Identity and Vocation of Christian Minority Communities: In Conversation with Historical and Religious Sources

What does it mean to be a Christian minority community, particularly in the context of Islam? That is the main question of this collection of high-quality academic contributions. Believers belonging to religious minority communities can struggle when it comes to defining their identity as part of the majority society while yet differing from that majority in various ways. It could also lead to the question as to how they might contribute positively to society, being in an often vulnerable position as minority. In this volume, the identity and vocation of the Church as a minority are addressed by different scholars, looking at a particular New Testament letter to a minority community (1 Peter) and engaging with different historical sources. The contribution of Jewish and Muslim scholars leads to an interesting conversation, since all monotheistic religions face similar challenges. The volume draws the themes together in two concluding chapters, the first written from a social-scientific perspective, the second from a theological-missiological perspective, that represent the key ideas emerging in addressing this important question.

Bernhard J.G. Reitsma is professor of Church and Theology with a special focus on Islam at the Protestant Theological University in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and head of the Graduate school. He is a minister with a special assignment in the Protestant Church of the Netherlands.

Erika van Nes-Visscher is a researcher connected to The Church in the Context of Islam Foundation.