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The Humble Proposals controversy (1652) offered competing interpretations of what ‘the propagation of the Gospel’ meant in revolutionary England and what degree of religious toleration it ought to entail. This dispute had far-reaching implications – not only for radical Protestant sects, but also for Catholics, Jews, and American Indigenous nations who lived, or might soon live, under English rule. For John Owen and other politically influential clerics, secular authorities were morally obligated to provide their subjects with access to soul-saving truth and to protect them from being exposed to anything a Reformed Christian would consider idolatry, blasphemy, or Sabbath-breaking. Within these limits, Owen and his allies supported toleration as an expression of Protestant irenicism or a means to evangelise Jews. By contrast, Owen’s critics, led by Roger Williams, repudiated the state’s moral obligation to evangelise its subjects. The radicals’ more expansive case for tolerating sectarians, Jews, and ‘idolaters’ was neither irenic nor conversionist. This was especially true of Williams, whose grim apocalyptic response to the evangelical zeal of his countrymen was rooted in a deep scepticism about the capacity of any human efforts, however well-intentioned, to lead others to the truth before the appointed hour for cataclysmic bloodshed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of moving away from faith in God has taken place in Europe with varying dynamics in individual countries at least since the end of the Second World War. In Poland, secularisation slowed down significantly during the Communist period; however, it gained momentum after the changes initiated in 1989 and after Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004. The process of departing from faith in God was strongly accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this trend was particularly noticeable among young Poles. In the context of cultural change, the formation of young people to faith in God has become a major challenge for Christian churches. The Catholic Church—not only in Poland—is searching for new forms, ways and programmes of religious formation for young people. Fourteen dioceses in Poland are implementing a three-year formation programme titled "Youth on the Threshold" (Polish: "Młodzi na Progu"). It was initiated in the Diocese of Gliwice in 2004, has its own website and is constantly being developed. In 2021, a youth survey was conducted in the Diocese of Tarnów to evaluate this programme. The results of this evaluation, when compared with surveys of religiousness in youth in general, show its positive effects on the continuation of and even the development of faith in God. This article first presents the main assumptions of the "Youth on the Threshold" programme and then the results of its evaluation based on a survey about faith in God conducted among those who completed the programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Church, in its work of evangelisation, has always invested its resources, including in the regulation of sacred art, on man and on the instruments to be used for this purpose. It therefore becomes fundamental to combine the proclamation and the conditions of its reception, because the pastoral care of artists requires an aesthetic sensibility combined with a Christian sensibility, constituting a privileged site of the pastoral care of culture, for a proclamation of the Gospel that is truly sensitive to the "signs of the times". This is the context of "Via Pulchritudinis", Path of Evangelisation and Dialogue, a document of the Pontifical Council for Culture of March 2006, in which that places the "aesthetic dimension" and the protection of sacred art at the service of dialogue and evangelisation of cultures. In this paper, starting from the analysis of the aforementioned document, we propose to reconstruct and synthetically investigate, from a historical-legal point of view, the evolution in the Church of the way of conceiving the evangelising function, in that combination of art and rules that contributes to that proclamation of 'beauty' as a way of dialogue and witness to the truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L’Afrique noire, perçue comme une terre sans propriétaire, fait l’objet de balkanisation à la Conférence de Berlin entre 1884 et 1885. Dans la foulée, Jules Ferry annonce le droit absolu des races dites "supérieures" (blanches) sur les races dites "inférieures" (noires). La puissance colonisatrice imposait alors sa vision du monde comme la seule valable, et l’assimilation comme seul moyen de progrès. Bref, de départir les autochtones d’une grande partie de leurs croyances, notamment islamiques, qui, dans la vision coloniale, devaient être remplacées par d’autres venues d’Europe. Pour ce faire, le thème de l’évangélisation des peuples indigènes devait être mis en avant, en Afrique subsaharienne, par des missionnaires catholiques européens sous l’égide de l’administration coloniale et, bien entendu, à ses ordres. Le missionnaire et le colonialiste étaient alors, et sans aucun doute, très complices. Tous deux, chacun à sa manière, étaient au service d’une idéologie qui s’évertuait à faire accepter une "supériorité" de l’homme blanc sur l’homme non blanc. Dans cette optique, ils ont été amenés à se liguer pour combattre l’Islam et sa civilisation.

