Christian Identity II

The different contexts in which identity is described by the authors from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe make this yearbook an exciting read. Christian identity in politically and socially divided Sri Lanka has a different character than in Japan, where Christians form a vanishing minority. Women describe their identity as Christians differently from men, in that they distance themselves from a patriarchal-hierarchical power relationship and consciously see themselves as women following Jesus. Such identity in a pluralistic society is expressed differently depending on whether the reflection takes place in a European or African context. Materialistic values and new ideologies present African Christians with new challenges.

Jesus’ central message of the ‘Kingdom of God’ confronts the church with the question of how it defines itself. The identity of institutions that call themselves Christian also varies depending on the environment, as the example of a middle school in central Switzerland shows. The fact that the topic of identity is in the air has been confirmed by a large number of authors who have provided the editors of FORUM MISSION with noteworthy contributions on this topic, prompting them to dedicate a second part, Christian Identity II, to this subject. In this way, readers can once again engage with exciting approaches, reflections and experiences on this topic and, together with the first part, Christian Identity I, receive a comprehensive overview of this issue.