Other Religions

Having elsewhere connected Walter Otto’s interpretation of Dionysus as a politically progressive deity to Huey P. Newton’s vision for the Black Panthers, I here expand this inquiry to a line of Otto-inspired scholarship. First, Alain Daniélou identifies Dionysus and Shiva as the dancing god of a democratic/decolonizing cult oppressed by tyrannical patriarchies. Arthur Evans sharpens this critique of sexism and heteronormativity, concluding that, as Dionysus’ chorus is to Greek tragedy, so Socrates’ circle is to Western philosophy. I thus call for (...) the creation of hybrid Dionysian-Socratic revolutionary philosophical chorus, modeled on Dionysus Lyseus (from -lysis), wielding philosophical analysis to loosen injustice’s bonds, as a vanguard of social justice. I find a handbook for this chorus’ creation in Euripides’ Bacchae, whose Dionysus is an ally of immigrant women, overthrower of Theban patriarchy, and international revolutionary. Finally, I offer a contemporary example of a such a chorus, namely the Birmingham Philosophy Guild. (shrink)

Astronomy and religion have long been intertwined with their interactions resembling a symbiotic relationship since prehistoric times. Building on existing archaeological research, this study asks: do the interactions between astronomy and religion, beginning from prehistory, form a distinct religious tradition? Prior research exploring the prehistoric origins of religion has unearthed evidence suggesting the influence of star worship and night sky observation in the development of religious sects, beliefs and practices. However, there does not yet exist a historiography dedicated to outlining (...) why astronomy and religion mutually developed, nor has there been a proposal set forth asserting that these interactions constitute a religious tradition; proposed herein as the Astronic tradition, or Astronicism. This paper pursues the objective of arguing for the Astronic tradition to be treated, firstly, as a distinct religious tradition and secondly, as the oldest archaeologically-verifiable religious tradition. To achieve this, the study will adopt a multidisciplinary approach involving archaeology, anthropology, geography, psychology, mythology, archaeoastronomy and comparative religion. After proposing six characteristics inherent to a religious tradition, the paper will assemble a historiography for astronomical religion. As a consequence of the main objective, this study also asserts that astronomical religion, most likely astrolatry, has its origins in the Upper Palaeolithic period of the Stone Age based on specimens from the archaeological record. The assertion is made that astrolatry is the original religion and fulfils the Urreligion theory. To end, the proposed characteristics of a religious tradition will be applied to Astronicism to ultimately determine whether it is a valid tradition that can stand alongside the established Abrahamic, Dharmic and Taoic traditions. (shrink)

La primera parte de este libro expone la idea o teoría de las Leyes Noájicas, desde perspectivas espirituales, filosóficas, psicológicas, sociales y políticas. Varios de sus contenidos ya han sido presentados a líderes, incluidos estadistas internacionales (cuyas cartas se incluyen aquí), que han respondido con ánimo a su estudio y difusión. La segunda parte del libro presenta la conducta o práctica concreta de las Leyes Noájicas. Esta tarea precisa procede de una extensa investigación acerca de la Tradición del comentario sobre (...) la Revelación en el Sinaí, de la cual forman parte las Leyes de Noé (que ya anteriormente eran el pacto moral de la humanidad, pero que fueron reexpresadas con autoridad en el Sinaí). La forma en que las Leyes de Noé con sus detalles estructuran la conducta ética de los principales dominios de la existencia humana se establece claramente para el lector general; y con extensas notas a pie de página y referencias para aquellos que buscan profundizar el estudio. (shrink)

