Purpose

Purpose can be understood in various ways. For Aristotle, purpose is the ‘final cause’ of a phenomenon, its end. Does the Universe have a purpose? It certainly has a history and a direction, and Arthur Eddington coined the phrase ‘time’s arrow’ to indicate its direction. The fine-tuning that the Universe manifests has given rise to various interpretations of the anthropic effect. For biologists, even the simplest organisms seem to manifest purpose, although they cannot act intentionally. Humans (setting aside very young children and those who are severely mentally incapacitated) can act intentionally and can make choices. Someone with a firm religious conviction may see the purpose of their life as responding appropriately to what they believe God is calling them to do.

Eksegese van 2 Petrus 3:1–2 en die hermeneuse daarvan met spesifieke verwysing na standpunte van die sogenaamde Nuwe Ateïste

Exegesis of 2 Peter 3:1–2 and its significance for contemporary Christians with specific reference to views of the so-called New Atheists. Die Bybel: 2020-vertaling, in Afrikaans translation of the Bible, has been introduced at a time when the Bible, the God of the Bible and believers who accept the Bible as the Word of God are seriously under suspicion. The question is how Christians are supposed to act and react in the light of these developments. The religious conviction of Peter’s first readers was under great pressure as a result of false teachers. This article exegetically indicates the guidance that Peter gives to his readers according to 2 Peter 3:1–2 and points out its significance for contemporary Christians. The exegesis in the article is concentrated on 2 Peter 3:1–2 within the context of the letter and is done according to the grammatical-historical model as practised in the Reformed tradition. The article cites examples of the New Atheists’ questioning of the Christian faith. Reference is then made to 2 Peter 3:1–2, regarding what believers must do when their faith is questioned. The article found that Christians today, like Peter’s first readers, are still under great pressure because of atheists’ hostile actions. Like Peter’s first readers, modern-day believers need guidance so that they do not succumb to the pressures on their steadfastness. Christians must think purely of the Old Testament prophets and the apostles of Jesus Christ and the revelation they received from God and Jesus Christ. When Christians think purely about prophets and apostles, they will understand the meaning of these people’s message in their present circumstances and will be able to act appropriately. 2 Peter 3:1–2 provides guidance to Christians whose faith is under pressure due to the hostile actions of unbelievers.Contribution: The article contributes to the understanding of the guidance that Peter gave to his first readers according to 2 Peter 3:1–2 and provides guidance to Christians whose faith, like Peter’s first readers, is being questioned.

Conclusion

Chapter 5 presents a cohesive conclusion, summarizing the findings, rehearsing the arguments, and synthesizing the concluding remarks of the entire study. Islamic historiography presents varying notions of conversion to Islam which are evidenced by repeated literary features and depictions. It suggests not only that conversion started slowly (as recent studies advocate) but also that conversion meant different things, including sincere religious conviction and mere political submission. Medieval Muslim historians utilize conversion themes to address both non-Muslims and Muslims, highlighting the supremacy of Islam to non-Muslims and emphasizing genuineness of faith to Muslims. Literary depictions of conversion are a product of the religious views of the historians, influenced by the sociopolitical requirements at the time of writing.

Cultural Diversity and Religious Reflexivity in an Intercultural Chilean Parish

This research aims to analyze cultural diversity and its relationship with the personal belief in an Immigrant Parish. The discussion is framed within the topic of intercultural churches and parishes, although in a setting that has not been researched (Santiago, Chile). The research was carried out in the Latin-American Parish placed in Providencia, Santiago, and a qualitative framework was used to obtain and analyze the data. Cultural diversity is understood concerning religious reflexivity and under the idea that pluralism leads to a weakening of religious conviction, as Peter Berger argued. The theoretical framework makes the difference between the vision of Berger on cultural pluralism (pluralism inter-religion) and the viewpoint by Charles Taylor (pluralism intra-religion). On the contrary to Berger, the findings of this research showed that cultural diversity and pluralism are elements that produce a strengthening of individual beliefs.

