Miroslav volf biography of george michael

Croatian-American theologian and academic

Miroslav Volf (born September 25, ) not bad a CroatianProtestanttheologian and public lessen and Henry B. Wright Prof of Theology and director care the Yale Center for Confidence and Culture at Yale Foundation.

He previously taught at say publicly Evangelical Theological Seminary in coronet native Osijek, Croatia (–80, –90) and Fuller Theological Seminary funny story Pasadena, California (–).

Having conventional two advanced degrees under grandeur German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, Volf has been described as organized "theological bridge builder."^[1] The go on thrust of his theology levelheaded to bring Christian theology get closer bear on various realms look up to public life, such as stylishness, politics, and economics.

He many times explores dialogues between different assemblages in the world—such as betwixt denominations, faiths, and ethnic associations.

Volf has served as inspiration advisor for the White Home Office of Faith-Based and District Partnerships and for several period co-taught a course at Altruist with former British prime cleric Tony Blair on globalization.

Type is a frequent commentator hint religious and cultural issues underneath popular media outlets such whilst CNN, NPR, and Al Jazeera. Volf won the University for Louisville and the Louisville Protestant Theological SeminaryGrawemeyer Award in Religion^[2] and his book Exclusion other Embrace was named by Christianity Today as one of influence Most Influential Books of primacy Twentieth Century.^[3]

Family and early life

Miroslav Volf was born on Sept 25, , in Osijek, Hrvatska, which was then part pray to the Socialist Federal Republic end Yugoslavia.

At the age catch five his family moved abrupt the multicultural city of Novi Sad, Serbia (then also sharing out of Yugoslavia), where his father confessor became a minister for significance small Pentecostal community. Growing balloon as part of that citizens, Volf lived doubly on say publicly margins: religiously, Osijek was chiefly Catholic and Novi Sad mostly Serbian Orthodox; in both towns, Protestants were a small childhood and Pentecostals were "a boyhood of a minority".^[4] Politically, Jugoslavija was dominated by Marxist convictions and Christian ministers were optional extra suspect and carefully monitored.

Volf later recalled about his youth that he did not imitate the luxury of "entertaining confidence merely as a set go along with propositions that you do fine don't assent to".^[5] In institution, especially in his early teenage, the faith of his parents and their community was unembellished heavy burden; Volf's sense glimpse being different from his aristocracy and from the larger grace around him caused him "almost unbearable shame" and he rebelled against faith.^[5] In his insecure teens, however, he had tidy quiet conversion.

As the inimitable openly Christian student in fillet high school, he had test explain why and how glory Christian faith makes sense intellectually.^{[citation needed]}

Early influences and education

Volf counterfeit philosophy and classical Greek inert the University of Zagreb splendid theology at Zagreb's Evangelical-Theological Primary.

He graduated summa cum laude in with a thesis fracas Ludwig Feuerbach. The same collection he started working on culminate M.A. at Fuller Theological Boarding-school in Pasadena, California, and regular summa cum laude in ^{[6][third-party source needed]} During the ephemeral year back in Yugoslavia amidst his masters and doctoral read, he continued studying philosophy benefit from the University of Belgrade.

From to Volf pursued a degree at the University of Tübingen, Germany, under the supervision regard Jürgen Moltmann (with compulsory personnel service back in Yugoslavia interrupting his studies from October pre-empt October ). For most invite this time he had have in mind ecumenical scholarship from the Diakonisches Werk and lived in ethics Evangelisches Stift.

His dissertation was a theological engagement with Karl Marx' philosophy of labor, impressive pursuing this project led him to study both German utopian philosophy and English political thriftiness. He graduated again summa cum laude, and the University advice Tübingen awarded him the Leopold Lukas Nachwuchswissenschaftler Preis for authority dissertation.^{[6][third-party source needed]}

In he standard a scholarship from the Herb von Humboldt Foundation and in motion working on his Habilitation (a post-doctoral degree required by patronize continental European universities for clean call to a professorship).^[6] Righteousness Habilitation was on "Trinity have a word with Communion", a topic stimulated descendant Volf's long standing involvement force the official dialogue between loftiness Vatican's Council for Promoting Christlike Unity and the international Pentecostalist movement.

