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AAR Online Program Book

Time and room assignments are subject to change; final time and room
assignments are available in the onsite Annual Meeting Program Book.

Location Key: CHT Chicago Hilton and Towers

PH Palmer House Hilton Hotel

A1-104
History of Christianity Section

Saturday - 9:00 am-11:30 am

CHT-Conference Room 4C; View Map (coming soon)
Download vCalendar File (for use in Outlook or Palm Desktop) (coming soon)

Martha L. Finch, Missouri State University, Presiding

Theme: Practices of Seeing in the History of Christianity

Ann M. Caron, St. Joseph College

Practices of Seeing: Vehicles of Meditation and Devotion
My paper focuses on drawing, the Consecration of Virgins, from the Benedictine Abbey of St Walburg collection.
Analysis of the drawing in conjunction with the third Exercise of Gertrude the Great will show (1) how female
spirituality of the later Middle Ages contributed to the emergence of new attitudes toward visual experience, (2) the
indispensable place for images in the mysticism of Christian medieval women, (3) insights and concerns, kataphatic
tradition of Christian mysticism.

Emma J. Anderson, University of Ottawa

Devil in the Details: Visual Rhetoric and Historical Misrepresentation in Depictions of the “North American Martyrs,”
1649–Present
This presentation will explore the changing visual polemics of martyrdom in North America through an exploration of the
350 year history of artistic depictions of the of eight Jesuit martyrs, killed in the 1640s and canonized by the Roman
Catholic Church in 1930. Visual depictions of their deaths, far from being simple representations of historical events,
arguably appeal to the viewer using a highly developed Catholic visual rhetoric of sanctity and suffering: a rhetoric
which actively undercuts more historiographically nuanced interpretations of the complex, multivalent ritual actions they
portray. My presentation will show how, using contrastive strategies of light and darkness, centrality and periphery, and
singularity and ubiquity, centuries of Catholic painters and engravers have taken artistic liberties which arguably obscure
rather than illuminate the complex encounter between seventeenth century missionaries and native peoples:
simplistically portraying their encounter as the bloody embrace of civilization and savagery, sanctity and barbarism.

Amy Ann Slagle, University of Southern Mississippi

Seeing Multiplicity: Eastern Orthodox Icons as Mirrors of American Ethnic Diversity
With a recent influx of American-born converts and demographic shifts in the ethnic composition of local Orthodox
communities, Eastern Orthodox Christians in the United States have begun to explore and affirm intra-parish ethnic
diversity by expanding the iconographic repertoire of saints beyond those of traditional Orthodox lands to increasingly
include those from Africa, East Asia, and pre-schism western Europe. Although much of this expansion has come from
individual converts eager to explore their own ethnic backgrounds within the context of their newfound faith, local
parishes too have promoted more ethnically inclusive iconographic schemas in their adornment of church interiors.
Based on interviews with church members and a close examination of visual evidence, I explore the ways in which these
icons reflect changes in the meanings and uses of ethnicity within contemporary Orthodox Christianity and American
society.

Rosanne Morici, Syracuse University

Spirit as Surface: The Iconophilia of Kandinsky's On the Spiritual in Art

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This paper will contend that there is an essential iconophilia at the core of Wassily Kandinsky’s On the Spiritual in Art
that challenges the conventional reading of his abstraction as iconoclastic, as drawing away from the surface of artworks
for the sake of a spirituality beyond the surface. Far from effacing the material object, Kandinsky surfaces the means of
painting (color, line, canvas), increasing their own condition of materiality, in order to revalue the surface as site of the
spiritual. This spiritual revaluation of the surface works to resist and reverse the modern viewer’s training to look away
from the surface and recall the memory of other absent objects. For Kandinsky, it is precisely because the viewer is
unprepared for its overwhelming materiality that the abstract image can develop in the viewer spiritual eyes present to
the surface at hand and attentive to the spiritual power of the mere medium.

Responding:

Kristin Schwain, University of Missouri, Columbia

Business Meeting:

Martha L. Finch, Missouri State University

Nathan Baruch Rein, Ursinus College

A2-107
History of Christianity Section

Sunday - 9:00 am-11:30 am

CHT-Conference Room 4F; View Map (coming soon)
Download vCalendar File (for use in Outlook or Palm Desktop) (coming soon)

Catherine Cornille, Boston College, Presiding

Co-sponsored by the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies

Theme: Possession among Christians in India: Issues of Authenticity, Authority, and Identity

This panel examines the meanings carried by possession and related phenomena such as exorcism, healing, oracles, and
prophecy among Christians in India over three centuries. They demonstrate how questions of authenticity and authority in
relation to possession have been used to define religious and caste boundaries among Protestants, Catholics, and Hindus
and suggest that possession and related phenomena have played and continue to play a significant role in the definition of
Indian Christian identity.

