Religion and decision-making

New lecture series of the Cluster of Excellence and the Collaborative Research Centre “Cultures of Decision-Making”

Poster
© The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London

The new public lecture series of the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1150 "Cultures of Decision-Making" of Münster University will address the topic "Religion and decision-making" in the winter semester 2016/2017. "Religion and decision-making are in a tense relationship and seem to be mutually exclusive. Decision-making involves that alternatives may be brought forth, explicated and made the subject of social action," says historian Prof. Dr. Ulrich Pfister, speaker of the CRC and member of the Cluster of Excellence. "This always takes place from the perspective of an option being selected and determined in a contingent act of decision, decisio.” In contrast and as a rule, the core of religious truth and the basic beliefs are considered as given and thus inaccessible, as something that precedes human actions and is or should be beyond decision-making.

The interdisciplinary lecture series "Religion and decision-making" hence will discuss the question as to which social and cultural circumstances make it possible and probable to decide on religious matters in general and on questions of faith in particular. The 14 lectures also explore the views there are on this matter, the areas and aspects of religion on which decision can be and may be made, and what should be beyond decision-making.

Who decides on religious matters?

After having established the issues that form the object of choice a number of other lines of inquiry follow: How, by whom and by reverting to which resources are decisions made on religion? In what ways do social institutions frame decisions taken on religious matters? To what extent is deciding on religious questions considered as something that should be left to the individual?" The lecture series also discusses in which way and in which discursive contexts – such as philosophical, theological or literary – questions related to decision-making on religious matters are reflected. “If one finally asks under which historic circumstances the possibilities, prerequisites, forms, characteristics and narratives of decision-making on religion have changed and how and why this happened, then it is possible to make an important contribution to understanding religious change in general,” the historian says.

During the lecture series, the representatives of various disciplines will be given the chance to shed light on the topic from their perspective: from Historical and Islamic Science, Religious Sociology, Ethnology, Theology, Byzantine Studies, German and Judaic Studies. The lectures will be held on Tuesdays from 6.15 to 7.45 pm in lecture theatre F2 of the Fürstenberghaus at Domplatz 20-22 in Münster. The series will start on 18 October with an introductory lecture of religious sociologist Prof. Dr. Detlef Pollack and historian Prof. Dr. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger. (exc/ska/vvm)

Programme

18.10.2016 Detlef Pollack und Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger,
Münster
Religion und Entscheiden. Einführende Überlegungen
25.10.2016 Reinhard Achenbach, Münster „Glaubt ihr nicht, so bleibt ihr nicht!“ (Jesaja 7,9). Zum Dilemma verantwortlicher Entscheidungen im Spannungsfeld zwischen Religion und Politik
08.11.2016 Michael Grünbart, Münster Göttlicher Wink und Stimme von oben. Ressourcen des Entscheidens am byzantinischen Kaiserhof
15.11.2016 Christian Windler, Bern Praktiken des Nichtentscheids. Wahrheitsanspruch und Grenzen der Normdurchsetzung
22.11.2016 Norbert Oberauer, Münster Wahrheitssuche und der „Mut zur Hölle“. Zum Problem juristischen Entscheidens im klassischen Islam
29.11.2016 Werner Freitag, Münster Entscheiden und Bekenntnis. Überlegungen zur Reformationsgeschichte Westfalens
06.12.2016 Wolfram Drews und Sita Steckel, Münster Perspektiven auf das Entscheiden der mittelalterlichen Inquisition
13.12.2016 Regina Grundmann, Münster Responsa als Praxis des religiösen Entscheidens im Judentum
20.12.2016 Hubert Wolf, Münster „Dann muss halt das Dogma die Geschichte besiegen.“ Unfehlbare Entscheidungen des kirchlichen Lehramts
10.01.2017 Birgit Emich, Erlangen Bürokratie, Patronage und der Heilige Geist. Modi des Entscheidens im frühneuzeitlichen Papsttum
17.01.2017 Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf, Münster ‚Du hast dich gegen Gott entschieden.‘ Literarische Figurationen religiösen Entscheidens
24.01.2017 Benjamin Ziemann, Sheffield Martin Niemöllers Konversion zur katholischen Kirche 1939–1941. Zum Kontext einer religiösen Entscheidung
31.01.2017 Jörg Stolz, Lausanne Religion und Entscheiden aus der Sicht der Theorie sozialer Spiele
07.02.2017 Tom Csordas, San Diego Diagnosing possession in contemporary Catholic exorcism