Religious Identity and the Invention of Tradition: Papers Read at a NOSTER Conference in Soesterberg, January 4-6, 1999

This book contains the contributions to the first international conference organised by the Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (NOSTER), held in the Netherlands in January 1999.

The conference theme was inspired by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger's influential volume, The Invention of Tradition. Their work provided a starting point for discussing formations and changes of religious traditions on the one hand, and the interaction of religious identities and the transformation of traditions on the other.
After an introductory section discussing Hobsbawm's definitions and his theoretical framework, and offering several critical applications of his framework to Christian traditions, the main part of this volume consists of three thematic sections: the theme of the Exodus, the earliest traditions about the Lord's supper, and the modern "myth of Fundamentalism".

This volume will be of interest to all those engaged in the study of religious traditions and identities, and the way in which these interact.

From the Contents

The Invention of Religious Traditions

Counterfactuals and the Invention of Religious Traditions - Marcel Sarot

The Creation of Tradition: Rereading and Reading beyond Hobsbawm - Paul Post

Early Christianity between Divine Promise and Earthly Politics - Willemien Otten

Challenging the Tradition of the Bodiless God: A Way to Inclusive Monotheism? - Kune E. Biezeveld

Invention of Tradition? Trinity as Test - Herwi Rikhof

Inventing and Re-inventing the Exodus

The Exodus as Charter Myth - Karel van der Toorn

Exodus: Liberation History against Charter Myth - Rainer Albertz

The Development of the Exodus Tradition - John Collins

History-oriented Foundation Myths in Israel and its Environment - Hans-Peter Müller

The Exodus Motif in the Theologies of Liberation: Changes of Perspective - Georges De Schrijver

Exodus in the African-American Experience - Theo Witvliet

The Invention of the Eucharist and its Aftermath

The Early History of the Lord's Supper - Henk Jan de Jonge

The Early History of the Lord's Supper: Response to Henk Jan de Jonge - Dietrich-Alex Koch

The Lord's Supper and the Holy Communion in the Middle Ages: Sources, Significance, Remains and Confusion - Charles Caspers

Meal and Sacrament: How Do We Encounter the Lord at the Table - Gerrit Immink

Religious Fundamentalism: Facts and Fiction

The Borderline between Muslim Fundamentalism and Muslim Modernism: An Indonesian Example - Herman Beck

The Roaring Lion Strikes Again: Modernity vs. Dutch Orthodox Protestantism - Hijme Stoffels

Fundamentalism: The Possibilities and Limitations of a Social-Psychological Approach - Jacques Janssen, Jan van der Lans and Mark Dechesne