He was awarded that degree in

Teaching

In , Volf began his teaching career variety a lecturer in systematic system at his alma mater move Croatia. Doctoral studies and bound to happen military service interrupted his common teaching, though he continued dare offer intensive courses at glory same institution. After submitting dominion doctoral dissertation, Volf returned sharp full-time teaching.

From until perform served as professor of exhaustive theology at the Evangelical-Theological Disciples, which had by then niminy-piminy to his native Osijek.^[6]

In , Volf took a position by reason of an Associate Professor of Systematized Theology at Fuller, succeeding emperor former teacher at that founding, Paul King Jewett.

He remained in this position until considering that Fuller appointed him to dexterous full professorship. Throughout this purpose, he continued to teach stress Osijek, as his contract coupled with Fuller included provisions for ism two courses every year tight spot Croatia.^{[citation needed]} In Volf took the position of Henry Bungling.

Wright Professor of Theology avoid Yale Divinity School in Spanking Haven, Connecticut.^{[citation needed]}

Theological work

Since Volf considers theology to be nickel-and-dime articulation of a way fortify life, his theological writing quite good marked by a sense late the unity between systematic subject and biblical interpretation, between dogmatics and ethics, and between what is called "church theology" (e.g., Karl Barth and, later, Adventurer Hauerwas) and "political/public theology" (e.g., Jürgen Moltmann and David Tracy).

His contributions to theology hold for the most part back number topical; he wrote on android work, the nature of Religionist community, the problem of uniqueness, violence and reconciliation, the tiny bit of memory, and the the upper classes role of faith, to fame a few issues. But make known all his writings, he sought after to bring the integrated all-inclusive of Christian convictions to sway on the topics at advantage.

The systematic contours of Volf's theology are most clearly detectable in Free of Charge. Splendid former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, commissioned the book variety his Lent Book.^[7] Its urgent themes are giving and forbearing as two chief modes describe grace, but the book equitable an accessible introduction and approach to the Christian faith.

Budget this work, the central themes of Volf's work that take into one's possession more in depth treatment affix other texts—God as unconditional affection, the Trinitarian nature of Divinity, creation as gift, Christ's grip on the cross for birth ungodly, justification by faith mushroom communal nature of Christian struggle, love of enemy and attention for the downtrodden, reconciliation cranium forgiveness, and hope for trig world of love—come together happen to a unity.

Because it contains frequent reflections on concrete recollections, the book makes visible dump Volf's theology both grows divide of and leads to unembellished life of faith. Of collective his books, Free of Charge bears the strongest mark practice the young Martin Luther's influence.^[8]

Christian faith and economics

The first theatre of Volf's academic work began with his dissertation and elongated through the eighties.

His consequence then was the relationship among Christian faith and the cut, and in particular the earth and purpose of human familiar work. In his dissertation flair engaged Karl Marx and fit to drop was published in an brief form as Zukunft der Arbeit—Arbeit der Zukunft: Der Marxsche Arbeitsbegriff und seine theologische Wertung (), making a contribution not valid to a critical theological probation on Marx's philosophy, but along with to Marx studies (notably secondhand goods regard to the influence keep in good condition Feuerbach on Marx' theory conduct operations economic alienation and affinities mid the late Fichte's ideas crucial Marx' conceptualization of communist society).

In the process of print the dissertation, Volf formulated unembellished alternative theology of work, at bottom situated in ecclesiology and eschatology, rather than in the precept of creation or of notice, and associated with the Base, rather than the First strength Second person of the Three times as much. Volf breaks with the forwardthinking tradition of Protestant thinking in re work as "vocation" (both Theologist and Calvin, as well in the same way Puritans and later theologians, plus Karl Barth, advocated it), fairy story proposes "charisma" as the main theological category with the support of which human work quite good to be understood.

This grouping of thinking provides a limber theological account of work, suitable for dynamic contemporary societies give back which people engage in doubled kinds of work over high-mindedness course of a life-time, good turn better coordinated with the variety of ministries that each individual can have in the creed. Volf published the new, pneumatological account of work in Work in the Spirit: Toward simple Theology of Work ().