De evocatie van de gebeurtenissen die plaatsvonden ab origine convergeert, volgens het mythisch-religieuze perspectief, voor de manifestatie van de heilige krachten, schrijft Prof. Luiz Carlos Mariano da Rosa, gebaseerd op de historisch-vergelijkende methode van Mircea Eliade, aan het gebed de voorwaarde toe van het opwekken van de heilige kracht in een proces dat in staat is om bovennatuurlijke invloed uit te oefenen en de uitsparingen van het bewustzijn te bereiken, zoals Marcel Mauss stelt. Door de magisch-religieuze praktijken en liturgisch-rituele processen (...) van het polytheïsme, het kenmerkende gebed van het monotheïsme van Israël, volgens het bijbelse-theologische veteranenperspectief, over elkaar heen te leggen, wordt een vreedzame relatie en een bondgenootschap getekend waarbij Jahve en de morele eisen die in zijn attributen worden geïmpliceerd, namelijk rechtvaardigheid, trouw en goedheid, samenkomen voor het leven in zijn historische volheid. Tot slot laat Prof. Luiz Carlos Mariano da Rosa zien dat het gebed, volgens het bijbels-theologische neotestheologische perspectief, de uitdrukking van het eschatologische bestaan tussen contingentie en transcendentie in Bultmann impliceert, waardoor de richtlijncreativiteit van God in Tillich wordt afgesloten en de staat van existentiële vervreemding wordt overwonnen. (shrink)

Подчеркивая, что обращение к событиям, имевшим место ab origine, сходится, в соответствии с мифико-религиозной перспективой, к проявлению священных сил, профессор Луис Карлос Мариано да Роза, основываясь на историко-сравнительном методе Мирчи Элиаде, приписывает молитве состояние возбуждения священной силы в процессе, способном оказывать сверхъестественное воздействие и достигать глубин сознания, как утверждает Марсель Маусс. Таким образом, наложение магическо-религиозных практик и литургически-ритуальных процессов многобожия, характерной молитвы монотеизма Израиля, согласно библейско-богословской ветеранской перспективе, знаменует мирные отношения и союз, в который вовлечен Яхве и моральные требования, заложенные (...) в его атрибутах, а именно справедливость, верность и доброта, сходящиеся навстречу жизни в ее исторической полноте. Наконец, профессор Луис Карлос Мариано да Роза показывает, что молитва, согласно библейско-теологической неотестеологической перспективе, подразумевает выражение эсхатологического бытия между случайностью и трансцендентностью в Бультмане, закрытие директивного творчества Бога в Тиллихе и преодоление состояния экзистенциального отчуждения. (shrink)

As in other branches of social sciences, many studies on altruism have been conducted in the field of psychology. Altruism, which is at the intersection point of social psychology, positive psychology and the psychology of religion, is based on the prioritization of the other rather than oneself. Providing a roadmap for social relations, religions glorifies altruistic behavior. For this reason, it has been accepted that there is a natural relationship between altruism and religious attachment. In this article, the relationship between (...) altruism and religious attitude is examined through university students from different departments. The study, which involves 334 undergraduate students, uses The Altruism Scale developed by Ümmet, Ekşi and Otrar (2013) and the Religious Attitude Scale developed by Ok (2011). As a result of the research, it is determined that there is a positive significant correlation (r =, 360, p <, 001) between the level of religiousness and altruism. When comparing the departments, the lowest level of altruism is found to be psychology (3.76), and the highest level to be theology (4.08). The field of health (3.98) and social and humanities (3.93) follow theology, respectively. According to the LSD test results, the differences between psychology and theology, health and social and humanities are significant. When analyzed in terms of sub-dimensions, a significant difference is found between the departments in "participation in voluntary activities", "financial assistance", "assistance in traumatic situations" and "assistance based on physical strength". There is no such difference in the other three sub-dimensions. While the highest score in the sub-dimension of "help in traumatic situations" belongs to the field of social sciences and humanities, the highest score in all other sub-dimensions belongs to the field of theology. (shrink)

In the Anabasis, his autobiographical account on the retreat of the Greek mercenary army after the defeat of the Persian prince Cyrus the Younger, Xenophon mentions a significant number of sacrifices. This paper deals with the analysis of the ritual, pragmatical, and narratological functions of these references as well as of their lexis and complexity. Therefore also a short overview of the role of sacrifices in the ancient Greek religion with a focus on military contexts is given.

