Purity, Danger, and Redemption: Notes on Urban Missional Evangelicals

Answer one question on each of the Module 9 readings. Responses should be detailed and thorough enough and support your discussion with concrete examples from the readings. Please number your responses:
Answer only ONE of the following study questions of James S. Bielo’s article, “Purity, Danger, and Redemption: Notes on Urban Missional Evangelicals” (2011):
1. How do James Bielo characterize “emerging evangelicals” as part of a “postmodern” religious movement? How, according to the people Bielo studied, is “postmodernism” different from “modernism”? How specifically do Kevin and Bart seem express their postmodernism? Finally, how in the conclusion of the article does Bielo challenges the distinction between modernism and postmodernism?
2. How does the “emerging evangelical” movement position itself vis-à-vis contemporary “suburban megachurch” Christianity? What does the emerging evangelical movement suggest to you about the “culture of Christianity” in the 21st century US?
3. Focus on the “ethnographic” dimension of this article. How did Bielo undertake his “fieldwork” and how does he present his ethnographic description? What do Kevin and Bart teach Bielo about Middletown and Walnut Hills, respectively? How does their lifestyle correspond to their religious worldview?
4. Come up with your own insightful, probing question on the article and respond to it using concrete examples from the text.
Answer only ONE of the following study questions on Isaac A. Weiner’s article: “Calling Everyone to Pray: Pluralism, Secularism, and the Adhān in Hamtramck, Michigan” (2014).
1. Throughout this article, Weiner continually refers to debates over the place of religion in “the public sphere.” What does he mean by “public sphere”? Based on your reading of the article, what role does religion normally play in the public sphere in the US? How does the Muslim call to prayer present symbolic challenges in the public sphere? (Support your discussion with examples from the article).
2. What are secular (or privatist) arguments that sought to mute the adhān in Hamtramck? How does the author find these problematic? How, in turn, did the pluralists interpret the adhān? What did Weiner find problematic in their interpretation? How in turn did local Muslims interpret the adhān?
3. How has Hamtramck been transformed by the rise and fall of the auto industry, and immigration in the 20th and now 21st centuries? What does this suggest about the long-term presence of the adhān in that community? What is Weiner’s underlying argument here? What is your take away from this article?
Answer only ONE of the following study questions Ralph, Renegade Dreams, Chap. 5 “Disease”:
1. A key theme of this chapter has to do with “healing.” How do Amy’s and Fatima’s stories illustrate healing as an ongoing, incomplete process. Briefly outline each of their stories, focusing on both injury and healing. How according to Ralph, are religious and medicalized healing “processed and interpreted in different ways”?
2. In this chapter, Ralph introduces the concept of “renegade will,” which he juxtaposes with “renegade dreams.” What does Ralph mean by “renegade will” and how do Fatima’s, Noel’s, and Amy’s stories each illustrate the concept?
3. Come up with your own insightful, probing question on this chapter and respond to it using concrete examples from the text.
Choose one question for each part to answer.