The following papers are scheduled for presentation at our March 2006 meeting in Baltimore. When possible, the papers have been grouped into sessions. Please be aware, however, that until the final schedule is settled, the order of sessions and paper presentations may still change.
SESSION VI: (Friday, March 2, 9:00–11:00 am ):
( AAR 6.1 ) PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION A: ( Friday, 9:00–11:00, Knight )
Presiding: Robert Sutton, Cape Fear Community College.
“Dostoevsky and Theodicy.”
Steven James Lee, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.
This paper analyzes the way in which two contemporary philosophers of religion, Richard Swinburne and D.Z. Phillips, use Dostoyevsky’s Ivan Karamazov in their respective approaches to the issue of theodicy. I assert that Phillips’ interpretation of Dostoyevsky better portrays evil and suffering as they exist in the world. As opposed to Swinburne’s attempt to justify the existence of evil and suffering, Phillips’ philosophy of religion seriously engages Ivan’s existential concerns, resulting in Phillips’ acceptance of theism without theodicy. I further investigate the contemporary need to ascribe purpose to evil, concluding that it is the conflation of purpose and cause that theodicists fall prey to their own deception in thinking evil is for something. Such confusion, I argue, is found within the dialogue between Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov.
“Toward philosophia crucis —Derrida and Marion’s Post-metaphysics on the via crucis.”
Andrew Yenru Lin, Drew University
A post-metaphysical articulation of philosophia crucis is on the way manifested in the recent works of Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Marion. In God Without Being (1982), Marion crosses out “God” with a cross, that is, “GUd,” who is free from “the onto-theo-logical constitution of metaphysics” and asserts that the most important in thinking of God is not to “be” or to “exist” but to “love” and to “give.” God as “love does not have to be. And GUd loves without being.” In Gift of Death (1992), Derrida suggests the love for other is manifested in this “gift of death,” that is, “the mysterium tremendum” in Christian experience of the sacrificial gift, which is not merely connected to Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, but moreover to the cross event, on which God gave the son to the world as the gift of death in order to show the love for the other.
“Aspects of George Santayana’s Legacy To Religious Studies In The Third Millennium.”
Edward W. Lovely, Drew University.
This paper profiles George Santayana’s as a philosopher of religion with a unique vision, both materialistic and spiritual. Santayana (1863–1952), Spanish born, Harvard University-educated, materialistic-naturalist philosopher, poet, cultural observer, and critic, has charmed many with his character, profound philosophical wisdom, and poetic literary style which gives one a glimpse of the “steel” and philosophical “cruelty” that belies the gentleness and vulnerability of this seemingly gentle soul. Uniquely disposed toward a paradoxical religious and philosophical perspective, complex and ironical, he still remains resistant to the transcendent, and is incapable of belief in a divine telos. Santayana views this world with a dark perspective on the “flux of matter” that leaves physical life “blind and groping.” Like Democritus, (his major Greek influence on the scientific intelligibility of his naturalism), even in the face of harsh realism, Santayana still seems “the laughing philosopher.” His preemptive “postmodern” vision, his contribution to constructionist theology, his early insight into the mind-body relationship as understood by modern neuroscience, aspects of his metaphysics that bear upon the basis for process theology and the pertinence of his project in relation to contemporary religious issues, e.g., religious pluralism, all auger well for his enthusiastic inclusion in the canon of contemporary religious studies.
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( AAR 6.2 ) HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY B: ( Friday, 9:00–11:00, Mather )
Presiding: Patricia Way, Temple University.
“Seripando on Justification and Original Sin at Trent: Augustinian or Lutheran?”
Dennis Di Mauro, The Catholic University of America.
Giralamo Seripando is best known for his work as a papal legate to the Council of Trent, and specifically his work on the canons involving the theologies of original sin and justification. Seripando strongly advocated the existence of a sinful concupiscence after baptism, and attempted to make the doctrine of "double justification" the official Roman Catholic dogma at the council. Many commentators have opined that Seripando, in advocating these doctrines, was simply tapping the centuries old well of Augustinian grace-filled justification theologies. However, other commentators believe that Seripando's main influences in advocating these theologies were the Protestant Reformers. And so the question exists as to whether Seripando's influences were predominantly Augustinian or predominantly Lutheran? This essay will take a look at Seripando's work at the council, review his theologies of original sin and justification, and then attempt to answer this question.
“Imperialism, Modernization, and Postcolonial Christianity—a Methodological Discourse of the Indigenization of American Methodist China Missions in the Early Twentieth Century.”
Jane Weijen Liang, Drew University.
In the history of modern Christian mission movement, the role of Western missionaries and Chinese Christians as mediators of modernization or agents of Western imperialism has long been debated. However, both Chinese reactions toward imperialism and their struggle for a modern China pushed Christian China missions to become Chinese, independent, indigenous churches. Recent postcolonial studies suggest a third perspective to evaluate Christian mission history. Postcolonial discourses emphasize the fluidity and hybridity of identity and reject the absolute binary distinction of colonizer/ colonized. In the mutuality of the postcolonial process and through the mimicry with which the colonized imitates the colonizer, the purity and authenticity of identity never maintains. In fact, the process of indigenization as the “counter-colonial resistance” is the forerunner of postcolonial discourses and the formations of “Chinese Christian/Methodist” identity and a “new/modern China” are not de-Chinese, in both of the senses of nationality and culture, but new creations combining various and dynamic Western and Chinese elements.
