The Calling of the Church in Times of Polarization: (46 Studies in Reformed Theology)

In many societies all over the world, an increasing polarization between contrasting groups can be observed. Polarization arises when a fear born of difference turns into ‘us-versus-them’ thinking and rules out any form of compromise. This volume addresses polarizations within societies as well as within churches, and asks the question: given these dynamics, what may be the calling of the church? The authors offer new approaches to polarizing debates on topics such as racism, social justice, sexuality and gender, euthanasia, and ecology and agriculture in various contexts. They engage in profound theological and ecclesiological reflection, in particular from the Reformed tradition. Contributors to this volume are: Najib George Awad, Henk van den Belt, Nadine Bowers Du Toit, Jaeseung Cha, David Daniels, David Fergusson, Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Jozef Hehanussa, Allan Janssen, Klaas-Willem de Jong, Viktória Kóczián, Philipp Pattberg, Louise Prideaux, Emanuel Gerrit Singgih, Peter-Ben Smit, Thandi Soko-de Jong, Wim van Vlastuin, Jan Dirk Wassenaar, Elizabeth Welch, Annemarieke van der Woude, and Heleen Zorgdrager.

Table of Contents:
Notes on Contributors Introduction  Pieter Vos PART 1: Polarization in Church and Society 1 Can Conviviality Trump Polarization? Exploring the Notion of Conviviality as Calling of the Church in Times of Polarization  Nadine Bowers Du Toit 2 Re-forming the Conversation as a Response to Polarization: A Case Study Exploration of the Dallas Statement  Thandi Soko-de Jong 3 Retrieving the Concept of Unio Mystica cum Christo and Applying It to Concepts of Sexuality in a Pluralistic Postmodern Culture  Willem van Vlastuin 4 Theological Assessment of the Gender and Sexuality Debate in the Netherlands: The Case of the ‘Nashville Statement’  Heleen Zorgdrager 5 Passivity, Abuse, and Self-Sacrifice: Daoism and Feminist Christology  Jaeseung Cha 6 “Remove the Sandals from Your Feet”: Holiness in the Dutch Euthanasia Debate  Annemarieke van der Woude 7 Sowing Hope in a Polarized Agricultural Debate  Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Phillipp Pattberg and Peter-Ben Smit PART 2: Polarization and the Reformed Tradition 8 Reformed Social Theology: Contexts and Constants  David Fergusson 9 Preclude to a “Post-xenophobic” Future: Interrogating the 1618 Baptism Debate at the Synod of Dort  David Douglas Daniels III 10 Protestant Schools and Hospitals in the Context of Religious Polarization in Yogyakarta  Jozef Mepibozef Nelsun Hehanussa 11 Election and Hope: Van Ruler and Dort  Allan J. Janssen 12 Polarization and the Pursuit of Unanimity in the Church: Ecclesiastical Decision-Making in the Dutch Reformed Tradition  Klaas-Willem de Jong and Jan Dirk Wassenaar PART 3: The Calling of the Church 13 Fighting against Polarization: The Indonesian Communion of Churches, Religious Plurality and Sexual Orientations in Indonesia  Emanuel Gerrit Singgih 14 Developing Koinonia in an Age of PolarizationThe Significance of Ecumenical Dialogue, with Particular Reference to The International Reformed Anglican Dialogue (2015–2020)  Elizabeth Welch 15 No Calling without Being Called: The Vocatio Interna at the Heart of Sanctification  Henk van den Belt 16 ‘They Are in the World, But Not of the World’: Biblical and Contextual Reflections on Church, Alterity and Self-Otherizing  Najib George Awad 17 Theology of Migration in the Discourse of the World Council of Churches and the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary (2015–2019)  Viktória Kóczián 18 Against Polarization: Forming a Sense of ‘Otherness’ from a Conversation between Anthropology and Neo-calvinism  Louise Charlotte Prideaux Epilogue  Heleen Zorgdrager Index

About the Author :
Heleen E. Zorgdrager, Ph.D. (2003), is Professor of Systematic Theology and Gender Studies at Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam, and Visiting Professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv. She has published on sexuality, gender, and rethinking Protestant soteriology from the tradition of theosis. Pieter H. Vos, Ph.D. (2002), is Professor of Military Chaplaincy Studies and associate professor of Ethics at Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam/Groningen. He is Director of the International Reformed Theological Institute. His publications include Longing for the Good Life: Virtue Ethics after Protestantism (2020).