Gender-Related Inclusionary and Exclusionary Practices within Evangelical Churches in the Netherlands

Abstract

The present volume Religiously Exclusive, Socially Inclusive? A Religious Response is the fruit of a research project of scholars and academic researchers. Between exclusion and inclusion there exists a certain tension. To some extent all religions are exclusive, either in their view on salvation or in their outlook on society, as will be introduced in Chapter 1. Amid all kinds of challenges and conflicts between religious groups in our world today, this raises the question of whether it is possible for exclusive worldviews to live and work together for the common good of society. The focus of the inquiry was specifically on religious texts but developed from there into wider areas of research.The research project was initiated by the Academic Chair 'The Church in the Context of Islam'. This chair aims to develop a Christian theology in the context of Islam, revolving around the theological challenges Islam presents for church and society today. The chair is currently positioned at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.Scholars from different institutions, 1 within different disciplines, 2 and from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim backgrounds participated in the research around whether religious exclusivism could go together with inclusive living in society.After the research project came to an end, Dorottya Nagy was willing to take on the challenge of writing a postlude concerning the missiological challenges that the theme raises. We -Erika van Nes-Visscher and Bernhard Reitsma -have done the same from a theological perspective. These missiological and theological insights highlight issues that need further research and could be addressed at a future meeting.We are very grateful for the inspiring scholars in the research network, and we want to thank all those who contributed to this volume for their committed contributions and their effort to provide their papers on time, or almost on time, in the middle of all kinds of personally and professionally challenging circumstances. The contributions have been blind double peer-reviewed.Dr. Wilbert van Saane provided us with a first editorial review of all the articles and we are very grateful for his work. We would like to thank