Religious Logic Research Articles

Anti- Judaic polemics in the Polish sixteenth- century printed books

The author analyzes the features and main directions of the discussion, within the framework of which the Jewish question arose in Polish printed texts throughout the 16th century. Both spiritual and secular authors of this period used religious logic, argumentation and motivation in the narratives of the studied works, which testifies not to the “anti-Jewish” or “anti-Semitic” (ethnogenetic) nature of the polemics, but to its anti-Judaic property. The image of the Jew is important for Polish literature of the Early Modern Period, and the Jewish question occupied a significant place, in particular, in the printed embodiment of this literature (the works of S. F. Klonowicz, M. Rej, P. Skarga, M. Bielski, etc.). However, printed texts that directly appealed to the Jewish readership with proselytizing purposes are quite few in number: the majority of anti-Judaic works published in the 16th century in the territory of the Polish Kingdom were not polemicized with Jews, but with opponents of another Christian confession (pamphlets of Catholics against Protestants, Lutherans and Calvinists against anti-Trinitarians, and so on; the exception is the discussion of M. Czechowicz with Jakub of Bełżyce). Such texts include the works of B. Herbest, J. Górski, W. Neothebel, Grzegorz Pawel of Brzeziny and others. Thus, the main expression of the Jewish question in the Polish press of the 16th century was the intra-Christian polemic, within which the appeal to Judaism either directly arose from the issue under discussion (such as the question of the relationship between the Old and New Testaments), or was used as a rhetorical device in criticizing the opponent.

Committed Actors, Institutional Complexity, and Pathways to Compromise: The Emergence of Islamic Banking in Germany

AbstractThe formation of the first Islamic bank in Germany in 2015 came with considerable tensions at the interface of the religious logic, on the one hand, and the state logic, on the other. With the Islamic religious logic being novel to the German field of banking and finance, innovative templates were established to deal effectively with the resulting tensions and conflicts. Drawing on qualitative data, we investigate how the bank, with its strong commitment to Islam, navigated such novel institutional complexity and the challenges stemming from the jurisdictional overlap. We identify four distinct compromise mechanisms in this institutionally complex situation, in which a committed actor prioritizes one logic over another: explaining, convincing, conceding and suspending. Importantly, as options, these mechanisms are situated in a cascading order of preference for the focal actor. More generally, our research posits that in any encounter between institutional logics in which the specific instantiation of a logic stems from a foreign interinstitutional system, the resulting novel institutional complexity may necessitate the development of innovative templates which, at the same time, may imply ‘stretching’ an institutional logic and, in consequence, impact the compatibility of its jurisdictional claims.

The Paradox of Exchange: Institutional Asymmetry and the Limitations of Religious United Front Work across the Taiwan Strait

This article investigates how cross-strait distinction in religious governance affects Beijing’s united front work in Taiwan’s popular religious community. Due to shared spiritual lineages, Taiwanese temples are considered especially receptive to Chinese influence. Based on fieldwork and in-depth interview data collected over the years between 2013 and 2024, this article argues that institutional asymmetry has resulted in constant challenges limiting the effectiveness of cross-strait religious united front work. First, the centralised Chinese politico-religious order has limited the agency of the Chinese religious establishment in prioritising the CCP’s political imperative over religious logic. Second, decentralised Taiwanese temples have created coordination problems for cross-strait brokers whose agendas are not always aligned with Beijing. Finally, Taiwanese temple leaders abiding by communal religious traditions have deployed pragmatic coping strategies to sideline Beijing’s political intentions. Hence, Beijing’s efforts to initiate and repurpose cross-strait religious exchanges as instances of unity have paradoxically generated conflicting narratives within the Taiwanese popular religious community.

Contributing to the sustainable development goals as normative and instrumental acts: The role of Buddhist religious logics in family SMEs

Prior studies suggest that religion matters in the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in SMEs. This study draws on an institutional logics perspective to illuminate a hitherto underexplored interplay of multiple logics that in combination influence family SMEs when pursuing CSR. Based on a qualitative study of family SMEs in Northern Vietnam, this article aims to deepen our understanding of how constellations of institutional logics entwine to influence their CSR initiatives, in particular where these initiatives include commitments to contributing towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We find that when a religious logic is present there is a shift away from the dominance of a family logic and a turn towards a community logic. Further, whereas non-religious family SMEs act instrumentally towards CSR initiatives, seeking benefits primarily for the family and the firm, a religious logic introduces a normative character to the market logic, whereby economic benefits are construed as resources to support local communities rather than the family. Implications for theory, practice and further research are offered.

2022 election and the intersection of religious identity and Brazilian political identity

This article aim sto examine the intersections between Evangelical religious identity and Bolsonarist political and ideological identity in light of the events that have taken place during the Bolsonaro government and, mainly, during the 2022 elections. The hypothesis examined here is that, through the political leadership of Bolsonarism and some evangelical leaders, there has been an attempt to transform Evangelical identity into Bolsonarist ideological identity. We identify this attempt through the communication of Jair Bolsonaro's campaign, as well as through the speeches of religious leaders that were inserted into the logic of what has been called "spiritual warfare" and "demonization of the adversary." Additionally, we argue that the electoral campaign with in the2 churches took on a religious logic in 2022. However, we identify that this attempt, despite yielding electoral results, did not make Evangelical identity also become Bolsonarist ideological identity.

When monetary profit maximization does not rule: historical analysis of English Quakers and the role of religious institutional logic

Purpose This paper examines the limitations on monetary profit maximization assumption in Quaker businesses, historically one of England's most successful set of business people. This view challenges the central theoretical assumptions of management and strategic entrepreneurship by demonstrating the influence of religious institutional logic over the profit maximization drive in business. Design/methodology/approach Using a historical analysis of Quaker religious institutional logic, the authors demonstrate how Quakers’ religious logic of simplicity in lifestyle and equality of all people led, in turn, to actions by Quaker businesses that limited the monetary profit maximizing for their businesses. Such actions are consistent with the Quakers’ belief that linked their business activities to their religious beliefs. Findings The present analysis shows that English Quakers had specific beliefs, enforced by the group’s willingness to expel members that limited monetary profit maximization among Quaker businesses. Thus, the authors challenge the typical assumptions of business scholars by demonstrating that business entities can succeed economically even when they do not embrace profit maximization as their core element. This paradoxical finding has the potential to significantly expand management and strategic entrepreneurship theory. Originality/value The authors discuss how religious logic can replace profit maximization as a foundation for business. This insight enriches not only the understanding of business but also of religious institutional logic. Finally, the authors address the call for greater use of historical analysis in the management literature.

Постметафизическое мышление, экклезиология и вопрос уникальности богословского языка

The article compares two selected ecclesiological concepts of the twentieth cen­tury (bishop Damascene Tsedrik and metropolitan Anthony Bloom) with the cur­rents of thought of postmetaphysical theology, namely the movement of weak theology (G. Vattimo, J. Caputo). Firstly, a special study is required to define the object of consideration – a set of ecclesiological programmes of the twentieth century, in key points consonant with the general principles of contemporary postmetaphysical thinking; this task requires, on the one hand, identification of specific features of weak theology in its authentic variants, on the other hand, establishment of a wider (both chronological and with respect to different schools and movements) space of thought that possesses the highlighted fea­tures. Secondly, the question of the uniqueness of each replica under considera­tion arises: to what extent they are conditioned by “external” factors (an object­ive historical situation or orientation towards certain philosophical tendencies) and to what extent they remain a specifically theological statement, reflecting a particular situation in a specific religious logic. The main part offers a detailed examination of the ecclesiological views of Bishop Damascene and Metropolitan Anthony (which are chosen as two distinctive examples of a wider range of typ­ically similar positions). As a result, it is possible to identify common for them content and methodological features, which at the same time are consonant with the main points of postmetaphysical theology. The conclusions are that 1) there is a wider space of reaction to the cultural situation of criticism of modernity, of which the weak theology movement is a part, 2) in the considered concepts there is a proper theology, not reducible to the actual historical and ideological context, and 3) sacramental aspects of the presented ecclesiologies can be inter­preted in the spirit of postmodern poetics of Event.

