Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University. / This dissertation examines the ways changing Muslim-Christian relations and new gendered norms constitute the identities of orthodox Muslims and charismatic Christians in Java, Indonesia. The research is based on 12 months of fieldwork between 2009 and 2010 in the multi-religion city of Salatiga. Working with two middle-class Pentecostal congregations, with memberships of 400 and 150 individuals respectively, as well as two middle-class Muslim woman's Koranic sermon groups that involved about 70 households each, this research expands the ongoing discussion of gender politics and religious movements in modern pluralistic societies, and suggests we re-examine religious identities through the lens of inter-religious relations, particularly the role of women in them. The dissertation begins with ethnographic scenes where women and Christians figure prominently in Muslim-majority public rituals, in order to highlight the centrality of women and minorities in constructing religious pluralism. Chapter 1 presents a history of religious diversity in Java, and argues that over the last three decades, the children of Javanist Muslims have become brthodox Muslims, while the offspring of mainline Protestants have become born-again Christians. Chapter 2 elaborates on the transformation of Salatiga's landscape by the proliferation of worship facilities and ascendant inter-religious tensions. Building on this foundation, Chapter 3 focuses on women and neighborhood sociality. Here I argue that an unexpected outcome of recent religious change has been women's expanded public roles and a re-alliance of traditionalist and modernist Muslims in the presence of a strong Christian minority. Chapter 4 explains Muslim women's choices of embracing veiling and de-legitimizing polygamy in the context of cultural change, and demonstrates the social and political nature of the changing interpretations of religious knowledge. Chapter 5 turns to Christians' congregational lives, and illustrates the Pentecostal training of "sacrificial agency" among both men and women in order to fulfill "successful families." Finally, Chapter 6 examines the routine interactions between Muslim and born-again Christian women, and discusses their unequal social footings in Salatiga's pluralism. In conclusion, this dissertation contends that pluralism in Salatiga involves unequal power relations and dialectical negotiations between religious communities, in which gendered identities and cross-religious relations are integral components of religious subjectivity.

This thesis centers on Lutheran theologian Paul Althaus (1888–1966), one of the most contentious figures of twentieth-century Protestant theology and an architect of the Erlangen Opinion on the Aryan Paragraph. Althaus has been the object of a polarising scholarly debate on account of his ambiguous relationship to National Socialism and his ambivalent views on the so-called ‘Jewish Question.’ The investigation of the latter of these two points is the chief research objective of the thesis. That is, how did Althaus understand the ‘Jewish Question,’ especially in its theological dimension, and what did he envision as its solution? In the following pages, I suggest that Althaus fits together two separate but coherent strands of thought—inclusion and exclusion—into a paradoxical socio-theological vision for the Jews. The predominance of the scholarly literature falters on his theology of Jews and Judaism because it interprets the evidence more or less according to a binary model (philosemitism/antisemitism or inclusion/exclusion). But on this point Althaus resists facile classification because his approach to the ‘Jewish Question’ is dialectical. As such, it requires a dialectical interpretive approach to account for the function of ‘Jews’ within the wider logic of his theological system, including his doctrines of creation, the church, and the state. The study’s ultimate conclusion is that Althaus comes to interpret Jewish existence according to a dialectic of pathology and performance (according to which Jews are both a danger to and an indispensable factor for the life of the German Volk), resulting in an inclusive quarantine of Jewish persons within both civil and ecclesial communities. The argument proceeds along four movements. The first movement considers Althaus’ völkisch writings during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) in order to uncover the basic categories—pathology and performance—through which Althaus interprets Jewish existence. Movement II surveys Althaus’ attitudes toward the Jews under National Socialism (1933–1945), with special reference to the Erlangen Opinion on the Aryan Paragraph, a document which recommended that Jewish men be restricted from pastoral office in the Deutsche Evangelische Kirche. Movement III demonstrates that, even in the knowledge of the Nazi regime’s crimes against the Jews, Althaus relinquished the dialectic of pathology and performance only gradually and incompletely in the postwar period (1945–Althaus’ death in 1966). The dissertation’s fourth movement approaches Althaus as a case study in the viability of Lutheran social ethics in light of his xenophobic articulation of the doctrine of the orders of creation. Insofar as Althaus brought this doctrine to bear on questions concerning the place of Jews in German society and in the German churches, his example raises broader dogmatic questions for a post-Shoah world. The thesis concludes with a proposal for doctrinal repair with resources found within the Lutheran tradition itself, with particular attention to the theologia crucis.

