Introduction

The Center for Religion and Modernity (CRM) is an interdisciplinary research network at the University of Münster. It is dedicated to the study of religions, religious communities and actors, and their changing roles in modern and modernizing societies. The CRM is home to research that deals with religious phenomena and how they change in the modern period, as well as with historical developments that can illuminate the role of religion in modernity and thus contribute to our understanding of religion today.

The CRM’s aim is to build on the interdisciplinary research on religion initiated by the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics in Pre-Modern and Modern Cultures”, and to consolidate this research at the University of Münster in the field of modernity. To this end, the CRM has brought together around 30 researchers from a range of disciplines, including political science and sociology, history and law, Catholic, Protestant and Islamic theology, religious and Islamic studies, Arabic and Jewish studies, communication studies, and literary studies. An Executive Board elected by the General Assembly every two years coordinates the work of the CRM, and is supported in this by the academic management. more...

 

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New Release: Between Divine Punishment and Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theory and "alternative theology" interpretations as well as negations of the Corona pandemic have been unusually effective in Germany since 2020; in the "liberal milieu," which is convinced of the evidence of medical and scientific expertise, they have caused considerable irritation. read more...

 

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The Money Trail - A New Perspective on Catholicism and Mission?

Colloquium lecture by Dr Frederike Schotters

On 19 April 2023 at 6 pm, Dr Frederike Schotters (Tübingen) will speak about »The Trail of Money – A New Perspective on Catholicism and Mission?«. The transnationalisation of Catholicism in the 19th century was largely driven by Catholic laity and a broad fundraising movement.
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© A feature of the Bible Society Centenary Celebrations, in: The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 23. März 1904)

“Global Bible” project launched

On 1 April, the Global Bible (GloBil) project was launched at CRM. The project, led by CRM member PD Dr Felicity Jensz, aims to critically analyse the British and German contribution in the creation of a global Bible, i.e. the attempt to translate the Christian scriptures into all the languages of the world. By the beginning of the twentieth century, parts of the Bible had been translated into some 1,000 languages, including many languages that had not previously known a written language. Much of what we know today about the languages of the Global Majority is based on the arduous work of indigenous translators and missionary linguists from the colonial period, often over decades. However, this important knowledge has remained largely hidden in religious archives until today. GloBil will open up the archives of German and British Bible societies to uncover the history of the global Bible movement and its discovery of global languages. To do this, GloBil will examine Bible translations in three geographically diverse regions; the Arctic, Oceania and Australia, and West Africa.

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