Sunday, January 25, 2009

Faith and Globalization - Volf and Sanneh on Yale panel

How do faith and globalization affect one another?  How is each a function of the other?  These are questions that interest me greatly.  I had a special opportunity to interview Lamin Sanneh yesterday when he came to the Divinity School here in Chicago to give a talk on the topic "Resisting Mission, Redefining Engagement".  I hope to publish some selected portions of that conversation soon, but in the meantime you might enjoy this panel session in which Prof. Sanneh participated as part of the course Tony Blair just taught at Yale, "Faith and Globalization." 


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1 comment:

  1. tsJanuary 18, 2010 at 2:32 PM

    Just as a person changes when entering a new culture (eg. Being Americanized), religions must also change as they interact with the religions of other cultures. Even when a person changes their religion, many pieces of the old are carried forward. I would guess that when a new religion is introduces, it lives or dies based on how the two can be reconciled. After all, nobody can really love something with which they have nothing in common. Globalization of religion should really show us the unity of our faiths, but also the distance of our creeds.

    Religion's effect on globalization seems more complex. Faith is somewhat paradoxical as it encourages both unity and solitude - recognizing the unity between people but at the same time acknowledging the value of distance from them. Creeds, on the other hand, seem to encourage globalization as a way to spread their message, but at the same time distance themselves from others by not recognizing much unity with them.

    Thanks for the video, makes me want to start reading The Wealth of Nations again. Maybe I'll make it past the pages with roman numerals this time ;).

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