It is a glaring fact that the environment has constantly been subjected to deforestation, air and atmospheric pollution, and many other related factors that threaten both human and animal life. Individuals, governments, churches, etc. have long identified the pressure on the ecology and have addressed it from different perspectives. This paper thus sought to address this environmental problem from a religious or Christian point of view. Since the paper involved the analysis of a text (Mark 16:15), text critical method was applied. This method studies and compares ancient manuscripts of texts like biblical passages to find out which texts were originally written by the author and can thus be proved authentic. It was found out in the analysis that though Mark 16:15 was not written by the original author of Mark’s gospel, the text laid bare the fact that Christians especially, must have a strong sense of responsibility towards nature. Enshrined in Jesus’s mandate to his disciples in Mark 16:15 is the Christian responsibility to care for created things. It appears, however, that in their evangelisation plans, Christians concentrate more on the salvation of human beings than the survival of the ecology which suffers from the handiworks of humans. Christians are, therefore, encouraged to value nature and take necessary measures to ensure its survival. This paper contributes to the debate on how sacred texts can positively influence humanity’s attitudes towards the ecosystem. It creates the awareness that nature is God’s greatest gift to humanity and must be properly cared for.

This article explores ethnographically the impact of foreign missionaries in a Maya Mam community of Guatemala between 1954 and the end of the 1970s. As previously evidenced, the development-oriented activities of the missionaries were well received by local youths as they enabled their empowerment before the Ladino population and endorsed rebellion against the civil-religious status quo of communal power. This article proposes that, despite causing a rupture that sometimes escalated into violence, the communal order reshaped by rebellious youths maintained elements of continuity with the past. By analysing the persistent entanglement of power and religion and an emerging relevance of basketball through the lens of Graeber and Sahlins’ reflections on the divine origins of power, we can see how, under the surface of the explicit rupture, there was a hidden attempt to appropriate modernity by placing it within the Indigenous logics of rituality and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street preaching can be defined as a religious practice in which evangelists seek to spread their Christian faith and messages to unknown people in open-air and free transit spaces (e.g. parks, avenues, boulevards, squares). Because of the increasing presence of street preachers in the streets of Barcelona, Spain, encountering evangelists or 'being approached' has become intrinsic to the urban experience of some inhabitants. Using a qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations, I explore why and how Pentecostal believers—many of whom are from Latin American backgrounds—engage in street preaching in Barcelona. In so doing, I seek to engage in conversations about the visibility of religious minorities' performance in European urban settings and contribute to the 'reverse mission' debate in World Christianity as well as to the study of migrant Pentecostalism in Europe. I argue that, in order to understand why some Pentecostal Latin American believers venture into urban spaces, it is crucial to complement recruitment-based approaches with perspectives that re-conceptualise street preaching from a social, ethnic, and spatial standpoint. I suggest that street preaching intertwines with Christian beliefs, moral representations of the city, and ethnic concerns and acts as a critical medium through which street preachers claim a space for God in the city of Barcelona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a glaring fact that the environment has constantly been subjected to deforestation, air and atmospheric pollution, and many other related factors that threaten both human and animal life. Individuals, governments, churches, etc. have long identified the pressure on the ecology and have addressed it from different perspectives. This paper thus sought to address this environmental problem from a religious or Christian point of view. Since the paper involved the analysis of a text (Mark 16:15), text critical method was applied. This method studies and compares ancient manuscripts of texts like biblical passages to find out which texts were originally written by the author and can thus be proved authentic. It was found out in the analysis that though Mark 16:15 was not written by the original author of Mark's gospel, the text laid bare the fact that Christians especially, must have a strong sense of responsibility towards nature. Enshrined in Jesus's mandate to his disciples in Mark 16:15 is the Christian responsibility to care for created things. It appears, however, that in their evangelisation plans, Christians concentrate more on the salvation of human beings than the survival of the ecology which suffers from the handiworks of humans. Christians are, therefore, encouraged to value nature and take necessary measures to ensure its survival. This paper contributes to the debate on how sacred texts can positively influence humanity's attitudes towards the ecosystem. It creates the awareness that nature is God's greatest gift to humanity and must be properly cared for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents selected examples of the synthesis of the Gospel and life, which is the goal of contemporary evangelization. In implementing the prophetic purpose, it was emphasized that the proclamation of the Word of God is to illuminate and transform human existence. In implementing the priestly function, the focus was on celebrating the Eucharist, revealing it as a source of human strength and energy, a school of sacramental perception of life and appreciation of matter, as well as a space for forming a new man. In the implementation of the priestly function, however, attention was paid to the presence of the Church in the world and the Christian lifestyle, which is closely related to the promotion of man and the quality of his life. The study emphasizes that the existential orientation of evangelization establishes the proper relationship of the Church with the world. It involves accepting the world, dialogue with it, and transforming it in the spirit of the Gospel.

