Chief Priests Research Articles

Kenjuin Nichikan’s Criticism of the Idea of Zōbutsu

Kenjuin Nichikan 堅樹院日寛 (1665–1726) was the 26th chief priest of the Taisekiji 大石寺, the head temple of Nichiren Shōshū. He is famous in the history of Nichiren doctrine as the scholar who systematized the philosophy of the Taisekiji.

Succession to a Former Noble Family of a Shinto Priest in Post-War Japan: The Case Study of Three Chief Priests at Aso Shrine

Succession to a Former Noble Family of a Shinto Priest in Post-War Japan: The Case Study of Three Chief Priests at Aso Shrine

An Evaluation of Akan and Konkomba Witchcraft Trials & Beliefs in Ghana: In Dialogue with the Biblical, Anthropological and Psychiatrists Perspectives

The study illustrates how witchcraft accusations are confirmed and how the accused are tried in the Akan and Konkomba context in Ghana. It further examines the legitimacy of witchcraft beliefs through dialogue with the biblical, anthropological and psychiatrist’s perspectives. The methodology used in the qualitative research was the interpretive paradigm which explored the views of 40 Akan and 20 Konkomba respondents through interviews. Other kinds of literature were used as secondary sources in the discourse to triangulate the findings. The study findings suggest that those who often lead the witchcraft trials among the Akan are the chiefs and traditional priests (akɔmfo) whiles the chief priest and landowner or the Utindana leads the trials in the Konkomba context at the Gnani witch camp in the Yendi municipality in Northern Ghana. Furthermore, there are similarities in the processes of witchcraft trials in the Akan and Konkomba contexts as well as divergences. The legitimacy of the beliefs in the activities of witchcraft in Ghana was tested from other perspectives and some of the beliefs were putative while others were negated. The study postulates that witchcraft beliefs in Ghana cannot be negated entirely. The research contributes to knowledge by highlighting the gaging of witchcraft trials and beliefs in Ghana.

Nartskij epos osetin i vera mongolov Chingis-hana

The article first clarified the concept of “Tngri” and the related titles of Genghis Khan and the chief priest Teba-Tengri. It is proved that “Tngri” is not “Blue Sky”, since the actual translation of this word is different. For the first time, not only the names of God and the eleven spirits of the medieval Mongols that Mangu Khan spoke about are mentioned, but their functions are explained in detail, the holidays associated with their veneration, the nature and time of their holding are indicated. The myth of shamanism and totemism of medieval Mongols is debunked. The relationship between the faith of the Genghis Khan’s Mongols, their feast etiquette and the practice of forming and manning an army in the performance of its combat missions is revealed. It is proved that in medieval Mongolian society a harmonious worldview system was functioning, different from Zoroastrianism, Mithraism, the Bon religion and Tengrianism.

Facilitating collaboration and community participation in tourism development: The case of South-Eastern Nigeria

Collaboration and community participation are crucial for securing sustainable tourism and highlight the need to listen and respond to the broad range of stakeholders’ voices, opinions, and concerns. These concepts dominated the discourse of sustainable-responsible tourism and gave rise to collaboration theory as well as various types of community participation. Many scholars in both Western and emerging economies have employed these concepts; however, there is limited research on how they apply in the Nigerian tourism industry. Therefore, this exploratory research discusses collaboration and community participation in tourism development in Nigeria, using the Southeastern region as a case study. In this area, tourism is in the early phase of growth. The paper reports on interviews and focus group discussions used to interact with tourism stakeholders in the region (traditional rulers, men, women, and youth representatives, chief priests, security agents, and tourism officials). Results showed that while the stakeholders are willing to collaborate, challenges affecting their efforts include autocratic governance structures leading to mistrust, clash of responsibilities, inadequate funding for security, lack of tourism awareness and little respect for local culture. The paper concludes that to develop a resident-friendly tourism destination and sustain collaboration and community participation, stakeholders require education about tourism and opportunities to participate in planning.

