MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

ABSTRACT Diakonia, grounded in theological anthropology and oriented toward inclusion, justice, and care, requires sociologically attuned frameworks capable of interpreting contemporary forms of social fragmentation and vulnerability. Rosa's resonance theory provides such a framework by conceptualizing human–world relations as potentially transformative encounters characterized by mutual affectivity, self‐efficacy, and openness. Crucially, resonance cannot be instrumentalized; it emerges only under conditions that allow subjects and their environments to “speak” with their own voices. The article argues that diakonia can foster resonance axes—horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and intra‐subjective—through practices such as community building, ritual participation, pastoral care, and advocacy work. These axes secure conditions for participatory agency while avoiding authoritarian or efficiency‐driven modes that inhibit resonance. Moreover, resonance theory illuminates diakonia's longstanding engagement with vulnerability: resonant relations presuppose trust and exposure, both of which are undermined in late modern contexts marked by structural acceleration, control regimes, and competitive pressures. Finally, the article highlights the potential of religious practices to cultivate “listening hearts” and counter political alienation, thereby contributing to more dialogical democratic cultures. Resonance thus offers diakonia a critical lens for evaluating social structures and a constructive framework for shaping relational, inclusive spaces.

ABSTRACT How are experiences shaping how people understand, relate to, and see Christian faith and doctrine as relevant in their lives? It can be argued that this is due to how such doctrines can relate to and interpret their experiences of contingency and resonance. This approach entails elements that can help understand the quest for experiences with religion within a larger theoretical framework and point to some of the implications that can be derived from a theoretical approach that addresses a specific understanding of Christian—and especially Lutheran—theology. A main idea here is that the contemporary discussion about the uncontrollable features of reality corresponds to and supports the notion of the human being as being referred to something other than its own agency.

This article identifies a folium from an early Greek parchment codex (P.Ant. 1 27) that is arranged in a way that corresponds very closely to the layout prescribed by the medieval set of instructions known as the Recette de Saint-Remi. P.Ant. 1 27, probably produced in the third or fourth century CE, would likely be the earliest surviving example of this layout.

Abstract Why do individuals risk their lives to protest under authoritarian regimes, even in the face of brutal repression? This article investigates the paradox of political activism under severe state violence by examining the July Uprising in Bangladesh. Drawing on repression literature and theories of political mobilization, the study addresses a critical gap: the mechanisms through which repression catalyzes – not suppresses – collective action. While existing scholarship has explored the effects of repression and tactical shifts in dissent, it has largely overlooked the emotional and moral dimensions that drive backlash mobilization. This article proposes a framework that traces the progression from repression to mobilization. It argues that indiscriminate violence during the July Uprising – including mass killings, kneecapping, and blinding – triggered intense emotional responses, fostered solidarity, and reinforced group identity among both politically active and previously disengaged individuals. These dynamics transformed bystanders into protesters, creating a moral imperative to resist. The study also highlights the role of long-standing grievances – such as enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and judicial repression – in shaping the moral landscape that culminated in the uprising. Through qualitative analysis of interviews, media reports, and firsthand accounts, the article demonstrates that repression can provoke emotional and ethical reactions that override fear, leading to widespread mobilization. This study contributes to repression scholarship by illuminating the mechanisms through which repression can inadvertently fuel resistance.

Are gentile and Jewish sin in Romans differentiated, so that chs. 9–11 are set apart from how Paul speaks of sin earlier in the epistle? Stephen L. Young has argued just that, and this article critically addresses his position, which is exaggerated and overlooks the textual habitat of the scriptural evidence used in Rom. 9–11. Cognitive sins are found among both gentiles and Jews. Paul’s eschatological framework enhances moral decline in general and is not susceptible to ethnic diversity. Rom. 1.18–3.20 and 9–11 are entangled in a complex web of terms and motifs. The past sins of Israel in Scripture are blended with experiences from Paul’s present mission.