Le christianisme africain on le sait, est intimement lié à la situation coloniale et souffre de l’ambiguïté de celle-ci. L’évangélisation de l’Afrique s’est faite dans un contexte de violence. Les missionnaires européens n’ont pas pu renoncer à la politique de la « tabula rasa » et considère l’homme africain avec ses aspirations fondamentales, avec sa vision particulière du monde, de l’homme et de Dieu. C’est une thèse chère à la société africaine que dans tous les rapports qui se sont établis entre l’Afrique et l’Europe. La conversion à l’église supposait l’adhésion à des valeurs occidentales touchant le fondement même de la société africaine.

The present study analyzes fifty years of theological reflection in Uruguay, specifically at the Faculty of Theology of Uruguay "Mons. Mariano Soler" and its predecessor, the Theological Institute of Uruguay. These periodic publications demonstrate the research and production work in the area of theological thought in the country. Over time, different research topics have emerged, addressed from the different specialties of theological knowledge and ecclesiastical sciences in general. The progress of the Theological Institute of Uruguay has contributed to giving more importance to research and being more demanding in publications. The article presents the emergence of academic publications in Uruguay in the 1970s, as part of the Latin American theological movement following the Second Vatican Council. These publications, which include an Annual Book and a series of Notebooks, seek to be theological and pastoral contributions in service to the Church. The text talks about the publications of the Theological Institute of Uruguay and their evolution over the years. Initially, five issues of the magazine "Puntos de Apoyo" were published in 1983 and 1984, addressing specific topics related to theology. Then, for three years, there were no new publications. Starting in 1995, the magazine "Soleriana" began to be published, replacing the Annual Book and being published semi-annually. This new stage coincides with the creation of the degree in theology of evangelization and seeks to promote theological reflection in the service of evangelization in a context of secularization and social challenges. Soleriana magazine presents itself as a resource for the evangelization of Uruguayan culture, promoting interdisciplinary dialogue from theological thought. In 2000, the creation of the Faculty of Theology of Uruguay "Mons. Mariano Soler" is announced and the magazine becomes the faculty's magazine. The article presents a summary of the issues of Soleriana magazine published between 2001 and 2015. The topics addressed in each issue are mentioned, such as hope, the Virgin Mary, religiosity, and the evangelization of culture. It is highlighted that the magazine has experienced a crisis and decline in recent years, with a decrease in the number of issues published. The importance of research and academic production in the theological field is emphasized. Soleriana magazine has gone through different stages over the years. In the first stage, it focused on the history of the Church in Uruguay and had the participation of faculty students. In the second stage, the magazine faced difficulties and stopped having previous sections. In the third stage, the magazine was revitalized and began to be published semi-annually, with new sections and a focus on research. Style guidelines have been introduced and blind peer review has been implemented. The article presents the history of theological production at the Faculty of Theology of Uruguay "Mons. Mariano Soler" through its publications. The importance of Soleriana magazine is highlighted, which has adopted a style manual for article submission and has established formal requirements. The magazine has exclusively relied on research papers from authors, mostly faculty members. Additionally, the creation of its own research lines and the exchange with other academic publications are mentioned. On the other hand, the existence of books edited by the institution is mentioned, mainly by faculty professors. In conclusion, the contribution of these publications to Uruguayan theological production and their objective of contributing to the Church and national culture is highlighted. The article presents the work of the Theological Institute in Uruguay over the past 50 years. Although proposals for liberation theology emerged in the country, the institute did not embrace them. [Extracted from the article]

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a Danish context, Filipino migrants are often positioned as working class laborers from the global South. Yet this political positioning of work migrants does not catch the complex processes of individual social positioning within a transnational space. This article shows how social class is shaped by 1) political mobilization, 2) positions of employment and social status, 3) processes of gendered intimacy, and 4) performances of embodiment. Throughout every aspect, individual and institutional religiosity creates alternative spaces where the established social classes become less important. The interviewed Filipino Christians apply individual narratives of religious endeavour to complement their social situation in Denmark. DANSK RESUMÉ: Filippinske migranter bliver i en dansk kontekst ofte positioneret som ufaglært arbejdskraft fra det globale syd. Men den politiske positionering tager ikke højde for den ofte komplekse individuelle placering i et transnationalt socialt rum. Artiklen viser, hvordan social klasse er formet af 1) politisk mobilisering, 2) erhvervsmæssig placering og social status, 3) kønnede processer i intimsfæren, og 4) kropsliggørelse. I alle aspekter skaber både individuel og institutionel religiøsitet alternative rum, hvor de etablerede sociale klasser bliver mindre vigtige. De interviewede filippinske kristne kultiverer religiøse modnarrativer, der giver andre perspektiver på deres sociale situation i Danmark.