Divine Philanthropy and Human Misanthropy. The Abusive Defrocking and the Rehabilitation Process of Metropolitan Anthim of Iberia

Saint Anthim of Iberia was one of the most cultured people of his time. He is a creator of a whole epoch in Wallachian and, in general, Romanian history. A highly learned metropolitan, he was also one the greatest Orthodox theologians of the time, a master of morality and doctrine, and finally a wise politician, who played a great role in the very complex social, political and cultural life of the Wallachian Principality. He harshly criticized the illiteracy and the greed of clergy, Eastern Patriarchs’ craving for wealth and power, and he relentlessly denounced the corruptness and the moral degradation of the ruling classes. His efforts to ally with Russia to liberate Wallachia from the Ottoman yoke led him to conflict with his great contemporary, Constantin Brâncoveanu, and then, even more gratingly, with the Voevoda Nicholas Mavrocordatos (1716-1730), described by some historians of the time as unwaveringly loyal to the Ottomans. The Phanariote Nicholas Mavrokordatos, who was only interested in the Ottoman Empire, replaced the Wallachian princes. Mavrokordatos was suspicious of Metr. Antimos and ordered the metropolitan to resign. Mavrokordatos appealed to Patriarch Jeremiah after Metr. Antimos refused to do so. The Patriarch convened a council of bishops, without any Romanian representation, that condemned the metropolitan to anathema and excommunication. Not satisfied in a finding that denied Metr. Antimos his title of Metropolitan of Hungro-Wallachia, Mavrokordatos order the metropolitan to exile to St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai. On September 14, 1716, while en route to his place of exile, Metr. Antimos was ambushed by Turkish soldiers on the bank of the Tundzha River, near Gallipoli, as it flowed through Adrianople, and butchered him. Then, they threw his remains into the river. This brutal action ended the earthly life of a great man who had dedicated his strength, talent, and knowledge to the revival and strengthening of Orthodox Christianity among the people of Wallachia. The faithful Romanian people, considering, from the beginning, the sentence of defrocking as unjust and illegal, not only never stopped honoring Anthim the Iberian as chief priest also after his abusive defrocking, but with the passage of time increased their acts of piety and honor, considering him one of the most worthy hierarchs who pastored the Romanian Orthodox Church and a martyr, who sacrificed his life, with dignity, for the Orthodox faith and for the freedom and independence of the Motherland, which, since his adoption, he served as the most devoted and loving son.

Royal Messianism and the Jerusalem Priesthood in the Gospel of Mark

This book is a slightly revised version of a doctoral thesis completed at the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh in 2016 under the supervision of Matthew Novenson. Bernardo Cho investigates how Jewish messianism from the mid-second century BC to the late first century AD envisaged the proper relation between the Israelite king and the Jerusalem priests in the ideal future, and then attempts to describe how the Gospel of Mark addresses this issue in depicting Jesus. Cho’s argument comprises two major sections. The first section is a synchronic analysis of how the Israelite king was expected to interact with the high priest in the ideal future (chs. 1–2). In the second part of this book, Cho offers a close reading of the passages in Mark that are relevant for his purposes (chs. 3–5).Chapter 1 examines important passages from the Dead Sea Scrolls under the headings “Davidic Branch” and “Prince of the Congregation” (4Q252, 4Q174, 4Q285, 4Q161, 1QM, and 1QSB) and the “Messiahs (or Messiah) of Aaron and Israel” (1QS, CD, 1QSa). Cho concludes that, despite the preeminence of the messiah of Aaron in cultic procedures, kingship and priesthood are regarded as complementary in the messiah texts from the Scrolls. Chapter 2 focuses on texts from the Pseudepigrapha including Ps. Sol. 17, the Son of Man in the Similitudes of Enoch, and the Messiah in 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. Cho claims this literature also takes it for granted that the Jerusalem priesthood would occupy a prominent place in the messianic kingdom, as the end-time royal ruler would bring about the purification of Zion.Cho argues in ch. 3, against recent critics, that Mark portrays the messiahship of Jesus in royal terms. According to Cho, the Markan Jesus fulfills the role of a royal messiah—he is the Son of God in the pattern of Ps 2 and the Israelite king in the patterns of Pss 109 and 117. Jesus in Mark does not achieve his goal by means of military force, but he is nonetheless the royal messiah, the one who brings about the kingdom of God.Chapter 4 examines three relevant passages in Mark 1–10 in which Mark portrays Jesus’s stance toward the Jerusalem priesthood prior to his climactic arrival into the Holy City. Cho begins with a preliminary discussion on Jesus and the chief priests in Mark. He then examines the Baptism of John (1:1–8), the healing of the leper and the witness to the priests (1:40–44), and the example of King David and Abiatha the High Priest (2:23–28). Despite the paucity of direct references to the temple establishment in Mark 1–10, there is an aggregation of passages that evince the hope for the priests to recognize the authority of Jesus.Chapter 5 analyzes five key passages in which Jesus interacts with the temple rulers in Jerusalem (Mark 11:15–18; 11:27–33; 12:1–12; 14:55–64; 15:33–39). According to Cho, what motivates Jesus’s clash with the priestly leaders is not his rejection of the Israelite worship but rather their obstinate refusal to acknowledge him. Mark tells us that it is because the priests repudiate the royal messiah that they, along with the temple itself, are doomed to face divine judgment. The priests could have secured their place in that vision, but, by rejecting the royal messiah, they put themselves outside the kingdom.In the concluding chapter, Cho draws some implications for the study of Jewish messianism in Mark and suggests the reasons Mark depicts Jesus vis-à-vis the Jerusalem priesthood the way he does. The book contains a bibliography of primary and secondary sources, an index of references, and an index of authors.Cho demonstrates a scholarly command of Second Temple Judaism and Markan studies. He engages in detailed exegesis of multiple passages. Cho also provides notes on the textual criticism of a passage. All translations from the ancient sources are done by Cho unless otherwise indicated. Cho considers and evaluates alternative points of view in the exegesis of passages. Some of Cho’s interpretations seem forced to converge with his thesis. As the author readily admits, Ps. Sol. 17 does not mention the priests as ruling alongside the king (p. 68). Cho also seems to suggest there were priests from Jerusalem present during the ministry of John the Baptist (p. 121) even though none are mentioned in the narrative (cf. Mark 1:5). In the final analysis, the author makes a plausible case for his thesis that Mark is concerned with the relationship between Jesus and Jerusalem priests. This book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of both messianic expectations in Second Temple Judaism and the Christology of Mark’s Gospel.