जिनशासन प्रणेता आचार्य समन्तभद्र (लगभग दूसरी शती) ने इस ग्रंथ "स्तुतिविद्या" में, जिसका अपरनाम "जिनशतक" अथवा "जिनस्तुतिशतं" है, अत्यंत अलंकृत भाषा में चतुर्विंशतिस्तव किया है। यह गूढ़ ग्रंथ आचार्य समन्तभद्र के अपूर्व काव्य-कौशल, अद्भुत व्याकरण-पांडित्य और अद्वितीय शब्दाधिपत्य को सूचित करता है। जिनेन्द्र भगवान की स्तुति करने का कारण यही है कि उनके द्वारा प्रतिपादित मोक्षमार्ग की अमोघता और उससे अभिमत फल की सिद्धि को देखकर उसके प्रति हमारा अनुराग (भक्तिभाव) उत्तरोत्तर बढ़े जिससे हम भी उसी मार्ग की आराधना-साधना करते (...) हुए कर्म-शत्रुओं को जीतने में समर्थ हो सकें और निःश्रेयस (मोक्ष) पद को प्राप्त कर सकें। सच्ची सविवेक भक्ति ही मार्ग का अनुसरण करने में परम सहायक होती है और जिसकी स्तुति की जाती है उसके मार्ग का अनुसरण करना ही स्तुति को सार्थक करता है। सारांश यह है कि हम जिनेन्द्र भगवान की स्तुति अपने स्वयं के परिणामों को निर्मल बनाने के लिए करते हैं। स्तुति वास्तव में एक विद्या है। सम्यक स्तुति घने-कठोर घातिया-कर्म रूपी ईंधन को भस्म करने वाली समर्थ अग्नि है। ‘Stutividyā’ by Ācārya Samantabhadra (circa second century CE) is the adoration of the twenty-four Tīrthańkara, the Most Worshipful Supreme Beings. In his earlier masterpiece work ‘Svayambhūstotra’, Ācārya Samantabhadra had expressed his devotion to the twenty-four Tīrthańkara in a highly analytical manner, establishing the supremacy and inviolability of their Doctrine. ‘Stutividyā’, however, is the epitome of poetic dexterity; in its 116 verses, Ācārya Samantabhadra has used the most amazing figures-of-speech – alańkāra – that make the composition highly ornate, inviting and, at places, extremely difficult to comprehend. Such adroitness is possible only in the Sanskrit language; perhaps that is the reason some consider Sanskrit as the most scientific language in the world. (shrink)

I argue that Zhuangist Daoism manifests what I label the spiritual aspiration to emulation, and then use this to challenge some of John Cottingham's attempts to confine authentic spiritual experience to theistic traditions.

This paper describes the central role of peace in the Bahá’í Faith. For Bahá’ís, peace begins at the level of the individual and migrates outward to the community, nation, and the world. The article explains how the Bahá’í Faith outlines a covenant – an agreement between Bahá’ís and between Bahá’ís and the world – made manifest in an Administrative Order in which the ascertainment of peaceful principles and the establishment of peaceful practices are developed. The paper explains how concepts like (...) the oneness of humanity, the symbiosis between science and religion, and the unity of religion and God combine with ideals like justice, equality, and consultation to form a Bahá’í approach to the creation and maintenance of peace. Integration and disintegration – broad-structured, dynamic effects that shift societies and the world – will help to usher in two main aspects of a present and future Bahá’í order: the Lesser Peace and the Most Great Peace. The Lesser Peace is defined by the efforts of nations and international actors to form a broad-based, global peace. The Most Great Peace describes the arrival and ascendance of the Bahá’í Administrative Order, which will result in an unprecedented level of global peace and security. (shrink)

In the article, I demonstrate how realistic philosophy of religion can be employed in order to obtain a preliminary verification of the truthfulness of the doctrine proclaimed by a particular religious community. The first element of a religious doctrine that qualifies for philosophical evaluation is its non-contradictory character. For this reason I endeavour to reconstruct one such doctrine and show how it is possible to demonstrate, through philosophical analyses, that such a doctrine does not meet the aforementioned criterion. For the (...) object of my studies I chose the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (called the Mormon Church for short), as I find it particularly interesting among the religious movements alternative to Christianity. Among new religious movements currently in existence the Mormon Church stands out in several respects. First, this religious community utilises a variety of sources of revelation. Furthermore, although their sacred story, that spanning a dozen or so centuries, begins in Israel it mostly takes place on American soil. Finally, the Mormon Church sets forth a vision of a future ‘holy land,’ and the concept of salvation that is essentially different from those of other Bible-based religious movements. The Mormon concept of salvation, referred to as the plan of eternal progress shows both unique goal and unique means to achieve it. People are to become gods and populate multiple worlds. According to Mormons there will be different levels of salvation associated with what life a person lived on earth. Reconstruction and philosophical analysis of the main elements of the Mormon doctrine shows its weak points, inconsistencies, and oversimplifications. From this perspective, the Mormon ‘sacred story’ hardly could be regarded as something more than a colourful and interesting myth. But the question of reasons why Mormons still put their faith in such an inconsistent doctrine lies outside the scope of these considerations. (shrink)

