Returning to the Church Conference

From January 4-6, 2010, the Returning to the Church: Valuing Theological Education conference will be held at St. Stephen's House at the University of Oxford in association with the Centre for Theology and Philosophy.  On Tuesday, Graham Ward will be presenting a paper entitled, "The Lay Theologian: Working at the Coal Face." As well, on Tuesday Timothy Stanley will be presenting a paper entitlted, "The Return of the Scroll: From Codex to Google." To download a PDF of the conference poster click here.

Political Theology Conference

This coming 14-15 December, the Political Theology for the 21st Century: Trends and Tasks conference will be held at the Institute for Political Science at Corvinus University-Budapest. The conference has been organised by the International Research Network on Religion and Democracy. Paper's will be given by Professor Lieven Boeve on "The Interruption of Political Theology," and, "Political Theology and Its Discontents," by Dr. Michael Hoelzl. 

World Sinology Conference

Professor Ward and Professor KüngThe World Sinology Conference opened on October 30th at the University of Renmen in Beijing China. As the Renman University website notes: "Over 180 domestic and overseas scholars gathered in RUC and discussed on the theme of 'Sinology and Cross-Cultural Communication.'" During the conference, Li Xueqin, a historian from China's Tsinghua University, introduced the origin of Sinology: 

Sinology is a result of cross-cultural communications, and the study of it will further promote that communication. It came into being in the 16th and 17th century when Chinese culture and Western culture met each other. People from both sides were keen on learning about each other. Sinology was developed in Western countries on the subjects of Chinese history, culture, language, etc. Meanwhile, Western learning, a late Qing Dynasty term for Western natural and social sciences, was developed in China.

The conference was "aimed at promoting exchanges and cooperation in the international study of Sinology and highlighting the value of Chinese culture in building a harmonious world." Among the scholars present were Professor Graham Ward from the University of Manchester and Professor Hans Küng from the University of Tübingen (pictured above). Professor Ward gave a paper on "Christianity and the State," which explored the role played by the State in the coming of Christianity to China in the 6th century through the Nestorians who were being persecuted in Persia at the time.

Autumn 2009 Doctoral Seminar

This academic year's first doctoral seminar (PDF) met this past week, and thanks are due to all who participated. Here's a list of topics discussed: 

• Laodicean Rhetoric in 17th Century Church Reform
• A Reflection on the Book “The Wounded Researcher”
• Re-investigating Paul’s “Powers”
• The Intolerance of Tolerance
• “Ethnic Religion”: Hervieu-Leger and the Study of Religious and National Identities
• The Politics of Religious Institutions in Lebanon
• Representation in Hegel
• A Review Carl Schmitt’s, The Concept of the Political
• Reconciling Schmitt and Metz
• Cacophony in Rights Discourse: Contrasting Agamben and Benhabib

Sacred Modernities

This past week, 17-19 September, Professor Graham Ward gave a keynote address at the Sacred Modernities: Rethinking Modernity in a Post-Secular Age conference which was hosted at Oxford Brookes University in conjunction with The University of Northampton. Here's a brief abstract of the conference theme:

The age of globalization confronts the observer with more ironies than certainties. It was once assumed that the growth of modern institutions – democracy, capitalism, science – would be attended by a series of mutually reinforcing social processes, most notably secularisation, rationalisation and disenchantment. Not only has the global spread of these institutions proved patchy and uneven, religious movements and belief systems have doggedly refused to assume the private status once thought to be their natural destiny. In both the West and the wider world, religion continues to make competing claims on the public sphere and public morals. Developments like this have been accompanied by conceptual critique and innovation. Increasingly, traditional accounts of modernity are seen as Euro-centric and prescriptive, while there has been renewed interest in the question of political and civil religions and the more general relationship of the political and the theological.

Ward's paper was entitled "How Hegel Re-sacralised the Project of Modernity," and an Mp3 of his address can be downloaded by clicking here. For further information about Ward's research interests and publications please click here, or email him at graham.ward@manchester.ac.uk.

Politics of Discipleship

New Publication!

The Politics of Discipleship: Becoming Postmaterial Citizens, is Professor Graham Ward's latest publication in a series by Baker Academic Press. In this fourth volume in the Church and Postmodern Culture series, internationally acclaimed theologian Graham Ward examines the political side of postmodernism in order to discern the contemporary context of the church and describe the characteristics of a faithful, political discipleship. His study falls neatly into two sections. The first, which is the more theoretical section, considers "the signs of the times." Ward names this section "The World," noting that the church must always frame its vision and mission within its worldly context. In the second section, "The Church," he turns to constructive application, providing an account of the Christian practices of hope that engage the world from within yet always act as messengers of God's kingdom. 

"Extraordinary! Graham Ward's The Politics of Discipleship is an extraordinary book. Ward does nothing less than help us see how 'world' and 'church' implicate each other by providing an insightful and learned account of the transformation of democracy, the perversities of globalization, and the ambiguities of secularization. Perhaps even more significant is his theological proposal for the difference the church can make in the world so described. This is an extraordinary book."-Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke University

"For some time now, Ward has blended orthodox theology, biblical study, and cultural theory with an independent originality. Now he has added politics to this mix. An extremely significant volume."-John Milbank, University of Nottingham