A Review of Continuous Relevance of the Traditional Methods of Dispute Resolution Mechanism in Southeast of Nigeria

Dispute Resolution method like culture is a way of life. Every method is special to people based on their value orientation and the desire to preserve social norms. Before the advent of colonial rule and regular court system to Nigeria, Southeast of Nigeria had a system of dispute resolution mechanism adjudged to be simple, inexpensive and friendly. Resolutions of disputes were handled by family heads, village heads, elders, kindred, age grade, council of elders, chiefs, chief priests, judicial council among others. The practice was very strong until it was watered-down by the advent of colonial administration and regular court system. The end product was the introduction of western methods of dispute resolution in Nigeria which have remained in constant battle with the tradition of the people Southeast of Nigeria. This work became imperative in view of strong calls to return to indigenous methods of dispute resolution in Southeast Nigeria. The aim of this is to ensure that parties to a dispute amicably resolve their differences outside the normal courtroom processes. This paper was commenced by investigating into various traditional means of dispute resolution in Southeast.

Trustee, State and Stakeholder: Hindu Temple Management in Contemporary India, 1957–2012

The literature on temple management in colonial and post-colonial India focusses on the dominant role of the trustees and the impact of state intervention. However, this article tries to grasp significance of the role of the stakeholders in the temple management as a bridge between the trustees and the state by analyzing the management history of the Rani Sati temple from 1957 to 2012. It will first explain the historical background of this temple and its managers, the Marwaris. The second section analyzes the form of the temple management from the 1950s to 1970s, and the judicial case against the traditional temple stakeholders, then chief priest and his family members. Because of the national controversy over sati in the late 1980s, public interest groups emerged as the new stakeholders of the temple. Third, this article clarifies the state’s intervention in the temple’s management according to the influence of new the stakeholders. By focussing on the role of the stakeholders, this article discloses how a state intervention can be initiated by the stakeholders and the possibility of transformation of the temple management.JEL: M14, K41, Z12

The <i>Uchi-Kakochō </i>内過去帳 by Nichijun 日順 Kept in the Nishiyama-Honmonji 西山本門寺

This paper focuses on the Uchi-Kakochō 内過去帳 (Internal Family Register of Deaths) stored in the Nishiyama-Honmonji 西山本門寺, compiled by its 18th chief priest Nichijun 日順, and examines its composition and content.

The Acceptance of the “<i>Ryōgan-Kechimyaku</i>” by Kenjuin Nichikan

Kenjuin Nichikan was the twenty six chief priest of the Taiseki-ji temple and is highly renowned in the history of the Nichiren sect as the organizer of Taiseki-ji ideology. Nichikan’s philosophy is based on the Ryōgan-Kechimyaku that Nichiren is said to have written. According to this, it is said that the Lotus Sūtra was only profitable for people as long as the Buddha lived. It is Nichiren who is considered to save people after Buddha’s death. With the development of this idea, there came the Nichiren Honbutsu ron, the idea that Nichiren himself is the Honzon.

