Religious Circles Research Articles

Some Reflections on Contemporary Existentialism

The word ‘existentialism’ has become something of a catchword in religious circles today, and one suspects that it is sometimes a substitute rather than a medium for thought. Most theological teachers must from time to time have received from a pupil an essay in which the words ‘existential’, ‘existentially’ and ‘existentialism’ appear to have been sprinkled from a pepper-pot over an exposition whose meaning would remain unchanged if these words were excised altogether. Nevertheless, usum non tollit abusus, and the following rather unsystematic remarks may perhaps be of some help in elucidating and evaluating a mode of thought and expression which has attracted the interest of some of the more profound, as well as of some of the more superficial, theological and philosophical writers of the present day.

Language and Theology: Some Critical Notes

There has been much talk in religious circles about the condition of theology. It is frequently charged that its language is no longer viable; and thus, if for no other reason, the theologian must seek a more contemporary idiom. Furthermore, with the need expressed over and over again for new translations of everything old, we seem to reinforce our claim that all of theology must be continually re-translated too. But words are one thing and concepts perhaps another. With the great enthusiasm today for a certain kind of linguistic study on the part of students of the Bible and with what looks like a strong growing interest in linguistic philosophy, there are bound to be a few confusions generated. These notes are intended to head them off.

Deuteronomy and the Jerusalem Cult Tradition

The traditio-historical approach to the Book of Deuteronomy has made it abundantly clear that its cultic and legal material does not fit into the distinctive traditions of Jerusalem, which are more characteristically represented by the Holiness Code, the Reconstruction Programme appended to the Book of Ezekiel (xl-xlviii), and the Priestly Document. Instead the background of Deuteronomy has been rightly sought in religious circles of the Northern Kingdom. This, so far as I am aware, was first suggested by C. F. BURNEY in 1918, in the introduction to his commentary on the Book of Judges 1), and has since been elaborated by a number of scholars, especially WELCH 2), BENTZEN 3) and VON RAD 4). The authors of Deuteronomy must be sought among the heirs of the religious traditions of the Northern Kingdom, either among disciples of the prophets, as BURNEY thought, or more probably, as BENTZEN and VON RAD argue, in Levitical circles. These may well have been associated with the sanctuaries of Shechem and Bethel, and have been dispossessed of their living by the religious changes introduced after the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom in 721 B.C. Ultimately their cultic and legal traditions would go back to the conditions and ideology of the amphictyony, so that Deuteronomy may justifiably be presented as a developed expression of the older Mosaic religion. In agreement with this several distinctive features of Deuteronomy have been thought to reflect the traditions of the amphictyony.

The Hebraic Character of Septuagint Greek

The object of a translator obviously is to render a document clearly into the vernacular. Upon reading the LXX, however, it is often difficult to obtain the sense without comparing the Hebrew text. In other words, there is a Hebraic cast to the language of the LXX. It is well-known that the Greek of the LXX is the koine, of which the colloquial element is amply illustrated from the papyri; yet we to admit that the language of the LXX is different in many ways from other koine Greek. In his Grammar of the Old Testament in Greek, THACKERAY maintains (p. 26) that the papyri have given the death-blow to, or at any rate rendered extremely improbable, the theory once held of the existence of a 'Jewish-Greek' in use in the Ghettos of Alexandria and other centres where Jews congregated. It certainly would be too bold to speak of a jargon, and yet we can hardly avoid speaking of a Jewish-Greek, which was in use in the synagogues and in religious circles. If the Jews who read the LXX did not understand Hebrew, we may infer at least that the translation made sense to them and that it was intelligible when it was read in the synagogue. In speaking of Jewish-Greek usage we may start with the use of the conjunction xoac. Thus in the paratactic construction in LXX Greek as in Hebrew, the conjunction 'and' may signify 'that' in the sense that it introduces what is really a substantive clause: Gen. iv 8, And it came to pass while they were in the field, (xocl aveaT)n Kotv) that Cain rose up ... . 1 Sam. x 5, And it shall come to pass..., (xao dc wav'TateL) that thou wilt meet .... 2 Sam. vii 12, And it shall come to pass (xocl acraxL) when thy days are fulfilled and thou sleepest with thy fathers, (xcal ava7caT-7o TO (TTripta aou C-E&a ai) that I will raise thy seed after thee. 1 Kings 1 21, And it will come to pass..., (xaL eaotof t dy?o xal E:aX,o?xov 6 ur6c 6tou &|41apcx>?oo ) that I and my son Solomon shall be offenders.

Vladimir Soloviev and the Western World

T THE close of the nineteenth century a Russian thinker expressed in his writings'a dynamic religious teaching; he was the promoter of contemporary Russian Orthodox theology and the forerunner of the ecumenic movement, which aims to bring together all Christian churches and religious circles of the East and the West. Such was indeed the great dream of this philosopher, whose name was Vladimir Soloviev, and who, with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, was the bearer of Russia's highest spiritual ideal. One of Vladimir Soloviev's most remarkable traits was to have

Is Unbelief out of Date?