“De Miseria et Misericordia: The Politics of Augustinian Subjectivity.”
Mina Suk, The Johns Hopkins University.
This paper is a reading of St. Augustine’s Confessions and in particular examines his reflections on theatre, spectatorship, and tragedy in order to understand the politics of Augustinian subjectivity. First, I show how, for Augustine, the theatrical paradigm contextualizes his view of the relationship between self and other or Other (neighbor or God). Next, I present a theatrical interpretation of Augustine’s comments on miseria and misericordia and suggest that his conceptions of mercy and misery destabilize avant la lettre the self/other, subject/object distinctions central to modern ethics and metaphysics. Finally, I suggest that Augustinian subjectivity gives rise to a politics of suffering in which suffering is not simply a human condition to be redeemed in the afterlife, but also and more important a condition of possibility for knowing and entering into relation with the other or Other.
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( AAR 6.3 ) ISLAMIC STUDIES: ( Friday, 9:00–11:15, Talbot )
Presiding: Habibeh Rahim, St. John’s University, NY.
“Cartoon Crisis: Islam Confronts Danish Liberalism.”
Robert Carle, The Kings College.
In the fall of 2005, a series of insipid cartoons published in Jyllands-Posten made Denmark the unlikely front-line in a clash between Western and Islamic values. Million of offended Muslims from around the globe protested, leaving more than 100 dead and 800 injured. In February 2006, the Special Rapporteur for the U.N. Human Rights Commission devoted five pages to Denmark in his report on racism, discrimination, xenophobia, and intolerance. This type of worldwide censure is new to the Danes, who are well-known for the rescue of their Jewish minority population during World War II, and who are the world’s largest per-capita contributors to foreign aid. The cartoon controversy sharpens the debate in Denmark over the prospects of integrating a burgeoning Muslim minority population into a liberal, democratic society. In an optimistic reading of Europe’s future, Euro-Muslims, like the Euro-Communists before them, will gradually abandon their authoritarian principles and embrace democratic pluralism. Pessimists envision growing numbers of Europe’s Muslims finding dignity and identity in rigid Islamist ideologies that seal them off from European culture. In this scenario, Muslim ghettoes function as Islamic colonies in the heart of Europe. If demographic trends continue, Muslims will soon be the majority in Europe. Most of the Muslims will be young; and most of the native Europeans will be old.
“Waraqah b. Nawfal’s Assurances of Muhammad’s Prophethood to Khadijah: An Examination of Historical and Contemporary Biographies.”
Phillip Hoefs, Temple University.
This paper proposes to examine the various traditions surrounding the meetings between Khadijah, the wife of Muhammad, and her cousin Waraqah b. Nawfal. The paper will begin by outlining historical sources regarding the two reported occasions of their meeting (before Khadijah’s marriage to Muhammad and after Muhammad’s first encounter with the angel Gabriel on Mt. Hira). It will argue that the meetings have lacked critical examination in modern biographies of Muhammad. Moreover, the paper will question whether the two narrated occasions of these meetings are in conflict with one another. Ultimately the paper will suggest that the earlier date of the meeting (before the marriage) than is typically mentioned in modern biographies might be more appropriate and that consequently the event merits more critical attention.
“Frei’s Typology of Christian Theology: A Comparative Look at the Islamic Tradition.”
Yasir S. Ibrahim, Montclair State University.
Hans Frei’s Types of Christian Theology investigates the various attitudes of Western theologians and philosophers toward modern Protestant theology.( 1 ) Frei chooses variables by which he categorizes the writings of these thinkers into types. This paper first analyzes Frei’s typology, locating some of these variables and demonstrating how they work within the Christian tradition, and then finds some parallels to Frei’s types in the Islamic tradition, specifically in modern articulations of theology and interpretation of scripture. In this comparative study, it will become clear that some of the variables used by Frei apply to the Islamic case as well, and that Frei’s typology, despite its Christian-specific formulation, can be of great value in the study of the spectrum of positions toward Islamic theology and Qur’anic interpretation, provided that its specific intra-Christian formulation is taken into account.
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( AAR 6.4 ) WOMEN AND RELIGION B: ( Friday, 9:00–11:00, White Oak A )
Panel = Negotiating New Terrains: American Women Missionaries and Preachers, 1836-1969.
Presiding: Karen Seat, The University of Arizona.
“The Gospel of Women and Wagons: Domesticating the American West.”
