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Abstract
This article is a contribution to the discourse on religion and development. The contribution seeks to investigate the role of religious conceptualisations in development. Theological anthropology, and specifically the Christian doctrine of the imago Dei, is critically analysed from the historical-biblical approach, a feminist and postcolonial approach, and a contextual approach. Themes such as progression, responsibility, relationships, and the spiritual dimension of personhood are identified as contributing toward the role of religion in development. Drawing from theological concepts such as “vocation,” “rule,” “image,” and “likeness,” the specific connections between religion and development derives from the central theological anthropological doctrine of the imago Dei. The themes that are identified are not explored exhaustively but are nonetheless highlighted as markers that should be considered by both practitioners and academics in the broad-based development discourse and practices. The limitations of the modernisation and materialistic approaches of the post-war period are countered by the centrality of personhood.
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Alkire, Sabine. Human Development: Definitions, Critiques, and Related Concepts. OPHI Working Papers 36. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, University of Oxford, 2010. Online: http://www.ophi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/OPHI_WP36.pdf.
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Andhoga, Walter O. Cover blurb on Use Your Talents – The Congregation as Primary Development Agent. Edited by Sigurd Haus. Oslo: Digni, 2017. Online: https://nms.no/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/useyourtalents_fullbook.pdf.
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Bosch, David J. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. American Society of Missiology Series 16. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991.
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Conradie, Ernst M. “Why Cannot the Term Development just Be Dropped Altogether? Some Reflections on the Concept of Maturation as Alternative to Development Discourse.” HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 72, no. 4, a3415 (2016): 1–11. Online: doi.org/10.4102/hts.v72i4.3415.
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Daggers, Jenny. “A Theological Anthropology for Human Flourishing: Postcolonial and Feminist Reflections for These Troubled Times.” Louvain Studies 41, no. 2 (2018): 152–172. Online: doi.org/ 10.2143/LS.41.2.3284884.
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de Gruchy, Steve. “Of Agency, Assets and Appreciation: Seeking Some Commonalities between Theology and Development.” Pages 66–87 in Keeping Body and Soul Together: Reflections by Steve de Gruchy on Theology and Development. Edited by Beverley Haddad. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications, 2015.
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de Gruchy, Steve. “Of Agency, Assets and Appreciation: Seeking Some Commonalities between Theology and Development.” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 117 (2003): 20–39.
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Dickenson, Richard D.N. “Development.” Pages 268–274 in Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement. Edited by Nicholas Lossky, Jose Miguez Bonino, John Pobee, et al. Geneva: WCC Publications, 1991.
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Escobar, Arturo. “Beyond the Search for a Paradigm? Post-Development and Beyond.” Development 43, no. 4 (2000): 11–14. Online: doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1110188.
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Escobar, Arturo. Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton, NJ; Woodstock: Princeton University Press, 1995.
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Hefferan, Tara. “Researching Religions and Development.” Pages 36–52 in The Routledge Handbook of Religions and Global Development. Edited by Emma Tomalin. Abingdon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2015. Online: doi.org/10.4324/9780203694442.ch3.
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Horan, Daniel P. “Beyond Essentialism and Complementarity: Toward a Theological Anthropology Rooted in Haecceitas.” Theological Studies 75, no. 1 (2014): 94–117. Online: doi.org/10.1177/0040563913519562.
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Horan, Daniel P. Catholicity and Emerging Personhood: A Contemporary Theological Anthropology. Foreword by Ilia Delio. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2019.
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John XXIII. Gaudet Mater Ecclesia: Pope John’s Opening Speech to the Council, 11 October 1962. Online: https://jakomonchak.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/john-xxiii-opening-speech.pdf.
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Jones, Ben, and Marie Juul Petersen. “Instrumental, Narrow, Normative? Reviewing Recent Work on Religion and Development.” Third World Quarterly 32, no. 7 (2011): 1291–1306. Online: doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2011.596747.
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Klaasen, John. “Feminist Theology and Christian Ministry: The Dialectic Approach of Rosemary Radford Ruether.” Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa 22, no. 1 (2016): 5–20.
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Klaasen, John. “The Ecumenical Movement and Development: The Role of Personhood.” Missionalia 43, no. 3 (2015): 323–335. Online: doi.org/10.7832/43-3-87.
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Klaasen, John. “The Interplay between Theology and Development: How Theology Can Be Related to Development in Post-Modern Society.” Missionalia 41, no. 2 (2013): 182–194. Online: doi.org/10.7832/41-2-13.
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Korten, David C. When Corporations Rule the World. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian Press, 1996.
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ter Haar, Gerrie, ed. Religion and Development: Ways of Transforming the World. London: C. Hurst & Co., 2011.
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Tomalin, Emma, Jörg Haustein, and Shabaana Kidy. “Religion and the Sustainable Development Goals.” The Review of Faith & International Affairs 17, no. 2 (2019): 102–118. Online: doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2019.1608664.
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Search for other papers by John Klaasen in
Current site
Google Scholar
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Abstract
This article is a contribution to the discourse on religion and development. The contribution seeks to investigate the role of religious conceptualisations in development. Theological anthropology, and specifically the Christian doctrine of the imago Dei, is critically analysed from the historical-biblical approach, a feminist and postcolonial approach, and a contextual approach. Themes such as progression, responsibility, relationships, and the spiritual dimension of personhood are identified as contributing toward the role of religion in development. Drawing from theological concepts such as “vocation,” “rule,” “image,” and “likeness,” the specific connections between religion and development derives from the central theological anthropological doctrine of the imago Dei. The themes that are identified are not explored exhaustively but are nonetheless highlighted as markers that should be considered by both practitioners and academics in the broad-based development discourse and practices. The limitations of the modernisation and materialistic approaches of the post-war period are countered by the centrality of personhood.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 955 | 158 | 7 |
| Full Text Views | 165 | 6 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 324 | 12 | 1 |
