Recovering the Progressive Spirit of Islam

This paper analyses Islamic Feminism as a progressive movement that has found legitimacy through the practice of Ijthad and has allowed feminist Muslims to reinterpret the sacred texts while extracting the patriarchal interpretations behind them. Although the movement has been very criticized, Islamic Feminism has problematized the situation of women in Islam and has proposed a new way to create a connection with the scriptures.

The Suffering Messiah Complex in the Gospel of Matthew

A Messiah who must suffer would have been a paradox for the Jewish people of the first century. However, in the Gospel of Matthew, even though the author notes that Jesus Christ is in fact the promised and awaited liberator of the Jewish people, the Messiah must suffer. The author prepares the disciples and his readers to anticipate this paradox by using comparisons between Jesus Christ and other characters who also suffer and by including explicit predictions of the suffering of Jesus. At the same time, the opportunity to doubt this phenomenon is permitted.

Reading Malachi's Rebukes and Promise in Historical and Corporate Context

Malachi’s prophetic voice continues to speak today through its interpreters. This article considers two of Malachi’s oracles, namely the pronouncement against divorce (Mal 2:10-17) and a call to faithful temple tithing (Mal.3:8-12) citing some of their contemporary and popular interpretations. It notes major themes that run through the book, highlighting key cultural and historical realities of Malachi’s day and its context of corporate unity. It demonstrates how differently Malachi can be understood by ignoring or utilizing the interpretive framework of historical, cultural and religious backgrounds.

Jesters, Jongleurs, Clowns and other Unsavoury Types

This essay will explore the role of the repentant woman in Benedicta Ward’s Harlots of the Desert. Ward’s argument asserts that both men and women in the early centuries of Christianity had to undertake the task of overcoming their gender in order to become holy men and women, in either a monastic setting or as a desert dwelling hermit. I will argue that the task of overcoming gender in order to be in closer proximity to holiness in the early centuries of the church was a more difficult task for women than for men. This is because women had to first become like men, and then genderless, whereas men had simply to overcome one gender role. This paper will explore the evidence for such a claim by examining the textual evidence of early hagiographies present in Ward’s book.

The Complexity of a Simple God

Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion is a recent popular attack on theism. Rather than rely on empirical evidence, Dawkins attempts to disprove the existence of all supernatural entities through a philosophical argument: anything complex enough to create an organism must itself have been designed. The validity of this argument rests on Dawkins’ use of Thomas Aquinas’ First Way. This paper will explore Aquinas’ First Way and the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity in order to better assess Dawkins’ argument.

The Power and Authority of Perpetua the Proto-Martyr

As demonstrated in The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, confessor-martyrs were granted the opportunity to achieve a position of influence within their Christian community. The “power of martyrdom” that was granted to proto-martyrs granted the prisoners the capability of interceding on behalf of Christians who had denied their faith or failed to confess. Essentially, imprisoned confessors were given the privilege of the authority to forgive deniers. This paper will examine how Perpetua’s privileges extend from the divine realm into the earthly realm. Specifically, I will examine how Perpetua’s impending martyrdom provides her with the “power of the keys” where she is granted the status of a minister

Similar Differences

The study of mystical experiences is an endeavor that has been approached in many ways. One unresolved issue in this area of study is whether or not there is a particular type of experience underlying the traditionally religious interpretations, which can be termed “mystical.” In this paper, the author posits that some of the foundational claims of the common core view and the social constructivist view of the nature of such experiences, respectively, are not completely incompatible. Rather, the two approaches may converge with regard to the cognitive foundations of cross-culturally accessible anomalous experiences.

Structure Was Good

In the field of Religious Studies, old lenses applied to old texts open up the possibility for new interpretations. The school of Structuralism calls for two foundational methods of studying texts to find more meaning: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. Albeit, historically, scholars have employed these two approaches against each other, this article illustrates that using the tools of structuralism in the first biblical creation account provides new insight into the narrative.

Pentecostalism in the Modern World

Some scholars claim that in the new century Pentecostalism will adapt to modernity thereby continuing its growth across many cultures and societies. By comparing the appeal of Pentecostalism in its original manifestation during the early nineteenth century in America with the appeal of its most vibrant contemporary expression in Latin America, one can ask whether Pentecostalism has widened its appeal to include a Postindustrial audience. It is concluded that Pentecostalism will not adapt to modernity, because it remains a movement against modernity. Pentecostalism’s appeal lies in its ability to provide a theodicy utilized by those who oppose the infringement of modern ideology upon their own ways of life, namely the working poor and conservative traditionalists.

Religion as a Means of Maintaining Legitimacy in the Canadian State

“[I]f a system of rules is to be imposed by force on any, there must be a sufficient number who accept it voluntarily. Without their voluntary co-operation, thus creating authority, the coercive power of law and government cannot be established” 1 – H.L.A. Hart “For a domination...justification of its legitimacy is much more than a matter of a theoretical or philosophical speculation; it rather constitutes the basis of very real differences in the empirical structure of domination. The reason for this fact lies in the generally observable need of any power, or even of any advantage of life, to justify itself.”2 – Max Weber I. Introduction In the above quotes, Hart and Weber both point to a requisite element that all nation states share in their quest to maintain a stable order. To appear legitimate, a state must represent itself in a way that is palatable to its citizens. Put differently, a state must convince its populace that the power it wields is rightly wielded. If the majority of its citizens do not accept the legitimacy of the state, then the very stability of the state is undermined; generally, it is only a matter of time before this state is overthrown or reconfigured in a fashion agreeable to the citizenry.3 This issue of legitimacy forms the basis of this study. With a focus on Canada, the following will consider a means by which legitimate status is presented and maintained by the state. 1 H.L.A Hart, The Concept of Law, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994) at 201 [Hart]. 2 Max Weber, On Law in Economy and Society. Trans. Edward Shils (Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1969) at 335 [Weber]. It is important to note that Weber devotes a significant amount of discussion to the definition of ‘domination’. Broadly speaking, Weber states, “in our terminology domination shall be identical with authoritarian power of command. To be more specific, domination will thus mean the situation in which: The manifested will (command) of the ruler or rulers is meant to influence the conduct of one or more others (the ruled) and actually does influence it in such a way that their conduct to a socially relevant degree occurs as if the ruled had made the content of the command the maxim of their conduct for its very own sake” (Weber at 328). 3 Hart, supra note 1 at 201.