Irving Hexham
Encyclopedia
Irving Hexham is a Canadian academic and writer who has published twenty-three books and numerous articles, chapters, and book reviews in respected academic journals. Currently, he is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Calgary
, Alberta
, Canada
, married to Dr. Karla Poewe
who is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
at the University of Calgary, and the father of two children, Jeremy and Janet. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship.
, Cumberland
, England
. After leaving school at the age of fifteen he spent six years (1958–1964) as an apprentice gas fitter with the North Western Gas Board, and obtained his City and Guilds and advanced diplomas in Gas Technology. After the completion of his apprenticeship he was offered a management position with the Gas Board. During his industrial career he also served as a union representative.
Hexham qualified for university matriculation by correspondence study and entered the University of Lancaster in 1967 where he majored in Religious Studies
with minors in History
and Philosophy
. He graduated with a B.A.(Hons) in 1970. He then proceeded to post-graduate studies, obtaining his M.A. "with commendation" in religious studies
and theology
from the Bristol University in 1972. His M.A. was based on anthropological methods and theories and involved a short dissertation on Glastonbury
. He obtained a Ph.D. in History
from the University of Bristol
in 1975. His Ph.D. thesis was on Afrikaner Calvinism
and the origins of apartheid as an ideology. In the course of his studies he lived in the Republic of South Africa and studied the languages of German
and Afrikaans
. His M.A. supervisor was F.B. Welbourn; his Ph.D. supervisor was Kenneth Ingham. When he was in South Africa Elaine Botha at Potchefstroom University was appointed his local supervisor by the University of Bristol.
, England from 1974–1977. He also served as a course tutor in the Open University
at Derby (1975–77). Hexham then relocated to Canada and assumed the post of assistant professor at Regent College
, Vancouver
(1977–80). He became an assistant professor in religious studies at the University of Manitoba
, Winnipeg
(1980–84), and then an assistant professor in religious studies at the University of Calgary (1984–88). He was promoted to the rank of associate professor at Calgary (1988–92), and in 1992 assumed the post of Full Professor in religious studies.
Hexham is a Fellow of both the Royal Anthropological Institute
, and the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain has been a member of various professional organizations including the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion
, Association for the Sociology of Religion, South African Institute of Race Relations, South African Society for Mission Studies, and the Berliner Gesellschaft fuer Missionsgeschichte of which he was a founding member with Ulrich van der Heyden. Recently he was elected a Fellow of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
Hexham has lectured in undergraduate and post-graduate programs covering topics such as cult
s, sects and new religious movements, history of religion, sociology of religion
, African history and religions, religion and society in South Africa, millenarian movements, theology
and politics, Christianity and culture, missions and society, religion and ethics, fundamentalism
and charismatic religion, methods in the study of religion, and the philosophy of religion.
His academic interests are listed as Political Religions; Nationalism
and Religion; Afrikaner Nationalism
; National Socialism
; New Religious Movements, World Religions in Modern Society; World Christianity and Christian Missions, African Initiated/Independent Churches; Modern Religious Thought; while his research interests are said to be Ancestral neo-Paganism, the New Right, and political religions in Germany.
He served as a contributing editor to the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa (1981–93), and is on the Editorial Board of Studies in Religion.
Hexham has written or co-edited a number of works treating various facets of religion in South Africa including African independent churches, Afrikaner Calvinism, and Zulu religion. He has compiled reference works such as the Concise Dictionary of Religion and Pocket Dictionary of New Religious Movements. He has co-written two analytic works on the phenomenon of new religions and cults, and co-edited a pioneering work on the development of Christian contextual missions and new religious movements. Currently, as can be seen from his recent publications, Hexham is working on issues related to Germany.
Among his graduate students are Dr. Douglas Cowan of the University of Waterloo, Professor Mark Mullins of Sophia University in Tokyo, and Kurt Widmar of the University of Lethbridge.
thought in Glastonbury
. He continued his research with a study of the origins of the ideology
of Apartheid. Later he pioneered the study of the amaNazareta by publishing the complete scriptures of this important African Independent Church which in the past was often considered pagan. Alongside his South African studies Hexham also published extensively on New Religious Movements, Theology
, the History of Christian Missions, and, more recently National Socialism.
