Contributions of Religions to the Common Good in Pluralistic Societies from a Christian Perspective: Some Critical Remarks

The paper argues that, from the perspective of South African experiences, four notions in the title could easily lead to misunderstandings. The notion of a Christian perspective could ignore the deep diversity and contestation within the Christian traditions themselves. The notion pluralistic could...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Smit, Dirk J. 1951- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2017
In: International journal of public theology
Year: 2017, Volume: 11, Issue: 3, Pages: 290-300
IxTheo Classification:CG Christianity and Politics
CH Christianity and Society
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
Further subjects:B Common Good pluralistic society South Africa
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:The paper argues that, from the perspective of South African experiences, four notions in the title could easily lead to misunderstandings. The notion of a Christian perspective could ignore the deep diversity and contestation within the Christian traditions themselves. The notion pluralistic could easily be too innocent to address the deep forms of division, alienation and injustice in real life. The notion of the contributions made by religions may be understood, especially by Reformed Christians, primarily in terms of speaking, while the real contributions made by religions to the common life may in fact be more complex and more fundamental. The notion of societies in the plural may again be too superficial and innocent and obscure the ways in which we share a common world and life today.
ISSN:1569-7320
Contains:In: International journal of public theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15697320-12341494