JOGTS Shorts Series - God Talk: An Introduction to Theology and Religion aims to bring some fascinating insights from the many study and research streams that the Faculty of Theological and Religion at the University of Oxford offers to a wider, internet audience.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Hope and Time in Theology and Religion 

In wake of the theme “Theology, Religion and Crisis” of the previous edition of The Journal of the Oxford Graduate Theological Society, the matter of hope arises as a complex consideration entailing that, at some point, that which is hoped for, desired, trusted, believed, or relied upon will come to be. Not hope alone, however, but the matter of hope in and of time and the time for or of hope is also deceptively confounding and there is great potential in contemplating the inextricable link between hope and time.

Whilst there is a tendency in life and in scholarship to descend abjectly into the timeless and hopeless conceptual abyss, hope and time offer plentiful resources to avoid this. The world over—across philosophical, religious, theological, scientific and cultural traditions and epochs—thinkers have wrestled and struggled, contemplating and presenting their own thoughts on these two foundational human constructs. Along the way, whether ancient, modern, postmodern, or other, some of the most creative, penetrating, stimulating, and beautiful—but also ambivalent and difficult—cogitations and works of argumentation, prose, poetry, myth, literature, and art have and continue to emerge and populate the diverse and ever-evolving theological and religious landscapes we occupy (and have occupied).

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2020 has been a year of intersecting crises. From the distress of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout of national lockdowns, to the urgent cry of Black Lives Matter and the mounting seriousness of ecological collapse, this past year has been one unlike any other in recent memory. As in previous times of crisis, theologians and scholars of religion feel the pressure of these events acutely; through the institutional voices of certain religions, through challenges to the subject’s critical and intellectual framework, and simply through the disruption of their day-to-day lives. In light of this, key questions persist about the role of theology and religion in such times of crisis. How should theologians and scholars of religion engage with and react to the crises which have characterised the year 2020? What insight can the subject offer in response to these events, both practically and conceptually? In what ways might religions and religious institutions themselves be in crisis? For this edition of The Journal of the Oxford Graduate Theological Society, the Editorial Board invites papers exploring these questions and the broad theme of ‘Theology, Religion and Crisis’ from a variety of (inter)disciplinary perspectives.