Sámi Nature-Centered Christianity in the European Arctic unpacks the theological significance of North Sámi indigenous Christianity, demonstrating how the tension between Sámi nature-centered Christianity and official Norwegian Lutheranism has broad theological relevance. Focusing on Christian cosmological orientation, the author argues that this is not fully given within the Christian faith itself. It is partly shaped by the religio-philosophical frameworks that various historical receptions of Christianity were filtered through. The author substantiates that two different types of Christian cosmological orientation are negotiated in the North Sámi Christian experience: one reflecting a Sámi historical reception of Christianity primarily filtered through the egalitarian world intuition of the Sámi indigenous tradition; another reflecting official Norwegian Lutheranism, primarily filtered through a Greek hierarchical world construct passed down among European intellectual elites.
The argument is developed through thick description of local everyday Christianity among reindeer herding, river, and sea Sámi communities in Finnmark, Norway; through critical engagement with historical and contemporary Lutheranism; and through constructive dialogue with African and Native American theologies. The author suggests that the egalitarian, multi-relational logic of Sámi nature-centered Christianity points beyond the hierarchical binaries delimiting much of the theological imagination of dominant Christian theologies.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2022
ISBN-Print
978-1-7936-5293-5
ISBN-Online
978-1-7936-5294-2
Publisher
Lexington, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
300
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Illustrations No access
Preface and Acknowledgments No access
Christian Worldmaking Reconsidered No access Pages 1 - 26
Doing Decolonial Theology in the European Arctic No access Pages 27 - 40
Deconstructing Historical Lutheran Discourses on the Sámi Tradition No access
The Enacted Faith of Sámi Nature-Centered Christianity No access
The Religio-Philosophical Framing of Local Sámi Everyday Christianity No access
Analysis through the Lens of African and Native American Theologies No access
Blessing Liturgy and Cosmological Orientation No access
Christian Theology beyond Hierarchical Worldmaking No access
Appendix 1: List of Research Participants No access Pages 249 - 250
Appendix 2: North Sámi-English Glossary No access Pages 251 - 258
Appendix 3: Invitation Letter and Consent Form No access Pages 259 - 260
