Hasil untuk "Religions of the world"

Miriam Valdés Guía

En estas páginas exploramos el papel en el Cinosarges de Atenas de los libertos y los bastardos en el santuario de Heracles, nothos por excelencia, pero también caracterizado como doulos. Nos adentramos en la posibilidad de que este santuario se constituyera en espacio de manumisiones, y específicamente, del paso a la “liberación completa” de los apeleutheroi (convirtiéndose, así, en exeleutheroi) a través de juicios privados (dikai apostasiou), presididos por el polemarco. Estos procesos serían especialmente relevantes en el contexto de la Guerra del Peloponeso, momento de necesidad de efectivos militares, lo que se vería reflejado en la comedia de Aristófanes de las Ranas. En ella Dioniso disfrazado de Heracles baja al Hades previa consulta al héroe en su santuario del Cinosarges, en una obra donde se recuerda la liberación de esclavos en las Arginusas y se producen cambios de identidad entre Heracles y Dioniso y el esclavo y el amo.

Hüseyin Çaksen

In this article, we have evaluated the status of medical articles related to religion and spirituality published in the last 50 years in the literature to determine the distribution of studies on religion and spirituality by the major religions in the world and decades. There was a continuous increase in the number of articles related to “religion, religious, spiritual, or spirituality,” and the major religions including Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism except for Sikhism from 1971-1980 to 2011-2020. A continued increase was also noted in the number of articles on the Quran and the Bible, but not on “Hebrew Bible.” Furthermore, the articles related to Islam and Buddhism showed the highest increase among the major religions. In conclusion, religion and spirituality have been linked to medicine for centuries. Religion and medicine are inseparable because religion is the very life of life, its light, and its basis. We believe that medical articles on religion and spirituality will increase significantly over the next decade as faith is on the rise around the world.

Yuldash Bertymuratov, Arna Mukanova, Gulnaz Razdykova

The relevance of this article lies in the increasingly active public discussion among Muslims, the challenge posed by the induced termination of pregnancy by Muslims and the problems stemming from it. The increasing calls from Muslims to the spiritual authorities for clarification of this issue in various countries confirm this trend. However, a comprehensive understanding of Islamic attitudes towards induced abortion remains poorly understood. Islamic discourse permeates the entire socio-cultural facet of Muslim society. It is transforming and developing among the communities of modern Muslim countries, matching the dynamics of changes in attitudes on the issue of induced termination of pregnancy from the early Middle Ages to the beginning of the ХХI century inclusive. In this regard, the purpose of this work is to describe and reveal the question about the use of abortion in the Islamic world. In the study specific “introductory” examples from the Muslim world are presented for disclosure given by those. In the course of this study, the topic of abortion as a social and medical phenomenon was briefly studied and covered through the lens of terminology, social, medical, religious and legislative factors. The process of transforming Islamic religious ethics with regard to abortion is briefly outlined. In the sequence since the beginning of Islam and the development of this religious speech in the ХХI century, the prism of the views of the Sunni and Shiitic directions, as well as the 4 Sunni theological schools, in the context of solving the problem of abortion. Examples were provided of legislative solutions to the problem of induced termination of pregnancy in some Muslim countries, Asia Minor, the Middle East, North Africa and Australia. The materials of this article contribute to the study of ethical and religious problems in Islam.

Marc Grenier

It is often claimed that Ecclesiastes constitutes an irremediable enigma which flies in the face of traditional Hebrew cosmology, making the author’s intended meaning not much more than a bewildering speculative task. Biblical scholars disagree on just about every aspect of this ancient Hebraic work: authorship, date, structure, narrative framework, and even its connection to a Creator God. This essay utilizes Ballantine’s strategic rhetorical perspective to introduce and wade through some of the central controversies and debates about the meaning of Ecclesiastes: Is earthly life meaningful or meaningless ? Is there eternal meaning to earthly life or not? Is the earthly life of human beings pointless and futile or not? If the simple pleasures of earthly life are gifts from God, then how can earthly life itself be ‘hevel’? and more. Somewhat surprisingly, it concludes that Ecclesiastes is anything but an enigma when viewed rhetorically, and certainly not in contravention of basic Hebraic and Christian biblical principles about the sovereign importance of believing in God and obeying the Commandments, even despite all the trials and tribulations offered by earthly life.

