Search Results (65)

This study analyses the Reformed liturgy as a site of ritual contestation that both shapes and facilitates the reconstruction and transformation of gender roles and identities in African contexts. Rooted in genealogical and decolonial scholarship, it examines how a ministry, long-reformed yet fundamentally integral to African-congregational communities, continues to express masculine forms of agency already present in reformed worship that influence perceptions of power, belonging, and identity. The emphasis is on Reformed communities in Southern Africa, where the arrangements of liturgical practices, preaching, eldership, sacramental administration, and life-cycle rites persist in grappling with a colonial past from an African epistemological perspective. This study examines the intersections of baptism, marriage, funerals, and ordination with customary rites such as lobola (bridewealth), initiation, and ancestor veneration, drawing on liturgical theology, ritual studies, and African gender scholarship to reveal both reproductive and resistant dynamics while simultaneously reshaping a new order within these practices. This article examines the ways in which worship facilitates continuity, rupture, and transformation within African gender identities, while seeking to situate Reformed liturgy within an African context of ritual ecologies rather than to contrast them. This approach may enhance decolonial discourse by illuminating contemporary discussions on liturgical studies and gender. Full article

Late eighteenth-century Chosŏn Korea presents a distinctive case in the history of Christian missions: a Catholic community emerged without the sustained presence of foreign missionaries. This article examines that distinctiveness through the lens of text-mediated local reception. Since the seventeenth century, the writings of Matteo Ricci had rendered Christian doctrine intelligible within a Confucian framework through Jesuit accommodation. In late Chosŏn, these texts moved beyond scholarly curiosity and became a medium of criticism, moral reflection, and, for some readers, communal religious practice, particularly among politically marginalized Namin (Southern) circles and Silhak (Practical Learning)-oriented thinkers. The reception of Catholicism unfolded in stages. Sinographic texts composed by Jesuit missionaries were first understood within an existing Confucian horizon and then selectively appropriated by local readers. In some cases, this process led to baptism, early lay organization, and communal religious life. Through comparison with China, Japan, and Vietnam, this study argues that Chosŏn represents a distinctive case in which translated Christian texts, local appropriation, and community formation converged without a sustained missionary presence. It further shows that this process was shaped not by one-way transmission alone, but by the active agency of local readers and a bidirectional process of cultural translation. Full article

This article argues that John Calvin’s account of the church in Institutes of the Christian Religion IV is best read through the formative logic of worship. Calvin famously identifies preaching the Word and administering the sacraments as the marks of the visible church. Rather than regarding these marks merely as identifiers, this study interprets them as worship practices that shape Christian life “in-between” church and society. First, the preached Word is not simply received as information but functions as the medium through which faith is generated and sustained, forming a community tasked to bear truth publicly. Second, the sacraments operate as embodied theology: baptism initiates believers into ecclesial belonging through cleansing, renewal, and confession, while the Lord’s Supper repeatedly schools the church in remembrance, thanksgiving, unity, and mutual love. Finally, by situating the Word and sacrament within the church’s maternal nurture and the ministry of reconciliation, the article shows how worship extends beyond the sanctuary, cultivating conscience and communal practices oriented toward public peace and responsibility. In Calvin’s Reformation vision, worship is thus the hinge that links ecclesiology to social ethics without collapsing the distinction between the church and civil society. Full article

An accurate DNA clock can strengthen cross-disciplinary inputs in the study of genealogies and ancient migrations. New Y-chromosome sequence data gathered from a Lotli Pai Kaundinya (LPK) Brahmin cohort whose staged migration from the Pontic Steppe to the West Coast of India was previously reported, are used here to generate a more precise DNA clock. The formula distinguishes Y-mutation rates for transitions and transversions and corrects for dropped mutations in sequence reads. The formula is validated against a baptismal tree covering over four centuries (0–704 YBP interval), a published STR-based chronology for this same cohort (704–5200 YBP) and a comparison to Y-Full formation times for mutations older than 3000 YBP. Using this more precise clock, we support a proposed “founder effect” expansion in Khorasan during 4300–3800 YBP using a novel phylogenetic branching metric; and use archeological, numismatic, toponymic, climate reconstruction and ancient textual data to explore religious and professional dimensions of cultural kinship with other communities believed to have interacted with the LPK during their long migration. The availability of more precise dating facilitates the integration of such secondary data types, resulting in an enriched and more plausible migration narrative. Full article