Shannon L. C. Cate, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
This paper will explore the role of religious and gender ideologies in the story of the United State’s conquest of the West, as illustrated in the life and work of Narcissa Prentiss Whitman (1808-1847). In 1836, Narcissa married a Presbyterian missionary she had known less than a week, and journeyed to the Oregon Territories to “civilize” and “Christianize” the American Indians living there. Judging by her journals and letters to her family, Narcissa was something of an unwitting ally in American imperialist endeavors; yet her failure to recognize her place in the complex power relations at work in westward expansion made her no less effective. Building on Amy Kaplan’s scholarship in “Manifest Domesticity” (1998), this paper illuminates the role that missionary women like Narcissa played as “domesticators” of what white Americans perceived as wilderness, thereby smoothing the way for a stream of settlers who wreaked havoc on the native peoples the missionaries had come to save.
“One Woman’s Christian Village: Missionary Work, Conversion and Literacy in Post World War II Angola.” Liz Rohan, University of Michigan–Dearborn.
Historically, missionaries have been in positions to undermine as well as aid colonial governments. As Kenelm Burridge has put it, even as agents of colonialism and ushers of modernity, missionaries have, for the most part, sought to protect peoples from the excesses of government and others. This paper examines the last decades of the sixty-year career of a white American missionary to Angola, Janette Miller (1879-1969), who persisted in promoting the area’s indigenous language, Umbundu, decades after other missionaries had succumbed to Portuguese mandates outlawing native languages. Miller, working independently after leaving a Congregationalist mission in 1929, developed a “Christian village” focused on native literacy and Christian women’s autonomous work. Miller’s missionary work fostered a relationship between evangelism, literacy, and conversion that was politically subversive within its particular colonial context, the final years of colonized rule in Angola.
“The Rev. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw in Context: Gender Politics and the Rise of Liberal Protestantism in the United States.” Karen K. Seat, The University of Arizona.
Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919) is a central figure in the women’s suffrage movement in the United States, whose life and work have received surprisingly little scholarly attention. An ordained Methodist minister, medical doctor, and successor of Susan B. Anthony as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Shaw’s life and work sheds light on the rise of liberal Protestantism at the turn of the nineteenth century. Shaw was among a growing contingent of Protestant activists who found ways to talk about the Bible and women’s rights in ways that resonated with religiously-minded audiences. Shaw’s life not only reveals the pulse of liberal Protestantism during this era, but also reflects major shifts in American culture that largely contributed to the divide between liberal/mainline and conservative/fundamentalist Protestantisms. While conservatives were actively working to undermine the women’s movement, Shaw worked to her death to claim the evangelical heritage for the pursuit of human rights and democracy.
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( AAR 6.5 ) THEOLOGY B: ( Friday, 9:00–11:00, White Oak B )
Presiding: Michael Kogan, Montclair State University.
“The Politics of Providence in the Economy of Salvation.”
Michael T. Dempsey, St. John’s University, NY.
This paper explores Karl Barth’s theology of divine providence and its ethical implications of human activity in social, political, and economic agency. Beginning with the modern problem of providence in the theology of Langdon Gilkey, I argue that Gilkey’s revisionist interpretations fails to engender constructive socio-political action because it undermines God’s sovereign and transcendent involvement in human action. For Gilkey and many other theological revisionists today, human beings are not so much guided by the eternal and sovereign plan of providence as they are left to their own devices to actualize various possibilities for human existence apart from God’s efficacious grace and sovereignty. By contrast, Karl Barth’s theology maintains the universal, sovereign agency of God’s providence by affirming the unique identity of the God of Israel and of Jesus Christ whose transcendence does not conflict or compete with human beings, but rather establishes human beings in the relative autonomy of their own freedom and enables them to participate in God’s plan for salvation by coordinating and integrating human activity into salvation history for the Kingdom of God. The paper concludes by noting several political and economic implications of God’s providence in the economy of salvation.
“Election and Baptism in Karl Barth’s Theology.”
W. Travis McMaken, Princeton Theological Seminary.
Barth’s treatment of the doctrine of election in CD II.2 bears directly upon his work on baptism in CD IV.4. First, the radical objectivity of election in Jesus Christ drives the radical objectivity found in Barth’s treatment of Atonement, Justification and Sanctification. This radical objectivity is what lies behind Barth’s treatment of baptism as the decisive human act that lies at the beginning of the Christian life, as opposed to an event that in some way mediates salvation. For, if salvation is complete in every way in Jesus Christ, and we are joined to Christ by our election in him, what need is there for further mediation? Second, Barth’s radical objectivity tending toward universalism as founded in his doctrine of election also serves to relativize Barth’s rejection of infant baptism. For, if salvation is complete in every way in Jesus Christ, and if baptism does not mediate any further aspect of salvation, why should infants not be baptized?
“Can the Electing God be God Without Us? Some Implications of Bruce McCormack’s Understanding of Barth’s Doctrine of Election for the Doctrine of the Trinity.”
Paul D. Molnar, St. John’s University, NY.