Sylvain Lebreton

Jelena Anđelković Grašar

Sri Dwi Harti, Tolop Oloan Marbun, Yunus Selan et al.

This research examines political identity from the Christian perspective and the Implication for Christian politicians. In 2024, Indonesia will run the presidential election. The most apparent phenomenon of identity politics in the history of Indonesian democracy was the election for the Jakarta area in 2017. It was done by a handful of people considering the success of identity politics in 2017. They want to repeat their success in 2017 in the forthcoming 2024 election. Politicians and Christians must be different; they must stand firm in their Christian identity and bring important messages to Indonesia. The study adopted a literature study which is a library study method research technique that involves seeking sources that offer factual information or expert opinions relevant to a research question. This method utilizes various library resources, such as books, scholarly journals, and online databases, to collect reliable information. The authors carefully analysed works to build a frame of mind to answer the problem that was formulated. Data analysis techniques were based on careful content analysis. All data are presented descriptively. The result and key finding of the study is that Christian politicians must play their roles as prophetic politicians.

Enno Friedrich

In my paper, I am following the theme of light and darkness in the Bacchae of Euripides. Light and darkness is one of many threads of meaning in the Bacchae. It runs alongside the overall interpretation of the play. Light and darkness are present in the characterisations of Dionysus and Pentheus. More than that, the characterisations through light and darkness change in accordance with the story of the play. A close reading of Bacchae along the lines of light and darkness can, thus, help to determine which evaluations of Pentheus and Dionysus are inscribed in the play. The drama of light and darkness suggests an interpretation of the sparagmos as an expiating sacrifice and the restoration of harmony at the end of the play.

Amos Y. Luka

The black Jewish movement in the United States is an African American new religious movement often linked to black gods. This religious thought raises concerns and questions. Firstly, if the assertions of black Jews are factual, what happens to biblical Israelites and their historicity? Secondly, what is the background of black Jews, and how does that relate to biblical Israel? Thirdly, what are the primary religious claims of black Jews? This article is a critical evaluation of the religious-historical, biblical and theological assertions of the black Jews in America. The article argues that the religious-historical antecedents, theological and biblical claims of the black Jews in America are untrue and cannot replace scriptural assertions about biblical Hebrews or Israelites. The claims of black Jews are eisegetical, not exegetical. The hermeneutics of the black Jews is incoherent with biblical tenets and theological integrity. Therefore, the black Jewish movement cannot substitute or reconstruct the biblical historicity of Israelites. Contribution: The article contributes to the subject of new religious movements in the US. It reveals the discourse of black gods within the African American communities, focusing on the ongoing discourse on the black Jewish movement. It explains and evaluates the claims of black Jews in America, refuting their religious-historical antecedents, theological and biblical claims.

Johan Janse van Rensburg

Scripture use and Scriptural authority in the postmodernist context. This article focused on the burning issue of the authority of Scripture and the way that it is currently used in the Christian and theological community. The research was necessitated by the gap between academic epistemology and the use of the Bible in religious activity. The research illustrated how a different understanding of the authority and interpretation of the Bible caused a clear division in church and society, particularly in the Reformed churches. The aim of the research was to illustrate the current abuse of the Bible in religious debate to legitimise pre-conceived convictions on theological and ethical issues. It was found that, even within the Reformed tradition, the opposing use of Scripture has caused diversity in the church community; thereby causing a serious break in the unity of the church. During the research process, it became clear that a radical new approach to Scriptural interpretation opposed the traditional Reformed understanding of the application of the Bible as per the three main confessions of the Reformed faith. What influenced such a radical new way of Scriptural authority? It was found that an analysis of philosophical systems, leading to the postmodern era, clearly prepared the way for an approach to search for the so-called true meaning of the text behind the text. This new approach was juxtaposed against the Reformed use of Scripture in the immanent text of the Bible and application thereof in the Reformed confession. Contribution: All over the world and also in South Africa, the church community seems to be drawn into a battle for survival. Many church members have lost their faith, abandoned the church membership or moved on to other religions, mainly due to the way Scripture is currently viewed and applied. Unless the confusion in the understanding of the Bible is cleared, the process will deteriorate rapidly. In particular, the theological training of ministers and pastors needs careful consideration. Some academics have denounced their faith in the existence of God in favour of a post-theistic conviction. Students are taught that the Bible is not the Word of God, but human words about God. Such convictions have caused great confusion in church communities. It is envisioned that this research, published in a scientific journal, will underline the urgent need for the church, in general, and the Reformed faith, in particular, not to ignore the seriousness of the matter.

