IJORESH Indonesian Journal of Religion Spirituality and Humanity

Catholic inculturation in Vietnam, the Philippines, and South Korea: a comparative study

2025-11-04T08:00:44+00:00

In the context of globalisation and the growing interplay between religion, politics, and culture, the inculturation of Catholicism in Asia presents a significant case for examining how universal faith traditions adapt within diverse socio-political environments. This study addresses two main problems, namely, (a) what forms of Catholic inculturation have emerged in Vietnam, the Philippines, and South Korea, and (b) how cultural traditions, historical trajectories, and political frameworks shape these processes. Adopting a comparative case-study approach, the research employs thematic content analysis of triangulated secondary sources, including scholarly literature, official state and Church documents, and institutional reports, within a theoretical framework that conceptualises inculturation as a dialogue between the Gospel and local culture. The findings identify three distinctive models: (a) the Philippines demonstrates ‘comprehensive integration’, where Catholicism is deeply embedded in national identity; (b) South Korea illustrates ‘contestation and adaptation’, where Catholic identity was forged through persecution, conflict, and socio-political activism; and (c) Vietnam reflects ‘adaptation within boundaries’, where Catholicism develops under a socialist legal framework while aligning with cultural and national principles. By highlighting the salient influence of political authority and historical pathways, this study contributes a refined comparative framework for understanding Catholic inculturation in Asia, moving beyond purely cultural explanations to show how contextualisation can operate as cultural integration, a socio-political force, or a state-accommodated (socialist-oriented) form of adaptation.

Conviction or convenience? conversion to Islam in the West, Korea, and Southeast Asia

2025-11-03T09:20:09+00:00

The phenomenon of religious conversion to Islam has grown steadily across various societies. However, whilst much attention has focused on the personal and spiritual dimensions of conversion, less has been said about the divergence between converts of conviction (those who embrace Islam owing to deeply held personal beliefs) and converts of convenience (those who convert due to external pressures and strategic interests, or to enter into a marriage with an existing Muslim). This paper examines the complex motivations behind conversion to Islam, particularly in Western, Korean, and Southeast Asian contexts. It proposes a theoretical framework to distinguish between faith-driven and circumstantially driven conversions. More explicitly, the study aims to: (a) map the range of motivations shaping conversion; (b) analyse how both converts and born-Muslims interpret sincerity, intention, and authenticity; and (c) evaluate the social, ethical, and theological implications of convenience-based conversions. Whilst acknowledging the difficulty of placing individuals into the categories of ‘conviction’ or ‘convenience,’ intention remains a central element of the Islamic tradition. This study adopts a qualitative interpretivist approach based on unstructured interviews with converts and born-Muslims, seeking to deepen understanding of the diverse trajectories of conversion, the influence of socio-political forces on religious identity, and the responsibilities of Muslim communities in engaging with both sincere and nominal converts. The findings indicate that although both conviction and convenience exist, extensive grey areas persist, particularly regarding ‘cultural Islam’ and the performance of rituals shaped more by personal habit or social custom than by deep religious commitment.

Earth-based spirituality of indigenous Filipinos: a decolonial intervention of the human-nature divide within Christian theology

2025-11-03T08:48:44+00:00

This paper examines the earth-based spirituality of the Igorot peoples of the Cordillera region in Northern Luzon, Philippines, as a decolonial intervention against the human–nature divide perpetuated by Western modernity and anthropocentric Christian theology. Engaging recent decolonial discussions on how coloniality shapes knowledge and representation, alongside scholarship on Cordilleran identity and contemporary indigenous religiosity, the paper addresses a persistent fragmentation between colonial genealogies, lived religion, and ethical-ecological reflection. Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative, conceptual decolonial eco-theological analysis of purposively selected secondary sources, including ethnographic and historical works on Igorot lifeworld, as well as relevant theological and decolonial literature. Through iterative close reading and thematic mapping of Igorot beliefs and practices, the analysis highlights a relational worldview in which land and the more-than-human world are understood as an interdependent sacred community. Central to this framework is the recognition of nature as inhabited by ancestral and environmental spirits (anitos), which grounds ritual reciprocity—permission-seeking, offerings, and communal rites such as the cañao—that disciplines resource use toward restraint, gratitude, and communal well-being. The paper argues that these practices constitute a decolonial moral ecology that contests colonial-capitalist logics of extraction, offering constructive implications for ecological theology, environmental ethics, and justice-oriented solidarity with Indigenous peoples.

Modern grids, old sources: the viability of applying modern typologies of religious diversity to medieval Islamic thought

2025-11-05T03:27:36+00:00

This article assesses the viability of applying modern typologies of religious diversity to medieval Islamic thought. Using Alan Race’s threefold schema of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism, as refined by Perry Schmidt-Leukel, it reconstructs these categories in epistemological and soteriological terms. It tests them through a qualitative, text-oriented analysis of key figures in classical Islamic theology (kalam) and Islamic mysticism (taṣawwuf). The study proceeds by clarifying the truth and salvation claims presupposed by each category and examining how medieval arguments about prophetic finality, moral responsibility, divine justice, and mercy align with, or fail to align with, the modern grid. Al-Māturīdī and al-Ghazālī represent ‘moderate exclusivism’, affirming the finality and superiority of Islam while allowing limited salvation for certain religious ‘others’ through appeals to reason and differentiated accountability. Ibn Taymiyya embodies an ‘undecided exclusivism,’ combining a sharp critique of non-Muslim traditions with post-mortem testing and a non-eternal view of hell. By contrast, Ibn ʿArabī and Rūmī exhibit inclusivist and pluralising tendencies, especially in their doctrines of waḥdat al-wujūd (unity of beings) and divine mercy, while simultaneously upholding hierarchical evaluations of religions shaped by doctrinal commitments and historical circumstances. This internal tension challenges their frequent reception as straightforward paradigms of Islamic pluralism. The article concludes that Race’s grid is heuristically useful but historically fragile: exclusivism maps comparatively well onto medieval positions, whereas inclusivism and pluralism appear in mixed and unsystematic configurations. Accordingly, contemporary typologies can illuminate patterns of reasoning, but their application to premodern sources requires sustained methodological caution.

Muslim cadre education and its role in shaping religious authority in 19th-Century West Java

2025-06-21T23:21:30+00:00

This article investigates the Muslim cadre education and its role in shaping religious authority in nineteenth-century West Java through the case of KH Ahmad Syatibi Al-Qonturi and his pesantren (Islamic boarding school). This study conceptualises religious authority as a socially produced legitimacy sustained through epistemic credibility, moral exemplarity, and networked reproduction. The research employs a qualitative historical design, based on documentary sources, and applies qualitative data analysis procedures, including data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that Mama Syatibi developed a pesantren-based infrastructure for Muslim cadre education that contributed to the consolidation of religious authority in West Java. This model of Muslim cadre education operated through three interconnected practices: regular teaching and recitation, da‘wah bil qalam (preaching with the pen) through extensive written works, and a role model as embodied moral discipline. These practices strengthened authority by making interpretive competence publicly verifiable, stabilising knowledge transmission through texts, and reinforcing communal trust through exemplary conduct. Moreover, the diffusion of his students —many of whom became Muslim scholars and founded or led pesantren across West Java— demonstrates how Muslim cadres reproduced religious authority through educational succession and institutional multiplication. The study contributes to scholarship on Islamic education and leadership by showing how pesantren-based education and training shaped religious authority in the West Javanese context from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century.