Explanatio symboli, a true Christian pedagogy lesson, is attributed to Saint Ambrose of Milan. It, was established 1700 years after the Synod of Nicaea, in which the first seven confessional articles of the Orthodox Creed were written. In the current religious context, it aims to resurrect the baptismal faith that was so manifest in the Milanese environment within the first few centuries after the persecutions came to an end. To the great bishop of the Century IV Occident, the Baptism and the doxological confession of the All-Holy Trinity, alongside the Trinitarian doxology, were empirical realities within ecclesial life, and were also associated with the experience of grace in the Trinitarian communion. This was imperative, especially in the context of defending the right-faith against the Arianism’s attacks, whose infiltration spread all the way to the Western borders of the Roman Empire. To Saint Ambrose, as to us living today, life in Christ—shaped by confessing the Trinitarian faith and through Baptism—is one that enlightens humanity to become Christo-morphic until the last moment of our life here, and this is the true existential meaning whose efficacity and reality lead us towards His Kingdom. Full article

This article analyzes the dynamics of racial mixing in two regions with diverse colonial administrations in the second half of the eighteenth century: St. Augustine in the province of East Florida (under British and Spanish rule) and New Orleans in the province of Louisiana (under French and Spanish rule). Baptismal records for Black and Brown individuals were used, compiling nominal data from a sample of Afro-descendants born in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Whenever available, information was collected regarding racial classification—for both the baptized individuals and their parents—as well as legal status (enslaved or free) and birth legitimacy. The analysis is conducted from a critical intersectionality framework, highlighting how race, legal status, and gender served as amplifiers of inequality. Among the main results, we must highlight gender and racial classification that, thus, emerge as key differentiators for explaining the legal status and legitimacy of baptized individuals, and they also indicate systemic asymmetries in parental relationships. Full article

This article critically analyses the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)—specifically, the DALL·E system within the ChatGPT-4o environment—for creating visualisations of biblical scenes for teaching purposes. As part of a case study examining the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan (Mt 3:13–17; cf. Mark 1:9–11; Luke 3:21–22; John 1:31, 34) and the Last Supper (Mt 26:17–30; cf. Mark 14:12–16; Luke 22:7–13), four AI-generated images are analysed. Two were created using general, non-specific prompts, while the other two were based on more precise queries containing references to Catholic symbolism and the images’ intended educational use. A comparison of these variants reveals a lack of theological depth and symbolic oversimplification in AI-generated images, as well as a tendency to reproduce Western cultural stereotypes. Despite their aesthetic appeal and quick availability, these images do not reflect the complexity of the biblical or spiritual contexts of the scenes depicted. This study aims to evaluate the theological, symbolic, and pedagogical value of AI-generated images and to provide practical recommendations for their responsible use in Bible didactics. In conclusion, the authors argue that GenAI can support biblical teaching when used consciously, critically, and reflectively. Full article

The liturgical reforms of the mid-twentieth century had major impacts on not only the forms of liturgies in the Western church but also on liturgical theology. The 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican province in the United States, along with several dioceses across the world, represents the culmination of these developments in that jurisdiction. Among its revolutionary suggestions is the reservation of Holy Baptism for certain occasions: the Easter Vigil, Pentecost, All Saints’ Day or the Sunday following, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and the visitation of a bishop. Many liturgical guides emphasize the advantages of observing these so-called “baptismal feasts,” but none treat them in any lengthy manner. Do the different occasions for baptism have something specific to say about what baptism is? How do the appointed lectionary readings shed light on baptism, and vice versa? In this article, I will explore these feasts and especially their assigned lessons in the Revised Common Lectionary. I will show that when read with a liturgical hermeneutics, the appointed scriptures and, therefore, the baptismal feasts themselves paint a comprehensive picture of a contemporary baptismal theology. Full article

