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Competing Christianities: violence, ideology and war in Europe and beyond

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In the first half of the twentieth century, it was mostly secular totalitarianism providing the ideological legitimacy for violent actions, aggressive wars and restrictive politics. Nowadays, however, they are more often neoconservative, nationalistic ideologies - and they prominently cite specific reading of Scripture and rely on the interpretation of salvation history and Christian moral tradition. In this online course, we look at the issue of religiously charged ideologies and fundamentalist versions of Christianity. This online course is a recording of a panel during the international PThU conference 2022.

  • Course content

    In the face of current confrontations, such as the one in Ukraine, we need to re-examine the Christian tradition for its inherent potential for counternarratives and opposing concepts, offering perspectives to de-escalate conflict, disprove seductive utopias on Christian grounds, and promote reconciliation: possibly, sooner or later. Theology still has some work to do in this regard.

    All speakers have chosen specific cases of conflict based on their own experience and background.

    Panel members

    • Moderator: Alfons Brüning, Professor of Orthodoxy and Peace keeping in Europe, PThU
    • Heleen Zorgdrager, professor of Systematic theology and Gender Studies, PThU: ‘Religion, sacrifice, and civic nationalism in times of war: competing interpretations of John 15:13’
    • Dorottya Nagy, professor of Theologie and Migration, PThU: ‘Your neighbour in your home - your neighbour’s home: theological reflections on receiving war refugees from Ukraine in neighbouring countries’
    • Marten van den Toren, PhD student, PThU: ‘Defending the family and the nation?: Pentecostal potentialities for violence and peace across the hispanosphere’
    • Alfons Brüning, Professor of Orthodoxy and Peace keeping in Europe, PThU: ‘ ”Brave New Worlds” and the heavenly kingdom – reflections on religion and ideology in times of war (The ‘Russian world’ and orthodoxy in Ukraine)’

  • Target audience

    Theologians, ministers, pastors, church workers.

  • Data and availability

    The panel lasts approximately 1.75 hours. The course material remains permanently available and can be viewed at any time.

  • Costs

    Costs for this online course are € 10.

  • Registering

    You can register by filling in the form on this page. You can pay immediately. After payment, you will receive the course material via the email address you entered on the form.

Registering

After registering and paying, the online recordings will be sent to the e-mail address you have provided.