ZEBR Magazine - Do we really need another online blog?
Hi there, I am Samuel from Switzerland and I am new at ZEBR institute as a research fellow, focusing on the topics of faith and democracy.
Five years into its existence, ZEBR magazine is still mostly a tiny niche online blog, yet it strikes me as being quite unique at the same time, since it provides a platform to discuss political and cultural developments from the perspective of a non-partisan, hopeful and restorative Christian worldview - something that seems to have become rare in our times of increasing ideological antagonism. Yet this strikes me as an obvious vantage point for christians believers to adopt when partaking in political discourse:
Being NON-PARTISAN requires HUMILITY: I have often found myself revisiting my own convictions on a particular subject after hearing and carefully examining the arguments of astute political opponents. Through these experiences, I have learned to hold my convictions with humility, seeing them not merely as positions to advocate for, but as contributions to a shared pursuit of truth. This attitude of intellectual humility is deeply rooted in Biblical principles: Examining different perspectives with an open mind (as Saint Paul advised in 1 Thessalonians 5:21), respecting and even loving your opponents (as Jesus commands in Matthew 5:44), and to acknowledge that our own knowledge in this life is limited and provisional (as pointed out in 1 Corinthians 13:9)
Being HOPEFUL requires REALISM: Contrary to many "post-modern" intellectuals, I am convinced that truth claims are not necessarily just power games, and that not all reality is socially construed. Rather, I believe that Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are real features of our world that can be discovered through divine revelation, scientific research, and social discourse, ideally in combination (albeit of course, our understanding will remain incomplete until the end of history). This stance of "epistemic realism" is the foundation that allows me to be hopeful that real progress is possible through history, rather than leaving us trapped in an endless struggle for power in which one group seeks to dominate another.
Being RESTORATIVE requires a SERVANT ATTITUDE: Already from the outset, God's people have been called to be a blessing to the world (compare Abraham's blessing in Genesis 12:3, among others). A very helpful biblical analogy of what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ in a pluralistic 21st-century society seems to be God's message to the Israelites in the Babylonian Exile: As God's people, they are called neither to build an isolated subculture, nor to lose their distinct identity as people of God, but rather to actively work for the benefit of the society in which they found themselves and pray for it (Jeremiah 29:7).
I look forward to exploring these topics further in the future and, hopefully, contributing to building and extending the ZEBR magazine as a platform for fruitful dialogue on pressing issues relating faith, work, and the social and political questions of our times.
