Power is an ambiguous and complex phenomenon and concept – in religious life as well as in human culture and society in general. Christian lives, practices and communities form and are formed by a tradition at the heart of which stands the belief in God creator of heaven and earth, as well as God who becomes powerless on the cross in Jesus Christ. Defining is also Paul’s assertion of the strength of weakness, of the paradoxical power of powerlessness. An ambiguous relation to power has followed Christian communities and churches from their beginning to this day: seeking power and avoiding it, exerting power and abstaining from it, rejecting power and pursuing it.
Today, expanded insights into the multiple manifestations and operations of power beyond direct force, have added to the ambiguities and complexities. They have taught us how power works through structures of distribution of resources, burdens and benefits, rights and duties; how it works through interpretive patterns of discourse and language which make us see ourselves, others and the world in certain ways rather than others, and thereby open and close opportunities based on wealth, ethnicity, nationality, religion, geography, sexuality – or other factors. And we have learned how it can operate and be abused through its contrast of care and compassion. Power can be abused to create injustices – and used to restore them, abused to exploit the vulnerable – and used to protect them, abused to deprive the world and planet of life-conditions, and used to guard them.
All these ambiguities play out across the breadth of individual and collective religious and spiritual practices, in communities, churches and beyond: in worshipping and praying, in teaching and preaching, in caring and serving, in organising and governing. And they play out in culture and society beyond religious life and communities, whether in personal relations, local communities, societal structures, or global processes.
At this 5. Nordic conference on theology and practice, we will address these topics of power and powerlessness in their ambiguity and complexity, yet with an emphasis on theological studies and reflections on practices where power – and powerlessness – manifest itself.
We especially welcome empirical and theoretical papers on the following topics:
