World Christianity and Religious Studies

Decolonization begins in the mind – In search of a new theology. Claudia Jahnel on “Zeit für Mission – Podcast der Evangelischen Mission Weltweit”.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Jahnel from the Institute for World Christianity and Religious Studies was a guest on the podcast “Mission Weltweit” by Evangelische Mission Weltweit.

What does the Bible have to do with colonial land grabbing? What exactly is “othering”? What does it mean to decolonize theology? And what does all this have to do with mission? Claudia Jahnel talks to host Tanja Stünckel about colonial thought structures in theology and society, the power of “unlearning,” blind spots, and the need to critically question one's own narratives.

Listen to the latest episode of “Zeit für Mission”, a podcast from Evangelische Mission Weltweit, with guest Prof. Dr. Claudia Jahnel, at:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1hHnnEUjDBWRF9WW6h2Dio
Apple-Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/zeit-f%C3%BCr-mission/id1728279239
Amazon-Music: https://music.amazon.de/podcasts/91ff9004-e7fe-42b2-a6ab-e2a10aaafc7c/zeit-f%C3%BCr-mission

„Intersectional Theologies“ Podcast Episode #2 Eva Harasta: Re-Enchantment

In this episode, theology student Jana Coenen and Dr. Eva Harasta from the Lutheran World Federation discuss existing theological education content that responds to the climate crisis: from individual courses to programs and certificates to a complete overhaul of the curriculum. Here you can find out what is possible. In addition, both reflect on creation as a possible place to experience God and are also pursuing an interdisciplinary approach. How do we define sacred places and what makes them sacred?

Dr. Eva Harasta was born in Vienna, works as Program Executive for Global Lutheran Theology at the Lutheran World Federation, and is a pastor in the Evangelical Church A.B. in Austria. With a thesis on “The Authentication of Churches through Jesus Christ,” she qualified as a professor of systematic theology and dealt intensively with topics such as prayer (including lament), the question of the “true church,” interreligious dialogue, the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reformation theology (Martin Luther, Jean Calvin), sin and original sin, and Trinitarian theology.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Intersectional Theologies” at:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5zSENT3KYF5uqyycH3X8sD
Apple-Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/intersectional-theologies/id1825395549
Amazon-Music: https://music.amazon.de/podcasts/a700ccd0-3ea0-4019-b2c9-ef9c60d86d3f/intersectional-theologies

Connected, Entangled or Shared History?

In cooperation with Tumaini University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the University of Basel, and the University of Rostock, the conference “Connected, Entangled, or Shared History? The Legacy of Colonialism and Mission from Tanzanian, German, and Swiss Perspectives” will take place from July 18 to 19, 2025. The University of Hamburg will be represented by Prof. Dr. Claudia Jahnel and Sarah Ntondele, among others. Please also see our poster (PDF).

Launchparty des Podcasts „Intersectional Theologies“

A podcast by the Institute for World Christianity and Religious Studies at the University of Hamburg. Together with international guests from academia and practice, staff members of the department discuss topics relevant to the present from a theological and religious studies perspective. The first season is dedicated to the question “The(o)ecology – a green curriculum?!” and thus to questions surrounding the topic of ecological justice. On June 25 at 4:15 p.m., as part of the UHH Diversity Days, we will present the project and its background, give a first audio sample, and raise a glass together. You can also find this information on our poster (PDF).

Vortrag von Rev. Eric Baldonado: Christentum auf den Philippinen

On June 3, 2025, Rev. Eric Baldonado will give a lecture on “Christianity and Theology in the Philippines” at ESA H, Edmund–Siemers–Allee 1, from 2:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Eric Baldonado is Assistant Professor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary in the Philippines and pastor at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Guyung–Guyong congregation in Cavite Province. Dr. Anton Knuth will moderate the lecture. For more information, please see our poster (PDF).

Vortragsreihe von Prof. Dr. Cristian Sonea am 13./14.05.25

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Cristian Sonea will give three academic lectures on May 13 and 14 in cooperation with the Institute for World Christianity and Religious Studies. Prof. Dr. Sonea will give a lecture on May 13 on the topic of “Orthodox Romanian Dispora. Mission, Challenges, Perspectives,” and on May 14 a lecture on the topic of “Orthodox Epistemologies” as part of the seminar by Prof. Dr. Claudia Jahnel and Dr. Michael Biehl, “Global Christianities – Changing Concepts of the South” from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. in A3010, and also on May 14, a lecture on “Romanian Orthodoxy in a Secular Society” in the International Doctoral Seminar at 5 p.m. in the Mission Academy at the University of Hamburg. We look forward to welcoming you!

Vortrag von Dr. Leita Ngoy am 20.05.25: Pentecostal Churches/Movement in East Africa

On May 20, 2025, Dr. Leita Ngoy will give a lecture on “Pentecostal Churches/Movement in East Africa” at ESA H, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, from 2:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. on the topic of “Pentecostal Churches/Movement in East Africa.” Dr. Leita Ngoy is an ordained pastor and holds a doctorate in Intercultural Theology. This information can also be found on our poster (PDF). We look forward to welcoming you!

Vortrag von Dr. Marina Behera am 07.05.25: Lecture on Indigenous Epistemologies in India

On May 7, 2025, Dr. Marina Ngursangzeli Behera will give a lecture on “Indigenous Epistemologies in India” as part of the seminar “Global Christianities – Changing Concepts of the South” from 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. in A3010. She is PhD Stage Leader, Editor of Transformation, and Research Tutor at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies. Dr. Marina Behera is a unique expert in the field of Christianity in the Mizoram region (India) and in reflecting on the tension between particularity and universality in Christianity. We look forward to welcoming you to this lecture, which is open to the university community.

Aktuelles Lehrangebot im Sommersemester 2025

This link (PDF) provides an up-to-date overview of the courses offered by the Institute for Intercultural Theology and Religious Studies in the 2025 summer semester.

Öko-Theologie in der theologischen Ausbildung

Ecumenical suggestions for curriculum revisions on March 27 and 28, 2025, at the Stephansstift in Hanover. For more information, please refer to this flyer (PDF).

Ökumenische Begegnung: Orthodoxe Vielfalt beim Chrysostomos-Empfang der Nordkirche in der Hafencity

On Wednesday, November 27, 40 clergy from Orthodox churches and representatives of congregations from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania gathered at the Ecumenical Forum Hafencity. At the invitation of Bishop Kirsten Fehrs, the communities came together to celebrate a prayer service and engage in conversation.

• Theology and Christian existence the world over should be understood in their respective contexts outside of Europe, especially in the “non-Western” world. The practice of Christianity in its social, economic, cultural, and religious contexts should be grasped as a matter of processes within intercultural communication. We study these by looking at and appreciating their histories and their current manifestations as well as their relationships to other places and spaces of religious and social life.
• To this end, intercultural theology and global Christianity involves engagement with the history of Christianity’s spread to southern continents which, in part (for example, with regard to colonial conquest), demand critical reflection; the history and analysis of missionary concepts; and engagement with theological ideas in global ecumenism.
• This view and understanding requires an interdisciplinary approach, using ethnological, sociological, political, cultural anthropological, and other cultural study methods and cooperation with the respective experts.
• We also research and consider ecumenism, meaning the movement of churches the world over and various Christian confessions towards a greater sense of common purpose, the removal of boundaries, and common activity. This goal crystallized for the non-Catholic churches in 1948, with the founding of the World Council of Churches based in Geneva. As a consequence, Christian history prior to and since the council and its activities are an integral part of the subject area of ecumenical studies.
• We meet the critical demand that theology in the “West,” and especially German theology, be intercultural, transcultural, and contextual in its thinking and activities.

Seminal texts

• Policy paper: Missionswissenschaft als Interkulturelle Theologie und ihr Verhältnis zur Religionswissenschaft (PDF)
• Interkulturelle Theologie als Wahrnehmung weltweiten Christentums (PDF)

• Religious Studies focuses on religions, meaning studying and analyzing human behavior and communication in different contexts within the scope of what we see as “religion” (traditions, belief systems, etc.). Cultural history methods and theory are pivotal to the program’s approach. Religious Studies are interdisciplinary, with a special focus on religious studies in the Asien-Afrika-Institut, social and cultural anthropology, and European Ethnology / Cultural Anthropology.
• In Hamburg, encounters with non-Christian religions are part of the program. This involves interreligious dialogue, also from the perspective of cultural history, and critical reflection. These are integral to research and teaching and there are regular courses offering on these topics. In this area, there is close collaboration with the Academy of World Religions.

Religious Studies form part of the work at the Institut Interkulturelle Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (World Christianity and Religious Studies) and the degree programs Protestant Theology (Magister, Diplom, seminary) and Protestant Theology (teacher training). Since Winter Semester 2008/2009, you can also do a BA in Religious Studies as a major or minor.