Постметафизическое мышление, экклезиология и вопрос уникальности богословского языка Часть II

The article compares two selected ecclesiological concepts of the twentieth cen­tury (bishop Damascene Tsedrik and metropolitan Anthony Bloom) with the cur­rents of thought of postmetaphysical theology, namely the movement of weak theology (G. Vattimo, J. Caputo). Firstly, a special study is required to define the object of consideration – a set of ecclesiological programmes of the twentieth century, in key points consonant with the general principles of contemporary postmetaphysical thinking; this task requires, on the one hand, identification of specific features of weak theology in its authentic variants, on the other hand, establishment of a wider (both chronological and with respect to different schools and movements) space of thought that possesses the highlighted fea­tures. Secondly, the question of the uniqueness of each replica under considera­tion arises: to what extent they are conditioned by “external” factors (an object­ive historical situation or orientation towards certain philosophical tendencies) and to what extent they remain a specifically theological statement, reflecting a particular situation in a specific religious logic. The main part offers a detailed examination of the ecclesiological views of Bishop Damascene and Metropolitan Anthony (which are chosen as two distinctive examples of a wider range of typ­ically similar positions). As a result, it is possible to identify common for them content and methodological features, which at the same time are consonant with the main points of postmetaphysical theology. The conclusions are that 1) there is a wider space of reaction to the cultural situation of criticism of modernity, of which the weak theology movement is a part, 2) in the considered concepts there is a proper theology, not reducible to the actual historical and ideological context, and 3) sacramental aspects of the presented ecclesiologies can be inter­preted in the spirit of postmodern poetics of Event.

Muslim community-based health organisations: a hybrid of voluntary, religious and healthcare logics

Muslim community-based health organisations (MCBHOs) represent a new wave of non-profit organisations outside of mosques and Islamic community centres. In this article we examine MBCHOs’ core management competencies because they are instantiations of institutional logics, which result in different forms of organisational hybridity within the third sector. Theoretically, we focus on the instantiations that are associated with a societal institutional logic (religion) and two organisational field logics (voluntarism and healthcare). Empirically, we draw from a survey, maps, tax filings and strategic plans. We observed convergences in financial and human resource management and divergences in community engagement and patient assessment among 110 MCBHOs located in the United States. Volunteering and patient care hold the meaning of faith. Our findings suggest that most MCBHOs resemble an assimilated hybrid, characterised by managerial practices that adhere to the core logics of healthcare and voluntarism, with traces of the Islamic religious logic. We thus introduce the concept of ‘faithwashing’.

Mermaids are Birds

In a classic study of Nuer religion, British Social Anthropologist E.E. Evans-Pritchard explored the problem of religious symbols embedded in the Nuer metaphor ‘twins are birds’. In this paper we present a study concluding that not twins but mermaids are birds. At least this is how they semantically behave in the lexical habitat of the influential Danish romanticist and nineteenth-century poet, pastor, and politician N.F.S. Grundtvig (178 3-1872). As in the Nuer case the cause for this behavior is to be found in the symbolic structures of a religious logic. The study consists of word embeddings plotting the bestiary arising from Grundtvig’s 1068 publications in their tokenized, lemmatized, ‘algorithmifyed’ avatar. Our interest here lies with exploring how non-human animals are displayed in a material that have left a dual cultural and religious imprint in Denmark. Anticipating the conclusion: pigs are food; mermaids are birds.

Africa and the challenges of religious foundationalism: Thinking on Wole Soyinka’s option

The super-imposition of extraneous religious logic has caused serious problems in Africa. Though religion is a strong force to be reckoned with in national development, it has proved to be problematic in a nation like Nigeria. Dangerous fanaticisms, sectarian violence, violation of human rights are some of the problems that emanate from a wrong episteme of religion. Beyond this, there is a foundationalist epistemology where adherents of various denominations push up the epistemic capacity of their religion as the ultimate standard of religious rationality. This has polarized humanity to such an extent that religious inclinations form a basis for the definition and recognition of the being of others. If John shares the same faith with James, then James is considered a brother and a human, but if they share a different faith, the question of humanity and rationality automatically sets in. This paper critically explores the concept of religion, foundationalism and generates a philosophical discourse that can enhance a mindset of tolerance. It explores the view of Wole Soyinka in his essay, The Credo of Being and Nothingness and asserts that the humanistic value in the African Traditional Religion could be a template for other religions and a feature to be propagated.

What’s Love Got to Do with It? Religion and the Multiple Logic Tensions of Social Enterprise

This paper develops a model that advances our understanding of how social enterprises respond to the complexity of a constellation of multiple, often competing goals, referred to here as institutional logics. Introducing a religious logic to the recognised social welfare and commercial logics of social enterprise, this model builds on a religious worldview foundation and incorporates religion-inspired altruistic love and non-transactional giving as its scaffolding. A comparative case study of faith-based, faith-inspired and secular organisations located in Southeast Asia demonstrates the origin and applicability of the model. Findings highlight that religion serves as an overarching logic, or “metalogic”, and frame of reference. Faith-based social enterprises use this religious logic to redefine perceived paradoxical tensions between the social welfare and commercial objectives they embody. Study results advance knowledge on organisational responses to multiple logic prescriptions, underscores the influence of religion, altruistic love and giving on organisational behaviour and contributes to the scarce literature on faith-based social enterprises.