“Korea National Prayer Breakfast” and Protestant Leaders’ Prophetic Consciousness during the Period of Military Dictatorship (1962–1987)

This paper illuminates the prophetic consciousness of Korean Protestant leaders by examining the “Korea National Prayer Breakfast” (Gukgajochangidohoe, 국가조찬기도회) that they hosted, particularly during the military regimes. In explaining the motivation for and intention of this special religious event in the political arena, most scholars have emphasized the Protestant leaders’ political ambition and their agendas to get the government support and expand their power in Korean society. However, we should take heed of the leaders’ religious aspirations to make the country righteous in God’s sight. They attempted to have a good influence on the inner circle of the military dictatorship, which some Christians regarded as an evil force. Though they preached to and prayed for the military regimes, their sermons were often unpleasant and challenging to the presidents and their associates. The Protestant leaders wanted to play the role of John the Baptist rebuking Herod Antipas rather than the compliant chief priests and scribes serving Herod the Great.

Appropriating Writing in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God

Abstract This paper examines the appropriation of writing as an integral part of the colonial encounter in Achebe’s Arrow of God (1964). Achebe’s hero (Ezeulu) realizes the pitfalls of orality in the confrontation with Europeans who are equipped with writing and its accompaniments. The coming of the West is therefore welcomed as Ezeulu quickly sides with them to empower himself against the contending forces of a disintegrating society. I argue that, as the Chief Priest of Ulu, Ezeulu is aware of the flaws in the oral nature of his religious pantheon and by sending his son Oduche to learn the art of writing he appropriates the technology of writing in order to prevail against his enemies and ineluctably allows his god’s surrender to the Christian God. This absorption into a greater pantheon is facilitated through the appropriation of writing and the sacred book.

Zechariah the model priest: Luke and the characterisation of ordinary priests in Luke-Acts

This article argues that Luke’s characterisation of Zechariah and the other ordinary priests in Acts 6:7 represents the most striking characterisation of the priesthood in the Gospels. This positive depiction, seen against the generally stereotypical image of chief priests in the Gospels, makes Zechariah’s image that of a model priest. Such characterisation demonstrates that despite Jewish hostility towards early Christianity, not all Jewish priests were against early Christianity. Through this, the article presents a fascinating and obscure dimension of the Jewish priesthood and, therefore, helps uncover the hidden voices in the gospels’ representation of Jewish priesthood.

Greekἀρχιερεύςin Gothic translation

AbstractOne of the most remarkable examples of variation in the Gothic Bible is the translation of the Greek compoundἀρχιερεύς‘chief priest’, accorded as many as seven different Gothic renderings. By examining the distribution of the Gothic examples and the contexts in which they occur, this paper challenges the traditional assumptions on the variation and argues that the variants are due to the exegetical and creative inputs of the translator. It is improbable that the variation was brought about under the influence of pre-Vulgate Latin and unlikely that the different renderings were introduced by putative post-Wulfilian revisers of the Gothic text. The findings call into question the traditional narrative of Wulfila’s single-handed translation of the Bible into Gothic.

The Dominance of Power and Mythological Representations in Girish Karnad's The Fire and the Rain

This Research paper Focuses on Dominance of power and mythological creatures in the The play The Fire and the Rain, Which occurs in a small region of India long ago that has experienced a lack of rain for ten years. The king proposed to propitiate the Gods through fire sacrifice. So that God would be pleased and send rain to the parched land. In this fire sacrifice Paravasu the son of a learned Brahmin Raibhya, was appointed as the Chief Priest. And the play deals with this appointment and the disappointments of certain other characters. One disappointment definitely with reference to the father going by ancient Indian tradition, a lot of emphasis was put on age seniority i.e. age has always been respected. Older people have always been considered wiser because of their wider experience. Going by this tradition the learned Raibhya should have been appointed as the chief Priest but for practical reasons longevity of life span, the King chose to appoint Paravasu, the elder son as the Chief Priest. This appointment had disappointed and agonized the senior. The high priest of the temple, Paravasu is eager to perform a ceremony to bring rain. the play The Fire and The Rain opens with the representative of an actor`s group expressing their desire to give a dramatic performance as a means of entertainment for the Gods. After much discussion the group is given permission to perform at the fire sacrifice.

