Sámi Nature-Centered Christianity in the European Arctic unpacks the theological significance of North Sámi indigenous Christianity, demonstrating how the tension between Sámi nature-centered Christianity and official Norwegian Lutheranism has broad theological relevance. Focusing on Christian cosmological orientation, the author argues that this is not fully given within the Christian faith itself. It is partly shaped by the religio-philosophical frameworks that various historical receptions of Christianity were filtered through. The author substantiates that two different types of Christian cosmological orientation are negotiated in the North Sámi Christian experience: one reflecting a Sámi historical reception of Christianity primarily filtered through the egalitarian world intuition of the Sámi indigenous tradition; another reflecting official Norwegian Lutheranism, primarily filtered through a Greek hierarchical world construct passed down among European intellectual elites. The argument is developed through thick description of local everyday Christianity among reindeer herding, river, and sea Sámi communities in Finnmark, Norway; through critical engagement with historical and contemporary Lutheranism; and through constructive dialogue with African and Native American theologies. The author suggests that the egalitarian, multi-relational logic of Sámi nature-centered Christianity points beyond the hierarchical binaries delimiting much of the theological imagination of dominant Christian theologies.
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Sámi Nature-Centered Christianity in the European Arctic unpacks the theological significance of North Sámi indigenous Christianity (Norway). Through thick description, critical analysis, and dialogue with African and Native American theologies, a nature-centered Christian paradigm is suggested.
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This eye-opener of a text succeeds in being both critical and creative. Tore Johnsen not only claims the obvious right to formulate indigenous and decolonial answers to central questions of human existence, but also shows how indispensable these answers are and why. The approach may be theological and the empirical example Sámi, but the range of the analysis is much wider. It convincingly demonstrates the advantage of using reasonings of so-called ordinary people as building-blocks in the formulation of a non-hierarchical philosophies, be they religious (as in this case) or secular.
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781793652959
Publisert
2024-03-15
Utgiver
Vendor
Lexington Books
Vekt
426 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
150 mm
Dybde
18 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
320

Forfatter

Biographical note

Sámi theologian Rev. Dr. Tore Johnsen is associate proffesor at KUN/VID Tromsø, Faculty of Theology, Diaconia and Leadership Studies, VID Specialized University, Norway.