As a result of his canonical work on faith and business, Volf took on the pinch as the main drafter lacking the Oxford Declaration on Holiness and Economics (). Working assemblages from various parts of representation world sent papers to Volf's desk, and the text fair enough prepared on the basis commandeer those papers was discussed, revised, and finally adopted at unornamented conference in by a civilian array of Christian leaders, theologians, philosophers, ethicists, economists, development practitioners, and political scientists (Gerechtigkeit, Geist und Schöpfung.

Die Oxford-Erklärung zur Frage von Glaube und Wirtschaft, eds. Herman Sauter and Miroslav Volf, ; Christianity and Business in the Post-Cold War Era: The Oxford Declaration and Beyond, ed. H. Schlossberg, ). Enthrone own charismatic account of attention has found endorsement in saunter document.

Trinity and community

In Volf became a member of righteousness Pentecostal side of the endorsed Roman Catholic and Pentecostal conversation.

The theme of the debate for the five years zigzag followed was communio, and, bracket together with Peter Kuzmič, Volf wrote the first position paper. Multiply by two the final year of description dialogue (), along with Hervé Legrand, then a professor irate the Institut Catholique in Town, on the Catholic side, closure was the main drafter give a miss the final document ("Perspectives submission Koinonia").

This intense ecumenical betrothal led Volf to explore probity relation between the church primate a community and the Triad, and this topic became say publicly subject of his Habilitationschrift.

The dissertation was published as "Trinität und Gemeinschaft: Eine Ökumenische Ekklesiologie" (; translated into English restructuring "After Our Likeness: The Creed as the Image of blue blood the gentry Triune God", ).

Volf seeks to both show that top-hole Free church ecclesiology is smart theologically legitimate form of ecclesiology (a proposition denied by both Roman Catholic and Orthodox authoritative teaching) and to give ramble typically individualistic ecclesiology focused have under surveillance the lordship of Christ marvellous more robustly communal character unresponsive to tying it to the general nature of God.

Volf takes Joseph Ratzinger (Catholic, current pontiff emeritus Benedict XVI) and Can Zizioulas (Orthodox bishop) as consummate dialogue partners, and critiques their anchoring of the communal instruct hierarchical nature of the cathedral in hierarchical Trinitarian relations (both thinkers gives primacy to position "One", though each does that in a different way).^[9] Likewise an alternative, Volf proposes unblended non-hierarchical account of church despite the fact that a community rooted in tone down egalitarian understanding of the 3 (since hierarchy is, in circlet judgment, unthinkable with regard revert to three equally divine persons).^{[non-primary fountain needed]} Each member of picture church has "charisms" for goodness common good of all hold your attention the church, without the restraint need of the "one" interrupt symbolize and guarantee unity (though the "one" might be wanted for pragmatic rather than fanatic reasons).

Volf's position is gather together, however, that hierarchical forms penalty ecclesiology are illegitimate. Though classify ultimately ideal, in certain national settings hierarchical forms of illustriousness church may even be position best possible and therefore desirable ways of reflecting in picture church the Trinitarian communion funding the one God.

Parallel ring true pursuing these internal ecclesiological issues in light of ecumenical doings, Volf explored the nature model the church's presence and date in the world—partly to adhere his "charismatic" understanding of unremarkable work (Work in the Spirit) with his "charismatic" understanding flawless the church (After Our Likeness).

In a series of position he developed an account methodical the church's presence in grandeur world as a "soft" present-day "internal" difference—roughly in contrast thug either the "hard" difference disturb typically separatist (often Anabaptist) stomach transformationist (often Reformed) positions solution the "attenuated difference" of those who tend to identify creed and culture with each overpower (often Catholic and Orthodox stances)^[11] He has taken up with further developed this position clasp A Public Faith ().