Mohamed Ashath

To understand every religion, it is vital to study the main sources, the specific religious scriptures of a particular religion. In order to draw a conclusion about the core message of religion, it is not scientific to observe only the practices of the adherents of a certain religion. Although Buddhism and Islam have been considered as religions of peace, the meeting of Buddhists and Muslims is most often imagined as one of violent confrontation in the modern world. There should be an understanding between Buddhism and Islam to ensure peaceful coexistence among the adherents. Based on the arguments,this study aims to analyze peaceful coexistence through two different concepts, Brahmavihārās from Buddhism and Maqāṣidh al-Sharīʿa from Islam. Primarily it seeks to analyze these two concepts within their respective religions for a better comparison. It uses a library-based qualitative method. For this purpose, the research adopts the content analysis method, which focuses on the materials from journals, books, written reports, and other materials. The study highlights that even though Buddhism and Islam have different doctrinal foundations, the basic teachings promote peaceful coexistence from different points of view. This research concludes that both religions share similar concepts of peaceful coexistence which denote and declare human dignity as a right that should be paid attention. Both religions prioritize love and justice as the main standard in discussing peaceful coexistence. Hopefully, this conceptual study will be able to show that these two ideas are very significant and valuable when dealing with religious conflicts, to make a better inter-religious understanding among Buddhists and Muslims and to succeed in a process of reconciliation and for peaceful coexistence among diverse religious people.

Fariba Sharifian, katayoun Fekripour, Azadeh Heidarpour

This paper aims to examine the death penalty in Zoroastrianism, the Quran, and the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran. By studying antient Zoroastrian texts, we face a variety of crimes and punishments such as murder, robbery, adultery, magic, rape, and assault that were always considered to be the worst offenses. Zoroastrian religious scholars wrote books on crimes and their punishment in this world and the hereafter. Islam, like all other divine religions, regards the death penalty as a permissible and sometimes obligatory punishment for the perpetrators of capital offenses, while in other cases it prohibits the death penalty and considers it a grave sin. The Islamic penal system strives to confront offenses and injustice and eliminate corruption. This paper discusses the differences and similarities between the crimes that lead to the death penalty in pre-Islamic Iran, the Quran, and the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Elisabeth Begemann, Anna-Katharina Rieger, Jörg Rüpke et al.

Introduction

Antonova Vera I., Rzhanova Svetlana A.

Introduction. The article determines the problem of spiritual and moral education as one of the priorities of the socio-cultural space of the region. It comprehends theoretical indicators and levels of development of the inner world of the individual, as well as the conditions for the effectiveness of the formation of moral postulates. It demonstrates the empirical and local history infrastructure of Mordovia, which is the basic construct of spiritual, moral and religious education of the target audience. Materials and Methods. The empirical material of the work is presented by rich sociocultural infrastructure of the Republic of Mordovia; theoretical one is based on the works of modern researchers on the problems of spiritual and creative formation of personality in the process of the socialization. Reliability and scientific validity of the results are provided by comparative, typological, historical traditional methods, as well as the well-presented empirical research database – the empirical and local infrastructure of the region, compiled using a representative selection of source material and its subsequent correct interpretation. Results and Discussion. Regionalization in the context of preserving the country’s unified sociocultural space leads to the definition of a new humanitarian paradigm, which provides a high level of general culture, development of spiritual intelligence, and satisfaction of personal cognitive interests achieved by immersion in ethnic culture, familiarization with Russian and world values of civilization. A similar approach defines the invariants of the modern ethnocultural system, indicating the ways and possibilities of their implementation at the regional level. On the territory of Mordovia, people of different nationalities and religions always lived in good neighborliness. The Christian Orthodox religion has traditionally been a leading one. Historically it has contributed to the formation of public consciousness and human environment, which has preserved the main ethical standards and values of life. Conclusion. The sociocultural landscape of Mordovia allows us to provide knowledge not only about understanding of the meaning of life, its embodiment in the traditions and life of the people, but also about the centers of spiritual culture. Through the development of diverse spiritual ideas, a person gains social experience, objective information, joins culture, religion and spirituality.

