world and beyond and that relevance should be sought elsewhere, including in the dialogue on alternative conceptual constructs that center those stories and persons that have been traditionally marginalized
Appropriation · Epistemology · New Testament · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious Education and Schools · Religious studies
'The Heathen in his Blindness…'
Race
From Substantial Burden on Religion to Diminished Spiritual Fulfillment
Personal Religion Among the Greeks
Radical Interpretation in Religion
The Site of the Social
The Ideology of Religious Studies
The Myth of Religious Violence
Before Religion
The Invention of Religion in Japan
Imagining Religion
On Critics and What's Real
Freedom, Law, and Prophecy
A metaphysics for the study of religion
Critical Terms for Religious Studies
The Invention of World Religions
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |