Journal Description
Religions
Religions
is an international, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, open access journal on religions and theology, published monthly online by MDPI.
- Open Access— free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.
- High Visibility: indexed within Scopus, AHCI (Web of Science), ATLA Religion Database, Religious and Theological Abstracts, and other databases.
- Journal Rank: CiteScore - Q1 (Religious Studies)
- Rapid Publication: manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision is provided to authors approximately 22.8 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in 4.6 days (median values for papers published in this journal in the first half of 2024).
- Recognition of Reviewers: reviewers who provide timely, thorough peer-review reports receive vouchers entitling them to a discount on the APC of their next publication in any MDPI journal, in appreciation of the work done.
Impact Factor:
0.7 (2023)
Latest Articles
Assyrian Chronology and Ideology of Kingship: The Impact on Biblical Historiography and Religion
Religions 2024, 15(7), 804; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070804 (registering DOI) - 30 Jun 2024
Abstract
Studies since 2005 have raised doubts about the Assyrian King List’s (AKL) intention and ability to measure absolute time. If telesco** of time occurred, it would be difficult to detect during periods when royal annals were scant. The best way to detect discontinuity
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Studies since 2005 have raised doubts about the Assyrian King List’s (AKL) intention and ability to measure absolute time. If telesco** of time occurred, it would be difficult to detect during periods when royal annals were scant. The best way to detect discontinuity in the AKL is by comparison with contemporary king lists, such as one constructed from 1–2 Kings regnal formulas. If the AKL conflates time, an assessment of the plausibility of historical scenarios resulting from different timeframes allows for discrimination between one timeline or another. Israel and Judah’s interlocking chronological systems make a comparison with the Neo-Assyrian timeline possible but contain 44 more years than the timeline implied by the AKL and Assyrian Eponym Canon. By narrowing the window of time within which a deficit in the Neo-Assyrian canons may have occurred, possible reasons for missing years in the consensus chronology present themselves. This investigation concludes that Assyria sought to maintain the legitimacy of the institution of kingship during a protracted period of unacceptable or anomalous authority. Concerns surrounding the continuity of kingship would have dictated the final form of the Assyrian King List/Assyrian Eponym Canon. Using Divided Kingdom regnal data, a revision of the historical timeline is proposed that aligns archaeological, radiocarbon, biblical, and Assyrian data.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Religion)
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Maṇḍala or Sign? Re-Examining the Significance of the “Viśvavajra” in the Caisson Ceilings of Dunhuang Mogao Caves
by
Li Shen
Religions 2024, 15(7), 803; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070803 (registering DOI) - 30 Jun 2024
Abstract
This article delves into the exploration of a significant sign, the “viśvavajra”, found in the caisson ceilings of Buddhist esoteric art in Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves. These caissons, featuring the viśvavajra sign in the center, were prevalent from the mid-Tang period to the Western
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This article delves into the exploration of a significant sign, the “viśvavajra”, found in the caisson ceilings of Buddhist esoteric art in Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves. These caissons, featuring the viśvavajra sign in the center, were prevalent from the mid-Tang period to the Western **a dynasty (ninth to thirteenth centuries) and are recorded by The Overall Record of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes under description as “Jiaochu **gxin”. Similar caissons are also found in Western Buddhist Caves near Dunhuang, and Yulin Caves in Guazhou County, indicating a distinct regional character. Focusing on a well-preserved and intricately detailed example from Cave 361, this article aims to elucidate the specific tantric significance of the viśvavajra at the center of the caissons within the broader context of Buddhist art. Drawing from related tantras, the discussion explores how the sign and its surrounding compositions align with a particular homa (fire offering) maṇḍala, specifically the śāntika maṇḍala crucial to numerous Tantric Buddhist rituals. Furthermore, the article examines the evolution of caisson of this type of maṇḍala over time. By comparing the mid-Tang example from Cave 361 with the late Tang period’s Cave 14, a noticeable shift in format becomes apparent. The viśvavajra sign takes on new significance, embodying “the samaya of all Tathāgatas”. Ultimately, the article explores how the significance of the viśvavajra sign transforms into an allusion to Vairocana or Rocana under the Sino-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist context in the Hexi Corridor during the early Northern Song and Western **a dynasty.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Art and Ritual Spaces in the Global Perspective)
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Open AccessArticle
Round Heaven and Square Earth, the Unity of the Pagoda and Statues—A Study on the Geometric Proportions of the Architectural Space, Statues, and Murals in Ying **an Fogong Si Shijia Ta 應縣佛宮寺釋迦塔 (Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in Ying County)
by
Nan Wang, Zhuonan Wang and Hongyu Zheng
Religions 2024, 15(7), 802; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070802 (registering DOI) - 30 Jun 2024
Abstract
In Ying **an Fogong Si Shijia Ta 應縣佛宮寺釋迦塔 (Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in Ying County), Shanxi, there are statues set on each floor, and 26 exist in total, with six murals painted on the first floor. The pagoda was designed as a
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In Ying ** of the architecture and statuary (including the murals on the first floor) combined with geometric design analysis, this paper proposes the following: First, there exists a clear geometric proportion among the interior space and statues on each floor of the pagoda. Second, clear proportional relationships also exist among the statues on each floor, and each of the 26 statues has ‘classical’ proportion rules. Third, the height of the giant Buddha statue on the first floor is the module for not only the height of the statues on each floor but also the construction of the whole pagoda such that the height of the statue on the first floor is 1/6 of the total height of the pagoda (excluding the base). And the ratio of the pagoda’s total height to the first floor’s diameter, the ratio of the total height to the top-story height under the column capital, and all the other geometric proportions are closely related to the architectural modeling. And finally, in the construction of the pagoda, statues, and murals, the scale is deduced to be 1 chi 尺 (Chinese foot) = 29.5 cm. These values give clear scale logics not only to the construction but also to the details of the statues. Accordingly, the most frequently used proportions in the architectural space, statues, and murals of the Pagoda of Fogong Temple are , 3:2, 5:3 (or 8:5), and 9:5, which are imbued with cultural messages, like Zhou Bi Suan **g 周髀算經 (The Mathematical classic of the Zhou shadow-gauging instrument), Ying Zao Fa Shi 營造法式 (Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards), the ancient Chinese world view—tian yuan di fang 天圜地方 (the dome-shaped heaven and the flat, square earth) reflected from “ yuan fang tu 圓方圖 (rounded-square map)” and “fang yuan tu 方圓圖 (squared-circle map)”, ancient Chinese ideas that ”san tian liang di er yi shu 參天兩地而倚數 (‘three’ is the number of the heaven and ‘two’ is the number of the earth, and all numbers are based on them)” and “jiu wu zhi zun 九五之尊 (nine and five are the numbers of the honorable central position)”, and most probably related to the “mandala” of Esoteric Buddhism and to the Western “Golden Ratio”, which all need further research in depth.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Space for Worship in East Asia)
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Open AccessArticle
“Buddhist-Christian Style”: The Collaboration of Prip-Møller and Reichelt—From Longchang Si to Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre
by
Weiqiao Wang and Yan Liu
Religions 2024, 15(7), 801; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070801 (registering DOI) - 30 Jun 2024
Abstract
Buddhist architecture plays a crucial role in traditional Chinese architecture, representing the localized adaptation of Buddhism, a foreign religion, in China. Historically, abundant materials, including paintings, photographs, and texts, demonstrate the longstanding interest of visiting Christian missionaries in Chinese Buddhist architecture. As their
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Buddhist architecture plays a crucial role in traditional Chinese architecture, representing the localized adaptation of Buddhism, a foreign religion, in China. Historically, abundant materials, including paintings, photographs, and texts, demonstrate the longstanding interest of visiting Christian missionaries in Chinese Buddhist architecture. As their understanding deepens, Buddhist architecture becomes a valuable reference for the Sinicization of Christian venues in China. Unlike the “Chinese Roof with Western walls style” or “mixed Easten and Western façade style”, Tao Fong Shan represents a “Buddhist-Christian style”, with its success rooted in the similarity of life and spatial modes between Buddhist and Christian monasteries. Using Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre as a case study, this article examines the localization construction of Christian architecture. It explores how Norwegian missionary Karl Ludvig Reichelt (1877–1952) and Danish Christian architect Johannes Prip-Møller (1889–1943) collaborated to establish a Christian center targeting Buddhists. Through an in-depth study of Prip-Møller’s field research in the 1930s, especially his analysis of Longchang Si, the article investigates how Tao Fong Shan learned from it and transformed its spatial characteristics to achieve a localized sense of space perception through site selection, layout, and spatial design. It ultimately aims to influence the beliefs of Buddhists within the local context.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Art and Ritual Spaces in the Global Perspective)
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Open AccessArticle
Guidance from Unexpected Places after COVID-19: Learning from Jesus and the Early Christian Communities in Responding to Trauma
by
Scott Geminn
Religions 2024, 15(7), 800; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070800 (registering DOI) - 30 Jun 2024
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic proved challenging and traumatic for many, with its effects still being felt four years later. This article contends that the witness of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christian communities can serve as guides for navigating post-pandemic life. This article
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The COVID-19 pandemic proved challenging and traumatic for many, with its effects still being felt four years later. This article contends that the witness of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Christian communities can serve as guides for navigating post-pandemic life. This article will do so by examining the historical context of first-century Jewish Palestine with attention given to the Roman Empire’s brutality and traumatizing impact. It will then provide an analysis of the Matthean Jesus’ call to love one’s enemies and the Markan Jesus’ emphasis on bearing the cross as constructive responses to the trauma Matthew and Mark’s communities went through. Lastly, it will show how Jesus and the early Christian communities reveal that pain and trauma can be healthily transcended for better ways and behaviors. Thus, what has happened to us, however painful, can bear the seeds of a healthy purpose and meaning that can lead to us and our world becoming more humanized. The research methodology in this article is interdisciplinary, employing biblical theological, historical, and psychological methodologies.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Times of Crisis)
Open AccessArticle
The Regulation of Religion through National Normative Frameworks: A Comparative Analysis between Italy and Argentina
by
Luca Bossi and María Pilar García Bossio
Religions 2024, 15(7), 799; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070799 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
The normative framework is one of the constitutive edges of state regulation of religion. It contributes to the configuration of different forms of relations between state and religions. This can be observed in at least three areas. First, in the way the state
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The normative framework is one of the constitutive edges of state regulation of religion. It contributes to the configuration of different forms of relations between state and religions. This can be observed in at least three areas. First, in the way the state defines religion. Second, in the way it recognises and legislates its relationship with different religions. Finally, in the rules it establishes for confessional institutions and actors at different levels of social life (education, health, prisons, etc.). In this article, we propose to comparatively analyse the national legal systems that regulate religion in Italy and Argentina, with special emphasis on the equal or differentiated treatment of different religions. The policies of recognition and integration of religious minorities find in the normative framework an empowering or limiting factor, depending on the national context. Although both countries share a dominant Catholic matrix, their historical developments and legal formats present contrasts that project different scenarios of religious governance, which we will try to elucidate.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Religious Diversity: Comparing and Contrasting Experiences across the World)
Open AccessArticle
Moral Education and Heaven–Human Relationship in Jesuit Translations of Chinese Poetry (17th–18th Centuries)
by
**aoshu Li and Yuan Tan
Religions 2024, 15(7), 798; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070798 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
The 17th and 18th centuries were a period of extensive cultural interaction between China and the West, and also the beginning of Chinese poetry translation in the West. Jesuit missionaries were pioneers in introducing Chinese poetry to Europe. Influenced by the Confucian poetic
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The 17th and 18th centuries were a period of extensive cultural interaction between China and the West, and also the beginning of Chinese poetry translation in the West. Jesuit missionaries were pioneers in introducing Chinese poetry to Europe. Influenced by the Confucian poetic thought of Siwuxie 思無邪 (no depraved thoughts) and Ricci’s accommodation strategy, the Jesuits translated poems from the Shangshu 尚書, the Shi**g 詩經, and the Emperor Qianlong’s Imperial Odes on Sheng**g 禦制盛京賦, as well as works by Fan Zhongyan 范仲淹, Du Fu 杜甫, Shao Yong 绍雍, and even the poems in the exhortations of the Ming and Qing dynasties into European languages. These poems predominantly dealt with themes of moral education, the image of virtuous monarchs, and the Chinese concept of the Heaven–human relationship. Through intentional omissions and rewriting, the Jesuits incorporated their religious and political views into the Chinese poetry. Their translated works not only enriched European knowledge of Chinese culture but also demonstrated the complexity of Chinese–Western cultural exchange.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Catholic Encounter with Chinese Thought, Society and Politics in the Ming–Qing Dynasties)
Open AccessArticle
Adaptation to Third-Party Payments: Statistical Analysis of Digital Donations Made to Donglin Monastery
by
Qi Liu
Religions 2024, 15(7), 797; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070797 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
This paper explores the adaptations Buddhism has made to digital payment methods in the context of the Chinese mainland. To provide the audience with a relatively comprehensive understanding of the general context in which the new method of donation is applied, this paper
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This paper explores the adaptations Buddhism has made to digital payment methods in the context of the Chinese mainland. To provide the audience with a relatively comprehensive understanding of the general context in which the new method of donation is applied, this paper first introduces the development and digital landscape of the internet and third-party payments in the Chinese mainland. Then, statistical analysis is used to make large-scale claims by analyzing 1328 donation records made to Donglin Monastery in Mount Lu with the statistical software SPSS to determine whether the digital donation method is linked to the purpose of donations, or the amount of money being donated, and to what extent it substitutes for traditional donation methods.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhism, Science and Technology: Challenges to Religions from a Digitalized World)
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Open AccessArticle
Unveiling the Inner World: Exploring Emotional Intelligence, Faith, and Time Perspective among Italian Nuns
by
Cecilia Collazos Ugarte, Giuseppe Crea and Joseph Jeyaraj Swaminathan
Religions 2024, 15(7), 796; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070796 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
The aim of this study was to verify whether emotional intelligence and intrinsic religious orientation have a positive influence on a balanced time perspective (BTP) in the lives of Italian consecrated women. A positive, balanced time perspective, together with the ability to recognize
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The aim of this study was to verify whether emotional intelligence and intrinsic religious orientation have a positive influence on a balanced time perspective (BTP) in the lives of Italian consecrated women. A positive, balanced time perspective, together with the ability to recognize one’s own emotions and those of others, is integral to people’s experience of religiosity in their lives. In this way, a balanced time perspective can open the experience of religiosity, contributing to a better world, along with all those who are engaged in a religious sentiment that is no longer limited to single segments of self-interest. In this study, we provided evidence that religious beliefs (not just participation in corporate religious life) can provide an alternative source of understanding emotions and perceiving time, for the religious people who live their consecrated life together. We tested whether this phenomenon was specific to the potential associations between various aspects of religious belief, emotional intelligence, and time perspective. This research was conducted on a sample of 283 Italian nuns, and it was verified that both emotional intelligence and intrinsic religiosity contribute significantly to a BTP. Furthermore, the fact that emotional intelligence is mediated by intrinsic religious orientation increases the benefits of emotional intelligence on the BTP of Italian nuns. Altogether, our results suggest that religiosity is linked to a balanced temporal profile and to a positive way of understanding emotions. More specifically, the pattern of relationships between religion, emotions, and time can influence and deepen both the individual and collective understanding of humanity among these religious women and create space for mutual engagement despite obvious differences. These results are in line with the requisites of Public Theology, as they allow us to specify selectively the developments on a more secure and empirical basis of how religiosity can affect the life of people, by exposing the submerged theological assumptions that characterize the internal beliefs of religiosity. Moreover, the research data indicate that the deep aspects of religiosity influence greatly the day-to-day living of religious women. This practical influence of religiosity confirms the urgency of opening up theological reflection in the public sphere of life. In fact, as long as the religiosity of the nuns is not reduced to private practice, theological reflection will also be opened to its public significance in the different fields of their apostolic mission.
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(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology ‘In Exit’ for a Better World: Consolidating the Intersecting Features of Public Theology)
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Open AccessArticle
Unraveling Prapañca: A Yogācāra Examination of Consciousness, Language, and Liberation in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
by
Tiantian Cai
Religions 2024, 15(7), 795; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070795 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
In Yogācāra epistemology, the term prapañca refers to various dimensions of the cognitive process in aspects ranging from consciousness, language formation, the conceptualization of subject–object duality, mental defilements, and ignorance. Given that the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra conveys the richness of early tenets for both
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In Yogācāra epistemology, the term prapañca refers to various dimensions of the cognitive process in aspects ranging from consciousness, language formation, the conceptualization of subject–object duality, mental defilements, and ignorance. Given that the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra conveys the richness of early tenets for both the Yogācāra and Madhyamaka traditions, an investigation of the meaning and discourse context of prapañca is a necessity. This paper conducts a contextual examination of the word prapañca, primarily addressing (1) a range of meanings, (2) possible characteristics, (3) conditions and consequences, especially the associations with the conceptualization (vikalpa) process, and (4) the significance of the elimination of prapañca that the corresponding dialogue implies. This paper finds that prapañca is associated with dualistic conceptualization and the evolution of consciousness within saṃsāra. It shows some qualities of the beginningless conceptual structure of saṃsāric conditioned negativity and is related to language formation. As the discourse in Laṅka adduces it as the root of suffering, liberation from it is a prerequisite for reaching enlightenment and achieving the state of Buddhahood.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)
Open AccessArticle
What Kind of God Does Buber’s “I-Thou” Offer to the World: An Introduction to Buber’s Religious Thought
by
Admiel Kosman
Religions 2024, 15(7), 794; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070794 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
This article has three main goals: (1) To explain in a clear and comprehensible way the difficult basic-word “I-Thou”, which is the basis of Buber’s concept of dialogue, and in fact is the core of his entire teaching (even though it eventually spread
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This article has three main goals: (1) To explain in a clear and comprehensible way the difficult basic-word “I-Thou”, which is the basis of Buber’s concept of dialogue, and in fact is the core of his entire teaching (even though it eventually spread over many fields). My main argument in this article is that “I-Thou” is not the “dialogue” that is often spoken of in the name of Buber (not only on the popular level but also in academic circles, and even commonly among those who deal directly with Buber’s teaching) but, rather, that “I-Thou” is a pointing-toward-word—pointing the way for the one whose heart is willing to direct his life to the path of devotion to God—a life whose practical meaning according to Buber is the effort to make room for the presence of the divine (“Shekhinah”) within the stream of earthly normal life, the flow of physical, instinctive life, the flow of life as they are, within “This-World” as it is. (2) This article attempts to follow the sources in Buber’s writings to clearly explain Buber’s faith (which Buber saw as the core of the movement of Hasidism that preceded him). Who is the God that Buber clings to? Why did Buber try to replace the common appellation “God” with a new term of his own: “The Eternal Thou”? (3) It aims to show how the researchers who tried to present Buber as a social or political thinker and removed from his teaching the centrality of his faith entirely distorted his teaching and displaced from it the core of the foundation on which all of Buber’s teaching rests.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theism in the Language of Humanism: Reincarnations of the Transcendent God in the Secular Subject)
Open AccessArticle
Christian Perfection in Basilian Monastic Hospitals from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries
by
Sung Hyun Nam
Religions 2024, 15(7), 793; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070793 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
The purpose of Byzantine hospitals—whether primarily curative facilities or caring hospices—has long intrigued scholars. This paper proposes a third perspective on Byzantine hospitals, suggesting that the Basilian monastic hospitals of the fourth to sixth centuries were not merely philanthropic facilities for the sick
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The purpose of Byzantine hospitals—whether primarily curative facilities or caring hospices—has long intrigued scholars. This paper proposes a third perspective on Byzantine hospitals, suggesting that the Basilian monastic hospitals of the fourth to sixth centuries were not merely philanthropic facilities for the sick and destitute but also centers for ascetics’ spiritual growth. Basil of Caesarea incorporated charitable actions by ascetics as essential to achieving Christian perfection within the coenobitic community, develo** a theology of compassion that advocated for the purification of harmful passions like anger and pride through the virtue of compassion. In the fifth and sixth centuries, Theodosius the Cenobiarch, who founded a coenobium and hospitals in the Judean Desert, upheld Basil’s idea of the purification of the soul through compassion for the sick. Additionally, the nosokomeion (hospital) of the sixth-century Monastery of Seridos in Gaza emphasized the healing of spiritual diseases through compassion for the sick, as reflected in various epistles. Thus, Basil of Caesarea’s theology of compassion in pursuit of Christian perfection was a foundational element in the emergence and development of hospital spirituality in Christian Late Antiquity.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Early Church Fathers: Their Contributions and Legacy in Christian Thought)
Open AccessArticle
From Medieval Religious Pageantry to Contemporary Social Messaging: The Medieval Cycle Plays in Honduras’ Teatro La Fragua
by
Elena M. De Costa
Religions 2024, 15(7), 792; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070792 (registering DOI) - 29 Jun 2024
Abstract
Using medieval religious drama as a model, Honduras’ Teatro La Fragua has developed a Gospel dramatization program that both reflects the practices of medieval theater in style and expresses the issues of a modern-day world in message. Their vernacular cycle plays are performed
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Using medieval religious drama as a model, Honduras’ Teatro La Fragua has developed a Gospel dramatization program that both reflects the practices of medieval theater in style and expresses the issues of a modern-day world in message. Their vernacular cycle plays are performed in public spaces by local people, written by and for the community, and staged in the streets and public spaces for ordinary people in both urban and remote rural areas. Medieval vernacular drama thus maintains an enduring stylistic presence in a modern-day counterpart as it underscores the Gospel’s message of inclusion, equity, and diversity while incorporating elements of agency and native culture.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religions in Ritual, Spectacle, and Drama in the Medieval & Early Modern World)
Open AccessArticle
Religious and Spiritual Communities Must Adapt or Die: Surviving and Thriving during Challenging Contemporary Times
by
Thomas G. Plante
Religions 2024, 15(7), 791; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070791 (registering DOI) - 28 Jun 2024
Abstract
Current trends within both religious and secular communities suggest that contemporary times mean that people spend more time alone than with others. Community engagement in general has been declining, while religious and spiritual community engagement in particular has dropped off significantly in recent
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Current trends within both religious and secular communities suggest that contemporary times mean that people spend more time alone than with others. Community engagement in general has been declining, while religious and spiritual community engagement in particular has dropped off significantly in recent decades, and most especially following the COVID-19 global pandemic. Although humans are social beings and benefit from community engagement, we tend to avoid or minimize our affiliations and associations, including our religious and spiritual ones today. Religious and spiritual communities must adapt to changing times or risk becoming irrelevant, diminishing further, and losing their sustainability to continue with their activities and services. Religious communities might wish to consider the best state-of-the-art evidence-based practices to engage their members, as well as appeal to those who might be interested in joining with them. There are many mental and physical health benefits to active engagement with spiritual religious practices and communities. The world could use more rather than less community engagement, including religious and spiritual engagement, during our challenging contemporary times.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spirituality for Community in a Time of Fragmentation)
Open AccessArticle
Early Biblical Fundamentalism’s Xenophobic Rejection of the Subject in European Philosophy: How Rejecting the Knowing Subject Formed Fundamentalism’s Way of Thinking
by
Matthew C. Ogilvie
Religions 2024, 15(7), 790; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070790 - 28 Jun 2024
Abstract
This article is part of a wider project that addresses gaps in the scholarly knowledge of the philosophical and theological foundations of the Biblical Fundamentalism that originated in North America. Through exploring the relevant literature, including primary sources from within Fundamentalism, the article
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This article is part of a wider project that addresses gaps in the scholarly knowledge of the philosophical and theological foundations of the Biblical Fundamentalism that originated in North America. Through exploring the relevant literature, including primary sources from within Fundamentalism, the article examines the anti-European sentiment in early Fundamentalism and how this sentiment led to a rejection of philosophical values associated with Europe, especially with Germany. The article will show that anti-European, especially anti-German, sentiment bolstered Fundamentalism’s rejection of subjectivity in thinking, and even its rejection of human subjects themselves. In the place of subjectivity associated with European philosophy, Fundamentalism embraced an extreme objectivity that claimed the heritage of Reid and Bacon but eliminated subjectivity from the Fundamentalist horizon. This article thus shows how Fundamentalism radically opposes God and human beings, and faith and philosophy, with the resulting way of thinking that can be characterised as “naïve realism”, an approach to thinking that excludes the active thinking subject and does not allow for critical judgement or personal understanding.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continental Philosophy and Christian Beliefs)
Open AccessArticle
Towards Effective Pastoral Caregiving within Contemporary Post-Colonial Praxis in Africa: A Discernment of Care Needs for ‘Now’ and ‘Intervention’ Propositions
by
Vhumani Magezi
Religions 2024, 15(7), 789; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070789 - 28 Jun 2024
Abstract
Post-colonial Africa and its attendant challenges, including disillusionment during democratic dispensation and racial tensions among black and white people, constitute a problem that calls for interventions from all social actors. Theology, especially pastoral care, is challenged to broaden its vision and focus on
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Post-colonial Africa and its attendant challenges, including disillusionment during democratic dispensation and racial tensions among black and white people, constitute a problem that calls for interventions from all social actors. Theology, especially pastoral care, is challenged to broaden its vision and focus on health, healing, and human flourishing by adopting a public dimension. Thus, public pastoral care can emerge as a critical approach through which to make a meaningful contribution to fostering holistic personal care. This assumption prompts an examination of the place and role of pastoral care as a science and art of fostering social health and well-being. Public pastoral care practices are used to encourage, promote, and foster ‘coexistence’ and ‘being with’ other people in the same geographical spaces where tension and disillusionment exist. Using the South African lens, this article aims to pastorally address challenges emerging from post-colonial African public contexts by develo** a public pastoral care approach. Pastoral care principles of empowerment care, prevention care, conversational care, and care by being with the other in shared spaces of coexistence are proposed.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)
Open AccessArticle
Re-Imagining Catholic Ethics: Beyond ‘Justification’ of Violence and toward Accompaniment
by
Eli McCarthy
Religions 2024, 15(7), 788; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070788 - 28 Jun 2024
Abstract
This paper will focus on one way of re-imagining Catholic ethics through the praxis of accompaniment, especially in situations that lend themselves to moral dilemmas and potential justifications of significant harm. The growing integration and shared discourse of scholars from the global south
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This paper will focus on one way of re-imagining Catholic ethics through the praxis of accompaniment, especially in situations that lend themselves to moral dilemmas and potential justifications of significant harm. The growing integration and shared discourse of scholars from the global south with those from the global north has given rise to deeper ethical insight about the praxis of accompaniment. In turn, I analyze some predominant ways of wrestling with justifications of significant harm or violence, particularly recent contributions by Lisa Sowle Cahill and Kate Jackson-Meyer on moral dilemmas. I build on their contributions by critically reflecting on the praxis of accompaniment in particularly difficult moral situations. I argue that accompaniment offers a way forward that is consistent with and illuminates our dignity as well as the Love of Christ. This approach may better meet needs, break cycles of violence, and lean us into a more sustainable just peace.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reimagining Catholic Ethics Today)
Open AccessArticle
The Non-Dual Path of Negation
by
Alexandre Couture-Mingheras
Religions 2024, 15(7), 787; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070787 - 28 Jun 2024
Abstract
The non-dual path—which runs through the undercurrent of all the great traditions and religions at their esoteric and initiatory level—is underpinned by the doctrine of Unity, namely the fact that the ultimate Reality is one. In this respect, negation is neither local
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The non-dual path—which runs through the undercurrent of all the great traditions and religions at their esoteric and initiatory level—is underpinned by the doctrine of Unity, namely the fact that the ultimate Reality is one. In this respect, negation is neither local nor tied to a positive content (simple negation), nor does it affirm elsewhere the existence of what it denies (presuppositional negation), but it presents itself, in a more original way, as the neutralization of all determination and dualism, i.e., of false assumptions on what there is that prevent us from accessing to that which, being unqualifiable, really is. In order to grasp the meaning of the via negativa as a path of deconstruction and disidentification (Neti-Neti) and of the apparent obscurity of non-knowledge (Agnosia), which is expressed in the lexicon proper to negative theology (silence, abyss, inexpressible, unrepresentable, non-manifest), the questioning about the Being-in-itself must not be separated from that about one’s own Self. This original negativity, which proceeds from the metaphysical ignorance of the truth of the self and the truth of what is (Avidyā), once lifted, opens the way to the subjective apprehension of Reality, i.e., the perspective of transcendental interiority: the Supreme Identity between the Being-in-itself and Oneself.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mystical Theology: Negation and Desolation)
Open AccessArticle
Natural Cycle, Sacred Existence, the Source of Power: A Study on the Mo Religion’s View of Time
by
Weipeng Ya
Religions 2024, 15(7), 786; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070786 - 28 Jun 2024
Abstract
The Zhuang people, a significant ethnic minority in China, practise a unique Mo religion that profoundly shapes their spiritual and daily lives. Although the theology and rituals of the Mo religion have been extensively studied, its temporal perspectives still need to be explored.
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The Zhuang people, a significant ethnic minority in China, practise a unique Mo religion that profoundly shapes their spiritual and daily lives. Although the theology and rituals of the Mo religion have been extensively studied, its temporal perspectives still need to be explored. This study addresses this gap by comprehensively analyzing how the Mo religion integrates natural, cultural, calendar, and theological elements to create a sacred temporal framework central to the Zhuang people’s social life and material production. Drawing from primary sources such as religious texts, a rigorous text-based research approach is employed to gain a profound understanding of the Mo religion’s temporal perspectives. The significance of this study lies in its contribution to enriching our knowledge of the Mo religion’s sacred temporal frameworks, providing valuable insights for interdisciplinary research, and fostering mutual respect and appreciation among diverse cultures.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Interplay between Religion and Culture)
Open AccessReview
Reconceptualizing Houses of Worship to Advance Comparisons across Religious Traditions
by
Danielle N. Lussier
Religions 2024, 15(7), 785; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070785 - 27 Jun 2024
Abstract
The study of religion and politics has struggled to find concepts, methods, and approaches that advance productive comparisons of phenomena across different religious practices and traditions. Consequently, scholars who seek to understand the impact of religious practice on political outcomes across religious traditions
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The study of religion and politics has struggled to find concepts, methods, and approaches that advance productive comparisons of phenomena across different religious practices and traditions. Consequently, scholars who seek to understand the impact of religious practice on political outcomes across religious traditions encounter challenges in aggregating findings and advancing scholarly inquiry. A reconsideration of the role of houses of worship as an intermediary variable connecting religious practice to political outcomes yields a potentially fruitful avenue for comparative investigation. While social processes that take place within worship spaces are frequently presumed in the mechanisms linking religious variables to political outcomes, these worship spaces are generally undertheorized and overlooked within the study of religion and politics. A body of scholarship has substantiated the significance of congregational variation within the study of Christianity, yet the most commonly cited quantitative literature on religion and political participation omits discussion of this level of variation. Drawing on the shared conceptual space across worship domains from several religious traditions, this article examines houses of worship as an organizational concept that can be employed productively for theoretical and empirical analyses of religion and politics.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion and Politics: Historical Developments and Contemporary Transformations)
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