Identity in Conflict Classical Christian Faith and Religio Occulta

This book, while consisting of a number of articles written by various scholars in honour of Prof. Johannes Aagaard, concerns itself with the problem of occult as well as with the question of religious identity both at the macro and micro levels. The major portion of the book tries to investigate as to how the theme of the occult has been dealt with by both the revealed and non-revealed religions, and how it is manifesting itself currently over the world. The conclusion that most of the scholars arrive at concerning the occult is this: Occult is that which is manipulative in nature, i.e., it is power which destroys the individual’s power of choice. In addition to it, occultism preaches divinization of man, and thereby is seen to be responsible in causing destruction to that which God has given rise to. It is this view of occultism which most of the scholars, who have written articles for this book, adhere to. The other theme with which the book concerns itself is as to how the particular can maintain its identity in the context of the universal. The universal is something abstract, whereas the particular is concrete. If the particular is allowed to merge its identity within what is known as the universal, then the particular ceases to exist. The particular can maintain its particularity to the extent it resists the universal. It is this conflict between the universal and the particular which is discussed in the context of as to how the national or local churches could relate themselves to what is called the universal church. Finally, the book focuses its attention on the question of mission, that is, should the church adopt the Peter principle or the Pauline method of dialogue in its mission activities? The conclusion that is arrived at tells us that it is the context or the situation which should determine the nature of the mission of the church. Since we are no more living in mono-cultural societies, it means that the mission of the church too must be varied and relative to the situation in which the mission activities are being carried out.