We shall revisit a debate which has been going on at least since pioneering British Indologists like William Jones first encountered the ‘Brahmanic theology’ we now know as Vedānta, namely, the nature of the relationship—if any—between certain forms of ‘western’ and ‘Indian’ idealisms, and how these metaphysical systems have influenced Christian theology. Specifically, we look at the question of possible thematic and conceptual convergences between Neoplatonism and Advaita Vedānta, and argue that significant parallels can be found in their common conception (...) of the Absolute as Being. Rather than attempt a comprehensive overview of the two systems, we take the divine ‘I AM’ revealed to Moses in Exodus 3.14 as the locus classicus of Christian philosophical interpretations of God as Being itself, and explore how four seminal figures read this passage in light of Neoplatonic and Vedāntic influences. We shall see that similarities and divergences in the readings of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart and Henri Le Saux can be understood in terms of how they negotiate the relation between the One and the many, or between ‘being’ and ‘knowing’. The more these figures allow themselves to be influenced by Neoplatonism and Advaita Vedānta, the more we see any clear ontological distinction between creature and Creator start to break down. This verse, therefore, proves to be an unusually fruitful test case for exploring the relation between the underlying Neoplatonic and Vedāntic metaphysics which structure varying Christian interpretations of it. (shrink)

Ein kurzer Überblick über das Leben und die spirituelle Autobiographie des einzigartigen amerikanischen Mystikers Adi Da (Franklin Jones). Auf dem Aufkleber auf dem Cover einiger Ausgaben steht "Die tiefste spirituelle Autobiographie aller Zeiten" und das könnte wahr sein. Ich bin in meinen 70ern und habe viele Bücher von spirituellen Lehrern und über Spiritualität gelesen, und das ist eines der größten. Gewiss,, es ist beiweitemder umfassendste und klarste Bericht über den Prozess der Erleuchtung, den ich je gesehen habe. Auch wenn Sie (...) überhaupt kein Interesse an den faszinierendsten menschlichen psychologischen Prozessen haben, ist es ein erstaunliches Dokument, das viel über Religion, Yoga und menschliche Psychologie verrät und die Tiefen und Grenzen menschlicher Möglichkeiten untersucht. Ich beschreibe es ausführlich und vergleiche seine Lehre mit der des zeitgenössischen indischen Mystikers Osho. Wer aus der modernen zweisystems-Sichteinen umfassenden, aktuellen Rahmen für menschliches Verhalten wünscht, kann mein Buch "The Logical Structure of Philosophy, Psychology, Mindand Language in Ludwig Wittgenstein and John Searle' 2nd ed (2019) konsultieren. Diejenigen,die sich für mehr meiner Schriften interessieren, können 'Talking Monkeys--Philosophie, Psychologie, Wissenschaft, Religion und Politik auf einem verdammten Planeten --Artikel und Rezensionen 2006-2019 3rd ed (2019) und Suicidal Utopian Delusions in the 21st Century 4th ed (2019) und andere sehen. (shrink)

Bahá’í law differentiates between a secular and a sacred legal sphere, intertwining both by positing a religious duty for its adherents to abide by secular law. In Germany, it encounters a secular legal framework that aims at something similar – creating an equilibrium between state law and religious law by establishing the principle of the division of State and Religion, while at the same time facilitating religious freedom; it provides a secular justification for the recognition of religious law. With this, (...) both orders provide mechanisms ensuring that state law and religious law are able to enforce their own claim of validity, while at the same time avoiding conflicts between the respective legal orders. The article argues that this unique interaction between Bahá’í law and the German constitutional law framework impacted both legal orders. For German law, on the one hand, it proved to be crucial for the development and opening of this legal field – whose original purpose was the regulation of the relationship between the state and the Christian churches – for other religious traditions. The interaction with state law has impacted the Bahá’í Community of Germany, on the other hand, by catalyzing a number of developments that in other comparative law contexts have been dubbed “constitutionalization” effects. (shrink)

