Ethnic Identity and the Gospel of Reconciliation

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" Ethnic Identity and the Gospel of Reconciliation "
Lalsangkima Pachuau

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1077333
Doc. No	:	LA120962
Call No	:	‭10.1163/157338309X442290‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Lalsangkima Pachuau
Title & Author	:	Ethnic Identity and the Gospel of Reconciliation [Article]\ Lalsangkima Pachuau
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Mission Studies
Date	:	2009
Volume/ Issue Number	:	26/1
Page No	:	49–63
Abstract	:	"Closer proximity through powerful communication systems seems to have made people more assertive of their identities, especially their cultural or ethnic identities. The consciousness of the cultural self and the cultural other has become one of the most important political tools in the societal life. Ethnic identity assertions have been blamed as the cause of much dissensions and violence. In dealing with ethnic relations, scholars have found that the proximate other is the most difficult other to deal with. Is identity assertion then the enemy of reconciliation? This article argues that it need not be. By arguing that identity is a relational entity formed in the consciousness of the self in relation to the other (non-self), a healthy and respectful way of perceiving the other can be cultivated. A truthful recognition of the otherness of the other leads to what theologian Miroslav Volf calls "double vision" (the ability to view not only "from here" but also "from there") which is the essential step to "embrace" the other. Christian mission is about crossing the boundary between the self and the other, and the challenge is to love the neighbor (proximate other) as oneself. Self-privileging through self-consciousness of being the elect of God withheld the Christian sense of its missionary nature for a long time. The Church's missionary calling of being other-centered rather than being self-centered is the theological foundation for a conciliatory existence. Closer proximity through powerful communication systems seems to have made people more assertive of their identities, especially their cultural or ethnic identities. The consciousness of the cultural self and the cultural other has become one of the most important political tools in the societal life. Ethnic identity assertions have been blamed as the cause of much dissensions and violence. In dealing with ethnic relations, scholars have found that the proximate other is the most difficult other to deal with. Is identity assertion then the enemy of reconciliation? This article argues that it need not be. By arguing that identity is a relational entity formed in the consciousness of the self in relation to the other (non-self), a healthy and respectful way of perceiving the other can be cultivated. A truthful recognition of the otherness of the other leads to what theologian Miroslav Volf calls "double vision" (the ability to view not only "from here" but also "from there") which is the essential step to "embrace" the other. Christian mission is about crossing the boundary between the self and the other, and the challenge is to love the neighbor (proximate other) as oneself. Self-privileging through self-consciousness of being the elect of God withheld the Christian sense of its missionary nature for a long time. The Church's missionary calling of being other-centered rather than being self-centered is the theological foundation for a conciliatory existence."
Descriptor	:	CONCILIATORY EXISTENCE
Descriptor	:	EMBRACE
Descriptor	:	ETHNICITY
Descriptor	:	IDENTITY
Descriptor	:	OTHERNESS
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/157338309X442290‬