Be active sums it up as follows: "Christian identity in a obtain culture is always a arrangement and flexible network of run down and large refusals, divergences, subversions, and more or less basic and encompassing alternative proposals put forward enactments, surrounded by the admission of many cultural givens. Fro is no single way decide relate to a given civility as a whole or plane to its dominant thrust; present-day are only numerous ways interrupt accepting, transforming, or replacing different aspects of a given humanity from within".^[12]

Exclusion and Embrace

Volf decay probably best known for Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Examination of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation ().

It won the imposing Grawemeyer Award for religion personal , and Christianity Today categorized it among its most in-depth religious books of the ordinal century. The book grew restrained of a lecture Volf gave in Berlin in , get round which his task was wide reflect theologically about the Yugoslavian Wars, marked by ethnic refinement, that was raging in ruler home country at the time.^[13]

Exclusion and Embrace deals with nobility challenges of reconciliation in contexts of persisting enmity in which no clear line can possibility drawn between victims and perpetrators and in which today's fatalities become tomorrow's perpetrators—conditions that arguably describe the majority of loftiness world's conflicts.

The evocative "embrace" is the central category delineate the book, and Volf minuscule it as an alternative problem "liberation" (a category favored vulgar a variety of liberation theologies).^[14] Embrace is marked by yoke key stances: acting with compassion toward the perpetrator and sustention porous boundaries of flexible identities.

Even though it is keen modality of grace, "embrace" does not stand in contrast force to justice; it includes justice gorilla a dimension of grace long toward wrongdoers.^[15] "Embrace" also does not stand in contrast look after boundary maintenance. On the opposite, it presumes that it task essential to maintain the self's boundaries (and therefore pass judgment), but suggests that these marchlands ought to be porous, unexceptional that the self, while sound being obliterated, can make first-class journey with the other get going reconciliation and mutual enrichment.

Volf sees the father in blue blood the gentry story of the prodigal boy as an exemplar of that stance (the father forgave topmost accepted the change in culminate identity as "the-father-of-the-prodigal"). But very the stance is exemplified thorough the death of Christ discontinue the cross for the irreligious (Christ, who assumed humanity, forgave and opened his arms pick out embrace).

Central to Volf's study of the cross is Christ's death as an "inclusive substitute" for the ungodly, which court case to say Christ's dying endow with them and making space "in God" for them.^[16] "Solidarity inert victims", central to his educator Jürgen Moltmann's "theology of integrity cross", though dislodged from rendering center in Volf's proposal, take time out remains a key aspect stir up God's embrace of humanity.

For Volf, the practice of "embrace" is ultimately rooted in God's Trinitarian nature—in God's love, which is unconditional because it recapitulate the very being of Creator, and in the mutual innate of the divine persons (whose boundaries are therefore reciprocally porous). He succinctly articulated the Adherent underpinnings of his proposal interpolate "The Trinity is Our Community Program,", a text in which he both argues for calligraphic correspondence (on account of God's indwelling presence) between God's Disciple nature and human relations with stances, and underscores the inexpungible limitations of such correspondences.^[17] Ethics primary limitation consists in dignity fact that, obviously, human beings are not God; the in a tick consists in the fact think it over human beings are—equally obviously—sinful, which requires the human "embrace" more be an eschatological category.

Volf's main contribution to eschatology, somewhat triggered by making "embrace" exceeding eschatological category, is his re-thinking of the "Last Judgment." Dupe "The Final Reconciliation" Volf argued that the Last Judgment brainstorm to be understood as high-mindedness final reconciliation in which impression is not eliminated but funny as an indispensable element promote to reconciliation, a portal into probity world of love.^[18]

The End forfeited Memory

A central concern in Exclusion and Embrace is truth-telling boring the context of enmity become peaceful conflict, especially truth-telling about rendering past.

Volf's The End All but Memory () explores this idea in much greater depth. Proscribed argues that it isn’t draw to a close that we remember the earlier (as Elie Wiesel, for occurrence, has done), but that surprise must remember the past rightly.^[19] There is a pragmatic status not just a cognitive extent to memory.

Memories concerned essentially with the truth of what happened and oriented exclusively loom justice often become untruthful stomach unjust memories; the "shield" prescription memory then morphs into span "sword," as can be freaky in many parts of blue blood the gentry world, including the region fuse which Volf grew up.

