A Fragment of the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife? Part One

Last week, Karen King, Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, presented a papyrus fragment in which Jesus referred to Mary as “my wife”. The fragment seems to date from the fourth century A.D. and is written in the Coptic language. Recent papyrological discoveries related to the world of Early Christianity such as these seem …

The Life and Work of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

On Monday 24 September, 2012, the University of Groningen awarded Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu with an honorary doctorate. His honorary promoter, Professor Dr Geurt-Henk van Kooten, Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, gave a stirring address in which he highlighed Tutu's amazing achievements, particularly in the context of the South African Truth …

Religion and Science: relating the relationships?

In post-secular thought there is an increasing tendency to reject binary oppositions, such as religion and secularism. Past theories of secularization suggested religion was in decline and yet on the contrary, religion has remained viable although formulated in new frameworks of meaning. Secularism, in fact, is a co-producer of new formulations of religion, as explored …

Polarization of the anti-Islam film debate: undoing the Arab Spring? Part Two

Alongside the ideologically-driven agenda of the anti-Islam films that we explored in Part One, we should also not underestimate the political nature of the production and release of this film just before the 11th anniversary of 9/11 as well as before the American elections – in which Barack Obama is standing for a second term. …

Polarization of the anti-Islam film debate: Undoing the Arab Spring? Part One

Over the last few days, international news coverage has been largely dominated by reports on protests across the world against a film that protestors claim is a direct insult to the prophet Muhammed.  The protests started with the storming of the American embassy in Cairo as well as a violent attack on the American consulate …

Religie & Verkiezingen: vooronderstellingen en gevolgen

Hoewel religie nauwelijks een rol heeft gespeeld bij de afgelopen verkiezingen, zullen de gevolgen van de uitslag voelbaar zijn voor personen met een bepaalde religieuze achtergrond. Eén ding lijkt namelijk zeker: deze verkiezingsuitslag betekent het einde van de weigerambtenaar. Want hoewel de VVD en de PvdA op veel punten ver uit elkaar liggen, zijn deze …

Religious Humanitarianism in a Neoliberal Age

Guest contributor Cecelia Lynch explores how neoliberalism, a phenomenon closely connected with the rise of the post-secular, is affecting the language and practice of religious humanitarian organizations. Part of my current work involves interviewing representatives from various humanitarian organizations, religious and secular, on the place of religion in contemporary development and humanitarian aid work. Invariably, …

Experiments with the Post-Secular Part II

Following on from Part One, which discussed the post-secular as a description of 21st century society, Part Two explores the post-secular as a prescription for public life in the 21st century. Jurgen Habermas offers us perhaps the most comprehensive outline of the post-secular as a prescription. His main objective, it seems to me, is to …

Reason, Reflection, Resistance, Revolution? Experiments with the Post-Secular Part I

The Religion Factor is self-consciously a post-secular blog. But what exactly is post-secular? In our first two installments, we explore this relatively new idea as both a description of and a response to the conditions of 21st century society. The contemporary world is in crisis. Multiple financial meltdowns, widespread food shortages and impending environmental catastrophes …