Further to the Pre-Muḥammadan Allāh

Arabica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-435
Author(s):  
Aziz Al-Azmeh
Keyword(s):  
Religious Practice ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Arabic Poetry ◽  
Common Notion ◽  
Existing Form

Abstract This article is concerned with the divinity of Allāh before Muḥammad. It is focussed on narrow and broad issues of method, and particularly on inferential evidence for the incidence and nature of this divinity on the evidence of Arabic poetry. It casts a critical look on retrojection Islamic theological concepts to the interpretation of earlier Arabic poetry, and proposes that the now common notion of “pagan monotheism” refers to no actually existing form of religious practice among pre-Muḥammadan Arabs. It reaffirms the salience of polytheism among the Arabs, and the pertinence of concrete historical evidence and of an anthropological sensibility in this domain. La présente étude porte sur une divinité nommée Allāh avant Muḥammad. Elle se concentre sur la question méthodologique des témoignages poétiques, sur l’envergure et la nature de cette divinité, et sur le contexte plus général des questions de méthode. Elle jette un regard critique sur la projection a posteriori des notions théologiques islamiques dans le cadre des analyses déductives fondées sur la matière poétique. Elle propose que l’idée, bien répandue dans des milieux universitaires, des « monothéistes païens » parmi les Arabes ne fait pas référence à la réalité historique des pratiques religieuses des Arabes avant Muḥammad. Elle souligne l’importance du polythéisme chez les Arabes et la pertinence décisive des données historiques concrètes et d’une sensibilité anthropologique dans ce domaine.

The Syntax of Deuteronomy 13:2-3 and the Conventions of Ancient Near Eastern Prophecy

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-175
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Stackert
Keyword(s):  
Religious Practice ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Compositional History ◽  
Biblical Texts

AbstractAs is the case with many ancient Near Eastern texts, biblical texts oftentimes betray a complex compositional history. In the case of Deuteronomy 13:2-3, philologically-driven analyses have concluded that the grammatical awkwardness of these verses results from an interpolation. This article attempts to test such analyses through recourse to historical evidence of ancient Near Eastern religious practice. It argues that positing an interpolation in these verses is unnecessary philologically. Moreover, the hypothetical Urtext that results when the purported interpolation is removed defies the conventions of both biblical and non-biblical ancient Near Eastern prophetic practice.

Hume’s History of England

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T. Siebert
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
A Priori ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Literal Sense ◽  
Political Events ◽  
History Of ◽  
William Robertson

This chapter argues for the History of England’s importance in Hume’s overall achievement. The chapter describes the History’s genesis, reception, methods, and aims. In the role of historian, Hume shared with the ancients the assumption that history is an elevated genre functioning as the “Mistress of Wisdom.” Yet this long work is more notable for historiographical innovation. Like William Robertson and Edward Gibbon, Hume wrote conjectural or philosophical history. Like Machiavelli, Voltaire, and Montesquieu, Hume wrote civil or cultural history, including detailed information on political events, law, commerce, and manners. In a larger sense, the History demonstrates a great philosopher leaving his study (or “closet”) to deal with that practical, sometimes intractable world outside the study. A priori reasoning is tested against that a posteriori reality provided by historical evidence. Thus, in writing the History, Hume became an empiricist in an almost literal sense.

Practical Correction of Three Fold Astigmatism in the Philips CM TEM

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 418-419
Author(s):  
Arno J. Bleeker ◽  
Mark H.F. Overwijk ◽  
Max T. Otten
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Phase Contrast ◽  
The Other ◽  
Objective Lens ◽  
Symmetric Part ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
Contrast Transfer Function ◽  
High Brightness ◽  
Rotationally Symmetric ◽  
Brightness Field

With the improvement of the optical properties of the modern TEM objective lenses the point resolution is pushed beyond 0.2 nm. The objective lens of the CM300 UltraTwin combines a Cs of 0. 65 mm with a Cc of 1.4 mm. At 300 kV this results in a point resolution of 0.17 nm. Together with a high-brightness field-emission gun with an energy spread of 0.8 eV the information limit is pushed down to 0.1 nm. The rotationally symmetric part of the phase contrast transfer function (pctf), whose first zero at Scherzer focus determines the point resolution, is mainly determined by the Cs and defocus. Apart from the rotationally symmetric part there is also the non-rotationally symmetric part of the pctf. Here the main contributors are not only two-fold astigmatism and beam tilt but also three-fold astigmatism. The two-fold astigmatism together with the beam tilt can be corrected in a straight-forward way using the coma-free alignment and the objective stigmator. However, this only works well when the coefficient of three-fold astigmatism is negligible compared to the other aberration coefficients. Unfortunately this is not generally the case with the modern high-resolution objective lenses. Measurements done at a CM300 SuperTwin FEG showed a three fold-astigmatism of 1100 nm which is consistent with measurements done by others. A three-fold astigmatism of 1000 nm already sinificantly influences the image at a spatial frequency corresponding to 0.2 nm which is even above the point resolution of the objective lens. In principle it is possible to correct for the three-fold astigmatism a posteriori when through-focus series are taken or when off-axis holography is employed. This is, however not possible for single images. The only possibility is then to correct for the three-fold astigmatism in the microscope by the addition of a hexapole corrector near the objective lens.