Veena R. Howard

This paper focuses on the branch of Santmat (thus far, unstudied by scholars of Indian religions), prevalent in the rural areas of Bihar, India. Santmat&#8212;literally meaning &#8220;the Path of Sants&#8222; or &#8220;Point of View of the Sants&#8222;&#8212;of Bihar represents a unique synthesis of the elements of the Vedic traditions, rural Hindu practices, and esoteric experiences, as recorded in the poetry of the medieval Sant Tradition. I characterize this tradition as &#8220;Santmat of Bihar&#8222; to differentiate it from the other branches of Santmat. The tradition has spread to all parts of India, but its highest concentration remains in Bihar. Maharishi Mehi, a twentieth-century Sant from Bihar State, identifies Santmat&#8217;s goal as <i>śānti</i>. Maharishi Mehi defines Śānti as the state of deep stillness, equilibrium, and the unity with the Divine. He considers those individuals sants who are established in this state. The state of sublime peace is equally available to all human beings, irrespective of gender, religion, ethnicity, or status. However, it requires a systematic path. Drawing on the writings of the texts of Sanātana Dharma, teachings of the Sants and personal experiences, Maharishi Mehi lays out a systematic path that encompasses the moral observances and detailed esoteric experiences. He also provides an in-depth description of the esoteric practices of divine light (<i>dṛṣti yoga</i>) and sound (<i>surat śabda yoga</i>) in the inner meditation. After providing a brief overview of the history and distinctive features of Santmat of Bihar, this paper will focus on the specifics and unique interpretations of the four structural principles of the tradition: <i>Guru</i> (spiritual teacher), <i>dhyān</i> (inner path of mediation), <i>satsaṅg</i> (spiritual discourses or congregating practitioners for meditation or study), and <i>sadācā</i>r (moral conduct). Through a close analysis of textual sources, Sants&#8217; oral discourses that I translated, as well as insights from my participant-observant experiences, I will examine how the four elements reorient the practitioner from the mundane world to the sacred inner experience of <i>śānti</i>.

Zorodzai Dube

One characteristic of John’s community as evidenced in the Gospel of John, is its awareness of social identity categories –the insiders are God’s children while the non-believers are children of Satan who are symbolised by darkness. It is within this prism that John discusses the concept of divine preservation. The task of this study was to define and explain divine preservation of salvation and its identity implication within John’s community. Instead of the dominant theological perspective, this study takes a sociological reading that seeks to construct the social context from within which John gives instruction and then reads his theology in the context of identity formation. In the past and in most theological seminaries, the dominant approach is the theological lens –seeing the subject as God protecting the church from Satan until the Parousia. While similar readings could be further pursued, a sociological reading based on social identity theory may ultimately prove more fruitful in revealing the internal dynamics within John’s community. The context of Ephesus and its religious plurality of Artemis, Emperor Worship, Cybele mystery cults and Asclepius are all explained as a basis upon which John carves out the identity of his community. From this context, divine preservation of salvation is predicated upon the following: the idea that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the reality of threat from the enemy, the presence of the λόγος, (Word) Holy Spirit and the nearness of the Parousia. The study seeks to add to the discussion regarding implications of identity categorisation and ethnicity within a context of globalisation and multiculturalism in South Africa.

