https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147458 2026-07-12T23:09:24Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147745 Title: Introduction [Beyond certainty : reimagining faith in a changing world : volume 1] Authors: Berry, John Anthony; Schembri, Kevin Abstract: Across bustling urban streets, remote villages, and digital networks, faith finds itself expressed in diverse forms. Yet, beneath these varied expressions lies a shared human condition, one where crises coexist with hope, and meaning is sought amidst the noise of competing narratives. The dissonance of our age, marked by technological leaps, ecological degradation, political instability, and existential anxieties, demands a rethinking of how faith is articulated, lived, and witnessed. Theological frameworks that once guided the Church’s engagement with society now find themselves having to address the rise of secularism, growing indifference, and scepticism toward institutions. The call is no longer to simply defend familiar certainties but to reimagine and embody a faith that walks into the unknown, where the lines between presence and absence, clarity and mystery, are blurred. [extract] 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147733 Title: Faith and theology in a secular age Authors: Merrigan, Terrence Abstract: Our age, it has been said, is a secular age, that is to say, an age in which religious affiliation, religious thought and practice, and religious influence upon personal and social life have been marked by a more or less steady decline. According to the British sociologist Steve Bruce, these developments are manifested in the decline in religious affiliation and practice; the relegation of orthodox groups who hold to traditional beliefs to “relatively autonomous subcultures”; and what may be described as a laissez-faire attitude among those “Christians and New Age innovators [who] hold their beliefs in a liberal and relativistic manner”. Bruce sums up “classical secularization theory” as follows:; "The secularization thesis argues that the decline of religion in the modern West is not an accident but is an unintended consequence of a variety of complex social changes that for brevity we call modernisation. It is not inevitable. But unless we can imagine a reversal of the increasing cultural autonomy of the individual, secularization must be seen as irreversible." [extract] 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147732 Title: Catholic theology, church, and global culture today : crises, perspectives, tasks Authors: Appel, Kurt; Deibl, Jakob; Guanzini, Isabella; Neri, Marcello Abstract: Despite the Second Vatican Council’s efforts, the gap between the Catholic Church and culture(s) has continued to grow. In Europe, a widespread de-Christianisation can be witnessed, to which the Catholic Church has hardly found any answers so far; in Africa and Asia, the process of inculturation seems to have come to a standstill; while in Latin America, a massive migration to free Church or Pentecostal movements can be observed, although this development varies from country to country. The gap between intellectuals and the Catholic Church is even more dramatic. As a result, theology no longer plays a significant role in the public intellectual discourse in Europe and is not perceived as academically respectable. [extract] 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/147731 Title: Religion in postmodern society : challenges for a synodal Church Authors: Rozman, Mateja Pevec Abstract: I begin this article with some characteristics of postmodernism (and postmodern society) in order to justify the analysis of postmodern religiosity and the believer. The claim is that the central features of postmodernity resonate in all phases of human existence, including the religious sphere. Postmodernism, which is not a monolithic process or state, nevertheless contains certain characteristics that can be summarised under the terms individualism, pluralism, and relativism. Postmodernism advocates diversity of opinion, cultural diversity, and scepticism regarding autonomy. Postmodernism is against any authority, whether it be political, moral, or religious. On the other hand, it advocates particularity, uniqueness, originality, and non-uniformity, considers the diversity of the global world, and opens up the possibility of a dialogical space of diversity and otherness. [extract] 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z