This paper will proceed by recapitulating the main lines of Bruce McCormack’s thesis that Barth became a fully fledged “post-metaphysical” theologian from Church Dogmatics II/2 (1942) (The Doctrine of Election) onward so that while one might claim that Barth believed the doctrine of the Trinity logically preceded that of election before he wrote CD II/2, one could no longer make that assertion after that. Relying on Barth’s own writings, I will argue that Barth’s position demonstrates just the opposite. Throughout the CD he frequently re-affirms his thinking expressed in an interview in the years just before his death in 1968 by insisting that “behind the doctrine of election stands the doctrine of the Trinity. That is the order. The doctrine of the Trinity, election and then sanctification, etc.” When asked whether he would still support his earlier view that God would be no less God “even without the world and us” since “His love has its object in himself” Barth replied: “Splendid, isn’t it!”
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SESSION VII: (Friday, March 2, 11:10–12:40 ):
( AAR 7.1 ) AFRICAN-AMERICAN RELIGION: ( Friday, 11:10–12:30, Knight )
Presiding: E. Obiri Addo, Drew University.
Where Two or More Gather Together: Decoding the Ecclesiology of Two Black Mega Church Ministries.” Mary Hinton. College Misericordia.
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). This often cited biblical quote indicates that the communal presence of worshippers evokes the presence of God. In our more-is-better society, it is not surprising that we have applied a supersized mentality to our worship lives. If two or more promises the presence of God, what wonders may be had if 200 or more, 2,000 or more, 20,000 or more are gathered together? Will the presence of God be more magnificent, more palpable, more revelatory under these conditions? This paper examines the ecclesiology of two black mega churches – T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House Church and Creflo Dollar’s World Changers Church International - which bring together tens of thousands in the name of God. Following a brief exploration of the situational context of the mega churches, the ecclesiology of these two mega churches will be examined. Insights into the theology of the mega churches, and the implications of this theology within the black church and community, will be explored.
“ ‘Spittin’ Fire:’ Feeling the Spirit in Heidegger and Hip-Hop.”
Brandee Mimitzraiem, Drew University.
Only through understanding the spirit of Hip-Hop (as well as the Spirit in Hip-Hop) can we begin to postulate how Hip-Hop is, as Anthony Pinn suggests, Black Religion and, perhaps a bit more interesting, how Hip-Hop theologizes and is theology. If Hip-Hop – as a cultural phenomenon, a way of life and a way of being – says anything about God it does so only through the free gift of revelation, only through the existence of the Spirit in it. I propose, here, that the spirit of Hip-Hop is rendered intelligible through the German term Geist. Specifically, Hip-Hop’s spirit – and its connection with the Spirit – is able to be understood through Jacques Derrida’s explanation of Martin Heidegger’s use, meaning and construction of the word geist.
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( AAR 7.2 ) RELIGIONS OF ASIA A: ( Friday, 11:00–12:30, Mather )
Presiding: Lise Vail, Montclair State University.
“The Four-Seven Debate in Korean Neo-Confucianism and Contemporary Discussions of Emotions.” Suck Choi, Towson University.
Since T’oegye and Kobong began their philosophical debates on the “Four Beginnings” (of virtue) and “Seven Emotions” in the spring of 1559, the so-called “Four-Seven” debate has been regarded as one of the most challenging controversies not only in the history of Korean Neo-Confucianism, but also in the whole East Asian Neo-Confucian tradition. The depth and breadth of this debate covers diverse philosophical notions such as human nature, li (i), ch’i (ki), self-cultivation, and so on, and thus demands a comprehensive and critical understanding of Neo-Confucianism in general. Although many commentators evaluated the historical significance of the debate within the history of Neo-Confucianism, they did not fully enough examine the question of how much this debate is relevant to our lives or to the contemporary discussions of emotions. In this paper, I’ll first explore the metaphysical, moral, and psychological implications of the Four Beginnings and Seven Emotions in the Four-Seven debate, focusing on Toegye’s, Kobong’s, and Yulgok’s arguments. In doing so, I will demonstrate that this debate is not simply a textual debate. Second, I’ll be especially concerned to show that the Four-Seven debate should be re-examined in terms of the contemporary discussions of emotions. Each thinker’s view in the Four-Seven debate might be interpreted either as a cognitive theory or as a feeling theory, but the debate embraces both the main positions and problems of the major theories of emotion. The question of whether the Four-Seven debate can possibly offer an alternative will be examined.
“Empty Words, Turning Words & Word Magic: Irony, Instrumentality, & Identity in a Postmetaphysical Buddhist Critique of Language.”
James Mark Shields, Bucknell University.
In recent years, issues of language have emerged as a locus for critique of what Robert Sharf among others has identified as the modern "construction" of Zen on the basis of a pure, non-linguistic experience. Though scholarly analysis of the Zen "problem" with language has arisen at least partly as a response to so-called "linguistic turn" in modern Western philosophy-the issue also has long roots within Buddhism, dating as far back as the early Mahâyâna sutras. This paper situates the various limits and possibilities of a specifically Mahâyâna Buddhist critique of language, utilizing resources from the Mahâyâna traditions as well as Richard Rorty's arguments for a ironist, postmetaphysical understanding of language. This paper explores the significance of language as part of identity-formation in Buddhism, the roots and implications of Sino-Japanese critiques of language and discursive knowledge as well as the Chan/Zen use of "turning words," and the role of "external" religio-cultural accretions (e.g., Hindu mantras, the "un-Daoable" Dao, Shinto kotodama, and Greco-Christian Logos) in shaping modern East Asian Buddhist understandings of language in a religious context.
