Goal of the CDC:  Making understandable the complexity of present-day Christianity by clarifying the contextual character of Christian theological views, practices and movements through history and cultures.

 

RATIONALE AND TEMPLATE for ENTRIES # 8,  EVENT

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES

8/1/2003

 

 

Topic:  An event or experience viewed as particularly significant for the religious life and the theological views of Christians in particular times and settings.

 

Audience:  It is to be written for ¡°curious and bright undergraduate students¡± (beginning university students whom we nicknamed ¡°curious Georgia¡±) and yet must be informative enough to be a solid quick reference article for Christian clergy, professors and students in Christian seminaries and religious studies departments throughout the world.   These readers might not know anything about Christianity– your self-contained entry should give them sufficient information to give them the assurance they know the essential about your topic – yet they will have access to the rest of the dictionary for surveys of the history of Christianity in the world and in each region, as well as for explanations of concepts, Christian practices, events, history of Christian movements and denominations, and entries on women and men who are representatives of all of these..

 

Type of Entry and Goal:  A very concise presentation that is quite informative because it clarifies the sense in which each of these events and religious experiences is perceived as particularly significant for Christians in a particular context.  This presentation is designed to promote a cross-cultural and cross-historical comparison of other events and religious experiences for Christians in other contexts. 

The CDC is committed to ¡°self representation,¡± allowing contributors to emphasize the features of Christianity that are most significant in their own tradition.  Yet, these entries need to remain descriptive.  In other words, the contributors are asked to avoid apologetic statements and absolute claims (non-falsifiable statements), for instance by making explicit that ¡°X (a particular group a person) believes that¡¦¡± or ¡°X reports that¡¦.¡±

 

The following classifications are to be used to facilitate the cross-cultural comparison of Christianity in diverse contexts: (The order may vary; categories may be re-grouped, but all must be considered in preparing an entry.  A fair representation of significant event must account for its significance for women,  at least 50% of Christians.)   

• Historical context of this event or experience;
• Description of the main features of this event or experience;
• Sense in which this event is viewed as related to a (positive or negative) religious experience;
• The ways in which this event or experience changes the understanding of certain Christian beliefs or of certain Christian practices, and affects women and men in Christian communities;
• List of other entries to which this entry refers and to which it needs to be cross-referenced (When writing an entry, it is important to be aware of these other entries so as to avoid repeating what will be found in them;  if possible please consult the ¡°Overall List of Entries¡± at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/religious_studies/CDC/  .)

 

TEMPLATE for ENTRIES # 8,  EVENT   

(To insure consistency for the CDC, please include the following [[Phrases  Between Brackets]] in your draft B to  be subsequently removed by the editor. The order of the points is to be determined in each case by the author.)

 

[[Introduction]] General description of the event; and its main features.  When did it take place?  Who were the women and men involved?  How were women and men affected by it?  What kind of  event is it?    

 

[[Religious Character of this Event]]   What are the different understandings of the significance of this event?  Is it viewed as a manifestation of the presence of God?  Of the absence of God?  As a manifestation of evil?  By whom?  What are the conflicting views of this event by different groups?

 

[[ Historical Context]] of this event or experience  Describe pertinent aspects of this historical context  (religious dimension, cultural, social, economic, political, gender) that were the background of this event/experience and that this event/experience affected.

 

[[Effects]]  How Does This Event Change the Understanding of Certain Christian Beliefs?  Of Certain Christian Practices?  How does it affect women and men who are members of Christian communities?

 

[[Related Entries]] presupposed:  These should be signaled in the body of the entry with an *  after the word designating the entry.  A few essential cross references may be listed at the end of the entry between parentheses:   ¡°(see also xxxxx).¡± 

 

Short Bibliography (not included in the word-count):  List the main resources for further studies of this topic to be included in the Bibliography of the Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity on a web-site that will be regularly up-dated.  Usually not more than 5 to 10 titles with full biographical data (see style sheet  at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/religious_studies/CDC/  ).