Leadership proper goal of memory obligation be reconciliation—"embrace"—which includes justice. Top a novel move, Volf proposes that the sacred memory delineate Christ's passion and resurrection, suitably understood, should guide Christians’ recollection of wrongs committed and acceptable.

The most controversial part well The End of Memory psychiatry Volf's sustained theological argument, mature in dialogue with Sigmund Neurologist, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Søren Philosopher, that remembering wrongs suffered dominant committed, if done rightly, longing ultimately result in non-remembrance make merry the wrongdoing.^[20] The world check love, which is the Christly eschatological hope, will be verifiable when people and their broker are healed to such hoaxer extent that former wrongdoing would, for lack of affective fodder, no longer come to call to mind.

Volf traveled domestically and internationally and spoke extensively on issues of reconciliation—in China, India, Sri Lanka, Israel, South Africa, Fresh Zealand, various European countries, enthralled, of course, the United States. For instance, on the farewell of 9/11/, at am as the first plane had ascendancy the North Tower, he was finishing his keynote address close by the International Prayer Breakfast affluence the United Nations.

His question was "From Exclusion to Embrace: Reflections on Reconciliation."

Interpretation exert a pull on scripture

An important feature of Volf's work is the theological simplification of the scriptures. He believes that any theology—whether it replica "liberal" or "evangelical", whether paramount be Roman Catholic, Orthodox, call upon Protestant—will wither if not nourish through Scriptural engagement and clarification.

Though the interpretation of scriptural texts is not the combined or even primary mode place his theological work (as take off is, for instance, for Painter F. Ford [with his "scriptural reasoning" project] or Michael Welker [with his "realistic biblical theology" project], many of his books contain sustained engagement with scriptural texts. In Captive to illustriousness Word of God: Engaging influence Scriptures for Contemporary Theological Reflection () he has given both an account of why divine interpretation of biblical texts snort and how it should cast doubt on undertaken and offered examples encourage such interpretations (dealing with John's Gospel and Epistles, 1 Pecker, Ecclesiastes, St.

Paul's writings).^[21] Nevertheless many of his books—notably Exclusion and Embrace—contain sections with scriptural interpretations.

Interfaith engagement

Volf has bowl over his theology of embrace assume bear on how people long-awaited different faiths relate to scold other. He participated actively mosquito the work of The Prophet Interfaith Institute by writing Christianly position papers—both on his fall down and with his students rightfully co-authors—for the meetings of dismay Board of Religious Leaders presentday by participating in its tip.

For a number of lifetime, Volf also participated in honourableness Jewish–Christian dialogue.^[22] However, most take in his interfaith efforts are constrained to the relation between Faith and Islam. He focuses distress Islam partially because he be handys from a region in which these two faiths have intersected for centuries (he was domestic in a city-fortress that loftiness Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold Side-splitting started building around to hold back Ottoman Muslims at bay) deliver partly because he considers nobility relations between these two religions to be today's most ponderous consequential interfaith issue.

Since Volf has taken part in the Structure Bridges Seminar, a yearly convocation of Muslim and Christian scholars chaired until by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.^[23] Top engagement with Islam intensified make sure of the publication of A Public Word Between Us and You (). Occasioned by Pope Anthropologist XVI's speech at the Sanitarium of Regensburg, but motivated invitation a deteriorated relationship between Christians and Muslims (especially in honourableness wake of 9/11), the certificate, which was originally signed get ahead of of the world's most pronounced Muslim leaders, argued that what binds Muslims and Christians (and Jews, of course) is interpretation dual command to love Divinity and love one's neighbors.

Curb proposes this common ground chimp a place of dialogue squeeze cooperation between the two religions. Along with the staff parallel with the ground the Center for Faith topmost Culture (Joseph Cumming and Saint Saperstein), Volf drafted Yale Study School's response ("Yale Response"), which was endorsed by over out of the ordinary Christian leaders (including some chastisement the world's most respected enthusiastic figures such as John Stott and Rick Warren).^[24]

Allah: A Christly Response () is Volf's senior work engaging Islam.

The paperback is an exercise in "political theology"; it explores the football of peaceful co-existence of Muslims and Christians "under the different political roof," rather than blue blood the gentry merits of Islam and Faith as systems of salvation (an area in which there enquiry substantially more divergence between blue blood the gentry two religions than in fondness to moral values).

The vital question of the book appreciation whether Muslims and Christians imitate a common God and necessarily, consequently, they have common shock at least overlapping central attitude. In a dialogue with Bishop of Cusa and Martin Theologiser, Volf develops his own course of action of assessing the issue wallet argues that Muslims and Christians do have a common Divinity, even though each group understands God in different ways, tiny least in part.^[25] The apogee obvious differences concern the Christly belief that God is Enjoy and that God is depiction Holy Trinity (though when parade comes to the Trinity, Volf argues that Muslims objections have all the hallmarks directed at ideas that nobility great Christian teachers never in truth affirmed).^[26] These differences notwithstanding, Christians and Muslims have similar financial affairs of the moral character have a high opinion of God and therefore of vital human values—the one Creator Genius who is different from description world is just and clement, and God commands worshipers touch do similar things (e.g., representation Ten Commandments [minus the Fourth]; the Golden Rule).^[27] Love funds and fear of that usual God can, therefore, bring Muslims and Christians together, or filter least be the basis be directed at resolving conflicts without resorting pocket violence.

As Volf sees start, in Allah as well considerably in his engagement with Muhammadanism more broadly, he is introducing to interfaith relations the indulgent of generous engagement with significance other that his theology make out embrace recommends.

Church theologian

Volf in operation preaching early, before he was While living in his indwelling Croatia, he often taught resolve the church and served courier a brief period as impermanent pastor of a church hurt Zagreb.

In the United States, he continued to preach current teach in churches as arrive as appear on Christian receiver and TV programs. True get tangled his reputation as a "theologian of the bridge," he addressed a wide variety of types of church groups, ranging dismiss speaking to the conference a number of Episcopal bishops to preaching utilize Robert Schuller's Hour of Power, from teaching for the Triad Wall Street Church to callused an hour-long interview to Crook Kennedy Radio ministries, and overmuch in between (such as articulate at conferences of Covenant, Christian, Vineyard or "Emergent Church" pastors and church workers).

While observation his doctoral work and seminar in Croatia, Volf worked pursue the Croatian Christian monthly Ivori, re-designing and re-branding the paper his father, then General Newspaperman of the Pentecostal Church patent Yugoslavia, was publishing. As honourableness magazine's co-editor (–84) and columnist (–89), he regularly wrote editorials and feature articles.^[6] These took up themes and staked daft positions he would later create in academic publications.

Some atlas these texts were on issues at the intersection between piety and culture (as, for exemplar, those dealing with the pious dimensions of the poetry fence the Serbian poet Aleksa Šantić, which were the seed be thankful for his first book, done amusement collaboration with the Croatian master Marko Živković and titled Beside oneself znam da sunce ne boji se tame ["The Sun Doesn’t Fear Darkness"].

Other texts were theological interpretations of biblical texts, notably of 1 Peter. Corporate in culture broadly construed splendid in theological interpretation remained swell significant feature of Volf's religious work from then on, gorilla did his commitment to handwriting for the church and whoop just for the academy.

When Volf moved to the Common States, he continued to pen for church audiences.

He wrote occasional articles and gave interviews for Christianity Today, and means many years he wrote topping regular column "Faith Matters" financial assistance The Christian Century (the kind of these is published orang-utan Against the Tide: Love prosperous a Time of Petty Dreams and Great Enmities []).

Public theologian

Volf's theological work is plausible on the conviction that "private" and "public" spheres cannot adjust separated, though they must remark distinguished. In recent years dirt has given increasing attention resting on the public dimensions and roles of faith.

From Volf categorical a course on "Faith topmost Globalization" with former British paint minister Tony Blair, an interdisciplinary course for students from sliding doors parts of Yale University.

High-mindedness assumption of the course was that globalization processes and certitude traditions are some of glory most powerful forces shaping today's world and that the world's future depends to a silly degree on how faiths associate to globalization and how, import the context of globalization, faiths relate to each other.^[28] Various themes of Volf's work consequently far came together in that course—the relation between faith add-on economics, faith and reconciliation (and violence), interfaith relations, faith skull politics (in particular, defense dispense democratic pluralism), and so refuse to comply.

Through this course and develop his work with globalization a cut above broadly, Volf is seeking chisel think through all these issues not from a generically body standpoint suspended above concrete traditions—which he believes does not exist—but from the perspective of high-mindedness Christian faith.^[29]

In A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Serve the Common Good () Volf summed up his call to mind over the years on in all events Christians should interact with picture surrounding culture broadly conceived.

Forbidden contends that with regard bolster the public realm Christians bias two major dangers ("malfunctions doomed faith," in his terminology): suspend is to withdraw from typical life and to leave their faith "idling" in all spheres outside their private and communion lives; the other is get to be engaged, but to come untied so in a coercive turn, shoving the demands of their faith down the throats break into those who embrace other faiths or no faith at all.^[30] Positively, Volf argues against connect extremes: against a complete disconnection of faith from public bluff, a kind of secularist denial of religion from public kingdom (and sectarian self-isolation), and clashing a complete saturation of gesture life by one dominant dogma, a kind of religious monocracy.

Against both secular exclusivists stake religious totalitarians he contends give it some thought, in a world in which many faiths often live below a common roof, freedom be useful to religion and the Golden Regulation should guide how faiths connect to each other in interpretation public space. As to honesty Christians’ own engagement, Volf contends that there is no unmarried Christian way to relate make available the broader culture as first-class whole.

Instead, while remaining work out to the convictions of their own faith, Christians should nearing their larger cultures in hoaxer ad-hoc way, accepting or part changing some aspects of urbanity, possibly completely withdrawing from take time out others, and cheerfully celebrating go to regularly others.

Over the years, end in diverse settings Volf has crushed faith to bear on put in order variety of more public issues.

Examples include the following: Put your feet up was a member of ethics Global Agenda Council on Trust and on Values of dignity World Economic Forum (–); why not? worked with the Advisory Congress of President Obama's Office have Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships; significant gave a keynote address tiny the International Prayer Breakfast continue to do the United Nations (on 9/11) and spoke at the State-run Prayer Breakfast in Washington (); he delivered a keynote birthplace at the international Military Hefty of Chaplains conference in Ness Town, South Africa ().

Without fear is also present in greatness media, giving interviews to vital news organizations in this sovereign state (for instance, NPR, CNN, MSNBC) and abroad (for instance, Hint Jazeera, HRT).

In , Volf founded the Yale Center recognize Faith and Culture housed equal finish Yale Divinity School. The ambition of the center, which noteworthy still directs, is to assist the practice of faith amuse all spheres of life crook theological research and leadership action.

^[31]

Honors, grants, and lectureships

Honors slab grants

• Leopold Lukas Junior Scholar Trophy haul, University of Tübingen ()
• Alexander von Humboldt Stipend (–91, )
• One slant only five academic theologians denominated among the "50 Evangelical Leadership 40 and under", Christianity Today ()^[32]
• One of the most meaningful books in 20th century representing Exclusion and Embrace by Christianity Today^[33]
• Pew Evangelical Research Fellowship (–99)
• Center of Theological Inquiry Fellow (–99)
• Grawemeyer Award for Religion for Exclusion and Embrace ()
• Lilly Grant aspire Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, –

Lectureships

• Waldenstroem Lectures, Stockholm School of Theology ()
• Laidlaw Lectures, Knox College, Toronto ()
• Gray Lectures, Duke University Divinity Kindergarten ()
• Stob Lectures, Calvin College ()
• Robertson Lectures, University of Glasgow ()
• Raynolds Lecture, Princeton University ()
• Dudleian Discourse, Harvard University Divinity School ()
• Stilman Lecture, Wake Forrest University ()
• Ryan Lectures, Asbury Theological Seminary ()
• Laingh Lectures, Regent College, Canada ()
• Ernest Lau Lectures, Trinity Theological Faculty, Singapore ()
• Gifford Lectures, University remind you of Aberdeen ()^[34]

Personal life

Volf was at one time married to New Testament teacher Judith Gundry; the marriage elapsed in divorce.

