The Communion of the Apostles and the Spiritual Eucharist in the Religious Thought and Art of the Old Believers

The division that occurred in the Patriarchate of Muscovy in the middle of the 17th century resulted in a large part of the believers being alienated from the clergy; in consequence, many communities of the Old Believers, who had come to terms with this loss, renounced most of the sacraments, including the Eucharist. This situation impacted the art of the Old Believers, especially in the Priestless Old Believer communities, for instance, in the interiors of their houses of prayer, where the presbytery area disappeared, and the iconostasis changed its function. This article contains an analysis of how one of the old iconographic themes connected with the Eucharist, namely the Communion of the Apostles, functioned in the Old Believer setting. Sources originating from those circles, especially the 18th-century Pomorian Answers (Pomorskie otvety), indicate that the Old Believers saw the Eucharist as a spiritual experience—the only one that was available to the faithful who lived in communities that lacked a clergy. This is most probably the context in which, for instance, Old Believer versions of the Communion of the Apostles should be understood. The view of the Old Believer identity, and Old Believer art, as proposed in this article takes under consideration not only the tradition but also the change, which was an unavoidable part of their communities’ experience, and which may also constitute an essential key to our reading of the contents and meaning of Old Believer icons.

Vulgar Talk and Learned Reasoning in Berkeley’s Moral and Religious Thought

Berkeley “argues with the learned and speaks with the vulgar.” I use his double maxim to interpret his ethics. My approach is new. The Sermons and Guardian Essays mainly speak to the vulgar and Passive Obedience and Alciphron reason with the learned. The reward of ethics is eternal bliss in a future state: religion and ethics are connected. I study a set of problems: resurrection, eternal life, happiness, benevolence, the goodness of God, and self-love. Divine bliss is unlike any earthly happiness. The idea of law does not support benevolence, even if it is a Christian duty and virtue. God is good, but how to prove it? The learned must study the complex theodicy problem; the vulgar need assurance based on their sensuous experience and fervent hope of eternal bliss. Self-love may be a vital issue to the learned, although the vulgar may not realize their need to overcome it. The main questions concern Berkeley’s two approaches to ethical problems: first, how do their topics differ, and second, are they mutually consistent?

A Critique of Muḥammad Shahrūr's Views on the Qur’ān, the Ḥadīth Corpus, Sharīᶜah, and Early Islamic Scholarship

This article describes the life, education, and thoughts of Muhammad Shahrūr, whose discourse on Islam generated confusion and much in the way of polemical debate. His controversial bias favoured modernity, influenced by modern Western epistemology, traditions, and secularism. The author applies qualitative content analysis to select writings. The analysis unveils his position (s) in light of mainstream Islam and focusses on Shahrūr’s approach to Islamic religious thought via (1) theories of Non-Synonymity and Limit; (2) his view of the Ḥadīth and Sharīᶜah; (3) the status of Muslim women with regard to polygamy, dress code and feminism; (4) the law of inheritance; (5) western culture and civilization; and (6) evolution; democracy, nationalism and pluralism, etc.

FUNDAMENTALISME RADIKAL DALAM PEMIKIRAN DAN GERAKAN POLITIK KEAGAMAAN DI INDONESIA: STUDI KASUS PEMBUBARAN HIZBUT TAHRIR INDONESIA (HTI)

<em>This article describes on radical fundamentalism group named Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI). Fundamentalism is a concept, an idea that lives in political thought and religious political movement which is recognized blooming out in Indonesia as a side product of reformation era in 1998. Because of its ideology was consider as an opposite to Indonesian ideology and law, HTI then disbandment by Indonesian government. This article is a library research that uses a descriptive qualitative method. There are three Research results i.e., firstly, radical fundamentalism is a thought and a religious-political movement of a group that strictly carries out religious teachings. And these concepts exist in all religions. Secondly, although activities and political movements of HTI were stopped by government, its concept and movement are still running by many other religious group. And thirdly, the thought and political movement of HTI and other religious fundamentalist groups needs to be criticized to add insight into ideology.</em><br /><br /><strong>Key words:</strong> Radical Fundamentalism, Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, Religious Thought and Political Movement.<br /><br />

Olódumare and Esu in Yorubá Religious Thought

Theological and philosophical debates on deities do not end easily; rather they open new vistas of understanding and further argumentation. In a previous work, I argued that there are two pairs of Olódumare and Es̩u in contemporary Yorubá religious thought and praxis. This conclusion was to navigate the extreme position that Olódumare and the Christian God have nothing in common. Although Segun Ogungbemi recently maintained the strict theological and moral differences between Olódumare and God using existential lens, he has not addressed the practical reality instantiated by the contemporary Yorubá diverse worshipers. Danoye Ogúntó̩lá-Láguda’s position on Olódumare and Es̩u is also slightly different from Ogúngbemí’s, although the former maintains a more practical posture. From their arguments I propose, in addition to my earlier two-pair argument that contemporary Yorubá may have four pairs of Olódumare and Esu: the first pair is autochtho ̩ - nous to the Yorubá, the second is Christian, the third Islamic, and the fourth, philosophical.