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( AAR 7.3 ) INTERFAITH PANEL: Theme=The Women of Abraham.
( Friday, 11:25–12:40, Talbot )
Presiding: Habibeh Rahim, St. Johns’ University, NY.
Participants: Michael Kogan, Montclair State University.
Catherine Martin, The College of Saint Elizabeth.
Habibeh Rahim, St. John’s University, NY.
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( AAR 7.4 ) RELIGION AND THE ARTS A: ( Friday, 11:10–12:30, White Oak A )
Presiding: Mikhail Sergeev, The University of the Arts.
“A Pre-Appearance of the Truth: Toward a Christological Aesthetics.”
D. W. Congdon, Princeton Theological Seminary.
Contemporary theological aesthetics generally connect the exploration of beauty to the Father or the Spirit, without giving aesthetics a properly christocentric orientation. This paper aims to develop a christological aesthetics in which the person and work of Christ provide the starting-point. The first section critically engages some recent attempts to develop a theological aesthetics. The second section explores the doctrine of justification as “the heart of the Christian faith” (Jüngel) in terms of its christological and existential dimensions. The third section constructs the basic contours of a christological aesthetics as both anamnesis and prolepsis. Beauty is the “pre-appearance” of the truth, which does not fashion ontologically new persons, but rather functions as an iconic “pre-appearance” of justification’s ontological work. In the fourth and final section, the paper offers several reflections on the ways a christological aesthetics would benefit the doctrines of the Trinity, creation, and natural theology.
“To Act or Be Acted Upon: Nicholas Wolterstorff and Hans Urs von Balthasar on Shaftesburean Disinterestedness.” Daniel Wade McClain, Independent Scholar.
Aesthetic disinterestedness is rooted in the idea that the power of aesthetic experience resides in the perceiver. This notion of disinterestedness creates a basic problem for modern philosophical aesthetics: while philosophy can talk about the hermeneutics and psychology of aesthetics, it can neither talk about the external object qua aesthetic object, nor discuss the actions and effects of the object. Disinterestedness, therefore, limits aesthetic theory’s ability to contribute to other disciplines. Fields previously interested in the impact of the aesthetic (especially philosophy and theology) have acclimated to this problematic by often leaving aesthetics out of the picture altogether, focusing instead on texts (hermeneutics) and human actions (ethics). The emergence of modern aesthetic disinterestedness can be traced as far back as Anthony, Earl of Shaftesbury’s Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), in which he posits the locus of aesthetic experience in a completely interior experience that occurs for its own sake. Shaftesbury’s aim is to extract the aesthetic and ethical reactions of the individual from clutches of egoistic, utilitarian ends. But in their more recent re-evaluation of this problematic, Nicholas Wolterstorff and Hans Urs von Balthasar argue that the internalization of the aesthetic experience sets aesthetics on an isolated course that obfuscates its commitment to anything not pertaining directly to the “institute of high art,” which is devoted solely to the disinterested experience (Wolterstorff). This further compounds a rift between theological discourse and theological reflection of the category of glory as a vehicle for dynamic relationality between the Triune God and humanity (Balthasar). I argue that Wolterstorff and Balthasar, though working in divergent traditions, are in fact employing a similar critique and corrective to Shaftesbury’s hyper-interiorization of the aesthetic experience, and share a kind of understanding of the aesthetic as embodied knowledge. This notion of the aesthetic enables aesthetics to speak not only about the subjective aesthetic experience but also, more importantly, the actions of the aesthetic objects that are experienced. Further, the notion enables theologians to employ aesthetic analyses of human and divine actions and agency, whereas they have typically only employed hermeneutic analyses.
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SESSION VIII : (Friday, March 2, 2:00–4:00 pm ):
( AAR 8.1 ) PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION B: ( Friday, 2:00–4:00, Knight )
Panel=Semiotic Rhythms and Ecstatic Naturalism.
Presiding: Robert Sutton, Cape Fear Community College.
“The Ecstatic and the Ecosophic Difference: Arne Naess and Robert Corrington in Dialog.” Sigridur Gudmarsdottir, Drew University, NJ.
Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess describes the arctic treeline in this way: “. . . The treeline is full of symbolic value: enigmatic, mystical, threatening, liberating and alluring- and repulsive and ominous.” [ “Metaphysics of the Treeline” Appalachia 188 (1989) ]. Naess´ powerful language of the repulsiveness and attraction of the arctic woods in their multitudes resembles in interesting ways Corrington´s depiction of the ontological wound between nature naturing and nature natured as both terrifying and fascinating. Corrington and Naess share a strong investment in Spinozian metaphysics of nature, from which their perspectives draw their intensities and joys. For both thinkers on each side of the Atlantic, the vastness and varieties of natura naturans calls for a shift from the anthropocentrism of most Western metaphysics, into biophilic ecosophy (Naess) and world semiosis which is not reserved for humans (Corrington).
