My book on theological method is out in the UK. More news later!

Mousa v. Fotouh = JFK v. Nixon :)

Good piece in the National Post: we should be paying attention to Egypt.

*Theological* Religious Studies in the University: Curricular Heresy

This is an abstract for a forthcoming chapter in a book to be published by the University of Toronto Press on the subject of religious pluralism in Canada:

Curricular Heresy: Theological Religious Studies and the Assessment of Religious Pluralism in Canada

             In the West today multiculturalism and the implied equality of religions have been called into question. Although Religious Studies has offered much in the way of a ‘thick description’ of religion, this chapter argues that the current political context requires a deep assessment of religion and religious pluralism; one that requires a complementary theological approach. I call this approach 'theological religious studies'. Although some see theology as biased, this chapter contends that it provides a source of public knowledge about traditions, beliefs and practices. In theological colleges and seminaries, which are the mainstays of theological literacy, explicit theologies of religious pluralism are more noticeable. This chapter argues that because of their role in shaping polity and culture, Canadian universities should play a lead role in the development of theological religious studies. There is a concern that a social sciences approach, without a complementary humanistic theological inquiry, will lead to management goals that are not sympathetic to understanding the plausibility structures of religious belief.  Theology, due to its humanities perspective, can foster our ability to imagine ourselves in the place of others and also imagine religious heritage in different contexts, and is thus essential to this project. This chapter reflects on several examples of the ways in which Theology and Religious Studies are developing in western universities.  It also suggests that a Theology of world religions speaks to the complexities of internal religious diversity and the relationships between traditions. Finally, because of the humanities’ role in understanding meaning, this chapter points to the legitimacy of open discussion of belief in the university and beyond.

On the oikonomia

Peter Leithart quotes from a recent book on the stunning success of S. Korea, economically speaking. It seems to utterly contradict what conservative (= neo-liberal) doctrine on what makes for a 'good' economy. There's a hundred conversations that this kind of observation about economic history can prompt. 

Speaking of Israel

Peter Beinart - in the NYT a few weeks ago... gets it mostly bang on.

Benedict XVI and the Covenant with Israel

Here is an excerpt from a talk I gave recently at McGill University's Newman Centre:

In a 2009 lecture entitled ‘Pope Benedict XVI on Jews and Judaism: Retreat or Reaffirmation’, John Pawlikowski, a scholar of Jewish-Catholic relations,  concluded that while Benedict is 

(2)“profoundly sensitive to the horrors of the Holocaust [he] lacks an adequate grasp of Christian complicity in its execution…On the theological level, while pledging continued support of [sic] the teachings of Vatican II and of his predecessor John Paul II, Pope Benedict has not contributed anything constructive to the continued development of a new theological understanding of the Church’s relationship with the Jewish people.”[1]

I take Pawlikowski’s conclusion to constitute a serious charge, and I want to share with you a few observations from my reading of Benedict’s theological scholarship that contradict this pessimistic assessment. In short, I claim that Benedict’s regard for the house of Israel and the Jewish people is new because he wants the Bible, read first of all in light of Christian doctrine, to purge the church of anti-Judaism and therefore, anti-semitism. Scripture and tradition are the church’s means for striving for a proper relationship with the Jewish people. A false irenicism would certainly be a poor substitute. So, Benedict understands the value of the former in order to counter the tendency to promote the latter.

The church’s appreciation for the Jewish people emerges from an understanding of the covenant... Covenant and revelation are categories woven into the fabric of Benedict’s biblical theology... 

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[1] Available at: http://www.jcrelations.net/Pope_Benedict_XVI_on_Jews_and_Judaism__Retreat_or_Reaffirmation.2992.0.html

Tuition fees and access to university

Stephen Gordon in the Globe and Mail discusses some research on the link (or lack thereof) between fees and the decision to go to university. Enlightening reading, if counterintuitive.

On individualism and gnosticism

My piece on things Christmas and Christian - in today's Gazette. Merry Christmas!

Leithart on "religious Freedom"

noted here...

Sister Valsa John, R.I.P.

From this morning's Globe

AUCC on CAUT

Here is the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada's response to the Canadian Association of University Teachers' complaint against the revised statement of academic freedom that the AUCC issued a few weeks ago.

The key set of claims comes in the middle of the AUCC statement:

"Academic freedom is constrained by the professional standards of the relevant discipline and the responsibility of the institution to organize its academic mission. The insistence on professional standards speaks to the rigor of the enquiry and not to its outcome. The constraint of institutional requirements recognizes simply that the academic mission, like other work, has to be organized according to institutional needs. This includes the institution’s responsibility to select and appoint faculty and staff, to admit and discipline students, to establish and control curriculum, to make organizational arrangements for the conduct of academic work, to certify completion of a program and to grant degrees." (emphasis mine)

This statement is an important corrective to the heavily politicized notion of academic freedom that issues forth from CAUT, in which no presuppositions whatsoever are to be admitted in inquiry. CAUT defends academic freedom on the basis of historical cases that are a century old. From CAUT, one would have hoped for a more robust and specific citation of contemporary evidence of threats to academic freedom. (This would be especially possible in cases where industry is funding and biasing certain scientific research. One thinks of the pharmaceutical industry right off.) CAUT's position also depends on a completely untethered understanding of tenure, something which ought to be up for rigorous debate among academics given the tremendous scepticism that reigns in our society over the utility of tenure. 

I have not heard this stated in the media, but it seems plausible to consider the AUCC's decision to revise its statement on academic freedom as a response to the CAUT bullying of Christian universities last year. The above selection from the AUCC statement seems to go out of its way to talk about institutional autonomy and mission, even to the point of faculty hiring. Good for the AUCC! (And, not coincidentally, some Canadian Christian colleges and universities are members of the AUCC.) But, have you heard anything? Send me an email: paulalle66 AT gmail.com

Dawkins and W.L. Craig

Richard Dawkins has posted a flaming defense of his decision not to debate evangelical philosopher William Lane Craig.
The nature of this non-debate is very readily summed up:  Dawkins badly needs the crazy biblical interpretations of a fundamentalist approach to scripture in order to look good. This is not the first time that doctrinaire atheists and one-sided evangelicals "needed each other" badly.

My next book

is in the T &T Clark catalog (p. 44) . Meanwhile, bibliography and footnote format beckon (long sigh)...

Canadian Universities at a tipping point

of credibility. In undergrad education, according to the Globe. The emphasis on research, which has been the drum pounded ad nauseam for the past ten years is starting to look more problematic than ever.

c/o Greece

We now know that an independent Quebec really was and is impossible.