Sublinhando que a evocação dos acontecimentos que tiveram lugar ab origine convergir, segundo a perspectiva mítico-religiosa, para a manifestação das sagradas, de acordo com o referencial teórico-conceitual de Eliade, o artigo assinala que tal invocação implica uma correlação de narrativas míticas e gestos e ações paradigmáticas que se destinam a suscitar o poder sagrado e a produção de seus efeitos, ressaltando a prece como poder mágico de exercer influência sobrenatural, como afirma Mauss. Dessa forma, analisando a oração que ressalta o (...) monoteísmo judaico-cristão, o artigo assinala o relacionamento pactual que encerra Javé e Israel como um processo que implica a Sua invocação como Deus, que converge para manifestações e operações na vida do povo em sua realidade concreta , perfazendo, segundo a perspectiva bíblico-teológica neotestamentária, uma construção que encerra a expressão da existência escatológica e realização de si em Bultmann. Finalizando, baseado na perspectiva teológico-filosófica de Tillich, o texto rápido o poder que implica a oração em um processo que se sobrepõe às estruturas supraindividuais de destruição através do novo ser que Deus-Homem Jesus Cristo manifesta e que envolve uma capacidade de superar as estruturas escravizadoras do mal e as consequências autodestruidoras do estado de alienação existencial. (shrink)

Although Indic perspectives toward nature are now well documented, climate engineering discussions seem to still lack the views from Indic or other non‐Western sources. In this article, I will apply some of the Hindu and Jain concepts such as karma, nonviolence (Ahiṃsā ), humility (Vinaya ), and renunciation (Saṃnyāsa ) to analyze the two primary climate geoengineering strategies of solar radiation management (SRM) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR). I suggest that Indic philosophical and religious traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and (...) Jainism offer ethical concepts to call for humility in all acts of climate engineering leading to a favoring of CDR over SRM and a favoring of lifestyle changes (particularly vegetarianism) over both. I demonstrate these concepts by introducing the five great elements from the Hindu philosophy, two Hindu legends from Hindu mythology, the Indic ethical ideas of karma, renunciation, and humility, and the moral authority of Gandhi. (shrink)

This article is a theoretical treatment of the ways in which local worldviews on wealth acquisition give rise to contemporary manifestations of spirituality in cyberspace. It unpacks spiritual (occult) economies and wealth generation through a historical perspective. The article ‘devil advocates’ the ‘sainthood’ of claimed law-abiding citizens, by highlighting that the line dividing them and the Nigerian cybercriminals (Yahoo-Boys) is blurred with regards to the use of magical means for material ends. By doing so, the article also illustrates that the (...) intersectionality of the spirit world and the acquisition of wealth (crime or otherwise) is connected with local epistemologies and worldviews, and its contemporaneity has social security benefits. Therefore, the view that the contemporary manifestations of spirituality in cyberspace signify a ‘new-danger’ and an ever-increasing outrage in the Nigerian society is misplaced. I conclude that if people believe all aspects of life are reflective of the spiritual world and determined by it, the spiritual realm, by implication, is the base of society, upon which sits the superstructure comprised of all aspects of life, especially wealth. Inferentially, this conceptual position that the spirit world is the base of society is an inversion of Orthodox Marxist’s theory of economic determinism. (shrink)

Sublinhando que a evocação dos acontecimentos que tiveram lugar ab origine converge, segundo a perspectiva mítico-religiosa, para a manifestação das forças sagradas, de acordo com o referencial teórico-conceitual de Eliade, o artigo assinala que tal invocação implica uma correlação de narrativas míticas e gestos e ações paradigmáticas que se destinam a suscitar o poder sagrado e a produção de seus efeitos, ressaltando a prece como poder mágico de exercer influência sobrenatural, como afirma Mauss. Dessa forma, analisando a oração que caracteriza (...) o monoteísmo judaico-cristão, o artigo assinala o relacionamento pactual que encerra Javé e Israel como um processo que implica a Sua invocação como Deus, que converge para manifestações e intervenções na vida do povo em sua realidade concreta, perfazendo, segundo a perspectiva bíblico-teológica neotestamentária, uma construção que encerra a expressão da existência escatológica e realização de si em Bultmann. Finalizando, baseado na perspectiva teológico-filosófica de Tillich, o texto sublinha o poder que implica a oração em um processo que se sobrepõe às estruturas supraindividuais de destruição através do novo ser que o Deus-Homem Jesus Cristo manifesta e que envolve a capacidade de superar as estruturas escravizadoras do mal e as consequências autodestruidoras do estado de alienação existencial. (shrink)