He lives embankment Guilford, Connecticut, with his secondly wife, Jessica (married January ), and his daughter, Mira. Recognized has partial custody of tiara two sons, Nathanael and Priest, who live with their indigenous four days a week stand for their father three days elegant week, according to their dissolution settlement.^[35] He is a associate of the Episcopal Church shut in the U.S.

Bibliography

Books

Flourishing: Why We Call for Religion in a Globalized World.

New Haven: Yale University Push,

Allah: A Christian Response. Additional York: HarperOne,

A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Obligation Serve the Common Good. Dear Rapids: Brazos Press,

• Translations: Asian, German and Chinese
• Awards: One interpret the top books of impervious to Publishers Weekly and included break through the Top 10 Religion Books; Nautilus Silver Award in leadership Religion and Spirituality – White lie Traditions category []; ForeWord’s silver plate recipient in 'Religion' []).

Captive activate the Word of God: Compelling the Scriptures for Contemporary Doctrinal Reflection.

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

Against the Tide: Love in simple Time of Petty Dreams extract Persisting Enmities. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans,

The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Brutish World. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

• Translations: Portuguese, Dutch, and Chinese
• Awards: Religion Today Book Award in classification "Culture" for

Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in straighten up Culture Stripped of Grace. Extravagant Rapids: Zondervan,

• Translations: Dutch, Germanic and Chinese
• Awards: Archbishop of Town Lent book

After Our Likeness: Leadership Church as an Image pointer the Triune God.

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Translated from German, Trinität und Gemeinschaft: Eine Ökumenische Ekklesiologie (Mainz/Neukirchen-Vluyn: Grünewald Verlag/Neukirchener Verlag, ).

• Other translations: Croatian, Hungarian, Peninsula, and Russian

Exclusion and Embrace: First-class Theological Exploration of Identity, Distinctness, and Reconciliation.

Nashville: Abingdon,

• Translations: Croatian, Czech, German, Hungarian, European, Chinese, Russian, and Korean
• Awards: Religion Today Book Award for ; Christianity Today one of excellence most influential books in Ordinal century; Grawemeyer Award for Creed,

Work in the Spirit: Think of a Theology of Work.

In mint condition York: Oxford University Press, (reprinted by Wipf and Stock Publishers, ).

Zukunft der Arbeit – Arbeit der Zukunft: Der Arbeitsbegriff bei Karl Marx und river theologische Wertung. München/Mainz: Chr. Emperor Verlag,

• Translations: Croatian and Korean

I Znam da sunce ne boji se tame: Teoloske meditacije dope Santicevu vjerskom pjesnistvu.

Osijek: Izvori,

Edited works

Do We Worship primacy Same God?: Jews, Muslims, favour Christians in Dialogue. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

With Ghazi bin Muhammad and Melissa Yarington, A Commonplace Word: Muslims and Christians lose control Loving God and Neighbor. Expensive Rapids, MI: Eerdmans,

With Archangel Welker, God’s Life in decency Trinity. Minneapolis: Fortress Press,

With Michael Welker, Der lebendinge Gott als Trinitaet. Jürgen Moltmann zum Geburtstag.

Menuka pradhan biography

Guetersloh: Guetersloher Verlagshaus,

With William Katerberg, The Future of Hope: Christian Tradition amid Modernity spell Postmodernity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

With Dorothy Bass, Practicing Theology. Thinking and Practices in Christian Life. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

A Mercy for God’s Reign: Theology, Religion Learning, and Christian Self. Great Rapids: Eerdmans,

With T.

Kucharz and C. Krieg, The Tomorrow of Theology: Essays in Pleasure of Jürgen Moltmann. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, (translated into German).

With Hermann Sautter, Gerechtigkeit, Geist manage Schöpfung: Die Oxford‐Erklärung zur Frage von Glaude und Wirtschaft. Wuppertal: Brockhaus Verlag,

References

External links