Social Contexts and Interreligious Encounters: South Asian Perspectives
In a one-day event, free of cost, we invite you to explore with us what interreligious encounter means in the social context of South Asia, and what other parts of the body of Christ, in the Netherlands and Europe, can learn from this encounter.
About the event
Europe is becoming multi-cultural and multi-religious, a fact that sparks different reactions – from fearfulness and anxiety to openness for the new and adventurous. What does this mean for Christian witness? Will Christians be bold to engage with the new faiths that seems so different or will they bury their heads in sand and their faith behind closed doors? Will the perceived opposition between commitment and openness to others bog their witness down or will they exhibit humility and confidence to listen and to speak?
The South Asian Christian community, much like the early church, has always lived in a multi-religious environment, developing unique ways of witnessing and a distinct theological reflection that is shaped by its context. If willing, the church in the Netherlands and Europe can gather much as to what witnessing means in a multi-religious context by listening to her counterpart in South Asia.
Time and location
The event will take place 9 March 2023 from 13:30-17:00 PM.
Venue: Filmzaal, Protestant Theological University, Groningen & online.
Programme
Interview with Guest Speaker: Vinoth Ramachandra (IFES Secretary for Dialogue & Social Engagement, Sri Lanka, author of Faiths in Conflict and The Recovery of Mission).
Paper presentations
- "Prospects and Hurdles of Interreligious Encounters in the Social Context of India: A Mizo Tribal Perspective", by Billy Zorinthara.
- "Interreligious Encounter and Power Asymmetry: Problems and Possibilities for Christian witness in the Context of North India", by Charles Christian
- "Religion, Modernity and the Construct of the Secular: Raimundo Pannikar's Idea of Sacred Secularity and Theology of Religions", by Ihtsham Ravi.
Organised by the research group Intercultural Theology at the PThU, Groningen. The event is also open to other scholars in the field.
Registration
Please RSVP by 7 March 2023 to Charles Christian: c.s.christian@pthu.nl or +31647266566.
