EARLY CAREER SUBGRANTS
Funding emerging scholars researching theology, philosophy, and contemporary religious disaffiliation.
The questions below illustrate the kinds of theological and philosophical problems the project is interested in. Applicants do not need to address all of these questions. Proposals may focus on one or more questions, or develop a related question that advances the broader theme of autonomy.
How should theological accounts of authority respond to widespread experiences of harm, exclusion, or spiritual abuse within institutional Christianity?
What does this mean?
This question asks how experiences of harm, exclusion, and spiritual abuse affect the credibility and legitimacy of religious authority. It invites consideration of whether existing theological accounts of authority adequately address these experiences, and how Christian theology might respond when institutions or leaders have caused, enabled, or failed to prevent harm.
Possible areas to explore
- Spiritual abuse and coercive religious practices
- Institutional responses to harm and exclusion
- Pastoral authority and moral responsibility
- Trust, credibility, and institutional failure
- Theological accounts of power and vulnerability
- Authority, accountability, and reform
- Experiences of religious disaffiliation following institutional harm
Which specific forms of authority—pastoral, interpretive, institutional, or political—are being contested by disaffiliates, and why are these challenges perceived as threats to Christian faith and communal stability?
What does this mean?
This question asks what kinds of authority people are actually challenging when they leave or distance themselves from religious communities. It invites research into whether disaffiliates are rejecting religious authority altogether, or particular forms of authority and the ways in which they are exercised. It also asks why challenges to authority can be experienced by religious communities as threats to faith, identity, or communal cohesion.
Possible areas to explore
- Pastoral and ministerial authority
- Biblical and theological interpretation
- Institutional and denominational authority
- Political authority and religious influence
- Religious identity and communal belonging
- Authority, conformity, and dissent
- Experiences and narratives of religious exit
- Trust and legitimacy within religious communities
How can Christian theology articulate a doctrine of authority that resists spiritualized coercion while preserving legitimate forms of guidance, discipline, and communal normativity?
What does this mean?
This question asks whether Christian communities can maintain meaningful forms of authority without turning theological or institutional power into coercion. It invites consideration of what legitimate authority looks like within Christian communities, and how guidance, discipline, and shared norms might be maintained while respecting conscience, agency, and disagreement.
Possible areas to explore
- Spiritual coercion and manipulation
- Conscience and Christian freedom
- Legitimate and illegitimate authority
- Ecclesial discipline and accountability
- Communal norms and boundaries
- Authority and moral formation
- Dissent, disagreement, and belonging
- The relationship between individual agency and communal authority
If religious exit reflects profound political and moral misalignment between believers and ecclesial institutions, what theological and structural dynamics have contributed to this rupture? What constructive theological alternatives might restore moral credibility without collapsing into relativism?
What does this mean?
This question asks what happens when individuals experience a significant gap between their moral or political commitments and those of the religious institutions to which they belong. It invites research into the theological and institutional conditions that produce this rupture, while also asking what forms of Christian authority or community might rebuild moral credibility without abandoning shared theological commitments.
Possible areas to explore
- Political polarization and religious disaffiliation
- Moral disagreement between believers and institutions
- Institutional Christianity and political identity
- Ecclesial structures and institutional culture
- Moral credibility and public witness
- Religious exit as a response to institutional misalignment
- Constructive models of Christian authority
- Relativism, pluralism, and theological normativity