The subject was introduced in 1953 and initially had only one chair, Prof. Dr. Walter Freytag (*1899). After his death in 1959 and an 8-year vacancy, Prof. Dr. Hans Jochen Margull (1925–1982) was appointed to the position. Since 1980, the institute has been divided into 2 areas, each with its own professorship. These positions were filled by Prof. Dr. Olaf Schumann (Religion and Missionary Studies; since 1980, retired in 2004); and Prof. Dr. Theodor Ahrens (Global Christianity, Missionary and Ecumenical Studies; since 1987, retired in 2005). Prof. Dr. Ulrich Dehn was appointed as professor in October 2006 at the Institute of World Christianity and Religious Studies.

What remained was a W3 professorship, held by Prof. Dr. Claudia Jahnel since Winter 2023, and a W1 professorship, held by Prof. Dr. Giovanni Maltese. Maltese was also the managing director of World Christianity and Religious Studies and head of the Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (2020–2023) before his appointment as a university professorship (W3) at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he took over the professorship for religious studies and intercultural theology.

Since Spring 2024, the institute has welcomed Kristina Göthling-Zimpel as a research associate. Since Summer 2024, the research associate Jan Gehm has been Junior Professor of Intercultural Theology and Religious Studies. Since Fall 2024, the research associate Sarah Ntondele has also been working at the institute. In the front office, Andrea Ehlers handles, among other duties, foreign language correspondence (English and Spanish). Currently, Luke Becker is covering.

There is close collaboration with the Mission Academy, chaired by Prof. Dr. Jahnel.

The directors of studies at the Mission Academy, including Dr. Anton Knuth, and other adjunct lecturers, contribute to teaching.

The history of missionary work in Hamburg goes back beyond the 50-year history of the department and even that of the University. When the Hamburg Colonial Institute began its work in 1908, courses focusing on the overseas missionary activities of the day soon followed (taught by, among others, Carl Mirbt and Joseph Schmidlin).

At its founding in 1919, the University did not include a theological faculty but together with the legacy of the Colonial Institute (later the Institutes for Indonesian and South Sea Languages or African Languages and Cultures), the study of missionary work continued. Walter Freytag taught in this area from 1929 and was named an honorary professor in 1947. The subject was based in the Faculty of Philosophy. Walter Freytag pushed missionary studies beyond the initial scope of its founding phase, linking the field to ecumenical studies in Hamburg.

When the Faculty of Protestant Theology began its work in 1954, the professorship for missionary studies and ecumenical relations gained its own institute, whose work was shaped substantially by Hans Jochen Margull, following in the footsteps of Walter Freytag. In Hamburg, an independent subject, widely viewed as optional, emerged from the work on colonial and missionary history, focusing on:

• developments in modernity that led to the emergence of a multicultural Christianity;
• striving for Christian unity with regard to life and theological thought among Christians in the twentieth century;
• encounters between Christians and non-Christians.

The historical transformations in world Christianity have contributed to the fact that church practice and classroom religious instruction is inconceivable without considering missionary, ecumenical, and religion studies. Accordingly, our related courses here are an integral part of the curriculum.

Intercultural theology and religious studies are obligatory in the examination regulations for seminary and teacher training programs. Additionally, students in cultural studies and the humanities can take religious studies as a minor. Two independent sections emerged under Hans Jochen Margull’s guidance, with their own areas of focus. 

Since its founding in 1954, the Department of Protestant Theology was the base for a professorship for missionary studies and ecumenical relations which saw itself as a theological door to the world when for ecumenical and interconfessional communication. Hamburg, as a Free and Hanseatic City, has been shaped by its cosmopolitanism and dynamic fluctuation of visitors from afar. It also has a large number of residents who have migrated here in the last decades.

This has also contributed to interreligious dialogue long being integral to the institute’s activities. At a time at which either “positive” distortions (for example, about apparently “gentle” East Asian religions) and negative clichés about Islam’s alleged violence or hostility to human rights form public opinion, scholarship ensures sound information, reflection, and the opportunity to gain direct experience and to become knowledgeable together, through dialogue, about other religions and their ideas of spirituality. Young students set to become Protestant pastors in a multireligious society learn how to engage in dialogue with people of other faiths; teacher training students learn how to teach their pupils in religion classes by engaging in dialogue about other religions.

The institute therefore collaborates with, among others, the Academy of World Religions and the Asien-Afrika-Institut, offering at least one seminar on interreligious dialogue every summer semester. The seminar includes texts and student contributions on the foundations of interreligious dialogue as well a bilateral dialogue between the respective religions and excursions to meet representatives of other religions. This makes it possible to learn the theoretical groundwork for engaging with other religions and scholarly reflection upon them while speaking with, rather than about, people of other faiths. Cooperation with the city’s religious centers is also vital for thorough engagement with other religions.