His contributions to scholarship were recognized by the award of an academic Festschrift on 23 May 2008 in the Faculty of Theology at the Humboldt University in Berlin
.
Refereed Academic Articles:
Religion, Economics, and Social Thought, with Walter Block, Vancouver, The Fraser Institute, 1986, pp. 573.
Zulu Religion: Texts and Interpretations. Vol. I: Traditional Zulu Ideas about God, Lewiston, Edwin Mellen, 1987, pp. 455.
The Scriptures of the amaNazaretha of Ekuphakameni, translated from the Zulu by the Rt. Rev. Londa Shembe and Hans-Jürgen Becken, with introductory essays by Irving Hexham and G.C. Oosthuizen, Calgary, University of Calgary Press, 1994, pp. xlix + 144.
The Story of Isaiah Shembe - History and Traditions Centered on Ekuphakameni and Mount Nhlangakazi: Volume One of the Sacred History and Traditions of the amaNazaretha, translated from the Zulu by Hans-Jürgen Becken, edited with G.C. Oosthuizen, Lewiston, Edwin Mellen Press, 1996, pp. 258.
New Religions as Global Cultures, with Karla Poewe, Boulder, Westview Press, 1997, pp. 180.
The Christian Travelers Guide to Britain, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, April, 2001, pp. 245.
Understanding World Religions, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2011, pp. 512.
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1966 the U of C is composed of 14 faculties and more than 85 research institutes and centres.More than 25,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students are currently...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, married to Dr. Karla Poewe
Karla Poewe
Karla Poewe is an anthropologist and historian. She is the author of ten academic books and fifty peer reviewed articles in international journals. Currently Poewe is Professor Emeritus in Anthropology at the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada and Adjunct Research Professor at...
who is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
at the University of Calgary, and the father of two children, Jeremy and Janet. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship.
Biography
Hexham was born in WhitehavenWhitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. After leaving school at the age of fifteen he spent six years (1958–1964) as an apprentice gas fitter with the North Western Gas Board, and obtained his City and Guilds and advanced diplomas in Gas Technology. After the completion of his apprenticeship he was offered a management position with the Gas Board. During his industrial career he also served as a union representative.
Hexham qualified for university matriculation by correspondence study and entered the University of Lancaster in 1967 where he majored in Religious Studies
Religious studies
Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...
with minors in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. He graduated with a B.A.(Hons) in 1970. He then proceeded to post-graduate studies, obtaining his M.A. "with commendation" in religious studies
Religious studies
Religious studies is the academic field of multi-disciplinary, secular study of religious beliefs, behaviors, and institutions. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing systematic, historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives.While theology attempts to...
and theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
from the Bristol University in 1972. His M.A. was based on anthropological methods and theories and involved a short dissertation on Glastonbury
Glastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
. He obtained a Ph.D. in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
from the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
in 1975. His Ph.D. thesis was on Afrikaner Calvinism
Afrikaner Calvinism
Afrikaner Calvinism is, according to theory, a unique cultural development that combined the Calvinist religion with the political aspirations of the white Afrikaans speaking people of South Africa....
and the origins of apartheid as an ideology. In the course of his studies he lived in the Republic of South Africa and studied the languages of German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
. His M.A. supervisor was F.B. Welbourn; his Ph.D. supervisor was Kenneth Ingham. When he was in South Africa Elaine Botha at Potchefstroom University was appointed his local supervisor by the University of Bristol.
Academic career
Hexham has held a number of posts in various tertiary institutions of higher learning. He was an assistant professor at Bishop Lonsdale College, University of DerbyUniversity of Derby
The University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. The main site is on Kedleston Road, Allestree in the north-west of Derby close to the A38 opposite Markeaton Park...
, England from 1974–1977. He also served as a course tutor in the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
at Derby (1975–77). Hexham then relocated to Canada and assumed the post of assistant professor at Regent College
Regent College
Regent College is an international graduate school of Christian Studies, located next to the campus of the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands west of Vancouver, British Columbia, and is an affiliated college of that university....