In the not-too-distant future, robots will populate the walks of everyday life, from the manufacturing floor to corporate offices, and from battlefields to the home. While most work on the social implications of robotics focuses on such moral issues as the economic impact on human workers or the ethics of lethal machines, scant attention is paid to the effect of the advent of the robotic age on religion. Robots will likely become commonplace in the home by the end of the (...) twenty-first century as nannies and caretakers, particularly for young children. As a consequence, parents will want to be assured that robots will instruct their children in their values, based upon the moral teachings of their religious tradition. Consequently, parents will need robots programmed with appropriate religious software, installed by corporations but approved by their religious communities, e.g., Catholic robots, Muslim robots, and Lutheran robots. If, as expected, robots will acquire the capacity to engage in independent reasoning, believers will want to incorporate their robots within their religious communities to influence the evolution of robotic religious views. The Robotic Age will therefore present basic theological challenges. If robots simulate human personalities, desires, and fears, can religious communities tailor their doctrine, rituals, and institutions to accommodate these new “converts”? In short, can religion generate “soulless” theologies for the non-human? The Robotic Age promises a challenge unlike any other in the history of religious traditions. Biofundamentalists will undoubtedly resist revolutionary changes in theology, but for many people of faith, it will be difficult to resist appealing to those who appear and act strikingly like human beings. This paper poses questions and entertains speculation about those theological challenges, particularly in Christianity, which believers will face, e.g., concepts of the soul, blood sacrifice and redemption, marriage, and death. (shrink)

In A Passage to India, E.M. Forster examines the duality of three main characters, Mrs. Moore, Aziz, and Fielding and thereby demonstrates their relative stability in the primordial chaos of India. Unlike Adela who falls apart after her experience in the cave, these characters draw on the power of the imagination in a grappling struggle to remain morally centered when facing the darkness within. Forster suggests that turning to the East contrasts with returning to the West. In Mrs. Moore, Aziz, (...) and Fielding, Forster examines the manner in which one might embrace a centered life committed to empathy for others by way of facing one’s own otherness. As these characters immerse themselves in India’s primordial formlessness and acknowledge their shadows, they embrace imaginative form rather than fall apart, and in doing so they serve as models of mythmakers and relative stability. (shrink)

Panentheism, a frequently discussed view in recent theological debate, claims that the world is ‘in God’ but that God is ‘more than’ the world. Different theories of the structure of the world produce distinct panentheist views. According to the hunky structure, the world is composed of an infinite number of layers and lacks an ungrounded level. To depict this model, I employ the concepts of ‘grounding’ and ‘emergence.’ The outcome is that if the world is hunky and material reality emerges (...) from such a structure, the world can be in God, but the model of God the Creator is dismissed. (shrink)

It is readily apparent to anyone ministering to Australian adolescents in the early twenty-first century that their efforts take place against the backdrop of a general decline in belief and practice among Catholics, and among young Catholics in particular. Rather than simply join the chorus of lament at the decline of young people's belief and participation in the life of the church, this article seeks to understand better the present 'face' or 'faces' of youth ministry by considering the historical relationship (...) between secularity and the church's pastoral activity with young Australians. (shrink)

