The twenty-first century has seen violence thunder back onto the stage of history. Religious, political, social, cultural, and economic constituents and interests thus contribute to the local and global manifestations of violence in our interconnected and contracting global world. Firmly embedded within the field of religion, the authors of this volume concede that religious motifs and impulses are alive and well in this unfolding of bloodshed. It is no wonder then that in our volatile historical age, religious fundamentalism and illiberal nationalism have emerged as dominant contemporary movements. Against this backdrop, the contributors to this edited book look back in order to move forward by reflecting upon the truth-force (Satyagraha) that grounded and guided Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948). On the heels of several commemorations in 2019 of the 150th anniversary of Gandhi's birth, we reexamine the truths of his philosophy and nonviolent strategy to resist religious and political fundamentalisms. Embracing truth was, for Gandhi, the only way to achieve complete freedom (poorna Swaraj). The goal of freedom, which Gandhi conceptualized as profoundly personal, expansively communitarian, and organically ecological, emanates from a firm grasp of truth.
Sathianathan Clarke is the Bishop Sundo Kim Chair in World Christianity and professor of theology, culture, and mission at Wesley Theological Seminary. He has taught previously at United Theological College in Bangalore, India, and as visiting faculty at Harvard University Divinity School. Clarke is the author of Competing Fundamentalisms: Violent Extremism in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism (WJK, 2018) and Dalits and Christianity (OUP, 1998), and coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of Anglican Studies (OUP, 2016), Dalit Theology in the Twenty-First Century (OUP, 2010), and Religious Conversion in India: Modes, Motivations, and Meanings (OUP, 2007). Stephen Pickard is executive director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture (Barton, Australia) and professor of theology at Charles Sturt University, Australia. He is also currently an assistant bishop in the Canberra-Goulburn Diocese, Australia. He was head of Charles Sturt University's School of Theology from 1998 to 2006. Since then, he has served as an Anglican bishop in the Archdiocese of Adelaide; a visiting fellow at Ripon Theological College, Cuddesdon, Oxford; acting CEO of Anglicare Canberra & Goulburn; and priest in a Canberra parish. He is the author of several books, including Seeking the Church: An Introduction to Ecclesiology (2012) and In-Between God: Theology, Community and Discipleship (2011).
Chapter 1: Introduction (Sathianathan Clarke and Stephen Pickard) Chapter 2: Gandhi at 150: the kindly light of truth shining on religions and nations (Stephen Pickard) Chapter 3: Gandhian truths of yesterday, for today, and forevermore: A postcolonial vision to dismantle violent religious fundamentalisms (Sathianathan Clarke) Chapter 4: Gandhi as proclaimer and practitioner of Truth in an age of violent illiberal nationalism (Satendra Nandan) Chapter 5: Gandhi's nonviolent language for resistance and liberation:Spoken Words, Performative Action, and Communicative Silence (Suka Joshua) Chapter 6: Gandhi on truth, truthfulness, and terrorism (William Emilsen) Chapter 7: King, Gandhi, and the Spirit of Christ (Josiah Ulysses Young III) Chapter 8: Gandhi and Thurman: Religion, Resistance and the 21st Century Quest for Peace (Anthony Hunt) Chapter 9: Gandhi and Bonhoeffer: Resistance, Bhakti, and the Sermon on the Mount (Peter Hooton) Chapter 10:Reconciling religious difference into human unity: Nicholas of Cusa and Mohandas Gandhi (Peter Walker)