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
(1977–80). He became an assistant professor in religious studies at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
, Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
(1980–84), and then an assistant professor in religious studies at the University of Calgary (1984–88). He was promoted to the rank of associate professor at Calgary (1988–92), and in 1992 assumed the post of Full Professor in religious studies.
Hexham is a Fellow of both the Royal Anthropological Institute
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is the world's longest established anthropological organization, with a global membership. Since 1843, it has been at the forefront of new developments in anthropology and new means of communicating them to a broad audience...
, and the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain has been a member of various professional organizations including the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion
American Academy of Religion
The American Academy of Religion is the world's largest association of scholars in the field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association,...
, Association for the Sociology of Religion, South African Institute of Race Relations, South African Society for Mission Studies, and the Berliner Gesellschaft fuer Missionsgeschichte of which he was a founding member with Ulrich van der Heyden. Recently he was elected a Fellow of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.
Hexham has lectured in undergraduate and post-graduate programs covering topics such as cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
s, sects and new religious movements, history of religion, sociology of religion
Sociology of religion
The sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society: practices, historical backgrounds, developments and universal themes. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history...
, African history and religions, religion and society in South Africa, millenarian movements, theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
and politics, Christianity and culture, missions and society, religion and ethics, fundamentalism
Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines usually understood as a reaction against Modernist theology. The term "fundamentalism" was originally coined by its supporters to describe a specific package of theological beliefs that developed into a movement within the...
and charismatic religion, methods in the study of religion, and the philosophy of religion.
His academic interests are listed as Political Religions; Nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and Religion; Afrikaner Nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism is a political ideology that was born in the late 19th century around the idea that Afrikaners in South Africa were a "chosen people"; it was also strongly influenced by anti-British sentiments that grew strong among the Afrikaners, especially because of the Boer Wars...
; National Socialism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
; New Religious Movements, World Religions in Modern Society; World Christianity and Christian Missions, African Initiated/Independent Churches; Modern Religious Thought; while his research interests are said to be Ancestral neo-Paganism, the New Right, and political religions in Germany.
He served as a contributing editor to the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa (1981–93), and is on the Editorial Board of Studies in Religion.
Hexham has written or co-edited a number of works treating various facets of religion in South Africa including African independent churches, Afrikaner Calvinism, and Zulu religion. He has compiled reference works such as the Concise Dictionary of Religion and Pocket Dictionary of New Religious Movements. He has co-written two analytic works on the phenomenon of new religions and cults, and co-edited a pioneering work on the development of Christian contextual missions and new religious movements. Currently, as can be seen from his recent publications, Hexham is working on issues related to Germany.
Among his graduate students are Dr. Douglas Cowan of the University of Waterloo, Professor Mark Mullins of Sophia University in Tokyo, and Kurt Widmar of the University of Lethbridge.
Contribution to Scholarship
Hexham began his academic research with a study of New AgeNew Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
thought in Glastonbury
Glastonbury
Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
. He continued his research with a study of the origins of the ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
of Apartheid. Later he pioneered the study of the amaNazareta by publishing the complete scriptures of this important African Independent Church which in the past was often considered pagan. Alongside his South African studies Hexham also published extensively on New Religious Movements, Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, the History of Christian Missions, and, more recently National Socialism.
His contributions to scholarship were recognized by the award of an academic Festschrift on 23 May 2008 in the Faculty of Theology at the Humboldt University in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Selected Essays
Published Reports- Religious Extremism in Africa, for UNHCR Emergency & Security Service, Geneva, September 2002, pp. 37
- A Review of the Current State of Religious Magazines and Newspapers in Canada,” Ottawa, Department of Canadian Heritage, Ottawa, October 2002, pp. 55, assisted by Joanne Emond-McCullum who worked on the French Canadian publications section.
Refereed Academic Articles:
- “Just like another Israel”, Religion (London), 1977, 7/1, pp. 1–7.
- “Calvinism and Culture”, CRUX (Vancouver), December 1979, pp. 14–19.
- “Dutch Calvinism and the Origins of Afrikaner Nationalism”, African Affairs (London), Spring, 1980, pp. 195–208.