Will Sweetman, University of Otago

The Cessation of the Oracles: Authenticity and Authority in Missionary Reports of Possession in India
Although a familiar feature of south Asian religious practice, possession has been marginalized in the writings of both the
elite representatives of South Asian religions and, until recently, those who have studied them. Missionaries often paid
more attention to popular religious practice than other early European observers, but missionary sources, especially the
earlier sources, remain little-studied. This paper is based on reports of possession in two missionary periodicals, one
Catholic and one Protestant, written from South India in the early eighteenth century. It examines the use of such reports
in debate between Christians and Hindus, between Protestants and Catholics, and between Christians and sceptics in
Europe. Authenticity, how far possession was regarded as ‘real’ and how far as mere play-acting for a superstitious and
gullible audience, is shown to be a key issue and to have a bearing on the question of the legitimacy of Christian mission
itself.

Eliza Kent, Colgate University

Syncretism and Sin: The Yuyomayan Sect in Colonial Kerala

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This paper seeks to explore the socio-political dynamics of syncretism by examining the origins of an independent
Christian church in nineteenth-century south India, the Yuyomayans, whose cosmologies and ritual practices exhibit
striking combinations of conventional Christian discourse with local non-Christian beliefs and practices. The archives of
missionary societies who worked in South Asia are filled with tantalizing glimpses of visionaries and renegades who
appropriated the potentially explosive aspects of the Christian message. But Independent Indian Churches have been
understudied, compared to Independent African Churches. In my analysis of the Yuyomayans’ origins, I demonstrate the
resemblances between indigenous shamanistic and Brahmanical practices and the more innovative features of the
community’s religious life – such as glossalalia, prophecizing and the confession of monstrous crimes. I also argue that
the founder’s creative syncretism was threatening to the missionary establishment in part because it exposed the
syncretic nature of Christianity itself.

Mathew N. Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross

Distinguishing between Hindu and Catholic Exorcism in a North Indian Village
This paper examines the differing taxonomies employed by Catholics in a North Indian village to distinguish between
Catholic and Hindu forms of exorcism and healing. The Catholics are converts from the Untouchable Chamar caste of
tanners who practiced exorcism as part of their caste duties. Now as participants in the Catholic charismatic movement
they still practice exorcism and healing, but in a way that rejects polluting elements like intoxicants, blood, or money that
are often associated with traditional forms of exorcism practiced by the Chamar community. Diagnosing and healing
exorcism and other ailments, thus becomes a way of rearticulating a new Catholic Christian identity in which one can
touch and be touched in return.

Kristin Bloomer, University of Chicago

Possession: Syncretic and Somatic Semantics
This paper explores the interaction of charismatic and orthodox forms of Roman Catholicism with Hindu possession
phenomena through two Tamil, Catholic women who claim to be possessed by Mary, the mother of Jesus. Both of these
women live in Tamil Nadu’s state capital of Chennai. The first woman, while possessed, seems to mix charismatic and
priestly Roman Catholic rituals with Tamil healing, possession and exorcism rituals in her role as grande priestess over a
prayer house. The second borrows from discourses and practices that seem to come not only from this first woman, but
also from a popular charismatic retreat center in Potta, Kerala. Both women, then, borrow from authenticating semantics
derived from local Tamil and Catholic practices. A close look at these practices reveals what they do, and no not, have in
common – and what sort of differences, slippages in meanings, and new forms of authority they enable.

Responding:

Frederick M. Smith, University of Iowa

A2-211
Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements Consultation and History of Christianity Section

Sunday - 1:00 pm-2:30 pm

CHT-Lake Ontario; View Map (coming soon)
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Arun W. Jones, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Presiding

Theme: Pentecostalisms in Africa: Histories and Theologies

David Tonghou Ngong, Baylor University

Material Well-being in the Soteriological Discourse of African Neo-Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity: The Legacies
of African Traditional Religion
Some observers of the contemporary African scene have pointed out that the recent growth of Neo-Pentecostal-
Charismatic Christianity on the continent may not be unconnected to its stress on human material well being in its
salvific discourse. While some African theologians have seen this stress as adequately addressing the present African
situation, thus pointing a way forward for African Christianity, others have simply rejected this Christianity. This paper

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takes a middles course: it points out that it is the duty of African theologians to address the key issue that attracts
converts to this Christianity, namely, its understanding of material well being, especially in African religious traditions.
This paper explores these matters in dialogue with contemporary retrievals of one of the first African theologians, St.
Augustine of Carthage.