“Semiotics and the Tension Between Finitude and Transcendence in Robert Corrington and George Santayana.” Edward Lovely, Independent Scholar, Kinnelon, NJ.
In their individual naturalistic visions both Robert Corrington and George Santayana identify transcendence as that movement in the human process toward transfiguration or salvation. At the same time Corrington recalls for us “the pervasive logic of finitude” which is that grund of material processes from which emanate consciousness, transcendence and the embodiment of all “products and utterances” of humanity. In the dense semiosis of the natural world Corrington and Santayana identify compatible fields for a post-Christian religiousness of transcendence, which will be traced in the paper.
“Chora and Ecstatic Naturalism: Restlessness and Stillness at the Heart of Nature.”
Martin Yalcin, Drew University.
The psychoanalytic tradition has been a fertile source of engagement for ecstatic naturalism. Chief among the concepts borrowed from that tradition is that of chora, variously considered as receptacle, womb, nurse, mother and foster mother by Plato, who introduced the concept in his seminal work, Timaeus. The psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva employed the concept within a psycho-linguistic paradigm expounded in the work entitled Revolution in Poetic Language. I wish to consider how the concept of chora has helped develop the theory of ontological difference in ecstatic naturalism, i.e., the fundamental divide between nature naturing and nature natured. As a complement to the psychoanalytic work of Kristeva, I will also look at Jacques Derrida’s analysis of chora, insofar as Derrida’s work is relevant to the theory of semiotics in ecstatic naturalism.
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( AAR 8.2 ) RELIGIONS OF ASIA B: ( Friday, 2:00–4:00, Mather )
Presiding: Lise Vail, Montclair State University.
“Monks and Medicine: Healing in Early Medieval Chinese Buddhist Hagiography.”
C. Pierce Salguero, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
This paper explores the medical content in the earliest Chinese Buddhist hagiographic literature, the sixth century Gao Seng Zhuan (GSZ). Healing plays a major role in this text, but these episodes present challenges to the historiography of medicine in China. Rather than depicting the canonical techniques of acupuncture, moxibustion, or herbal therapy, the GSZ features exorcism, miracles, spell-casting, and intervention by deities. The GSZ describes healing in the language of purification, salvation, and intervention, in contrast to the cultivation of yin and yang and the regulation of the five phases. Though the GSZ draws heavily on Indian conceptions of the body, healing, and agency, these ideas are mediated and sinicized through Chinese literary conventions and other aspects of popular culture. The GSZ attunes us to the possibility that Buddhism offered a competing medical model that was more relevant in Six Dynasties China than the canonical system of the Yellow Emperor.
“The “Eco-Theology” of Bishnoi and Bhil Communities.”
Pankaj Jain, Rutgers University.
“It is better to sacrifice your head to save a tree. Accepting a price for your sacrifice becomes a stigma on your sacrifice.” (sign posted on a Bishnoi memorial at Khejadali in Rajasthan, India, 07-11-06). “How can we cut the trees of the God?” (recited by people at a temple in Banswara, Rajasthan, 07-20-06).
The first quote is from the founder of the Bishnoi community, Guru Jambheshwar, born in 1451 in Western Rajasthan; the second is taken from the Bhil community of Southern Rajasthan. Both are meant to protect the trees in Rajasthan, an Indian state famous for its vast desert and frequent droughts. My paper offers a comparative study of the motivations of the Bishnoi religious teacher to instill “ecological reverence” in his followers, the Bishnois, and the theological practices of Bhil community in Southern Rajasthan, where his teachings have persisted for more than 500 years, and the Bhil villages of Southern Rajasthan. Although Bishnois are mainly farmers and vegetarians, Bhils are mainly hunters-gatherers and meat eaters. While Bishnois today are seen to be political and social rivals of the other powerful groups such as Rajputs and Jats, Bhils are still seen as tribal community on the fringes of the mainstream society. Despite these obvious differences, both have tried to save and protect trees in their villages.
Scholars of Indian environmental ethics have differentiated two models of environmental awareness for India, based on a long-standing “snake-mongoose conflict” of India between the householders and renunciates (Jain 2006; Thapar 1982). Householders practice their religion chiefly by devotional and ritualistic activities whereas renunciates practice their religion chiefly by ascetic practices. My paper evaluates the Bishnoi and Bhil ecological practices from both of these models. The Bishnoi founder was an ascetic but the Bishnois, as householders, adopt devotional practices. While the Bishnoi community has often been mentioned in South Asian ecological scholarship since the Chipko movement captured the attention of the world, an in-depth study of this community remains a conspicuous lacuna. This project will bring to the fore the often heard, yet rarely studied, community of Bishnois and their relationship with the ecology of Rajasthan in comparison with the Bhil community of Southern Rajasthan.
“Religious Trends and Counter-Currents in Korea.”
Michael Ralston, Department of Defense.