How Established Organizations Combine Logics to Reconfigure Resources and Adapt to Marketization: A Case Study of Brazilian Religious Schools

Marketization—the entry of the market logic into a field originally insulated from it—is a transformative force that has reshaped many fields, including education, health care, the arts, and religion. Marketization brings a unique set of challenges for established organizations: it opens a field to market-style mechanisms of consumer choice and competition, which undermines the legitimacy of established organizations, and it creates contradictory demands for organizational actions. How can established organizations adapt to marketization? To answer this question, the authors study the adaptation of five established religious schools to the marketization of education in Brazil. They develop the novel hybridization strategy of nested coupling and explain that established organizations respond to marketization by balancing competing demands for differentiation and conformity. The authors show how religious schools nest the market logic within the religious logic by reconfiguring their resources to conform to market demands while differentiating themselves through their religious orientation. Nested coupling provides a novel strategic approach for established organizations in marketized or marketizing fields, such as hospitals, museums, and schools, to capitalize on a logic that preexists marketization and to create a unique competitive positioning in the market.

ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF TWO MYTHICAL FRAGMENTS DESCRIBED BY MATTHAEUS PRAETORIUS IN DELICIAE PRUSSICAE OR PRUSSIAN THEATER: RETOLD, RECORDED OR FICTIONAL?

The analysis of the pre-Christian Baltic culture, in the centre of which there is a pagan religious logic, reveals the issue of credibility of its records. Therefore, the article attempts to review and to verify mythical material directly related to fir tree and pear tree, described by Matthaeus Praetorius (Matthäus Prätorius) in his manuscript “Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian Theater” (Deliciae Prussicae, oder Preussische Schaubühne, the end of the17th century). In parallel with this, the article discusses interpretations by more significant researchers of the 19th–21st centuries who were concerned with Praetorius’s mythical material on fir tree and pear tree. The context of the researches of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries has shown that the researchers of earlier periods did not consider the question of reliability of Matthaeus Praetorius’s mythical material. The present research also allowed to trace the varying tendency of reliability of Praetorius’s described mythical data directly related to fir tree and pear tree.

MATO PRETORIJAUS UŽFIKSUOTOS MITOLOGINĖS MEDŽIAGOS APIE ŠVENTES VERIFIKACIJA: SĖJA

In analyzing the pre-Christian culture of the Balts, the nucleus of which consists of pagan religious logic and mythology, there is a problem of the value and reliability of the recorded writings about it. The article reviews and verifies the mythological information having a direct relation to the sowing celebration that Matthaeus Praetorius (Matthäus Prätorius) recorded in the source “Deliciae Prussicae oder Preussische Schaubühne” (Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian Theater, late 17th century). In succession, the paper discusses the interpretations made by the 20th to 21st century researchers who analyzed the mythological material recorded by Praetorius about the sowing festival. The context of the research made in 20th to 21st century has revealed that the scholars of earlier periods gave different assessments to the reliability of the aforementioned mythological material provided by Praetorius: they did not question authenticity, but considered the information to be quite reliable, and used it in their works; the scholars sensed the problem of authenticity of the mythological material, but hesitated to solve it; the scholars noticed the authenticity problem and more or less tried to solve it. The analysis suggests to determine that the mythological material related directly to the sowing festival recorded by Praetorius is to be considered authentic and reliable.

Evangelical coaching: New Age elements in Brazilian Charismatic Christianity

rom the 1990s on, the New Age ceased to be visible only among the exclusivist groups of salvific character, typical of the 1970s. Its values began to be disseminated among the broader culture through what was called the New Age ethos. This article seeks to show how these values are seen even among Brazilian Pentecostal Denominations. To this end, we adopt life coaching as an object. We briefly return to the history of life coaching and its relation to the New Age. We then explain how the spread of the New Age ethos into the broader society led to the incorporation of some of the New Age values and practices into even institutionalized forms of religion. Finally, we discuss how life coaching became incorporated into the plethora of religious goods also offered by Brazilian Charismatic Christians, and how Evangelical coaching maintains much of the religious logic of the New Age itself.