HAT the deep antipathy between science and theology, often denied of late, remains a fact is seen in the eagerness with which religious circles have seized upon reports of profound changes taking place in science and of a new modesty, or even perplexity, on the part of scientists in the matter of ultimate explanation of phenomena. With ardent anticipation many religionists accept the rumor that natural laws as rigid uniformities are coming under suspicion, that at least within the atom there may be indeterminate events, and that mechanism is now admitted to be inadequate as an explanation of the universe. Enormous conclusions are forthwith drawn from what is felt, if not stated, to be a defeat of the enemy, science. It is straightway taken for granted that recent changes in science mean nothing less than a wide-open door for the return of supernaturalism. It is therefore worth while to inquire whether in fact unbelief is out of date. It is a familiar bit of strategy in debating to level at the opponent the accusation under which one's own position commonly suffers. Have you been attacked in the name of science? Charge your opponent with being unscientific. Are your tenets commonly called bigoted? Accuse your detractors of prejudice. And especially, if you have borne the stigma of being behind the times, rejoice if some turn of fortune enables you to charge that your opponent is sticking to a nineteenth-century point of view, and that the latest word of modernity is on your side. The relish of thus turning the tables is quite evident in much recent theological argument, to the effect that naturalism has now been

The Education of Negro Ministers

It is not surprising that the Negro minister whose chief function it was to deal with religion in the realm of the supernatural would be the first to emerge in the Negro group and the first to achieve acceptance by the group. Nor is it strange that slave masters would permit a degree of freedom in religion before they would allow it to exist in social and economic areas. Religion is non-competitive. Frequently it does not deal with social and economic needs. Often it projects its hopes in a distant future or dreams of a heaven where the values sought here, but unattained, will be realized in some far-off glory land. The early religion of the Negro was, possibly of necessity, largely of this sort; so it was much easier for the Negro to achieve freedom in religion than it was for him to acquire it in other fields. It is probably true that leaders in great numbers, in social, economic and political areas, would have never been permitted to rise as rapidly as they were allowed to rise in religious circles. Since his religion was non-competitive and since the values sought were not directly those of this world, the Negro was allowed more freedom in church and religion. In a sense, nothing is more vitally a part of man than his religion. It is far more difficult to keep a man, though a slave, from expressing and practicing his religion than it is to prohibit him from expressing and exercising his social and political views. Religion is as close to man as breathing. Then, too, there was the element of fear. The Negro who said God had called him to preach and demonstrated it with convincing speech would naturally make an impression upon a few slave owners. There is a traditional belief that it is a dangerous thing to tamper with a man of God. Even since emancipation some whites have feared the Negro's influence with God. It is reported, and on good authority, that a prominent judge in an outstanding Southern town said on one occasion that he stood in fear of the prayers of C. T. Walker more than he did all the other forces in that state combined. Carter G. Woodson in The History of the Negro Church has pointed out that many decades prior to emancipation powerful Negro preachers impressed the whites by their eloquent speech which was an asset to the Negro in his quest for freedom. As previously stated, the Negro minister was the first to be accepted by the Negro group; primarily because of the nature of religion, partly because the minister was the first to be tolerated in appreciable numbers by the slave owners and because he

The Family

The most important influence in American life during 1931 has been the depression. It has revealed the strength of the family, multiplied its problems, and led to readjustment. The educational activities related to marriage and family interests have continued to increase. The most important development has been in the field of home economics in public schools and colleges. In religious circles divorce, birth control, and education for marriage and parenthood have received most interest and discussion.

Stepbrothers: A Study of Prejudice and Convention

W 5 THEN you say men are brothers, what do you mean? Some persons imply that only native Protestants of Nordic stock are white men, and restrict fraternal relations to family, lodge and religious circles. In such cases, brotherhood connotes intimate association with nice people, like ourselves. Liberal democrats of Jeffersonian strain assert that all men are inherently equal, and should enjoy similar rights. But the term is usually limited to legal privileges. Social and economic opportunities are often ignored. In this case, 'fraternity means equal liberty to act within bounds established by the state. Apparently there are diverse interpretations of brotherhood. So it is interesting and important to understand what is in the minds of people who discuss the term. As a means of estimating the inclusiveness of this idea, we have measured the combined judgments of a hundred university students concerning the acceptance of certain peculiar persons in significant social relations. I Table I shows the general attitude of exclusiveness toward all the characters in each of these relationships, and also the bias toward each of the characters in al1 the relationships. Evidently marriage is considered the most narrowly restricted association; whereas church and state are regarded as very wide in their inclusion. Beggars and libertines would be debarred from more than half these social contacts; foreign born whites and illegitimate offspring would be accepted in more than seven-eighths of all relations. Apparently the scope of equal rights broadens more rapidly with the order of persons than with the order of associations. It is noteworthy that the proportion of persons accepted as inferiors increases in the wider associations, while it decreases among the more acceptable characters. The increase of superiors recognized among the latter may help explain this tendency. Other interesting trends of opinion are disclosed by the separate items for each character in every association; but typographic difficulties prevent our spreading all the subclasses before the reader. We are here concerned more with general slants of judgment that seem to affect group attitudes. Chart I shows the percentile distribu1 The Sociology Department in the University of Washington offers a course on Fraternity. In order to discover what limits of sympathy and toleration the students have fixed in their minds, a questionnaire is given them early in the course. It contains a list of characters marked by some one social disability; and also a number of relationships in which such persons might bc included. The students are asked to indicate frankly whether or not they would wish to accept these persons as superiors, equals or inferiors in the associations mentioned. No names are signed; but to aid in interpreting responses, data concerning sex, age, parentage and residence, as well as academic, economic, political and religious affiliation are requested. This year wc extended the scope of inquiry, by inviting other advanced classes in sociology and psychology to express their preferences. From about two hundred replies, one hundred reasonably complete sheets werc taken as samples of local student opinions and atritudes concerning fraternity. Men and women each contributed half the number, so that discrepancies due to sex might be compensated. By rcstricting the treatment to ten characters in ten social relations, the statistical work was simplified. Thanks are due to my pupils, Miss Ryan and Mr. Wcstby, for preliminary tabulation of data.