After twenty years of surveying the religious landscape in Korea, in 2004, for the first time, the number of people with a religious affiliation exceeded the number of those with no religion or no religious affiliation. This seems to indicate increasing religiosity in Korean society, but a closer examination reveals that while the number of believers has been increasing, depth of belief and views of religion are mixed. Examining changes in views about religion among Buddhists, Catholics, and Protestants, and examining which beliefs have increased or decreased in intensity will provide a truer picture of religion in modern Korea.
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( AAR 8.3 ) HISTORY OF RELIGION: ( Friday, 2:00–4:00, Talbot )
Presiding: Jacqueline Pastis, La Salle University.
“The Name of Demeter Thesmophoros.”
Allaire B. Stallsmith, Towson University.
This paper considers the meaning of the goddess Demeter’s title Thesmophoros, sometimes translated ‘lawbringer’. Demeter’s numerous epithets refer to her functions as deity of agriculture, of Mysteries, or of the Underworld. These titles cohere with her role in cult and mythology. Yet she is the most apolitical of ancient Greek deities. Why then is she a Lawgiver? If the institution of the democratic polis meant a radical division between the public space of men and the private space of women, then Demeter belongs especially to the latter, celebrating her rituals inside her enclosed temple. It has been argued that thesmoi (from Gr. tithemi) should be understood as things ‘laid down’, ritual objects. A thesmos is indeed something ‘laid down’;not physical, but metaphysical. Thesmos is law; not nomos, human law, but divine law. The thesmoi are therefore the laws that govern the rites which ensured the community’s agricultural survival.
“Ancient Medicine and Oral Malodor in Post-Biblical Judaism.”
Jin Hee Han, New York Theological Seminary.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the rabbinic understanding of healing by analyzing its multifarious approach to illness in general and bad breath in particular. The Talmudic prescription for oral malodor (Kethuboth 75a and 77a) is well known for its down-to-earth approach. The degree of realism one can observe in the Talmudic Tractate of Kethuboth makes an interesting contrast with the spiritual significance it gives to offensive breath. The diverging postures toward illness in the Talmud and in the subsequent debate on oral malodor reflect efforts to grapple with the interplay of the physical dimension of health and the societal and religious significance of illness.
“Indigenous Religious Imagination of West Africa: Then and Now.”
E. Obiri Addo, Drew University.
From May 2nd to 6th, 1955, when the Gold Coast (now Ghana) was in the last stages of the transition from colonial rule to an independent, modern state the Christian Council of the Gold Coast held a conference to discuss the relationship of indigenous religions to Christianity. Academics and pastoral leaders presented papers ranging from beliefs in ancestors, sacred stools, libation, festivals, puberty rites, to witchcraft. In short the conference grappled with the centrality of the West African indigenous religious imagination in its encounter with the “new God” of Christianity, and the implications of this encounter for the modern state of Ghana.What was evident in several of the papers presented was the strength and vitality of traditional religious imagination, even though Christian missionaries had set it aside with sometimes derogatory descriptions such as fetishism, animism, and paganism. What then, is the current status of the
indigenous religious imagination? What is the future of traditional religions?
Using Ghana as the context for this paper presentation the author reviews several of the conference papers in light of current religious scene, particularly the attitudes of charismatic and Pentecostal churches and argues that there is a discernible religious continuity in West Africa. Therefore, one cannot understand the growth and vitality of the “new” religious movements without giving credit to the resilience of the indigenous religious imagination. The Akan adage which says that wonnibribi de ma w’ase a, wommo no krono (if you have nothing to say “thank you” to your in-law you don’t steal from them) is used as a discursive metaphor for the presentation. The paper is a portion of a work in progress. It is a study of indigenous
shrines with females as central religious authorities.
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( AAR 8.4 ) RELIGION AND THE ARTS B: ( Friday, 2:00–4:00, White Oak A )
Presiding: Mikhail Sergeev, The University of the Arts.
“The Great Divide: The Apocalypse in the 19th and 20th Century.”
Johanna Monighan-Schaefer, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA.
The Apocalypse is one of the most illustrated books of the Bible. In an age of growing industrialization and material optimism, most 19th century artists ignored this biblical book, with its predictions of doom that did not appeal to a sentimental picture of Christ. Some artists, however, especially those influenced by the Nazarenes, managed to create dramatic yet dignified portraits of Revelation’s terrifying scenes of judgment. This influence continued throughout the first half of the 20th century, particularly in church commissioned art. On the other hand, artists outside of mainstream Christianity were inspired by the visions of the Apocalypse and created images out of an inner urge to capture and possibly comprehend the unimaginable. Thus, the 19th century marks the great divide between church art and high art. This paper will discuss works of art by Steinle (1838), Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1852-60), Lammers (1942) and Wachter (1985) as examples of church art, whereas the Apocalypse series of Blake (1803-05) and Beckmann (1941/42), the tapestry of Lurcat (1947) for the church in Assy, and the apocalyptic landscapes of Martin (1853) and Meidner (1913) exemplify the other side of the spectrum. Each artist’s visual interpretation of the biblical text is identified and demonstrated how it manifests the great divide.