The Traditio Apostolica presents, within the context of Christian baptism, first the water baptism accompanied by a profession of faith, followed by prayer with the laying on of hands. The purpose of this initiation process is the forgiveness of sins, which is more strongly implied in the water rite, and the gift of the Spirit, which is implied in the laying on of hands. This sequence of baptism and laying on of hands, in connection with faith and Spirit reception, is also evident in Acts 19:1–7. Apart from Acts 8:5–25, however, it is the only passage that links baptism with laying on of hands followed by Spirit reception. Moreover, it is the only instance of a rebaptism within the Lukan double work. The focus of this article is not primarily on the question of the historicity of this rite during the New Testament period but on a narratological-intratextual analysis of the relationship between baptism and Spirit reception, that is, to what extent the reader, against the background of the preceding narrative in Luke-Acts, is led to an understanding of this relationship and its significance for becoming a Christian. The article argues that faith plays a decisive role in the Christian initiation process. Full article

The introduction of Christian angelology during the Ming and Qing dynasties was driven by strong practical needs. As intermediaries bridging the sacred and the secular, angels were endowed with crucial functions in core sacraments such as baptism and the Mass, including the purification of sins, protection, and the connection between God and humanity. Their participation in these rituals not only enhanced the sanctity of the ceremonies but also facilitated a dialogue with traditional Chinese spirits. Missionaries deliberately avoided abstract theological discussions about angels, instead emphasizing their role in accompanying and guiding believers in daily life. The concept of “guardian angels” addressed the spiritual needs of believers, while the imagery of angels in funeral rites helped reconstruct expressions of filial piety, thereby mitigating cultural conflicts between China and the West. At the same time, the localized understanding of angels among Chinese Catholics during this period focused on ritual practices and the affirmation of their own identity. The introduction of Christian angels during the Ming and Qing dynasties, with their practical dimensions, facilitated the indigenization process of Catholicism in China and provided new perspectives and pathways for interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Full article

His baptismal name, Fernando de Bulhões (1195–1231), may say little to many people, but his religious name, St. Anthony, certainly says a lot, especially to the Portuguese. In fact, the cult of St. Anthony is indelibly inscribed in the religious landscape of Portugal, with particular intensity in Lisbon. This study, of an ethnographic and historical nature, is an innovative approach to this emblematic medieval figure, capable of so many miracles, veneration, revelry festivals, and processions among the people of Lisbon and the Portuguese in general, right up to the present day. The history of this Saint and his cult, as an expression of popular religiosity, will be discussed, favouring the dimensions of marriage and commerce in a comparative approach between two ethnographic contexts: Lisbon and Viana do Castelo. The notions of popular religion, syncretism, cult of the saints, and pilgrimage–procession will, therefore, be instrumental. The data collected and analysed are based on a mixed methodological triangulation of qualitative data complemented by quantitative data, using direct participant observations (ethnographic) and indirect observations (collected through semi-structured interviews and informal conversations), as well as documentary sources. Full article

This article presents a case study that examines why a seemingly effective evangelistic strategy failed within the Sien Church in Wenzhou, China. By tracing the implementation of the religious ministry, it argues that the patriarchal leadership style, goal-oriented strategy, and emphasis on public impression management ultimately undermined the church’s original mission. The pursuit of efficiency and an obsession with numbers created new pressures and anxieties among various teams, transforming the Sien Church’s evangelistic plan into a target-driven competition focused on “baptism numbers” and “conversion rates”. Furthermore, fundamentalist teachings, intertwined with the church’s disciplinary structures, collectively fueled this baptism competition. Finally, the article situates the failure of the gospel project within a broader cultural context and local community. Full article

