Stages of Communal Formation in the Middle and Late Meccan Periods

2019 ◽  
pp. 277-312
Author(s):  
Angelika Neuwirth
Keyword(s):  
Religious Communities ◽  
Major Theme ◽  
New Homiletic ◽  
God's People ◽  
The Way ◽  
Mythic Narrative

This chapter focuses on the process of communal formation in the middle and late Meccan time and the way the Qur’an reflects this process. This involves the construction of a “text world” whereby the stories of “God’s people” are told in relation to their predecessors among the earlier religious communities of the Jews and the Christians, as well as the emergence of anti-pagan polemic as a major theme in the proclamation. It also involves the alteration of existing mythic narrative paradigms and the emergence of new homiletic instruments, namely, the usage of parables and the distinctive Qur’anic simile or “likeness,” the mathal.

FBI and Religion

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Orientation ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Academic Scholarship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Interdisciplinary Assessment ◽  
Civic Religion ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

This volume is an interdisciplinary assessment of the relationship between religion and the FBI. We recount the history of the FBI’s engagement with multiple religious communities and with aspects of public or “civic” religion such as morality and respectability. The book presents new research to explain roughly the history of the FBI’s interaction with religion over approximately one century, from the pre-Hoover period to the post-9/11 era. Along the way, the book explores vexed issues that go beyond the particulars of the FBI’s history—the juxtaposition of “religion” and “cult,” the ways in which race can shape the public’s perceptions of religion (and vica versa), the challenges of mediating between a religious orientation and a secular one, and the role and limits of academic scholarship as a way of addressing the differing worldviews of the FBI and some of the religious communities it encounters.

The Quranic Jesus: Prophet and Scapegoat

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-220
Author(s):  
John Ranieri
Keyword(s):  
Major Theme ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Christian Understanding ◽  
The Way

A major theme in René Girard’s work involves the role of the Bible in exposing the scapegoating practices at the basis of culture. The God of the Bible is understood to be a God who takes the side of victims. The God of the Qur’an is also a defender of victims, an idea that recurs throughout the text in the stories of messengers and prophets. In a number of ways, Jesus is unique among the prophets mentioned in the Qur’an. It is argued here that while the Quranic Jesus is distinctly Islamic, and not a Christian derivative, he functions in the Qur’an in a way analogous to the role Jesus plays in the gospels. In its depiction of Jesus, the Qur’an is acutely aware of mimetic rivalry, scapegoating, and the God who comes to the aid of the persecuted. Despite the significant differences between the Christian understanding of Jesus as savior and the way he is understood in the Qur’an, a Girardian interpretation of the Qur’anic Jesus will suggest ways in which Jesus can be a bridge rather than an obstacle in Christian/Muslim dialogue.

11. Conclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-140
Author(s):  
John Riches
Keyword(s):  
Religious Communities ◽  
Aesthetic Judgement ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Uniform Manner ◽  
The Way

The Bible has been the source of great truth, goodness, and beauty at the same time as it has inspired lies, wickedness, and ugliness. What it has not produced is a uniform manner of its reading and interpretation. The very process of canonization is nevertheless part of an attempt to limit diversity and deviance of belief within religious communities. Ultimately, however, there is no controlling the way it is read. It is important therefore to be critically aware of the different kinds of uses to which the Bible may be put and to learn to discriminate among them. Readers need to exercise their own moral and aesthetic judgement over the different readings which have been offered of these texts, not least in their own traditions. At the same time, their own judgement will be influenced by the texts as they engage more closely with them and their reception.

Calvin and the Priesthood of all Believers

1968 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-156
Author(s):  
John R. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
John Calvin ◽  
Priesthood Of All Believers ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
God's People ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The Way

A Mong those elements of Christian doctrine which surged anew to the forefront of Christian thinking during the early sixteenth century was that biblical idea which, in more modern times, we have come to call the ‘priesthood of all believers’. Luther used the doctrine almost as a battle-axe, to hew away at the pretensions of the Roman hierarchy and sacramental system. Almost invariably, it is Luther's name which we find linked to this doctrine in studies of the Reformation period. However, any serious study of the idea of the priesthood of God's people would do well to include an examination of the way in which John Calvin dealt with it, and indeed, the way in which the idea found certain expressions within his system of ecclesiastical organisation. It is our purpose here to see what Calvin taught in relationship to this biblical idea, and what elements of the life of the Genevan church may be considered to be, at least in part, an expression of the idea.