A range of studies have pointed toward an overall decline in a series of measures of religious affiliation amongst a variety of groups. The most imperilled group, perhaps, are those younger people who display strong religious salience. Religious salience is understood here as the formative and ongoing influence of religion on beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of adherents. Strong religious salience is associated with high levels of commitment and self-identification and association with a religious community. An important study that distils much (...) of the recent work on religion and younger Catholics was conducted by Christian Smith and his colleagues.4 While noting that minimal expressions of religious affiliation remain more stable amongst Catholics, what are imperilled, in particular, are expressions of strong salience.5 In their study Smith and his colleagues gave the example of a fictional character, Marinella, who encapsulates the type of younger Catholic who does express high salience but is increasingly difficult to find. Marinella practises her faith consistently; for example, she attends Mass regularly and is able to articulate church doctrine and differentiate Catholicism from other religions. She believes most of what the church teaches and is involved in some form of church ministry. After gathering data from a survey of a representative sample of younger Catholics, Smith and others sought to strengthen their analysis by interviewing randomly selected participants from the wider group. In the interviews Smith and his colleagues were unable to identify any participant who approximated the Marinella typology. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie Jahrgang: 61 Heft: 2 Seiten: 256-271.

Mormonism mandates Transhumanism based on four premises that reflect the Mormon authoritative tradition. First, God commands us to use ordained means to participate in God's work. Second, science and technology are among the means ordained of God. Third, God's work is to help each other attain Godhood. And fourth, an essential attribute of Godhood is a glorified immortal body. Thus, God commands us to use science and technology to help each other attain a glorified immortal body, which qualifies as Transhumanism. (...) This mandate is consistent with Mormon accounts of the Tower of Babel, as well as with Mormon positions that impinge on assessment of technologies commonly advocated by Transhumanists, such as cryonics and mind uploading. (shrink)

In this paper I address the phenomenon of syncretism with respect to Chinese religions. An analysis of the syncretism that takes place between the three major Chinese religious traditions is first done in its personal and social dimensions. The social structure of Chinese religion is then used as a framework to understand how Buddhism and Daoism were made compatible with Confucianism. All this will serve as a background for the case study of Macau, where Chinese religious syncretism is very much (...) alive. Three popular religious festivals are celebrated annually and simultaneously on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, namely, zuilongjie (醉龍節) Feast of the Drunken Dragon, tangongdan (譚公誕) Tam Kung Festival and fodanjie (佛誕節) Feast of the Buddha. (shrink)

Various scholars have suggested that the main function of Korean shamanic rituals is the change of the participants’ feelings. I elaborate what these scholars potentially mean by “function”, challenge what I take to be their core claim, and argue that at least in the case of Korean shamanic healing rituals their sponsorship has rather to be explained based on the clients’ ostensible motivational and belief-states. Korean clients sponsor such rituals because they want their beloved ones to be healed and because (...) they believe that the shamanic ritual can potentially accomplish such healing. I underpin this thesis by two representative actual Korean shamanic healing rituals. (shrink)

The aim of the article is to demonstrate that the contact between European philosophy and Chinese culture in the 17 th and 18 th centuries had an influence on the emergence and development of secularism, which became a distinctive feature of the Western Enlightenment. In the first part, I examine in what way knowledge of the history of China and the Confucian ethics contested the Biblical chronology and undermined faith as a prerequisite for morality. Subsequently, I analyze the attempts to (...) refute these allegations, reinterpreting Confucianism as crypto-monotheism. In the third part, I will show how the debate on Chinese culture has contributed to the birth of the secular philosophy of history, which put an end to the Enlightenment Sinophilia. In conclusion, I will present the main limitations of the thesis about the influence of Chinese thought on the birth of secularism. (shrink)

To understand fully the contemporary imposition of capitalist class power, we need to consider not only social relations and neoliberal economic doctrines, but also academic and vernacular cultural contexts, including social critique, within which neoliberalism has been ideologically tailored and practically applied. Among the vernacular cultural contexts, religion – related to deepest human identifications, feelings and ideas about the nature of reality – certainly represents such an unavoidable political resource, inseparable from secular ideologies of a given social world. Taking this (...) into account, we will try to show how neoliberalism was built in a specific context, developing governmental approaches relative to elements of progressive critique, and has eventually succeeded to legitimize new mechanisms of capitalist accumulation, linking them, among other things, to specific religious “externalities”. We will suggest that the satisfactory explanation of profound changes in the contemporary religious life, referred to as the emergence of “New Age spirituality”, is only possible if we understand them as an integral part of the processes of neoliberalization. This does not mean that we are trying to reduce a complex multitude of contemporary spiritual practices to a simple one-dimensional reflex of neoliberalization, but rather to suggest that only such an approach can complement the omissions and correct the misconceptions of various inquiries that analyze New Age spirituality using the frameworks of postmodern culture and/or consumer society. By doing this, we wil discuss not only countercultural spirituality, but also neoliberal social epistemology and different critical aproaches to understanding it. (shrink)