White Muslim women in Norway navigate a world shaped by racialized and religified expectations. This article explores how markers of difference such as skin tone, clothing, and accent enable and constrain their self-presentation. Drawing on 14 qualitative interviews with both converts and lifelong white Muslim women, the study develops a theoretical account of “markers of difference” by identifying three variable characteristics: perception, control, and clarity. Earlier research has shown how markers like skin tone or the hijab become racialized. This study demonstrates how the materiality of different markers (e.g., names, accents, practices) provides varied opportunities and constraints for identity management. The article shows how being racialized as white affords degrees of faith information control. Yet whiteness does not fully protect against othering, including racism and Islamophobia. Ambiguous or unexpected markers prompt probing and misrecognition. The findings underscore that markers of difference are materially specific, dynamic, and context-dependent, while entangled with racial, religious, and other discourses of difference. The article contributes to Goffman-inspired stigma studies, to scholarship on white Muslims in Europe and North America, and to debates on the race-religion constellation. Empirically, it challenges assumptions that white Muslims without visible religious markers avoid stigma, showing how less visible cues like names or accents can also elicit negative, including racialized, reactions. Its central contribution is to refine the concept of markers of difference, systematising their variable characteristics and their role in stigma management.

Ochres are naturally occurring materials that are abundant in various geological environments and geographic regions and that have been used for a range of different purposes throughout history. Their wide use as pigments in ancient art is well-documented and, due to their abundancy, it is often presumed that ochres were extracted from locally available sources. However, ancient literary sources underline a preference for ochres from specific regions and provenance is viewed as a signifier for different properties, uses, and values. Despite the evident importance of ochre provenance for Hellenistic and Roman art, research on the topic remains scarce. This review paper aims to bridge archaeological and literary evidence with science-based methodological approaches that contribute to ochre provenance research. Firstly, an overview of ancient texts discussing terminology and the significance of ochre provenance and trade during the Hellenistic and Roman period is presented. Secondly, archaeological science-based approaches to ochre provenance research are reviewed, sketching out the contribution of interdisciplinary research to ancient ochre research, with a focus on evaluating possible raw material sources. Finally, this paper explores future directions that could contribute to the contextualisation of science-based approaches of ochre-provenance research within the framework of Classical Mediterranean archaeology, a period for which textual and historical evidence complement archaeological finds. • Ochre provenance is a signifier of their socio-economic value during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. • Archaeological and literary evidence contribute to science-based methodologies for ochre provenance research. • Research on Graeco-Roman polychromy would benefit from archaeometric approaches applied on prehistoric contexts. • Ochre provenance research would benefit from the use of certified reference materials and a wider range of source areas. • The development of ochre-specific databases would contribute to provenance research.

This article explores the role of constructive anger in motivating and sustaining climate action. It considers relevant research in climate psychology with special attention to the dynamic between climate-related anger, action, and hope. The psychological research is then applied to a reconstruction of the concept of anger and hope in philosophical and theological approaches. Developing the concept of constructive anger, this article suggests that such constructive anger can be a factor in moving through apathy, fear, and depression and mobilizing toward collective climate action. Climate-related anger can be relieved through collective forms of climate action and the sense of collective efficacy that can emerge in becoming active. These can become a means to generating resistant, active, constructive forms of hope that can be distinguished from deceptive forms of hope.

Monotheism, the belief in the One True God, seems to have an ambiguous role in political life: On the one hand, monotheism may foster the inclusion of everybody, regardless of identity or background. On the other, monotheistic religions demand submission to a singular revealed truth, distinguish between faithful and the heretics, and thus seemingly promote an antagonistic and tribalistic politics. What, then, are the political implications of the monotheistic belief in absolute truth? This Element traces the Enlightenment origins of our contemporary debates about monotheism and argues that these debates reflect a deeper Western ambivalence towards religion. It does so while discussing both secular and Christian critics of the politics of monotheism. The Element contends that there is no singular politics of monotheism, and that we can only approach monotheism's political significance if we take seriously the various ways in which truth is represented in political life in monotheistic traditions.

ABSTRACT Ethnic harassment is a common experience among ethnic and religious minorities in the UK and can reduce wellbeing. However, previous research on ethnic minorities suggests that experiences of harassment could increase identification with religious minority groups, and that a strong religious identity may buffer against some of the negative effects of harassment. Using panel data from the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (2009–2021), we investigate whether people who experience ethnic harassment have a subsequent increase in religious identification or practice, and to what extent this affects their wellbeing. We find evidence for a religious buffering effect which reduces distress following ethnic harassment for Christians. Similarly, we observe an increase in religiosity among Christians, but not other religious groups following ethnic harassment. Finally, we examine whether stronger religious identification would increase the likelihood of harassment experiences, and find only partial evidence for this reverse effect.