“The Shadow of the Nineteenth Century across the First: The Primitive Church in Victorian Fiction.” Maria Poggi Johnson, University of Scranton.
The religious turbulence of the 19th century, and the century’s fascination with questions of origin, development and authenticity, combined with the popularity of historical fiction to produce a host of historical novels set in the early Christian centuries, many of them with explicitly religious themes and agendas. In this paper I will offer a very brief survey of the sub-genre, and then focus on three novels set in the first century that represent the three main branches of Victorian Anglicanism. Through a reading of Charlotte Yonge’s The Slaves of Sabinus, Frederic Farrar’s Darkness and Dawn and Abbott’s Onesimus I will show how the books deal with themes (moral development, the moral ascendency of Christianity over paganism, and the religious implications of the Higher Criticism, respectively) that their authors had dealt with elsewhere, in other works or in other genres. These authors, I will argue, make us of the genre to project onto the primitive Christianity an image coherent with their vision of the contemporary Church, and thus to suggest the authenticity of, the themes most important to themselves and to their allies in the century’s religious debates.
“Smile from Heaven: Religious Anecdotes as a Form of Folk Art.”
Mikhail Sergeev, The University of the Arts.
This paper is based on my present work of preparing an English language version of my collection of religious jokes and anecdotes, which appeared last year in Prague in the Russian language. Most of the collected jokes reflect the Judeo-Christian culture and values, and are religious, not anti-religious jokes. In the present English version, I have divided these jokes into major subjections, including: (1)11th Commandment (Judaism); (2)Paradise Lost (Adam and Eve, Creation); (3)Born Again and Again (Western Christianity); (4)New (Russian) Testament (Orthodoxy); ( 5 )Priest, Rabbi, and Mullah (Interreligious Dialogue); (6)Sinning Is Believing (Sin and Evil); (7 The Word and the Sword (Religion and Politics); (8 )It Will Only Look Like Eternity ( Heaven and Hell ). Samples will be provided, reviewed, and evaluated for their import.
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( AAR 8.5 ) COMPARATIVE & HISTORICAL STUDIES IN RELIGION B:
( Friday, 2:00–4:00, White Oak B )
Presiding: Charles Selengut, Drew University.
“Revisiting Latin American Religious Ferment: A Multi-Pronged Approach.”
Janel Kragt Bakker, The Catholic University of America.
Since the late 1980s, progressive Catholicism, which was widely trumpeted as the future of the Latin American masses only two decades earlier, has surprised onlookers with its marked decline. Latin American popular classes have largely rejected the “preferential option for the poor” and chosen instead to affiliate with pneumacentric movements such as Pentecostalism, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, and African diasporan religions. While previous scholarship has tended to hone in on a single factor to explain such perplexities, this paper promotes a multi-pronged approach to Latin American religious ferment— incorporating rational choice theory, historical investigation, and analysis of competing religious ideologies. It concludes that changes in Latin American religious adherence reflect broad historical developments as well as an institutional crisis in the Catholic Church. Handicapped internally by divisions and structural weaknesses and externally by mounting religious competition, the progressive Church was unable to sustain the participation of the popular classes. Meanwhile, new movements captured popular religious imagination, aided by economic, social, and political upheavals around the continent that worked to their benefit.
“Two Figures of a Religious Left (and a Third).”
Timothy A. Brown, Pace University.
Much scholarly attention has been paid to the religious right, less so to a “religious left.” Recently, the American Rabbi Michael Lerner has taken up this term in a call to action to “spiritual progressives” to counter the power of a religious right and its ties to the Bush administration. In an analogous historical context in France in the 1930’s, Roger Caillois, George Bataille, and others founded the “College of Sociology” for the study of the sacred, or “sacrology.” For Caillois, this society has an expressly political bent in its call to action against the rise of fascism in Europe. In effect, both Lerner the “religious insider” and Caillois the “religious outsider” or “para-religionist” create a religious or sacred figure that is radically resistant to a religious right and fascism, though from completely different angles. The essay will provide a descriptive and comparative analysis of these two figures of religious resistance as developed in the writings of Lerner and Caillois. The focus will be on Lerner’s The Left Hand of God and Caillois’s “Winter Wind” essay. I will utilize a method of comparison and differentiation similar to that exemplified in the work of J. Z. Smith. Bruce Lincoln’s writing on “religions of resistance,” “religions of revolution,” and “para-religions” in his recent Holy Terrors will provide important theoretical notions toward differentiating Lerner and Caillois’s converging figures. Further, the essay will argue that a juxtaposition of these two religious figures evokes yet a third figure. This third figure, neither explicitly a religious insider nor outsider, is suspended or wavers in the tense interval between the former two. Given the diversity that inhabits each of these figures, the three, together, form a veritable crowd or multitude of resistance and, potentially, revolution.
“God’s Infantry: Messianic Radicalism and Zionist Nationalism.”
Charles Selengut, Drew University.
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