Agobard of Lyon has usually been studied because of his writings about Jews. This dissertation likewise began from a desire to understand Agobard’s anti-Jewish writings, their content, motives, and impact. Approaching that topic from the basis of Agobard’s whole corpus of writings, however, forces an acknowledgment that Agobard cannot be reduced to simply “Agobard and the Jews,” although the subject clearly created a great amount of anxiety for him. Also, by beginning with Agobard’s own works, this dissertation discusses him on his own terms first, without relying on the historiographical tradition which defines him as a Visigoth, a tradition ultimately found wanting. This dissertation effectively dismantles the model of Agobard as a Visigoth working in the Carolingian world, and replaces it with a model of Agobard as a Carolingian. As such, this study explores his anti-Judaism in terms of his immediate historical context and links it with his other anxieties and the Carolingian desire for a perfect, Christian, society. Doing so also opens the door for a re-evaluation of the traditional interpretation of the Carolingian period as the last “golden age” of European Jews outside of Muslim Spain. At its conclusion, this study argues that the Carolingians, by deliberately attempting to create a Christian society, however “well” they treated Jews in their own time, laid some of the ideological groundwork for the later isolation and persecution of Jews in Europe. The introduction begins the exploration of Agobard’s historical context by discussing the history of both Louis’s empire and Agobard’s Lyon. The first chapter provides a quick summary of his life and works. From there, the dissertation turns to its in-depth study of Agobard in the second through fourth chapters. An analysis of his main anti-Jewish work, De iudaicis superstitionibus et erroribus in Chapter 3 is prefaced by a study of the character and possible roots of his anti-Judaism in Chapter 2. The last chapter looks at Agobard’s other concerns, how they relate to his writings on Judaism, and finally how his great amount of worry around Judaism can help shape our understanding of medieval Jewish-Christian relations.

Agobard of Lyon has usually been studied because of his writings about Jews. This dissertation likewise began from a desire to understand Agobard’s anti-Jewish writings, their content, motives, and impact. Approaching that topic from the basis of Agobard’s whole corpus of writings, however, forces an acknowledgment that Agobard cannot be reduced to simply “Agobard and the Jews,” although the subject clearly created a great amount of anxiety for him. Also, by beginning with Agobard’s own works, this dissertation discusses him on his own terms first, without relying on the historiographical tradition which defines him as a Visigoth, a tradition ultimately found wanting. This dissertation effectively dismantles the model of Agobard as a Visigoth working in the Carolingian world, and replaces it with a model of Agobard as a Carolingian. As such, this study explores his anti-Judaism in terms of his immediate historical context and links it with his other anxieties and the Carolingian desire for a perfect, Christian, society. Doing so also opens the door for a re-evaluation of the traditional interpretation of the Carolingian period as the last “golden age” of European Jews outside of Muslim Spain. At its conclusion, this study argues that the Carolingians, by deliberately attempting to create a Christian society, however “well” they treated Jews in their own time, laid some of the ideological groundwork for the later isolation and persecution of Jews in Europe. The introduction begins the exploration of Agobard’s historical context by discussing the history of both Louis’s empire and Agobard’s Lyon. The first chapter provides a quick summary of his life and works. From there, the dissertation turns to its in-depth study of Agobard in the second through fourth chapters. An analysis of his main anti-Jewish work, De iudaicis superstitionibus et erroribus in Chapter 3 is prefaced by a study of the character and possible roots of his anti-Judaism in Chapter 2. The last chapter looks at Agobard’s other concerns, how they relate to his writings on Judaism, and finally how his great amount of worry around Judaism can help shape our understanding of medieval Jewish-Christian relations.