Faith and Revolution: The Case of Islamic Resurgence by Said Nursi in Turkey

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi dedicated his life to the safeguarding and strengthening of faith in God, which for him was the most important issue of the time and was at the heart of religion and the societal system. He believed religious conviction faced severe and combined attacks and was being weakened by unreligious ideologies. Nursi sought to strengthen belief by transforming it from imitation to certainty. He maintained that to be occupied with the fundamentals of belief over and above everything was an absolute necessity and compelling need. This definition of the problem gave direction to his discourse, and in all his writings Nursi pursued the renewal, revival, and strengthening of the truths of creed, rather than trying to rebuild Islamic political authority and Islamic institutions or expounding Islamic Shariah rules. This is the most important single issue that distinguishes Nursi from his contemporaries. This paper, in this backdrop, anticipates to discuss the significance of Nursi’s thoughts, teachings and also explains the importance of Nursi in the formation of ideology that helped the society of Turkey to neutralize anti-religious systems. The aim of this research paper is to explain Nursi’s contributions that proved him to be a faith revivalist and whose works are one of the most ubiquitous read materials in Turkey. This essay is primarily a theoretical one and the methodology adopted for this paper is analytical-historical and descriptive.

Afgedankt als godsdienstonderwijzer : De veelkleurige loopbaan van Hendrik Tillema

The Dutch Protestant catechists of the nineteenth century and the first part of the twentieth century, are a many-coloured party, equally diverse as Dutch Protestantism itself. In this article the many-sided modernist catechist Hendrik Tillema (1829-1908) is introduced. As an orphan he was trained for farmhand. He, however, worked himself up into the position of a member of the ‘lower clergy’. In the beginning was as such active as the catechist of the Leiden Dutch Reformed orphanage. After being accused of modernism by the board of the orphanage, he resigned from his post. At the outset, his liberal religious conviction wasn’t an impediment to be active as a catechist in the Leiden Reformed parish. When, however, the balance of power within the consistory swinged to the orthodox party, Tillema’s position was challenged. Finally, he was discharged. In several writings Tillema manifested his abhorrence of the orthodox believers and his compassion for the orphan-children. He denounced the evil practices in the orphanage and did suggestions for improvement.

Dynamism of Religious Dialogue (Inter-Faith Meeting) and the Growth of Christianity in Nigeria

Religious diversity is a possible feature of any human society. Even in a religious homogenous society, there are factions and sects within a particular religion. The diversity in religious conviction gives rise to a lot of options based on religious inclination. The society in which the religion is practiced need to be at peace for the religion to thrive and be propagated hence, dialogue is necessary as to see how the orthodoxy and orthopraxy can lead to peaceful co-existence as they define the societal norms and values. It is in this respect that this paper examines the issues of dynamism of religious dialogue or inter-faith meeting in the light of growth of Christianity in Nigeria, being a multi-faith, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society Using the historical and phenomenological perspectives, the paper found out that since the 19thcentury inter-religious dialogue have been in progress and will need to continue. The foundation for religious dialogue and peaceful co-existence was laid by Chief Shodeke on December 5 1842 in Abeokuta when the three contending religious leaders - Islam, traditional religion and Christianity were invited to explain their philosophies. It was discovered that inter-religious dialogue melts the walls of in-difference and enhances understanding of the religious world view. We therefore conclude that inter-faith dialogue which offers opportunity for understanding and respect of non-Christian neighbours should be sustained for the acceptance and growth of Christianity in Nigeria. Key words: Dynamism, dialogue, ecumenical, inter-faith, growth.

Following the Path That Heroes Carved into History: Space Tourism, Heritage, and Faith in the Future

Human spaceflight is likely to change in character over the 21st century, shifting from a military/governmental enterprise to one that is more firmly tied to private industry, including businesses devoted to space tourism. For space tourism to become a reality, however, many obstacles have to be overcome, particularly those in finance, technology, and medicine. Ethnographic interviews with astronauts, engineers, NASA doctors, and NewSpace workers reveal that absolute faith in the eventual human occupation of space, based in religious conviction or taking secular forms, is a common source of motivation across different populations working to promote human spaceflight. This paper examines the way faith is expressed in these different contexts and its role in developing a future where space tourism may become commonplace.