Christianity
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Christian-Muslim Relations in East Asian History: An Interview with James Harry Morris
As part of interfaith week, we are interviewing a number of people connected with Practical Theology Hub about their work on interfaith dialogue. In this interview we ask our Editor-in-Chief, James Harry Morris, about his work on Christian-Muslim relations in China and Japan. Tell us about yourself. My name is James Harry Morris and alongside serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Practical Theology Hub, I work as an assistant professor at Waseda University. For the past few years, I’ve been working on entitled “The History of Christian-Muslim Relations in China and Japan, 1549-1912” funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Grant Number: 20K12812) and I continue this work…
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Valuing St Mary’s Cathedral (Urakami Cathedral) in Nagasaki
Recently I lectured at the University of Tokyo on my recent article published by the Journal of Cultural Economy. It proved to be an excellent opportunity for me to take stock of my work on this since late in 2018, thanks to a workshop at the University of Copenhagen and to the editors: Jane Caple and Sarah Roddy. The new article was published in the Journal of Cultural Economy, “Valuing the Urakami Cathedral after the Atomic Bombing: Fundraising and Social Rupture in Nagasaki.” Some questions I considered within this article included whether or how, experiences of communally shared disaster may lead to shared ownership of ruins such as that of…
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Crisis and Calling: Discipleship after Desolation
I learned what feels like to be called growing up in the Texas hill country. We lived in a small town that was just country enough where kids could roam, but just close enough to the city where we couldn’t get into any real trouble. We would wander, climb trees, play in a creek, run over to a friend’s house down the hill, but we knew we always had to listen for mom’s call. She would walk outside, put two fingers in her mouth, and perform that miracle it seems only mothers can do: whistle. She would call us home. I learned early on this is what it means to…
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What would Reinhold Niebuhr now be saying about events in Ukraine?
It is of course rash to suggest what Reinhold Niebuhr would now be saying about Ukraine: first because he has been claimed by both those on the left and the right of politics, and secondly it is difficult to separate one’s own views from those one posits might be his. But rash though it may be, the question is still worth asking. First, I suggest, he would be looking critically at the position of NATO supporting governments. What is their responsibility for this tragedy? Even when the cause was undoubtably right, as it was for the Allies in World War II, Niebuhr was keen to eliminate any hint of self-righteousness.…
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Curating Spaces of Hope: Embodying Leadership in Uncertain Times
The Queen is dead, long live the King! A post-Elizabethan era begins, and with it an existential shift unlike anything experienced, certainly since World War Two, maybe in our history. When the pandemic hit, Her Majesty said that ‘we will meet again’ and so it was, but in so doing we note the depths of uncertainty surrounding us. Something has changed; deep, intangible, fundamental. Life is more fragile than it was. The cost of living crisis bites, catalysed by Brexit. The Climate Crisis continues, exemplified by catastrophic floods in Pakistan and temperatures in the UK over 40 degrees for the first time. The war in Ukraine rages, displacing millions and…
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Clothing Shame
“I’m on the bus at the moment, can you call me back?” Mandy[1] was homeless and when she left a message on the clothing bank’s answer phone she was clearly desperate for help. It seemed strange then that she wanted now to postpone a conversation. The penny always seems to make the loudest noise when its drop is slowest. “Would you like to speak to Rebecca, one of our other volunteers?” I belatedly asked in an embarrassed fluster. “Oh yes please!” I handed the phone to Rebecca and retreated to the back of the chapel where all our clothing stock is stored. I started to sort some clothes donations into…