While the majority of German Protestant churches were silent in response to the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany, the Deutsche Christen or German Christian movement enthusiastically supported the Nazi regime’s goals and was actively involved in efforts to extract “Jewish” elements from Protestantism in an effort to create a “pure” German religion. Many scholars view the radical form of Protestantism expressed by this group as a by-product of Nazism. However, I argue that ideas promoting the de-Judaization of Protestantism were already existent within Protestant theology and that Hitler’s rise to power merely provided the opportunity for these ideas to come to fruition. I examine this topic by analyzing nationalistic and anti-Jewish ideas in German Protestant theological texts during the early twentieth century, focusing on how these ideas informed the later de-Judaization of certain churches between 1932 and 1945 under the German Christian movement, which included actions like eliminating the Old Testament from the Protestant Bible and refusing to recognize Jewish conversion to Christianity. I approach this topic by situating my analysis of several key Protestant theological texts within broader scholarly discussions about the position of the churches towards the Jews in Weimar and Nazi Germany. / Graduate

In this dissertation, I describe social, economic and political relations between Jews and Christians in medieval Europe before presenting the intellectual and religious context of Jewish life in Christian Spain. The purpose of this endeavor is to provide the framework for analyzing two works, one in Hebrew and one in Castilian, by the Spanish Jewish author Sem Tob de Carrión (1290- c.1370). Proverbios morales (1355-60), the Castilian text, is important to the Spanish literary canon because it is one of the first works of Semitic sapiential literature to be transmitted, in the vernacular, to a Christian public. However, it has generally been read by scholars of medieval Hispanic literature in isolation from his Hebrew writings. Given that Ma’aseh ha Rav (c. 1345) reveals essential aspects of his thought structure and intellectual milieu not found in Proverbios morales, it should be required reading for a thorough understanding of his worldview. In the Hebrew work, I draw parallels between the polemical language used by Sem Tob and historically documented ideological conflicts that took place among Jews in late medieval Spain and Provençe. Because it is written in a style that involves the weaving together of biblical quotations and allusions, the polemical language must be read in relation to the biblical contexts to which these allusions refer. When analyzed in this way, allegory pertaining to the ongoing dispute among Jews about philosophy and scriptural interpretation, and rebuttals of Christian truth claims, become apparent. Additionally, kabbalistic references and messianic allusions lend the work an esoteric character that sharply distinguishes it from Proverbios morales. This analysis of Ma’aseh ha Rav is used as a basis for comparing rabbinic and philosophical concepts that appear in both works. The general movement from opposition to unity that characterizes each text, and the ubiquitous “golden mean,” link the two works conceptually, and underscore Sem Tob’s preoccupation with harmonizing contradictions on both the spiritual and social levels of existence. This aspect of his thought reflects the general intellectual climate of his milieu, which is characterized by the blending, or intertwining, of the main doctrines of medieval Judaism--philosophy, mysticism, and Talmudic-traditionalism. / text

The media plays an important role in forming public opinion, in broad terms media reporting can be described a way of constructing meanings to social events and actions, both fixed and dynamic ones. An in-depth study of the media discourse will therefore allow us, not only to understand the conditions of modern media, but also complex social practises of meaning making. Given the growing importance of fair media representation in times of an ever-increasing globalisation this thesis aims at a better understanding of the Swedish media portrayal of the Egyptian Muslim-Christian relations. The research question is: How is the Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt discursively presented in contemporary printed Swedish news media? A question implying several secondary research questions concerning the way in which media messages are produced, shared and perceived. This thesis is divided in two parts: Primarily, a content analysis of all articles containing words “copts” and “Egypt” from Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter published in print during the last nine years. In this analysis, the source, length, type, topic and presence of women/men were quantified using manual coding and CATA. Based on the results from the content analysis, three article-categories were identified and four articles from these categories chosen for the second analysis, a Critical Discourse Analysis. This analysis builds on the methodological framework by Norman Fairclough as well as the theoretical framework about media representation developed by Stuart Hall and the orientalism discourse critique introduced by Edward Said. The combination of Content analysis and CDA was chosen due to the character of my research question and empirical material. Furthermore, this method triangulation contributed to a higher validity. The findings in this thesis showed us that orientalist discourses were present in a large part of the material, although not undisputed, something that was showed through a identification of three different discursive concepts that were used when portraying the Muslim-Christian relations in Egypt – the coexistence discourse, the complexity discourse and the clashing discourse. In accordance with the hypothesis, the formation of these discourses was proven to depend on a number of factors such as source, author, genre and length. However, the generalizability of this result was lowered by limited empirics and limits in methodology. Further research, building on larger material, on the discursive formation of similar types of media portrayal is therefore recommended.

