Overview
- Offers a novel critique of the Church as a phenomenon defined by instability
- Places conflict and contestation at the center of understanding emergent Christian theology
- Gathers perspectives from across disciplines and continents
- This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access
Part of the book series: Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue (PEID)
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Keywords
- Liturgy
- Canon Law
- Gender and Sexuality
- Soteriological
- Roman Catholic
- Open Access
About this book
This book challenges the prevailing notion of stability, cohesiveness, and uniformity within Christian communities, inviting readers to view contestation and disagreement as integral to theological reflection and church identity. While the volume focuses predominantly on the Roman Catholic Church as a case study, various chapters broaden the exploration across other Christian and non-Christian traditions. Beginning with the philosophical and theological foundations of conflict, contestation, and community, the book subsequently focuses on four main conflict fields: liturgy, canon law, gender, and sexuality, as well as race and postcolonial critical theory. The book finishes with a constructive proposal on how to think theologically about identity and antagonisms, as well as how to construct an ecclesiology of dissent. Contributors employ diverse methodological perspectives to offer constructive theological reflections, enhancing both understanding and practice of theology in the context of polarised public debates.
This is an open access book.Reviews
"Dissent, contestation, conflict, disagreement, in Church self-understandings are all considered in theological idiom in this book. It is a book which challenges all readers to sit up and to re-think how the Church is, and how it might be. The diversity of thinking invites the reader to consider the theological possibilities that emerge when practices of contestation and informed debate are recognised as central in the making of ecclesial identity. The negotiation of controversy is an important challenge, particularly in a time of synodal considerations."
—Dr Fáinche Ryan, Associate Professor in Systematic Theology and Director of Loyola Institute, Trinity College Dublin
"Many people are conflict averse in matters of the heart pertaining to religious issues, while others seem to thrive on antagonism on such matters. Dissenting Church offers an invaluable resource for those who are searching for ways to analyze and address conflict in these matters by exploring myriad instances of such contestation. The benefit of this volume is that seasoned scholars offer helpful examples for delineating foundational categories, arguments, and methods across a spectrum of core areas: liturgy, canon law, gender and sexuality, race and postcolonial complications."
—Bradford E. Hinze, Phd, Karl Rahner, S.J., Professor of Theology, Fordham University
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Judith Gruber is an associate professor of systematic theology at KU Leuven, Belgium, and the director of KU Leuven’s Centre for Liberation Theologies.
Michael Schüßler is a professor of practical theology at the Catholic-Theological Faculty of the University of Tübingen since 2015.Ryszard Bobrowicz is a postdoctoral fellow at KU Leuven and an affiliate researcher at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University. He serves as the theological advisor for the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe and collaborates with the Atlas of Religion or Belief Minority Rights.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Dissenting Church
Book Subtitle: Exploring the Theological Power of Conflict and Disagreement
Editors: Judith Gruber, Michael Schüßler, Ryszard Bobrowicz
Series Title: Pathways for Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2024
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-56018-7Due: 20 June 2024
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-56021-7Due: 20 June 2024
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-56019-4Due: 20 June 2024
Series ISSN: 2634-6591
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6605
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 237