Paradigma Keagamaan Dosen Pendidikan Agama Islam di Universitas Tirtayasa Banten

This study aims to explain the religious paradigm of lecturers in Islamic religious education at Tirtayasa University, Banten, using a qualitative approach. The research was conducted from April to June 2021. Data collection techniques used interviews, and content analysis. The informants involved were all lecturers of Islamic religious education. This study found that there were variations in religious paradigms, educational background and scientific interests, access to sources and reading materials, as well as religious styles adopted. The book used contains an acute problem related to the problem of religious moderation. The discussion on the themes of monotheism and Islamic theology has a significant difference with the general attitude of the people of Banten and its surroundings. An important implication of the results of this study is that several themes on history, Islamic social and political thought, as well as the science of monotheism and the science of kalam need to be reviewed, enriched by references, and further enrich the sources of religious thought. Abstrak Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan paradigma keagamaan dosen mata kuliah pendidikan agama Islam pada Universitas Tirtayasa Banten, dengan menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Penelitian dilakukan pada bulan April hingga Juni tahun 2021. Teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan wawancara, dan konten analisis. Informan yang terlibat adalah seluruh dosen pendidikan agama Islam. Penelitian ini menemukan adanya variasi paradigma keagamaan, latar belakang pendidikan dan minat keilmuan, akses terhadap sumber dan bahan bacaan, serta corak keagamaan yang dianut. Buku yang digunakan mengandung problem akut terkait dengan masalah moderasi beragama. Bahasan tentang tema-tema tauhid dan teologi Islam memiliki perbedaan yang signifikan dengan anutan umum masyarakat Banten dan sekitarnya. Implikasi penting dari hasil kajian ini, beberapa tema tentang sejarah, pemikiran sosial dan politik Islam, serta ilmu tauhid dan ilmu kalam perlu dilakukan peninjauan ulang, pengayaan referensi, dan lebih memperkaya nuktah-nuktah pemikiran keagamaan.

Dostoevsky - Strakhov - Tolstoy: Toward to the Story of One Conflict

The well-known epistolary conflict between Fyodor Dostoevsky and Nikolai Strakhov over the latter's slander of the great Russian writer's terrible sins is considered in the article from the point of view a philosophical anthropology and relations not two but between three participants of this story: Dostoyevsky, Strakhov and Tolstoy. This conflict is presented through anthropological, existential, and class prisms of description, based on a reconstruction of Strakhov's concept of man as a controversial, dual, and undefined being reflected in Dostoevsky's work. A direct relation between the definition of the dual nature of man in the works of Strakhov and Dostoevsky and interpersonal conflicts within "boundary forms of literature" is substantiated. Special attention is paid to the class of seminarians, the object of Dostoevsky's targeted criticism. He saw their worst characteristics in Strakhov personality. Tolstoy plays the role of an arbiter in this controversy, assessing the situation both in terms of literary, existential and religious thought. In the course of his examination of this conflict, his unexpected closeness to Dostoevsky was discovered in regard to assessment of Strakhov. The point of their coincidence was the "pink Christianity" of the writers, who justify man in a quite similar manner, in terms of their religious consciousness.

Blessings for the sailors. The cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace in the Mediterranean context between the Hellenistic and Roman Ages

The aim of this paper is to underline some cultic features of the cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace, in its development between Hellenistic and Roman Age. In this regard, we analyze the mythological background of this cult, with particular reference to Trojan war and Aeneas saga and the influences on the cultic performances and ideology in Roman age. Our main goal is to show, through an analysis of the different syncretic cults (Dioskuroi, Penates, Lares) and the archaeological data, how the metaphors of sea and sailing influenced the transmission of this soteriological cult in Rome and how these cultural changes represent a weighty argument to demonstrate the very important revolution introduced by the Samothracian cult in the religious thought of classical world.