This paper focuses on the period of colonisation of Tierra del Fuego at the end of the 19th century and focuses on the actions of Thomas Bridges, an Anglican missionary, and Lucas Bridges, his son, a rancher with a good relationship with the native population. It analyses the continuity between them of certain conceptions of evangelisation – and its counterpart, civilisation – coming from the missionary milieus in which the father had been trained and acted, as well as the mutations and re-elaborations of some of its components in the son's actions.

Between 1844 and 1853, Guillaume Douarre, the first vicar apostolic of New Caledonia, along with a few Marist fathers and brothers, landed to evangelize New Caledonia. In a land untouched by colonial presence, despite France's intentions to take possession, the Marists began preaching in the local language they had learned. Immersed in a culture they were trying to understand, they obtained a few converts and trained catechists as future relays to the inhabitants. But in 1847, while Douarre was on a trip to Europe, a coalition led by several Kanak chiefs destroyed the mission and massacred one of the brothers. Based on the Bishop's Diary we can trace the origins of this tragedy. We learn that the Kanaks are wondering whether the "souls of the ancestors have returned", setting up an initial misunderstanding. Souls who are supposed to have power over the elements of nature. A second misunderstanding takes shape : the rite of baptism dispensed by "ancestors" causes death for some, especially when the plague epidemic results in the death of Christians too. These causes, combined with various frustrations, led to the destruction of the mission. Despite this failure, the inculturation of Christianity was at work, as witnessed by the emergence of a solid little Christianity. This was formed by Marists, applying a pedagogy of evangelization respectful of cultures recommended by the Propaganda Fide Instructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of digital technologies continues to lead us to a real upheaval in our ways of thinking, communicating, forming, transmit[1]ting the faith and evangelising. It is a kind of “digital ecosystem” that they establish. Catechesis is not exempt from this. The contribution considers seven main challenges that a “holistic e-catechesis” (in sense of digitised catechesis) seeks to address in the age of “digital ecologies”, due to changes in our relationships with knowledge, truth, temporality, authority, spiritual experience, pedagogy of initiation and community. We are urged to develop hybrid forms of combination between face-to-face and online catechesis, because given the law of “synesthetic” incarnation at the heart of the Christian faith, the all-digital approach remains an illusion.

