Battle for the heart : how (not) to transform church and society

The battle of the heart can be seen as the core problem of the Christian religion in modern culture. According to Augustine, the complex mixture of longings are the driving forces of human lives. These longing are not an intellectual puzzle, but rather a craving for sustenance. The contributions locate the battle for the heart and transformation of society and church in the context of an ethnic, multi-religious, socio-economical divided Africa. Where are the authentic voices of leaders who can change the heart? How to mend a 'broken' heart? How to transform congregations towards inclusion of difference? Can we embrace the dignity of difference as attitudes that enable transformation of church and society?

Hans-Martin Sass (1935 in Hagen /Germany) now lives in Reston, Virginia. He holds faculty positions in philosophy and bioethics at Ruhr University, Bochum, FRG (since 1966), and Georgetown University, Washington DC (since 1980); Honorary Professor at Renmin University (1985) and Peking Union Medical College (2001) in Beijing PRC. 100+ separate publications, 250+ journal articles, 300+ invited lectures.