I am a scholar of comparative religion at the Center for Religious Studies (CERES), Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) (https://ceres.rub.de/en/people/martin-radermacher/).
This book examines evangelical dieting and fitness programs and provides a systematic approach of... more This book examines evangelical dieting and fitness programs and provides a systematic approach of this diverse field with its wide variety of programs. When evangelical Christians engage in fitness and dieting classes in order to “glorify God,” they often face skepticism. This book approaches devotional fitness culture in North America from a religious studies perspective, outlining the basic structures, ideas, and practices of the field. Starting with the historical backgrounds of this current, the book approaches both practice and ideology, highlighting how devotional fitness programs construe their identity in the face of various competing offers in religious and non-religious sectors of society. The book suggests a nuanced and complex understanding of the relationship between sports and religion, beyond ‘simple’ functional equivalency. It provides insights into the formation of secular and religious body ideals and the way these body ideals are sacralized in the frame of an evangelical worldview.
Die Evangelikalen sind eine der am schnellsten wachsenden religiösen Bewegungen weltweit und gewi... more Die Evangelikalen sind eine der am schnellsten wachsenden religiösen Bewegungen weltweit und gewinnen zunehmend auch im deutschsprachigen Raum an Bedeutung. Dieses Handbuch vermittelt erstmals in deutscher Sprache einen Gesamtüberblick über die christlichen Gruppen, die im weitesten Sinne unter dem Begriff »Evangelikalismus« zusammengefasst werden können. Nach einführenden Kapiteln zu Begriff und Forschungsstand erläutern führende Expert_innen die Geschichte und globale Ausbreitung evangelikaler Gruppen. Systematisch werden Lehre und Praxis dieser christlichen Glaubensformen dargestellt und Sozialformen sowie Verflechtungen mit gesellschaftlichen Funktionsbereichen (z.B. Wirtschaft, Politik und Wissenschaft) beleuchtet.
Having started from a general overview on the emergence of contemporary body ideals in the ninete... more Having started from a general overview on the emergence of contemporary body ideals in the nineteenth century in ‘non-religious’ spheres of society, this chapter turns to evangelical renderings of the discourse on beauty, body weight, and spirituality. The histories of fitness and evangelical religion in the United States are entangled. This will be shown with regard to movements such as Muscular Christianity, the Young Men’s Christian Association, and various authors and programs of an emerging devotional fitness discourse.
Abstract This article studies the ways in which communicative attributions change when a church b... more Abstract This article studies the ways in which communicative attributions change when a church building, in this case the Dominican Church in Münster (Westphalia, Germany) is converted from a place of religious ritual to a place which exhibits art. The Dominican Church was deconsecrated in November 2017 and, since June 2018, houses an art installation by Gerhard Richter: a Foucault Pendulum. The observation and analysis of this process of deconsecration and conversion demonstrates, first, how the physical built structure is embedded in different kinds of communication (e.g. religion, art, politics, economics). Second, this study focuses on the agency of socio-spatial arrangements which afford specific kinds of communication. In this regard, I introduce the concept of “atmosphere” to analytically grasp the semantic agency of a given architectural setting in its entanglement with social communication.
This book examines evangelical dieting and fitness programs and provides a systematic approach of... more This book examines evangelical dieting and fitness programs and provides a systematic approach of this diverse field with its wide variety of programs. When evangelical Christians engage in fitness and dieting classes in order to “glorify God,” they often face skepticism. This book approaches devotional fitness culture in North America from a religious studies perspective, outlining the basic structures, ideas, and practices of the field. Starting with the historical backgrounds of this current, the book approaches both practice and ideology, highlighting how devotional fitness programs construe their identity in the face of various competing offers in religious and non-religious sectors of society. The book suggests a nuanced and complex understanding of the relationship between sports and religion, beyond ‘simple’ functional equivalency. It provides insights into the formation of secular and religious body ideals and the way these body ideals are sacralized in the frame of an evangelical worldview.
Die Evangelikalen sind eine der am schnellsten wachsenden religiösen Bewegungen weltweit und gewi... more Die Evangelikalen sind eine der am schnellsten wachsenden religiösen Bewegungen weltweit und gewinnen zunehmend auch im deutschsprachigen Raum an Bedeutung. Dieses Handbuch vermittelt erstmals in deutscher Sprache einen Gesamtüberblick über die christlichen Gruppen, die im weitesten Sinne unter dem Begriff »Evangelikalismus« zusammengefasst werden können. Nach einführenden Kapiteln zu Begriff und Forschungsstand erläutern führende Expert_innen die Geschichte und globale Ausbreitung evangelikaler Gruppen. Systematisch werden Lehre und Praxis dieser christlichen Glaubensformen dargestellt und Sozialformen sowie Verflechtungen mit gesellschaftlichen Funktionsbereichen (z.B. Wirtschaft, Politik und Wissenschaft) beleuchtet.
Having started from a general overview on the emergence of contemporary body ideals in the ninete... more Having started from a general overview on the emergence of contemporary body ideals in the nineteenth century in ‘non-religious’ spheres of society, this chapter turns to evangelical renderings of the discourse on beauty, body weight, and spirituality. The histories of fitness and evangelical religion in the United States are entangled. This will be shown with regard to movements such as Muscular Christianity, the Young Men’s Christian Association, and various authors and programs of an emerging devotional fitness discourse.
Abstract This article studies the ways in which communicative attributions change when a church b... more Abstract This article studies the ways in which communicative attributions change when a church building, in this case the Dominican Church in Münster (Westphalia, Germany) is converted from a place of religious ritual to a place which exhibits art. The Dominican Church was deconsecrated in November 2017 and, since June 2018, houses an art installation by Gerhard Richter: a Foucault Pendulum. The observation and analysis of this process of deconsecration and conversion demonstrates, first, how the physical built structure is embedded in different kinds of communication (e.g. religion, art, politics, economics). Second, this study focuses on the agency of socio-spatial arrangements which afford specific kinds of communication. In this regard, I introduce the concept of “atmosphere” to analytically grasp the semantic agency of a given architectural setting in its entanglement with social communication.
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