Liberal Quaker anthropology, eschatology and racial justice

自由贵格会人类学、末世论和种族正义

• 批准号: 2743994
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2743994
• 关键词: Liberal; Quaker; anthropology; eschatology; racial

This project considers the questions: What is a liberal Quaker understanding of the human person, and does this understanding help or hinder the Quaker hope for a racially just future? To answer this question, I bring liberal Quaker theological anthropology (e.g. Scully and Dandelion (eds.) 2007; Johns 2013) into critical dialogue with the future-oriented anthropology of Jurgen Moltmann and black theologies of liberation (e.g. Hopkins 2005, Jennings 2010). This allows me to articulate how the characteristics of liberal British Quaker anthropology are related to Quaker understandings of the future, and ask how white understandings of the human person are replicated or challenged by Quaker theology.Although there has been important work examining Quakers' racial justice failings (McDaniel and Julye 2009), as yet there is no extensive engagement with the 'whiteness' of Quaker theology (Daniels 2018), making this project a unique contribution to the field. This project also answers the recent call within Quaker Studies for a fuller articulation of liberal Quaker anthropology (Grant 2020). This research takes the form of discourse analysis centred on the extensive theological resources of the University of Nottingham, and the Quaker Library at Woodbrooke, a world-leading centre for research into Quakerism. This PhD sits between the 'internal-constructive' and 'external-constructive' approaches within Quaker theology (Kershner, 2018), drawing on Quaker and Christian thought for the benefit of both Quakers and the wider Christian theological community. As such its impact is two-fold. Looking 'inwardly', it articulates a liberal Quaker anthropology that, as one of the first extensive engagements with the 'whiteness' of Quaker theology, provides conceptual tools for Quakers to work towards a raciallyjust future. As an established Quaker educator and writer, I am well-placed to disseminate these tools. My first book for a general audience, "Quaker Shaped Christianity", will be published by Christian Alternative Books in 2022. Looking 'outwardly', the symbols and insights of the Quaker tradition provide fresh resources for wider Christian thought on eschatology, anthropology and racial justice. British Quakerism's debt to liberal Protestant thought means this PhD is of particular significance to other liberal Protestant traditions in their pursuit of a racially just future.I structure this project by examining Quaker anthropology from the period 1890-1920, the formative years of liberal Quakerism in Britain (Kennedy 2001). I critique this using the insights of black theology, suggesting that it is insufficiently materialistic (neglecting both the body and the reality of present suffering), and insufficiently historical (being unable to account for systemic evils such as white supremacy). I identify how these deficiencies are echoed or addressed in contemporary liberal Quaker thought (1994-2020). I conclude the PhD by drawing on Quaker and Christian theology from outside the liberal tradition to repair remaining deficiencies, offering an anthropology that is both identifiably Quaker and a firmer foundation for action towards a racially just future.

该项目考虑以下问题：贵格会自由主义者对人类的理解是什么？这种理解是否有助于或阻碍贵格会对种族公正未来的希望？为了回答这个问题，我将自由派贵格会神学人类学（例如Scully和Dandelion（eds.）2007；Johns 2013）与尤尔根·莫尔特曼（Jurgen Moltmann）面向未来的人类学和黑人解放神学（例如Hopkins 2005，Jennings 2010）进行批判性对话。这使我能够阐明英国自由派贵格会人类学的特征如何与贵格会对未来的理解相关，并询问贵格会神学如何复制或挑战白人对人类的理解。尽管已经有重要的工作研究贵格会的种族正义失败（McDaniel和Julye 2009），但迄今为止还没有广泛参与贵格会神学的“白人”（Daniels 2018），因此这个项目 对该领域的独特贡献。该项目还响应了贵格会研究最近提出的更全面地阐明自由派贵格会人类学的呼吁（Grant 2020）。这项研究采用话语分析的形式，以诺丁汉大学和伍德布鲁克贵格会图书馆（世界领先的贵格会研究中心）的丰富神学资源为中心。该博士学位介于贵格会神学中的“内部建设性”和“外部建设性”方法之间（Kershner，2018），借鉴贵格会和基督教思想，以造福贵格会和更广泛的基督教神学界。因此，它的影响是双重的。从“内在”看，它阐明了自由派贵格会人类学，作为最早广泛参与贵格会神学“白人”的研究之一，它为贵格会教徒努力实现种族公正的未来提供了概念工具。作为一名知名的贵格会教育家和作家，我有能力传播这些工具。我的第一本面向普通读者的书《贵格会塑造的基督教》将于 2022 年由 Christian Alternative Books 出版。从“外部”看，贵格会传统的象征和见解为更广泛的基督教关于末世论、人类学和种族正义的思想提供了新鲜的资源。英国贵格会受自由派新教思想的影响，意味着这个博士学位对于其他自由派新教传统追求种族公正的未来具有特别重要的意义。我通过研究 1890-1920 年期间的贵格会人类学来构建这个项目，这一时期是英国自由派贵格会的形成时期（Kennedy 2001）。我用黑人神学的见解来批评这一点，认为它不够唯物主义（忽视了身体和当前苦难的现实），也不够历史化（无法解释白人至上等系统性罪恶）。我确定了当代自由派贵格会思想（1994-2020）如何回应或解决这些缺陷。在完成博士学位论文时，我借鉴了自由派传统之外的贵格会和基督教神学来修复剩余的缺陷，提供了一种人类学，它既具有明显的贵格会特征，又为实现种族公正的未来奠定了更坚实的基础。