The relationship between Muslims and Christian in Indonesia is and important subject. Apart from a few investigations on certain conflicts in different areas of Indonesia, little effort has been devoted to thoroughly examining the complexity of the relationship between the two religious groups. This study is an attempt to investigate the perspectives of the exclusivist and inclusivist Muslims on Muslim-Christian relations in Indonesia, especially during the New Order period (1965-1998). / In dealing with this subject, the theological and legal precepts on the ‘religious’ other as developed in some classical texts are explored briefly. In order to provide the historical background of current Muslim-Christian relations, the study then investigates policies of the Dutch, Old Order, and New Order governments on Muslims and Christians. During the Dutch regime, Christians received better treatment as compared to Muslims. This was deeply resented by some Muslims, who identified the Dutch as Christians and Christians as colonists. By the time Indonesians were approaching independence, Muslim, Christian and other religious groups were preoccupied with deciding the philosophical basis of the state, and the Sukarno government paid scant attention to the hidden tense relations between Muslims and Christians. With the shift to the New Order period, Muslim-Christian relations changed dramatically because Soeharto intentionally and carefully controlled Indonesians based on the policy of SARA. The study found that some elements of SARA policy caused tensions between Muslims and Christians. / In separate chapters, the study then explores the backgrounds and concerns of the exclusivists and inclusivists in relations to Muslim Christian relations. It found that among both exclusivists and inclusivists the degree of ‘exclusiveness’ or ‘inclusiveness’ varied, as they were influenced by their different backgrounds. In addition, within each groups or among individuals, the concerns on issues related to Muslim-Christian relations differed. Four main exclusivist institutions are discussed in the study: the Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia (DDII), the Komite Indonesia untuk Solidaritas Dunia Islam (KISDI), the Forum Pembela Islam (FPI), and the Laskar Jihad. Key issues discussed by the exclusivists include the Christian ‘other’, relations between religion and the state, Christianisation, and the Ambon conflicts. The relations between the exclusivists and the Christians have been coloured largely by disharmony. Exclusivists believe that Christianity underwent alteration and that the God of Muslims is different from the Christian God, who is described as having offspring. In addition, all exclusivist groups in the study stated the view that it was the Christianisation activities that tore apart the relationship between Muslims and Christians. / In contrast, the relationships between inclusivists Muslims and Christians are coloured largely by harmony. The inclusivists chose to work within the New Order system for changes beneficial to Indonesian Muslims by avoiding direct conflict with the government and occupying themselves with intellectual endeavours. Against such a backdrop, the renewal of Islamic thought, characterised mainly by inclusivism, was introduced and developed. Moreover, the inclusivists hold the view that plurality is a law of nature (sunnatullah). Within this view, all religions are seen to adhere to the same principle of One Truth; and will therefore gradually find their ‘common platform’ or kalimatun sawa. As a reflection of their perspective on religious pluralism, most inclusivists admit the existence and rights of other religious believers, especially the ahl al-kitab. / The study found that it was the exclusivists who were more adamant in criticising the inclusivists through articles in their media or sermons in their mosques. Three of their important critiques are the belief that the inclusivists have established a link with Jews and Christians, that inclusivism weakens Muslim faith by giving new interpretations to the Islamic foundation texts that deviate from the accepted views, and that inclusivists lack concern about Christianisation. In contrast, the inclusivists tend not to criticise or respond to critiques directed at them by the exclusivists, as they consider these to be emotional or personal.