- “Christianity and Apartheid: An Introductory Bibliography”, Reformed Journal (Grand Rapids), April 1980, pp. S1-S11.
- “Lord of the Sky-King of the Earth: Zulu Traditional Religion and Belief in the Sky God”, Studies in Religion (Waterloo), Vol. 10, 3, 1981, pp. 273–285.
- “Conversion and Consolidation in an English Town: The Freaks of Glastonbury: 1967–1982”, Update (Aarhus), March 1983, pp. 3–12.
- “Science Fiction, Christianity and Technic Civilization”, Word and World (St. Paul), Vol. IV. No 1, Winter, 1984, pp. 35–42.
- “Religion in Southern Africa”, Religious Studies Review, (Waterloo), June 1985, Vol. II, No.4, pp. 370–378.
- “The Soul of the New Age”, with Karla Poewe-Hexham, Christianity Today (Chicago), September 2, 1988, pp. 17–21.
- “Charismatic Christianity and Change in South Africa”, with Karla Poewe-Hexham, The Christian Century (Chicago), August, 7–24, 1988, pp. 738–740.
- “African Religions: Recent & Lesser Known Works”, Religion, (Lancaster), Vol. 20; 1990, pp. 361–372.
- “On Plagiarism and Integrity in Scholarly Activity”, Humanist: Humanities Computing, 5:4, 3 April 1992, received electronically via humanist@brownvm.bitnet, 5.0814. This article was published electronically and was later cited in Lingua Franca, September/October 1992, pp. 18–20, and College & Research Libraries, Vol.53, No. 5, September 1992, p. 455.
- “Isaiah Shembe: Zulu Religious Leader”, Religion, 27:4, October 1997, pp. 361–373, this is a revised English version of 33.
- “Verfassungsfeindlich: Church, State and New Religions in Germany”, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. Vol. 2, No. 2, 1999, pp. 208–227.
- “Suicide or Murder in Uganda?” Religion in the News, August, 2000:7–9 + 24.
- “New Religions and the Anti-Cult Movement in Canada”, Nova Religio, 2 April, 2001, Vol. 4, No.2, pp. 281–288.
- “Jakob Wilhelm Hauer’s New Religion and National Socialism,” with Karla Poewe, in the Journal of Contemporary Religion, London, Vol. 20, No. 2, May 2005, pp. 195–215.
- " Inventing ‘Paganists’: a Close Reading of Richard Steigmann-Gall's the Holy Reich,” the Journal of Contemporary History, January 2007 pp. 59–78.
- “The Völkisch Modernist Beginnings of National Socialism: Its Intrusion into the Church and its Antisemitic Consequence,” with Karla Poewe, in Religion Compass, 2009, pp. 676–696.
Selected Books
The Irony of Apartheid, Lewiston, Edwin Mellen, 1981, pp. 239.Religion, Economics, and Social Thought, with Walter Block, Vancouver, The Fraser Institute, 1986, pp. 573.
Zulu Religion: Texts and Interpretations. Vol. I: Traditional Zulu Ideas about God, Lewiston, Edwin Mellen, 1987, pp. 455.
The Scriptures of the amaNazaretha of Ekuphakameni, translated from the Zulu by the Rt. Rev. Londa Shembe and Hans-Jürgen Becken, with introductory essays by Irving Hexham and G.C. Oosthuizen, Calgary, University of Calgary Press, 1994, pp. xlix + 144.
The Story of Isaiah Shembe - History and Traditions Centered on Ekuphakameni and Mount Nhlangakazi: Volume One of the Sacred History and Traditions of the amaNazaretha, translated from the Zulu by Hans-Jürgen Becken, edited with G.C. Oosthuizen, Lewiston, Edwin Mellen Press, 1996, pp. 258.
New Religions as Global Cultures, with Karla Poewe, Boulder, Westview Press, 1997, pp. 180.
The Christian Travelers Guide to Britain, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, April, 2001, pp. 245.
Understanding World Religions, Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2011, pp. 512.
External links
- Irving Hexham's Home Page at the University of Calgary
- Biographical profile at InterVarsity Press