Genevieve Nrenzah, Florida International University

The Pentecostal–Charismatic Religious Movement and Changing Discourses on African Religions in Ghana
This paper explores Christianity in Ghana focusing on the history of its encounter with African traditional religions in the
context of Pentecostalism. I argue that as a Christian religious form, Pentecostalism has throughout its history in Ghana
contributed to the continuity of indigenous religions by providing followers with spaces within which to cultivate
indigenous beliefs and practices. The rise of spiritual churches represented the earliest phase of Pentecostalism in Ghana,
when Christians embraced aspects of African Traditional Religions, deploying their rituals and beliefs to meet the
spiritual needs of its followers. The modern phase of Pentecostalism in Ghana sees the rise in Charismatic Christianity,
featuring discourses demonizing African Traditional Religions. While Charismatic churches present a negative image of
indigenous beliefs and practices, the latter thrive in their followers beliefs and practices. In this way Charismatic
Christianity can be said to facilitate the continuous influence of traditional religion in Ghana.

Adelaide Boadi, Drew University

Emerging Pentecostal Theologies of the Global South and Their Reshaping of Worldwide Pentecostalism: The Case of
Africa
In this presentation, I will explore the evolvement of Pentecostalism in the Global South, with particular reference to
Ghana (and other parts of Africa) into megachurches over the last century, looking at African Independent/Indigenous
/Instituted Churches, the Pentecostal/Charismatic and Neo/(Post) Pentecostal movements. I will examine the key issues
in the periodization of African Pentecostalism, and discuss the emerging theologies within the movement, paying
attention to the worldviews/ethos that produce them.

A2-256
History of Christianity Section

Sunday - 3:00 pm-4:30 pm

CHT-Lake Ontario; View Map (coming soon)
Download vCalendar File (for use in Outlook or Palm Desktop) (coming soon)

Nathan Baruch Rein, Ursinus College, Presiding

Theme: The Reformation and Early Modern Christianity: Current Issues, Trends, and Challenges

The study of the events surrounding the upheavals in popular and ecclesiastical religious life in sixteenth-century Europe
— i.e., the Protestant Reformation and associated historical phenomena — has undergone a series of transformations in
the last half-century. Almost all the traditional certainties about the field — its status as the definitive break between
medieval and modern, its chronological boundaries, its theological character, even its long-term success — have been
called into question. Where is the field today, and what issues are now at the forefront? This panel will address these
questions in the form of a roundtable discussion among scholars working in a range of disciplinary specializations and
institutional settings. Our panel will explore current trends, challenges, and opportunities in this broad field of study.

Panelists:

Susan Boettcher, University of Texas, Austin

Euan Cameron, Union Theological Seminary
Hans J. Hillerbrand, Duke University
Ralph Keen, University of Iowa

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A3-207
History of Christianity Section

Monday - 1:00 pm-3:30 pm

CHT-Conference Room 4F; View Map (coming soon)
Download vCalendar File (for use in Outlook or Palm Desktop) (coming soon)

Patricia O'Connell Killen, Pacific Lutheran University, Presiding

Theme: Teaching the History of Christianity: Critical Themes and Challenges

What are the key challenges, opportunities, and goals in the History of Christianity classroom today, and how best should
teachers respond to them? This session will explore these broad questions through a frank and open conversation with a
group of skilled working teachers, representing a variety of backgrounds and institutional settings. The format will be a
loosely structured roundtable or "fishbowl"-style discussion, with the audience invited to participate, comment, and
reflect. The focus will be on actual classroom practices, experiences, and challenges.