scholarly journals Paul’s use of slavery imagery in the Hagar allegory

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Balla
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Literal Meaning ◽  
Semantic Field ◽  
New Covenant ◽  
Historical View ◽  
God's People ◽  
The Way

In this article it is examined how Paul used slavery imagery in Galatians 4 when dealing with the theme of God’s “children”. The use of words related to the semantic field of slavery in Galatians is briefly discussed. Paul uses these words both with their literal meaning and in a figurative sense. This is also true for the main passage to be discussed in this article – the Hagar allegory. In Galatians 4, Paul first speaks about a real slave wo- man, and then uses this imagery to describe those who do not accept God’s promises to have been fulfilled in Jesus. The way Paul uses the term “allegorise” is examined. It is argued that in Galatians 4 Paul uses the slavery imagery in order to speak about aspects of one’s relationship to God. The background of his use of the Hagar allegory is his “salvation historical” view concerning God’s covenantal relationship to his people. He uses allusions to Old Testament texts to express his view re- garding who belongs to God’s people in the era of the new covenant.

In Praise and Thanksgiving

1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-188
Author(s):  
Patrick D. Miller
Keyword(s):  
God's People ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Way

“In a world that assumes the status is quo, that things have to be the way they are and that we must not assume too much about improving them, the doxologies of God's people are fundamental indicators that wonders have not ceased, that possibilities not yet dreamt of will happen, and that hope is an authentic stance.”

scholarly journals Camaldolesi e Vallombrosani nella Toscana medievale

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Fabbri
Keyword(s):  
Religious Communities ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Gregorian Reform ◽  
The Way

In the context of the intense religious and social renewal known as “Gregorian Reform”, the Camaldoli Hermitage and the Vallombrosa Abbey, both located in the Tuscan territory, gave rise to two movements of reform inspired by the spirituality of the respective founders, which later became congregations belonging to the benedictine family. Motivated by common instances, the Camaldolese and the Vallombrosan Orders were similar in some of their essential features and in the dynamics of their expansion. This statement has been the starting point of this work, which aims to formulate a comparative overview of the territorial spread of these reforms in Tuscany, by recording the known settlements and making an inventory of the religious communities interested by this phenomenom, in order to gather a broad range of examples of the way these movements interacted with the local situations in the different areas of the region. The text is enriched by a carthographic appendix illustrating the chronology of these congregations’ development in medieval Tuscany.

scholarly journals Eklezjalne i naukowe zadanie teologa w świetle instrukcji Donum Veritatis Kongregacji Nauki Wiary

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 133-146
Author(s):  
Janusz Królikowski ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
God's People ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Church ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity ◽  
The Way ◽  
The Catholic Church

In this article the instruction Donum veritatis on the vocation of the theologian in the Church, published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith on 24th May 1990, is treated as the benchmark for the undertaken reflection on the ecclesial and scientific dimension of theology. This document still constitutes an abundant source of guidelines concerning theology and the way in which it should be pursued by each and every Catholic theologian. The instruction draws the attention primarily to a personal vocation of the theologian who remains in the service of the fellowship of God’s People. It results from the very nature of the truth revealed by God which was mercifully conveyed to man so as to bring him to salvation. The gift of truth defines the nature of theology which is a scientific service to God’s truth and by the same token also to God’s People. One of the key elements of this service is the cooperation with the Magisterium of the Catholic Church while preserving its own autonomy. The principle of complementarity is a key factor in this respect and it also determines the ecclesial character of fulfi lling the vocation of the theologian.

scholarly journals Exploring the mediatization of organizational communication by religious communities in digital media

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (66) ◽  
pp. 101-121
Author(s):  
Gry Høngsmark Knudsen ◽  
Marie Vejrup Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Evangelical Lutheran Church ◽  
Digital Spaces ◽  
The Way

This article presents an exploratory study of some of the ways in which religious communities communicate as organizations in digital spaces. Based on previous research, the article examines the extent to which processes of mediatization are visible in the digital spaces utilized by religious communities in Denmark today.The study is based on data from websites and Facebook groups from ten Christian churches: five ELCD (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark) parishes and five free churches. Data was collected using methods particularly designed for collecting digital data, with due consideration of the ethical implications of researching religious identity online. The data collection represents a follow-up study to the research project Religion in Aarhus 2013. Based on our findings, we suggest that mediatization processes progress more slowly in institutional religious communication because of the way in which they are organized. Furthermore, we demonstrate that there are some patterns in the way Christian communities express themselves online, and that these patterns to some extent depend on whether an ELCD parish or a free church is involved.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document