The critique of dominant discourses in the study of religion now stands at the forefront of discussions about theory and method. But we have come to a point where this challenge to orthodoxy ''has assumed an increasingly rigid and canonical shape.'' Ironically, this has resulted in the ossification of the object of critique, ''the modern conception of religion.'' The consequence has been multiple reiterations of the claim that there was no such thing as religion before moderns invented it, and the surveillance of scholarship of the ancient world to purge it of the use of religion as a descriptive category. Brent Nongbri's Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept is an example of this process and it is used in this article as a case study that examines the anatomy of the rise of a new normativity. The article challenges both Nongbri's essentialized dichotomy between ancient and modern and his near canonization of recent theory (especially that of Asad) in the study of religion. Instead, it is proposed that fostering critical awareness within the discipline is achieved by moving beyond today's deconstructivist trends.Ré sumé : La critique du discours dominant dans l'étude de la religion est maintenant au premier ordre des discussions sur la théorie et la méthode en sciences religieuses. Mais nous en sommes maintenant à un point où le défi à l'orthodoxie « a pris une forme plus rigide voire canonique ». Ironiquement, cela aboutit à une ossification de l'objet de la critique, « la conception moderne de la religion ». Il y a, en conséquence des répétitions multiples de l'affirmation selon laquelle le concept de religion n'existait pas avant son invention moderne. Il en résulte également une activité de surveillance des études sur le monde ancien afin d'éliminer l'utilisation descriptive de la catégorie de la religion. On considère l'oeuvre de Brent Nongbri « Before Religion: A History of a Modern Concept »
Cet article propose une évaluation critique des deux réponses d’envergure à « A Common Word » originaire de centres traditionnels de la chrétienté européenne. Dans les deux cas, la notion de bien commun joue un rôle central dans la détermination de la forme et de l’orientation de la coopération interreligieuse dans un contexte mondial. Alors que les réponses émanant du Vatican sont lues comme une expression de la pragmatique interreligieuse, la seconde, un engagement plus solide de Rowan Williams est présenté comme une tentative de développer une éthique interreligieuse de la communication. L’examen critique de ces deux visions de la solidarité interreligieuse conduit à des conclusions significatives quant à la notion d’autrui, une catégorie centrale partagée par toutes les traditions abrahamiques.
This paper is a rereading of Jürgen Moltmann's theology of the cross through the messianic optics provided by Walter Benjamin's philosophy of language and aesthetic theory. This reading is a simultaneous retrieval of the apophatic dimension of Moltmann's early thought and a critique of his turn to overly positive theological language. By relying on Benjamin's conception of the transcendent which localizes the infinite in the "denied" of language, within the "speechlessness of things," the body of Christ is reconceived as a cipher of the transcendent within transience and decay. It is shown that Moltmann's Trinitarian theology originates in the concrete suffering experienced by this particular body and a retrieval of this origin is necessary to recover the messianic base of Christian predication of God.
Religion and state, more specifically religion and law, and religion and education are sub-fields that have received considerable scholarly attention. The interstices between these fields have been much less scrutinized, although it is within these spaces where the particular normativities produced and managed by state, law, and religion can be critically assessed, and where the nature of their interaction can be evaluated. We examine the intersecting normativities of religion with the secular public sphere, with education, and with the law, and their discursive fields with respect to the Programme d’Éthique et culture religieuse (ECR) of the Québec Ministry of Education. The distinct interests associated with these discursive fields meet at bases of common concern: religious pluralism, accommodation, and social cohesion. A common discourse emerges here that is informed by what critics identify as the World Religions Paradigm (WRP). Rather than examine the ECR simply with respect to its dependence on the WRP, we show how the discourses of the general public, education, and law in Québec and Canada meet to reinforce the WRP to produce a singular normativity that determines the shape of public discourses and representations of religion. In its effort to manage religious freedom and promote multiculturalism, the state (legislatively, legally, and educationally) generates the concrete terms by which citizens are to enact both. The logic of the overlapping normativities in the management of religious freedom and promotion of religious pluralism by the state creates the concrete terms by which religious identity and citizenship are defined.
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