Forum Young Theology

I am Juliette (she/her), 25 years old and I come from France. I am currently studying Protestant Theology between Strasbourg (France) and Berlin (Germany) in order to become a pastor in my church: the Reformed and Lutheran Protestant Churches of Alsace-Moselle. Before that, I studied political science, cultural science, and gender studies. I am particularly interested in feminist and queer theology. But what I really love is drinking coffee and eating cake.

The topic of nationalism concerns me because I think that in France, because of the separation of religions and the State, our churches are scared to raise their voice in public and to be a counter-power to the nationalistic and discriminatory policies in place. For me, it is important as churches to dare to take an interest in politics and to have an opinion on it. Because it is not our nationalities that bind us as Christians but our faith, let us dare to strive for less nationalism and more solidarity with our neighbors, even if they are not from the same country.

I was born in an atheistic family. God came into my life only 4 years ago. To deepen my knowledgde about religion, I started studying at the Faculty for Protestant Theology and Religion Studies (FPTR) in Brussels. In the Master programme, we worked during this academic year around the themes ‘identity’ and ‘polarisation’, which are closely linked to the general topic of the Youth Theology conference in Vienna. 

Before studying theology, I finished a Master in International Relations and Diplomacy at the University of Antwerp (2013). Currently working in a European Institution, I am familiar with the ongoing discussions about cosmopolitism versus nationalism. For this reason it’s very interesting for me to see how my academic backgrounds from the fields of political science and theology are coming together during this conference.

The United Protestant Church in Belgium (VPKB/EPUB), from which I am a member, shows furthermore that it is possible to merge several Protestant denominations in one broader church, to be open to the world and work together with people using different national languages (Dutch, French and German), in a country where nevertheless nationalistic tendencies are popular in the political polls.

My Name is Frederik Grüneberg, I am 29 years old, I am from Germany and I am studying theology for diploma. Before I studied this, I have already studied Politcal Science and History and Theology of the Christianity for Bachelor. In my studies of Politcal Science I have written a Bachelor Thesis about Nationalism in South Africa after 1994. Some of the thoughts we’re based on my experience of a year in South Africa between school and University. The topic of Nationalism was also very presented in my school and Politcal comittment. I am a Person who is very aware of the danger of nationalism. As a Person who have lived in two different countries which a rich History and Present of Nationalism and visited a Lot of different countries the concept of cosmopolitanism is more suited for me. 

Therefore I am very interested in this conference and looking forward to the discussions and Outputs of this conference.