Panelists:

Madeline Duntley, Bowling Green State University

Constance Furey, Indiana University, Bloomington
W. Clark Gilpin, University of Chicago
Horace E. Six-Means, Hood Theological Seminary

A3-308
Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Consultation and History of Christianity Section

Monday - 4:00 pm-6:30 pm

CHT-Conference Room 4F; View Map (coming soon)
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Hans J. Hillerbrand, Duke University, Presiding

Theme: Luther's Theology as Resource for Protest and Possibility in Contemporary Global Contexts

The session explores the contribution of Lutheran theology to the understanding of the relationship of Christianity to the
social and political order, expressed in Luther’s concept of the “two realms” or “two kingdoms.” The session will include
a paper proposing a new understanding of such “kingdom” theology by using the concept as a gateway towards a sense of
multiplicity of kingdoms. Two further papers offer concrete applications of the Lutheran understanding of church-state
relationships. One paper offers a study of Hans Christoph von Hase, a cousin of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and his opposition to
the Third Reich. Another paper analyzes the tortured historical relationship between the Brazilian state and the Lutheran
church in that country. A final paper explores the implications of Luther’s biblical query of the public accountability of
political authority for its office.

Eric Trozzo, Drew University

A Multiplicity of Kingdoms
This reconstruction of the Lutheran doctrine of Two Kingdoms seeks to overcome the traditional doctrine’s inherent
dualism by postulating it both in terms of resistance to the totalizing tendencies of unicity and as a gateway towards a
sense of the multiplicity of divine action in the world. Utilizing the recent work on divine multiplicity by theologian
Laurel Schneider and the eschatology of possibility of philosopher Richard Kearney, this paper envisions the kingdoms
of God in terms of an unfolding matrix of divine possibility. This matrix gives a space for God working through the

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church, state, and other institutions while resisting a fusion of them into an imperial monolith.

Rudolf von Sinner, Escola Superior de Teologia

Lutheranism and Citizenship in Brazil
Lutherans in Brazil have come as immigrants mainly from Germany. Initially, they had to fight for their own citizenship
in a country dominated by established Catholicism with limited religious freedom. In the Republic, they had to define
their loyalty between German and Brazilian nationalisms. After World War II, the issue was how to be consciously
Brazilian and Lutheran without maintaining a ghetto-like existence, but taking seriously a constructive and critical
contribution toward the state and society. Since 1970, the Church (IECLB) has spoken out on public issues. Lutheran
theologians like Brakemeier, Altmann, Deifelt and Westhelle have contributed to a critical political, social and gender-
related conscience in the church, based on Martin Luther’s theology and Lutheran confessionality, as well as Biblical
hermeneutics and insights from Liberation Theology. Today, with citizenship as the main challenge of democratic Brazil,
this paper asks for the specifically Lutheran contribution toward a public theology.

Luka Ilic, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia

Flacius’s Status Confessionis as an Inspiration for von Hase, Bonhoeffer, and the Confessing Church in the Third Reich
This paper examines how the sixteenth-century example of resistance to governmental control over church affairs was
utilized as a model for the Lutheran Church in Germany during the reign of National Socialism. The actions and theology
of Flacius Illyricus and his followers inspired Hans Christoph von Hase, while also influencing his cousin, Dietrich
Bonhoeffer and the Church struggle that they were a part of. One of the primary documents this presentation draws from
is von Hase’s master’s thesis which he wrote during the 1933/34 academic year he spent at Union Theological Seminary.
In addition, the paper explores the differences in the sixteenth- and twentieth-century understandings of the ethical
responsibility of the church and the theologian, as well as in issues concerning church-state relationships. It will be
argued that the underlying principles of status confessionis can address and oppose social and political injustice in the
contemporary world in a relevant way.

Gary M. Simpson, Luther Seminary

"Partakers of Divine Majesty": The Question of American Empire and the Hope of International Law in Light of
Luther’s Realistic Principle and Practice of God’s Publicity
Reinhold Niebuhr analyzed the structural realism of nations and empires around power and prestige, but he was not able
to develop a critical theory of empire. Elshtain, Haass, Ignatieff, and Walzer have each reached a similar impasse in the
face of American empire. I explore Martin Luther’s biblical inquiry into the questions of whether and how God holds
political authorities publicly accountable for their office as “partakers of God’s majesty.” How might divine publicity
contribute to the structural transformation of earthly sovereignty today? I explore two case studies--Grotius's
seventeenth-century revision of the public declaration of war and twenty-first-century protocol The Responsibility to
Protect--that place the principle of publicity, as social theorists call it, as the corner stone of international humanitarian
law. In this way the principle and practice of publicity meet the hopeful realism of a critical theology of international
humanitarian law rooted in Luther’s biblical imagination of divine publicity.

Business Meeting:

Hans J. Hillerbrand, Duke University

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