Igbo Cosmology in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God: An Evaluative Analysis

The death, burial, and funeral of African literary icon professor Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) and the fifty years anniversary of the publication of Arrow of God (AG) have led to fresh interest in the works and times of this great African literary giant. Though many books and journal articles have already been written on various themes of his work, one must not forget that Achebe wrote most of his fictional novels from Igbo traditional background. Our interest in the present endeavour is to investigate how Arrow of God recreated the Igbo traditional cosmology in various plots and characters in the novel, as well as how relevant these are to the contemporary Igbo and black Africa in general. Our methodology lies in the thematic discussion and interpretation of the plots and characters in the novel. The study is concluded on the note that Achebe exposed inevitable consequences of the situation when those in position of power and authority forget the derivative source of their power (the people) and rather cling to individual and personal aggrandizement. This will definitely bring them down from grace to grass like the chief priest of Ulu deity in Arrow of God. The novel also reveals that there is indeed a great repository of oral pre-literate tradition which our forebears have left behind for us to transmit to the coming generation as well as us as moral-social pedestal and foundation for engineering new paradigm structures for internally motivated African development.

Social Conflicts in Arrow Of God: Lessons in Flexibility and Good Governance

Chinua Achebe’s second novel, Arrow of God , is concerned with the theme of conflict. According to Holman C. Hugh (1960), there are four basic levels of conflict: struggle between the protagonist and the antagonist, the protagonist with the society, struggle in the mind of the protagonist or the protagonist struggling with fate, destiny or force of nature. Conflicts in Arrow of God delineate three of these struggles in a concentration of events leading to the destruction of the social order in the community (Umuaro). However, the conflicts are linked with colonialism which is at the root of the conflict. In this view, the novel is to some extent, a protest against colonialism and the suffering that it brought to the colonised people generally and the Igbo specifically. Arising from the above, this paper draws some implications from the actions of the protagonist to reveal the connection between a leader’s flexibility and good governance as reflected in the life of the old chief priest (Ezeulu). The novel made its debut in 1964, symbolically marking a year since Nigeria’s adoption of Republican Constitution. The connection between Umuaro’s institution of Ulu and its priest as source of law and order with Nigeria’s adoption of the republican constitution is made obvious in this study. Through this, the nexus between literature and reality is thus reinforced. Keywords : Colonialism, Conflict, Myth, Protest, Governance, Republicanism

India’s Right Turn

India’s Right Turn

Book Review: Between Magisterium and Marketplace: A Constructive Account of Theology and the Church

Between Magisterium and Marketplace: A Constructive Account of Theology and the Church. By Robert C. Saler. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 2014. ix + 192 pages. $49.00 (cloth).By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? (Matt. 21:23). The question of the chief priests and elders to Jesus has persisted throughout two millennia of Christian history. Who authors / authorizes theology? Does the church stand as guarantor of the truth of any given theological assertion or can it be critiqued and found wanting by a theology it has not authorized? Is innovation possible in the realm of theology? If so, how is its veracity to be tested? Robert Saler s engaging book takes up these questions for the twenty-first century and offers an intellectually satisfying and eminently practical framework for authority within a church understood as an event of the gospel rather than a visible institution. To get to his conclusions he roots his argument in the differences between two ecclesiologies: polis (the church as an institution with a public) and (a diffusively spatialized event). Instead of championing one approach over the other, he points out the pros and cons of each but ultimately argues that the non-polis model speaks most directly to the current state of Christianity and its discontents.Saler lays the groundwork for his thesis in a review of the way innovation has moved from being a bad thing in theology (heresy) to an expected quality of any constructive theology (originality). He goes on to show the way these ideas play out in two great debates about the nature of the church, first between Thomas More and William Tyndale (an actual one) and then between John Henry Newman and Friedrich Schleiermacher (hypothesized). Instead of rehashing the doctrinal, social, or biographical issues at work in their differences, Saler susses out the ecclesiology operating beneath each man's reasoning, a choice that allows him to compare apples and apples. For instance, More and Tyndale each believe that the Bible and the Holy Spirit interact to authorize Christian belief, but More argues for the action of the Holy Spirit in the magisterium of the institutional church while Tyndale places it in the believer's heart and her inner conviction. Similarly, Newman and Schleiermacher each took the nineteenth century's undermining of Christianity's historic sources to heart as a call to creatively reengage them, but Newman could only bless innovations that developed organically from the church's teaching tradition, while Schleiermacher famously championed the virtuoso theologian who would author theology on his or her own while establishing its value over against worn-out doctrines. …