Jan-Olav Henriksen

On Splitting and Loss of Orientation

Psychology in Nietzsche's Criticism of Religion

Exploring how the climate crisis discloses the symbol deficit in the Christian tradition, this book argues that Christianity is rich in symbols that identify and address the failures of humans and the obstacles that prevent humans from doing well, while positive symbols that can engage people in constructive action seem underdeveloped. Henriksen examines the potential of the Christian tradition to develop symbols that can engage peoples in committed and sustained action to prevent further crisis. To do so, he argues that we need symbols that engage both intellectually and emotionally, and which enhance our perception of belonging in relationships with other humans, be it both in the present and in the future. According to Henriksen, the deficit can only be obliterated if we can develop symbols that have some root or resonance in the Christian tradition, provide concrete and specified guidance of agency, engage people both emotionally and intellectually, and finally open up to visions for a moral agency that provide positive motivations for caring about environmental conditions as a whole.

Expanding Gendered Sources

Climate Change and the Symbol Deficit in the Christian Tradition

F. LeRon Shults

Traditional Christian theology has generally treated desire as a dark and negative force intimately related to sin something to be restricted and repressed, closeted and controlled. But, according to LeRon Shults and Jan-Olav Henriksen s Saving Desire, we see only part of the picture if we do not also perceive that desire can be a powerful force for great good. Grounding their work firmly in the experiential realm of human life, the eight eminent theologians contributing to this volume celebrate together the positivity, the sociality, and the physicality of saving desire that is, humankind s innate desire not only for the good life but also, more vitally, for the life-transforming goodness of God.

The Seduction of Christian Theology

Saving Desire

Karl Olav Sandnes

Christian faith depends upon the resurrection of Jesus, but the claim about Jesus' resurrection is, nevertheless, disputed. This book, written by a New Testament scholar and a systematic theologian in conjunction, develops the conditions for the claim. It carefully analyzes the relevant texts and their possible interpretations and engages with New Testament scholarship in order to show nuances and different trajectories in the material. The picture emerging is that the New Testament authors themselves tried to come to terms with how to understand the claim that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead. But the book does not stop there: by also asking for the experiential content that gave rise to the belief in the resurrection. Sandnes and Henriksen argue that there is no such thing as an experience of the resurrection reported in the New Testament--only experiences of an empty tomb and appearance of Jesus, interpreted as Jesus resurrected. Hence, resurrection emerges as an interpretative category for post-Easter experiences, and is only understandable in light of the full content of Jesus' ministry and its context.

Texts and Interpretation, Experience and Theology

Resurrection

Can Christian belief in God, a contemporary scientific approach to human life, and human experience all be held together? Yes, says Jan-Olav Henriksen, who in this book shows how such a synthesis can be realized. Taking both knowledge of evolution and belief in God as Creator into account, Henriksen s Life, Love, and Hope articulates a vision for understanding the relationship between God and human experience in contemporary terms. Henriksen maintains that evolutionary theory does not account for all that can and must be said about human life and experience. Conversely, he also argues that any belief in God as Creator can be informed and deepened by knowledge of evolution. This thoughtful, nuanced book develops a comprehensive vision that will appeal to anyone who ponders the relationship between God and science.

God and Human Experience

Life, Love, and Hope

Otto Krogseth

kulturanalytiske perspektiver på nordiske nasjonalkirker i møte med religiøs og moralsk pluralisme

Pluralisme og identitet

Espen Dahl

Marius T. Mjaaland

Religion would be impossible without imagination. Imagination provides content that otherwise escapes discourse and perception. Thus, it opens up a productive realm for creative involvement that keeps religion from sinking into trivialities or abstractions. The contributions in the present volume explore in various ways potentialities and problems linked to imaginations role in the context of religion. The book challenges readers to think again and think differently about imagination in religion  which, in itself, involves the power of imagination. The book opens up fresh perspectives on the interactive dynamics between imagination and various faculties or dimensions of life. Imagination might be involved in thinking, perceiving, contemplation, and in practices. The contributors to the volume are all members of the Nordic Society for the Philosophy of Religion.

Perspectives from the Philosophy of Religion

Imagination in Religion

samvittighet og selvkritikk

Teologi i dag

Christian faith depends upon the resurrection of Jesus, but the claim about Jesus’ resurrection is, nevertheless, disputed. This book, written by a New Testament scholar and a systematic theologian in conjunction, develops the conditions for the claim. It carefully analyzes the relevant texts and their possible interpretations and engages with New Testament scholarship in order to show nuances and different trajectories in the material. The picture emerging is that the New Testament authors themselves tried to come to terms with how to understand the claim that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead. But the book does not stop there: by also asking for the experiential content that gave rise to the belief in the resurrection. Sandnes and Henriksen argue that there is no such thing as an experience of the resurrection reported in the New Testament—only experiences of an empty tomb and appearance of Jesus, interpreted as Jesus resurrected. Hence, resurrection emerges as an interpretative category for post-Easter experiences, and is only understandable in light of the full content of Jesus’ ministry and its context.

Jan-Olav Henriksen reconstructs and analyzes Christianity as a cluster of practices that manifest a distinct historically and contextually shaped mode of being in the world. Henriksen suggests that these practices imply a complicated relationship between the tradition in which they originate, the community that emerges from and is constituted by that tradition, and the individuals who appropriate the tradition that these communities mediate through their practices. Thus, to think of Christianity simply in terms of belief is misleading and represents an underdetermination of its distinct character. Henriksen further argues this relationship needs to be described primarily as practices aimed at orientation and transformation. His analysis points to Christianity's similarity to other religions in regard to the functional or pragmatic dimensions it displays. Examining facets such as prayer, the use of scripture, preaching and doctrine, Henriksen emphasizes that the element that makes a practice distinctively Christian is how it relates to and is informed by the Jesus story.

Jan-Olav Henriksen

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