Because it has experienced a process of secularisation for more than three centuries, France can be considered as a laboratory of the relevance of faith in a society for which it is no longer the cultural matrix. By showing how the central question of secularisation is in fact that of the relationship between faith and culture, this article proposes to consider Catholic schools as places where a new way for the Catholic Church to support humanity in its growth, at a personal and community level, is being elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of digital technologies continues to lead us to a real upheaval in our ways of thinking, communicating, forming, transmitting the faith and evangelising. It is a kind of “digital ecosystem” that they establish. Catechesis is not exempt from this. The contribution considers seven main challenges that a “holistic e-catechesis” seeks to address in the age of “digital ecologies”, due to changes in our relationships with knowledge, truth, temporality, authority, spiritual experience, pedagogy of initiation and community. We are urged to develop hybrid forms of combination between face-to-face and online catechesis, because given the law of “synesthetic” incarnation at the heart of the Christian faith, the all-digital approach remains an illusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate on the call to holiness in today's world presents again, as his predecessors did, a nuclear and constitutive theme of Christian life: the universal call to holiness in the Church (Lumen Gentium V). As we can perceive in many other places in his magisterium, his intention is pastoral, so that he provides elements to permeate the Church's mission in its different fields, as a way of fullness for the person and the community, but also as the specific contribution of believers in the social context they are called to care for and transform. With this article we want to offer a brief spiritual theology of holiness that provides a biblical, historical and dogmatic foundation that nourishes and deepens the ministry practice. To achieve this goal, we have delved into the sources of spiritual theology: (1) The data revealed from the selection, analysis and synthesis of the texts of Sacred Scripture. (2) The synthesis of wider research into the teaching contained in Tradition and the Magisterium. (3) What the Human Sciences can help us to understand of spiritual experience and the capacities that make it possible. (4) The vocation to holiness realized in the lives of so many believers throughout history and in our own day. It is necessary to offer the face of holiness in the Church by the example of canonized saints and those "next door", and to provide teaching that renews the "spiritual ardour" and "apostolic vigour" of all those who have encountered Christ and wish to share his life and mission in community of believers, responding to the one call to holiness that unfolds in different states of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of the variegated ties established across national borders by non-state actors by offering an account of the field of international mission agencies. Noting agencies' specific goal to promote the gospel, we ask how mission agencies shape where missionaries go, whom they are trying to reach and what activities they engage in. Based on in-depth interviews with managers, we discuss the historical focus on the individual person or family as the unit through which ties are established, and analyse the broad set of practices, which are considered legitimate as part of mission work. To the extent that managers see themselves as engaged in rationalisation, rationalisation is understood as reform towards distinctively mission-related outcomes. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of considering the work of mission agencies for our understanding of the "international" and for the study of social change in global society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of digital technologies continues to lead us to a real upheaval in our ways of thinking, communicating, forming, transmitting the faith and evangelising. It is a kind of “digital ecosystem” that they establish. Catechesis is not exempt from this. The contribution considers seven main challenges that a “holistic e-catechesis” (in sense of digitised catechesis) seeks to address in the age of “digital ecologies”, due to changes in our relationships with knowledge, truth, temporality, authority, spiritual experience, pedagogy of initiation and community. We are urged to develop hybrid forms of combination between face-to-face and online catechesis, because given the law of “synesthetic” incarnation at the heart of the Christian faith, the all-digital approach remains an illusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The smart city (SC) is an urban planning model and image of the urban future that circulates globally. In order to broaden the scope of the SC literature, this article examines how the SC debate has played out in Chile, and specifically in Santiago, where SC initiatives are supported by a local alliance that includes segments of the government and technology companies. We analyse how the SC narrative has been performed and promoted, asking how it is portrayed, how the city is problematised and by whom. We describe the promotion of SC ideas here through the concept of evangelisation, which we see as the process of deploying narratives of the future centred upon notions of salvation and superiority. Working from a decolonial perspective, we find similarities in the way that the SC is promoted in Chile and other evangelisation processes that have been maintained for centuries in Latin America. We use this perspective to discuss SC narratives as forms of epistemic colonialism. Furthermore, drawing on participant observation at SC events held in Santiago, we discuss the disconnect between the promoters of SC policies, the people charged with implementing them, and the city dwellers who are impacted by them. We conclude by reflecting on the ways that a decolonial perspective can help scholars critically assess the SC model within the context of global policy mobilities and unequal urban power relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main question of my scientific research is actually historically – theological analysis in witch way, at the time, mostly tribal West found out about Christianity. How functioned and how fast could develop such a process in that period of time, thanks to the monasticism and caused by the great migration of nations, but also caused by many heretical teachings, which were quite dangerous for the life of the Christ’s Church at the time, but also for life in general meaning. Monasticism comes to the West and starts to learn about Western culture, maybe it didn’t at first want to spread Christianity but in order to, first of all save their own lives, about what we have a lot of writing documents. We have many proves that teachers of the Eastern Church had to unwillingly leave the Church on the East, to come to the West and to find a safe place there. And in that manner, willingly or unwillingly, from our perspective definitely important historical event which caused faster Christianisation of the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]