PERGESERAN PARADIGMA AGAMA DAN SAINS DI TENGAH PANDEMIK COVID DALAM KACA MATA THOMAS KUHN

Nowadays, Corona Virus (Covid-19) affects the inside of fundamental aspects of society. An effort to preventing the pandemic undertaken by all societies. For instance, social and physical distancing, wearing a masker, hand washing is the most important action to prevent viruses. A massive campaign to prevent COVID-19 intensively expressed by the public, instead of affected by the prevention of act is the religious issues, logic, and science. One obvious example is the prohibition on the use of places of worship, except Mall, public shopping is open. The case that occurs in Indonesia caused a social dilemma in Moslems or other believers in contrast to the government policies. Campaign to the Covid-19 prevention led by the government to present an imbalance between policies and public rules. This research tries to examine the theory by which two concepts which is logic opportunity structure and mass structure mobilization proposed by Thomas Kuhn. Therefore, the model of social mobilization and government policies is an object to get the proper description to results in an obvious solution.

Competing Logics in the Islamic Funds Industry: A Market Logic Versus a Religious Logic

In contrast to the conventional fund management industry with a profit-oriented logic based on risk and return, ethical and faith-based funds should follow the religious principles of their investment-style philosophy. Islamic funds should obey the theological teachings of the primary sources of Islam, the Quran and Sunnah, as stakeholders expect these religious teachings to influence the investment decisions of fund managers. In practice, Islamic fund managers use Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI)’s screening criteria, based on secondary sources of Islam, which allow investments that are only partially halal (allowable) to be included in their portfolios. This study finds that a more religious logic in screening practices, although impairing diversification, does not necessarily harm performance. Thus, Islamic investment funds, and the wider ethical fund management industry, should, and could, adopt stricter screening criteria that match their investment mandates and bring more ethical business practices to the industry.

Disenchanting Heaven: Interfaith Debate, Sacral Kingship, and Conversion to Islam in the Mongol Empire, 1260–1335*

Abstract Historians examine the Mongol practice of holding interfaith court debates either with regard to the efforts of religious representatives to convert the khans, or as emblematic of the Mongols’ religious pluralism. However, staging interfaith debates had other religious and political purposes as well. The debate was an arena for the religiously and ideologically charged performance of the Mongol khan’s own divine-like wisdom and model of sacral, deified kingship. From the Mongol perspective, the objectives of the debate were not only different from those of its religious participants, but the debate further represented an altogether different mode of religiosity. Situating the debate in the context of the Mongol religious world view, this article proceeds to examine it in the Mongol court in medieval Iran (the Ilkhanate) shortly after its conversion to Islam. Muslim interlocutors there identified and exploited the Mongols’ religious logic to reinforce the Mongol rulers’ conversion. They transformed the debate into a forum for experimenting with a new synthesis of Mongol and Muslim, divinized and righteous, kingship. The continuous role of the debate in the performance of sacral monarchy among the Mongols’ successors, especially the Mughals in early modern India, testifies to the enduring impact of Mongol religiosity on the Islamic world.

VERIFICATION OF MYTHOLOGICAL MATERIAL ON CELEBRATIONS AS RECORDED BY MATTHAEUS PRAETORIUS: THE CELEBRATION OF GRAIN HARVEST (SAMBORIOS / SĄBARIOS)

In analyzing the pre-Christian culture of the Balts, the nucleus of which consists of pagan religious logic and mythology, there is a problem of the value and reliability of the recorded writings concerning the forner. The following article reviews and verifies the mythological information that directly relates to the grain harvest ( Samborios / Sąbarios) celebration recorded by Matthaeus Praetorius ( Matthäus Prätorius) in «Deliciae Prussicae oder Preussische Schaubühne» ( Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian Theater, late 17th century). Thereon, the paper discusses the interpretations made by the researchers in the 19th – 21st centuries who analyzed the mythological material on grain harvest recorded by Praetorius ( Samborios/Sąbarios ). The context of the research conducted in the 19th – 21st centuries reveals that the scholars of earlier periods gave different assessments to the reliability of the aforementioned mythological material provided by Praetorius: they did not question authenticity, but considered the information to be quite reliable, and used it in their works; the scholars noticed the authenticity problem, but did not try to solve it. The analysis suggests to determine whether the mythological material related directly to the grain harvest (Samborios /Sąbarios) celebration recorded by Praetorius is to be considered authentic and reliable.