Background: This study investigates the demographic, genetic, and socioeconomic impact of the 1742–1743 plague epidemic on Córdoba, a key region within the Viceroyalty of Peru. The research focuses on the epidemic’s influence along the Royal Road (Camino Real), the main route connecting Buenos Aires and Lima, addressing a historically overlooked period with a multidimensional approach. Methods: Historical records of deaths, baptisms, and marriages from the Córdoba Archbishopric Archive were analyzed using techniques from historical demography and bioanthropology. Variables such as endogamy, exogamy, average marital distance (AMD), and consanguinity coefficients were evaluated. Results: The findings reveal a significant increase in endogamy (75–82%) and a peak exogamy index of 375 during the 1740–1744 cohort. The AMD rose to 705 km during the epidemic, indicating a shift toward marriages involving individuals from more distant regions. The total consanguinity coefficient (Ft) reached 0.00056, with the non-random component (Fn) driving this increase, suggesting heightened genetic isolation. Conclusions: The 1742–1743 plague epidemic intensified genetic isolation and consanguinity, potentially increasing homozygosity and the prevalence of recessive conditions. These changes highlight the epidemic’s long-term impact on Córdoba’s genetic diversity and demographic patterns within the colonial context. Full article

Looking retrospectively at pre-colonial African marriages and sexualities is critical in the urge to transform the contemporary narratives about marriage and sexuality within African Christian spaces. In Africa, marriage and sexuality had cultural, spiritual, and religious intersectionality. However, the advent of the missionary-colonial enterprise reconstructed the concepts of marriage and sexuality by imposing the supremacy of Christianity and Civilization agendas. Thus, Africans were compelled to discard their views of marriage and sexuality to comply with the prescripts of Christianity, baptism, and church membership. This paper used the Sankofa and Decolonial theories to investigate the perpetual influence of the 19th-century missionary-colonial enterprise within the contemporary African Pentecostal views of marriage and sexuality. It debunked the heterotopias of the born-again experience which propels the supremacy of Christianity and civilization agendas. The findings indicated that these agendas manifest in the form of hetero-monogamous aspirations of missionaries that undermined the African views of marriage and sexuality, thus, rendering them as demonic, backward, barbaric, and something to be forgotten. Lamentably, the same narrative has shaped the views of Pentecostal Christians within the contemporary African context. However, this has created a myriad of problems for both Africans and Christianity in Africa. In conclusion, the study emphasized the need to delink from Western conceptualizations by rethinking African marriages and sexualities. This could be done by revisiting pre-colonial African marriage systems and sexualities to challenge the current distorted narrative while embracing the positive elements of Christianity. Full article

Medieval writers designated Siena as a “new city”. Seemingly confirming this assessment, the Sienese Church possessed no hagiographic tradition of early bishops that would prove that their urban settlement was a true civitas in late antiquity. As part of their effort to verify that their city had not only Roman but also early Christian origins, the Sienese, primarily spearheaded by lay officials, refashioned the image of their martyr-saint, Ansanus (d. 296). By the thirteenth century, the implication that the lay martyr had baptized the citizens was added to his second Latin passion narrative. Yet, only beginning in the fifteenth century do vernacular passions and images of Ansanus baptizing the Sienese appear, revealing that the baptismal event emerged as a defining point in the sacred history of the city and was communicated to citizens both textually and visually. These were produced at the behest of lay institutions, such as the Opera del Duomo and the communal government. By performing the sacrament of baptism, Ansanus fulfilled a crucial function of a proto-bishop, namely the transformation of the pagan Sienese into a true community of the baptized. Though some Sienese humanists sought to identify the earliest bishops, no episcopal cult was ever established. Considering that the default for other major cities in Italy was to identify and venerate their early bishops, Ansanus’s transformation into “the Baptizer” presents a case study of how saints could be adapted in unconventional ways to fix a problematic civic past. Full article