Gérard Chouin

In 1347, the western and Mediterranean parts of the Old World recorded the first outbreaks of a returning mortal disease that would make its presence felt over several centuries. Known today as the Second Plague Pandemic—a zoonosis due to the bacterium Yersinia pestis—it scythed between a third and half of the population without regard for wealth or status. It deeply transformed all facets of societies, ignited fears, violence, and pogroms, tested the flexibility of religions, hierarchies, and traditions, and excited ambitions. Although the plague is commonly described as a pandemic, historical knowledge about the initial Black Death and the many recurrent waves of the disease is largely restricted to Western Europe and the Mediterranean world, where the literate elite left an impressive documentary record that served as resource to the long-lasting and flourishing heuristic tradition of Plague Studies. If, as suggested by Monica Green, the concept of ‘pandemic’ is to be taken seriously, we must consider the many excluded parts of the Old World, and especially Africa, in our plague narratives. We must recognize that these societies that did not practise ‘the reduction of speech to graphic forms’—to use the expression coined by Jack Goody—also could have experienced the brutal mortality of the plague and its radical transformative power, while producing no organized and specific, long-lasting traces. By extension, we must also recognize that all literate societies that had in common the art of writing did not practise this art in the same way and may not have produced identical categories of documentary records. Cultural differences affect the nature of the documentary archive, as illustrated by literate practices in medieval Nubia and Ethiopia. The invisibility or limited visibility of the plague in the documentary record is, therefore, a challenge for historians and a disguised invitation to accept the absence of evidence as evidence of absence. This paper is my attempt to resist this temptation, to challenge the quasi-absence of interest in the plague problem in the historiography of Sub-Saharan Africa, and to lay out the foundation of a research strategy that will be multi-disciplinary and comparative. The plague problem is not a footnote to African history. If the plague impacted African societies as it did in documented parts of the Old World, we must have missed or misread fundamental processes of change it entailed. Would we understand and interpret the history of Western Europe or the Mediterranean as we do if we ignored that the plague had occurred? Here, I do not solve the plague conundrum in Sub-Saharan Africa; rather, I build on the persuasive arguments made by other contributors to this special issue about the presence of plague in different parts of Africa before the 19th century. My purpose is to propose multiple, critical, and cumulative—but far from exhaustive—pathways to reading and rereading the traditional and less traditional sources of African history in the light of the possibility of societal crises related to plague. Besides presenting fragments of evidence, this paper also serves as an introduction to three groundbreaking papers exploring the archaeological, documentary, and genomic sources of the disease in the African past.

Akhiyat Akhiyat

<p>Religion becomes a way to create such a peaceful condition for human being. In the meantime, pluralism constitutes an undistracted phenomenon which has wrapped human life for any single day. Human live in pluralism and constitutes a part of pluralism either passively or actively. Religious pluralism constitutes a particular challenges faced by world religions at this time. Understanding transcendental mission among religious followers, especially Jews, Christians and Muslim, is un-prevented phenomenon which has created several conflicts based on hatreds and fear. Each religion has been growing within heterogenic environment. Responding the realm of heterogeneity in the global era, we need principally reconciliation. It occurs in the guidance of <em>A Common Word</em> which is practiced as a road map to make religious dialogue and to build peace.  Religious dialogue must be practiced to reduce conflict and theological problem among religious believers. It needs applied approach to solve religious conflict. This article will elucidate the agreed principles in the field of mysticism and attempt to look for the “melting pot” of religions. The similar perception, equal understanding and tolerance will hopefully shape harmony, peace, and fairness among religious believers, among nations.</p>

Hartmann Tyrell

In Tyrell’s view, too little attention has been paid by Weber scholars to Max Weber’s ‘Economic Ethics of the World Religions’. The principal cause is that the studies of the ‘Economic Ethics’ have remained a torso, where the Occidental part, above all, is missing. Regrettably the essay collections edited by W. Schluchter and the debate provoked by S.N. Eisenstadt regarding ‘Kulturen der Achsenzeit’ have made little difference here, but the same is also true of the volumes which have so far appeared within the Max Weber Gesamtausgabe. Tyrell’s contribution is thus concerned (on the one hand) to determine the position of the ‘Economic Ethics’ within Weber’s sociology of religion, but (on the other hand) it also seeks to show what it is that “connects” the studies of the ‘Economic Ethics’, so as to counteract the impression that, at any one moment, we are dealing with “isolated pieces of work” in the form of monographs regarding particular world religions.

Jerzy Bagrowicz

<p>It isn’t difficult to notice that contemporary society differs more and more not only in opinions on sociopolitical and cultural issues, but also in religious and denominational aspects. In this pluralistic world dialogue becomes more and more important as a way of communication between people and of making contact and co-operation for the good of the individual human person and society. The dialogue becomes therefore a basic way of building social community. In the second half of the 20th. century began the dialogue between different religions. For over hundred years has continued the ecumenical dialogue between particular Christian denominations. A very important role in the preparation for the dialogue, especially ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, is religious education: the teaching of different religions and upbringing to dialogical attitude in situations of meeting with people developed in other cultures, worldviews or religions. Efficacy of religious education depends on education in families, schools and other educational communities. It depends on the positive influence of these communities in forming the dialogical attitude. A very important role in this process is religious education in schools as well as in youth religious groups and movements. Taking care of cultural and religious identity of young people shouldn’t be any handicap in forming dialogical attitude and preparing for co-operation between different people.</p>