Beliefs in witchcraft and demons still shape many societies and seem to be increasing rather than disappearing with modernization and urbanization. Witch hunts in Africa and Asia show the scope of the problem. The deliverance practices of pentecostal and charismatic churches are widely controversial and their effects are rather ambiguous. The contributions in this volume, written by experts and practitioners from four continents, analyze these phenomena from the perspectives of intercultural theology, anthropology, and ethnology, and also describe the responses of Catholic and Protestant...

This book studies Islam's place in Pakistani history and how it has been continually exploited by successive regimes. Using Islam as a final political argument weakened it as a basis of national integration. Playing the Islamic card led to ever increasing Islamist demands. Jihadists violently vied to uphold 'true Islam', often by targeting minorities. Such self-serving political manipulation is deconstructed in reflection on key theological debates in Islam. Dr. John O'Brien is a Spiritan priest. He first went to Pakistan in 1977 and has engaged in pastoral, educational and development...