This book series deals with religion and its interface with the state and society in Southeast Asia. It examines the multidimensional facets of politics, public policies and social change in relation to contemporary forms of religions, religious communities, thinking, praxis and ethos. All articles in this Book Series were a direct result of a policy-relevant research collaboration conducted by investigators from the participating countries from 2013–2016. The issues under examination in this Series include: state management of diversity, multicultural policies, religious (...) social activism and state-society relations. All of the analyses in this Book Series are fixed within the context of a rapidly changing society in Southeast Asia. (shrink)

Another spiritual adventure from a modern master. Adi Da is certainly one of the most powerful enlightened beings of modern times and his spritual autobiography ``The Knee of Listening`` (1978 originally, but revised and enlarged continually-see my review) is probably the most detailed and fascinating personal account there is of the process of enlightenment. He is a very smart and a good writer with a substantial output. However when speaking he is far less interesting as can be seen here or (...) in any of the videotapes available from the Adi da web page. This book is mostly transcribed from his talks to the small group of devotees with whom he lives on a small island in Fiji. It will mostly be valuable only to those who have followed him for many years and know his jargon and style and who practice his meditation or sit in his presence. Others will find it very tough going if not downright boring as he tries to convey the ineffable state of enlightenment). -/- Those wishing a comprehensive up to date framework for human behavior from the modern two systems view may consult my article The Logical Structure of Philosophy, Psychology, Mind and Language as Revealed in Wittgenstein and Searle 59p(2016). For all my articles on Wittgenstein and Searle see my e-book ‘The Logical Structure of Philosophy, Psychology, Mind and Language in Wittgenstein and Searle 367p (2016). Those interested in all my writings in their most recent versions may consult my e-book Philosophy, Human Nature and the Collapse of Civilization - Articles and Reviews 2006-2016’ 662p (2016). (shrink)

he name of he author of treatise Mardānfarrox son of Ohrmazddād He make him know suiter or and researcher of truth who does not like to follow a religion by inheritance, but he seeks that which is more reliable and acceptable before the philosophy and logic.

This study pioneers the use of philosophy of religion in the study of the Hebrew Bible. After identifying the need for a legitimate philosophical approach to Israelite religion, the volume traces the history of interdisciplinary relations and shows how descriptive varieties of philosophy of religion can aid the clarification of the Hebrew Bibles own metaphysical, epistemological, and moral assumptions. Two new interpretative methodologies are developed and subsequently applied through an introduction to what the biblical texts took for granted about the (...) nature of religious language, the concept of deity, the properties of Yhwh, the existence of gods, religious epistemology, and the relation between religion and morality. (shrink)

Asma, a professor of Buddhism at Columbia College in Chicago and the author of Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads (2001), recounts his intense and revelatory Cambodian adventures while teaching at Phnom Penh's Buddhist Institute. In an electrifying and frank mix of hair-raising anecdotes and expert analysis, he explicates the vast difference between text-based Buddhist teachings and daily life in a poor and politically volatile Buddhist society. Amid tales of massage parlors, marijuana-spiced pizza, and bloodshed, he cogently explains how Theravada Buddhism, (...) the form practiced throughout Southeast Asia, differs from the Buddhism Westerners are familiar with, and how entwined it is with animistic beliefs. This fusion of Buddhist rationalism with superstition is but one of many juxtapositions Asma relishes as he assesses the terrible scars left by the Khmer Rouge and the profound self-possession of the people he meets. His striking insights into Cambodian reality lead to a bracing critique of American pop culture and the manipulative tactics of Cambodia-based fundamentalist Protestant missionaries--and an incisive argument for learning about and respecting religions other than one's own. Donna Seaman Copyright © American Library Association. (shrink)

I provide a classification of varieties of pantheism. I argue that there are two different kinds of commitments that pantheists have. On the one hand, there is an ontological commitment to the existence of a sum of all things. On the other hand, there is an ideological commitment: either collectively or distributively, the sum of all things is divine.