<p>This thesis explores attitudes of Christians toward Islam and Muslims in Spain in the sixteenth century and intends to destabilize Islam's traditional place as adversary in Early-Modern Spanish history. My research aligns itself with and employs new trends in historiography that emphasize dissent and resistance exercised by individuals and groups at all levels of Spanish society in order to complicate popular notions about the extermination of Islam in Spain. I argue that within Spain there was, throughout the sixteenth century and after the expulsion of the Moriscos in the early seventeenth century, a continued interest in the religion and culture of Islam. I show that, far from isolating itself from Islam, Christian Spain was engaged with Muslims on multiple levels. The voluntary and involuntary migration of Spaniards to Muslim lands, for many emigrants of Christian decent, led to the embrace of a multicultural, multireligious, polylingual and polyethnic reality along the Mediterranean that was contrary to Spanish Counter-Reformation ideology. The dissertation includes textual examples from sixteenth-century Spanish and colonial "histories," and works by Cervantes, to support the argument that this official ideology, which has dominated historiography on this period, does not reflect much of the Spanish experience with non-Christians within and without its borders. My goal is to expose a context within the field of Early-Modern Peninsular studies for alternative forms of discourse that emphasize toleration for religious and cultural difference, interfaith and intercultural dialogue and exchange, and a basic interest in and curiosity about Islamic ways of life.</p> / Dissertation

The relationship between Muslims and Christian in Indonesia is and important subject. Apart from a few investigations on certain conflicts in different areas of Indonesia, little effort has been devoted to thoroughly examining the complexity of the relationship between the two religious groups. This study is an attempt to investigate the perspectives of the exclusivist and inclusivist Muslims on Muslim-Christian relations in Indonesia, especially during the New Order period (1965-1998). / In dealing with this subject, the theological and legal precepts on the ‘religious’ other as developed in some classical texts are explored briefly. In order to provide the historical background of current Muslim-Christian relations, the study then investigates policies of the Dutch, Old Order, and New Order governments on Muslims and Christians. During the Dutch regime, Christians received better treatment as compared to Muslims. This was deeply resented by some Muslims, who identified the Dutch as Christians and Christians as colonists. By the time Indonesians were approaching independence, Muslim, Christian and other religious groups were preoccupied with deciding the philosophical basis of the state, and the Sukarno government paid scant attention to the hidden tense relations between Muslims and Christians. With the shift to the New Order period, Muslim-Christian relations changed dramatically because Soeharto intentionally and carefully controlled Indonesians based on the policy of SARA. The study found that some elements of SARA policy caused tensions between Muslims and Christians. / In separate chapters, the study then explores the backgrounds and concerns of the exclusivists and inclusivists in relations to Muslim Christian relations. It found that among both exclusivists and inclusivists the degree of ‘exclusiveness’ or ‘inclusiveness’ varied, as they were influenced by their different backgrounds. In addition, within each groups or among individuals, the concerns on issues related to Muslim-Christian relations differed. Four main exclusivist institutions are discussed in the study: the Dewan Dakwah Islamiyah Indonesia (DDII), the Komite Indonesia untuk Solidaritas Dunia Islam (KISDI), the Forum Pembela Islam (FPI), and the Laskar Jihad. Key issues discussed by the exclusivists include the Christian ‘other’, relations between religion and the state, Christianisation, and the Ambon conflicts. The relations between the exclusivists and the Christians have been coloured largely by disharmony. Exclusivists believe that Christianity underwent alteration and that the God of Muslims is different from the Christian God, who is described as having offspring. In addition, all exclusivist groups in the study stated the view that it was the Christianisation activities that tore apart the relationship between Muslims and Christians. / In contrast, the relationships between inclusivists Muslims and Christians are coloured largely by harmony. The inclusivists chose to work within the New Order system for changes beneficial to Indonesian Muslims by avoiding direct conflict with the government and occupying themselves with intellectual endeavours. Against such a backdrop, the renewal of Islamic thought, characterised mainly by inclusivism, was introduced and developed. Moreover, the inclusivists hold the view that plurality is a law of nature (sunnatullah). Within this view, all religions are seen to adhere to the same principle of One Truth; and will therefore gradually find their ‘common platform’ or kalimatun sawa. As a reflection of their perspective on religious pluralism, most inclusivists admit the existence and rights of other religious believers, especially the ahl al-kitab. / The study found that it was the exclusivists who were more adamant in criticising the inclusivists through articles in their media or sermons in their mosques. Three of their important critiques are the belief that the inclusivists have established a link with Jews and Christians, that inclusivism weakens Muslim faith by giving new interpretations to the Islamic foundation texts that deviate from the accepted views, and that inclusivists lack concern about Christianisation. In contrast, the inclusivists tend not to criticise or respond to critiques directed at them by the exclusivists, as they consider these to be emotional or personal.