Expected A Posteriori Estimation of Multiple Latent Traits

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damon U. Bryant ◽  
Ashley K. Smith ◽  
Sandra G. Alexander ◽  
Kathlea Vaughn ◽  
Kristophor G. Canali
Keyword(s):  
A Posteriori ◽  
Latent Traits ◽  
Posteriori Estimation

Nasty and Brutish? an Empirical Assessment of the Violence Hypothesis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Widerquist ◽  
Grant S. McCall
Keyword(s):  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Contemporary State ◽  
Empirical Assessment ◽  
Early States ◽  
Consensus View

This chapter empirically investigates two hypotheses often used to support the claim that virtually everyone is better off in state society than they could reasonably expect to be in any stateless environment. “The strong violence hypothesis” is the claim that violence in stateless societies is necessarily intolerable. “The weak violence hypothesis” is the claim that violence in stateless societies tends to be higher than in state society. Section 1 uses anthropological and historical evidence to examine violence in prehistoric stateless societies, early states, and contemporary states. Section 2 reviews evidence from modern stateless societies. Section 3 attempts to assemble anthropologists’ consensus view of violence in stateless societies. Section 4 evaluates the strong and weak hypotheses in light of this information, arguing that societies in which sovereignty is most absent maintain the ability to keep violence at tolerable levels. Although it is reasonable to suppose that stateless societies tend to have higher violence than contemporary state societies, some stateless societies have lower violence than some states. Because these findings reject 350 years of accumulated theory of sovereignty, Section 5 briefly discusses how bands are able to maintain peace without state-like institutions. Section 6 concludes.

‘The Oral Versus The Written’

Moreana ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (Number 175) (3) ◽  
pp. 14-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Cummings
Keyword(s):  
Religious Practice ◽  
Philosophical Argument ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Confessional Identity ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between scripture and tradition has always been recognised as central to the controversy between More and Tyndale in the late 1520s and early 1530s. It was already one of the key issues in the English campaign against Luther instigated in 1521, and in the 1540s became one of the lynchpins of confessional identity both among Catholic theologians at Trent and in the English reformed articles of 1553. This is often seen as a doctrinal issue, but beneath the surface it can also be seen as part of a profound philosophical argument about the authority of oral and written evidence, an argument which goes back to the origins of Jewish and Christian religious practice and which continues to haunt the ecumenical concerns of today.

Longing for Home: The Impact of COVID-19 on Cambodian Evangelical Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-297
Author(s):  
Briana Wong
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Leadership ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Church Leaders ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Phnom Penh ◽  
Mass Displacement ◽  
Interpersonal Connectedness ◽  
Indigenous Religions ◽  
The Impact

In Cambodia, the government's response to the COVID-19 crisis intersected with religious practice this year, as April played host both to the Christian Holy Week and the Cambodian New Year holiday, rooted in Cambodian Buddhism and indigenous religions. Typically, the Cambodian New Year celebration involves the near-complete shutting down of Phnom Penh, allowing for residents of the capital city to spend the New Year with their families in the countryside. Many Christians stay with their parents or other relatives, who remain primarily Theravada Buddhist, in the rural provinces throughout Holy Week, missing Easter Sunday services to participate in New Year's festivities at their ancestral homes. In light of the government's precautionary cancellation of the all-encompassing festivities surrounding the Cambodian New Year this spring, Christians who have previously spent Easter Sunday addressing controversial questions of interreligious interaction notably focused this year, through online broadcasting, on the resurrection of Jesus. In the United States, the near elimination of in-person gatherings has blurred the boundaries between the ministry roles of recognised church leaders and lay Christians, often women, who have long been leading unofficial services and devotionals over the phone and internet. In this article, I argue that the COVID-19 crisis, with its concomitant mass displacement of church communities from the physical to the technological realm, has impacted transnational Cambodian evangelicalism by establishing greater liturgical alignment between churches in Cambodia and in the diaspora, democratising spiritual leadership and increasing opportunities for interpersonal connectedness within the Cambodian evangelical community worldwide.

Sexuality, Gender, and Religious Attendance

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Religious Involvement ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Religious Attendance ◽  
Transgendered People ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
The Life Course

Existing research on religious organizations serving lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered people has noted a dearth of women in such congregations but has offered little explanation for this phenomenon. Working from a study conducted with 29 lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered women in the greater Los Angeles area, this paper demonstrates that race and ethnicity, feminism, a concern for LGBT rights, and interaction between the life-course patterns of religion and sexual identity influenced participants’ decisions about religious involvement. These results, while not generalizable, indicate the need for a nuanced understanding of both religious practice and identity in larger studies of gender, sexuality, and religious attendance.

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