The history of interreligious dialogue at the department, especially in its current form, harks back to activities at the beginning of the 1980s. In 1981, Olaf Schumann assumed the professorship for religious and missionary studies, for which the groundwork had been laid by Prof Hans Jochen Margull, and expanded the work in this area considerably. A 2-semester seminar on the theology of religions led to further activities and ultimately, the working group on interreligious dialogue (Olaf Schumann / Brigitte Werner), which ran for over 20 years and ended in Summer Semester 2007. Their work, however, continued to contribute, far beyond the University’s walls, to mutual understanding between the religions in the city.

Ulrich Dehn

Literature

• Brigitte Werner: “Der Dialog zwischen VertreterInnen verschiedener Religionen vor Ort - Grenzen und Möglichkeiten” in Ingrid Lohmann and Wolfram Weiße (Eds.), Dialog zwischen den Kulturen: Erziehungshistorische und religionspädagogische Gesichtspunkte interkultureller Bildung. Münster-New York 1994, pp. 265–273.
• Olaf Schumann: “Wer nur eine Religion kennt, kennt keine. Das Studium fremder Religionen innerhalb des Theologiestudiums” in Theodor Ahrens (Ed.), Zwischen Regionalität und Globalisierung. Studien zu Mission, Ökumene und Religion (= Perspektiven der Weltmission, 25), Ammersbek bei Hamburg 1997, pp. 205–247.

Promotionen:

Alena Höfer: Transkulturelle Theologien Netzwerkdynamiken und Deutungsmachtaushandlungen am Beispiel von Korean Americans.

Daniel A. Jara Jhayya: Intercultural Biblical Dialogue in Empirical Hermeneutical Approach. Ecumenical Readings of the Jerusalem Council Analyzed Through Qualitative and Digital Methods.

Leita Ngoy: Missional, Contextual, And Transcultural: Prosperity Gospel and the Charismatisation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Dar es Salaam.

Abschlussarbeiten:

Hannah Blumenthal: Über Gott und die Welt sprechen. Hermeneutische Ansätze im Dialog mit interstellarer Raumfahrtforschung (Examen).

Szu-Chin Chen: Die Missionsstrategie der chinesischen Gemeinden im F.M.C.D.-Netzwerk (MA).

Verena Giese: Bedeutung der Religion für Menschen (verschiedener Herkunft) in Deutschland (BA).

Laura Gries: Der konfessionell-kooperative Religionsunterricht im intrareligiösen Dialog. Untersuchungen zur Umsetzung eines gemeinsamen evangelischen und syrisch-orthodoxen Religionsunterrichte.

Daliah Zora Hauch: Chancen und Herausforderungen des Interreligiösen Dialogs im Kontext der sogenannten Flüchtlingskrise und der entsprechenden EKD-Stellungnahme.

Christopher Hirch: Deutsche Auslandsmission in den 1930er und 1940er Jahren (MA).

Alena Höfer: Die Spannung zwischen Universalismus und Partikularismus in der Ökumene aus interkultureller Perspektive (Examen).

Fenna Klebert: Namibische und südafrikanische Landschaften als Sujet in der Gegenwartskunst. Eine von postkolonialer Theorie und Kritik geleitete Untersuchung ausgewählter Fotografien von Nicola Brandt und Thabiso Sekgala.

Jana Mühleck: Religiös-ideologisch gerechtfertigte Gewalt? Gewalterfahrungen ezidischer Frauen durch die Terrororganisation IS (BA).

Sarah Radon: Der Ölbaum. Eine arabischsprachige Gemeinde in Wuppertal. Eine exemplarische Analyse zu reziproken Zusammenhängen und Verknüpfungen von Glaube, Migration und Identität (BA).

Sarah Radon: Okay, Mist. Ich habe Migration. - Migrantische Identitäten zwischen Erinnerung und Erzählung (MA).

Birgit Schlage: Die Rolle der Intersektionalität in der Hexenverfolgung: Eine Analyse der sozialen, geschlechtlichen und religiösen Faktoren im Kontext des Hexenhammers (BA).

Melek Meltem Yalcin: Frauen vs. Feminismus. Eine Analyse weiblicher antifeministischer Positionen und Erscheinungsformen im deutschen Kontext (MA).

Helen Ziegeler: Lobpreis- und Anbetungsmusik als konstitutives Merkmal und Schwerpunkt in Pfingstgemeinden – Auswirkungen des Singverbots während der Corona-Pandemie.