Pagan benevolence and Christian grace: how the cross challenges our social realities
Our understanding of Christianity acquires a sociological dimension when we see it as a challenge to elsewhere prevailing practices of religiously motivated giving, here termed benevolence. The "benevolence" of pagan societies (ancient and modern), paradigmatically expressed in the symboli...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
SPCK Publishing
2009
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| In: |
Theology
Year: 2009, Volume: 112, Issue: 865, Pages: 33-42 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Gift
/ Humanism
/ Grace
/ Christianity
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| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations NBK Soteriology |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | Our understanding of Christianity acquires a sociological dimension when we see it as a challenge to elsewhere prevailing practices of religiously motivated giving, here termed benevolence. The "benevolence" of pagan societies (ancient and modern), paradigmatically expressed in the symbolic gift of sacrificial ritual and art, is an essentially non-reciprocal form of giving, constitutive of hierarchical social structure. Practices of benevolence articulate socio-religious realities that are incompatible with a proper understanding of the distinctively Christian notion of grace. |
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| ISSN: | 0040-571X |
| Contains: | In: Theology
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