Religious Polemics Research Articles

The Prophet Problem

Because scripture represents the direct word of God, it is the most sacred source for authority in the scriptural monotheisms. Scripture is conveyed to humanity through extraordinary individuals known as prophets. But if the purported prophet is a false prophet, then the conveyed message is false, resulting in the collapse of the structure upon which religious authority rests. This problem was recognized in the Hebrew Bible, and accusations of flawed prophecy and deceitful prophets figure prominently in relations between the scriptural monotheisms. Jews do not accept the authenticity of Jesus’ role as messiah (and prophet) in the NT, and Jews and Christians do not accept the authenticity of Muhammad’s role as prophet in the Qur’an. But the rejection is unidirectional. As a rule, established religions cannot accept new prophets, while new religions accept the prophets that lived before, though with certain qualifications. Each of the three classic scriptural monotheisms also declares an “end” to prophecy after the canonization of its scripture. Yet despite these deadlines, each acknowledges that God could nevertheless send another prophet, leaving open the wild card for new prophecy, new revelation, and even new religion; within each of the classic scriptural monotheisms, individuals arose after the canonization of scripture who were deemed by many to be prophets or something “like” prophets. This essay presents a preliminary phenomenology of prophethood, around which much of the religious polemics between the scriptural monotheisms are constructed.

Gender, Rumor, and Religious Polemic in Louis XIV's France

Abstract The Chinese Rites Controversy was one of the most contentious issues in the French church at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Nourished with rumors from China, it was predominantly a debate among men, with the exception of an extraordinary intervention by a woman, Paule Payen de Lionne, in 1701. In a public letter to the Jesuits, she used a dispute concerning her missionary son Artus de Lionne to launch a fierce critique of what she saw as the Society of Jesus's toleration of Chinese idolatry. Conscious that many would see it as inappropriate for a woman to discuss a matter of ecclesiastical controversy, Payen nonetheless filled the letter with references to her sex. This article proposes that she strategically invoked tropes of feminine weakness and intellectual inadequacy as rhetorical tools to contrast the simple purity (and thus truth) of her perspective with the verbose artifice of the Jesuits. At the same time, the register of aggression in her letter forces historians to reconsider the view that women engaging in querelles were obliged to adopt a less confrontational tone than men. This episode shows how women could use femininity to carve out a unique voice in an otherwise male-dominated public sphere.

THE CASE OF “DESAK MADE DARMAWATI” AS A REFLECTION OF LEARNING IN CULTIVATION OF MODERATE PEOPLE IN INDONESIA

Diversity has become a national identity that shows Indonesia's image as a country that respects differences. However, this has also become one of the triggers for conflict of disharmony in the form of cases of religious blasphemy. The “Desak Made Darmawati” case is an example of a religious blasphemy conflict in Indonesia. Through a viral video circulating on social media, he shows himself presenting statements that tend to corner Hindu religious beliefs. Reflecting on these problems, researchers are interested in studying more deeply the implications of the "Desak Made Darmawati" case as a reflection of learning in cultivating moderate people in Indonesia. In this research, several problem formulations were formulated, namely related to the chronology of cases, the urgency of religious moderation in Indonesia, as well as reflections on learning from the "Desak Made Darmawati" case. This research uses a qualitative type of research with a case study approach, followed by using data collection methods, namely library or literature studies, as well as Miles and Huberman's interactive data analysis techniques. The results of this research show that the implementation of religious moderation is still an urgent matter to prevent religious polemics. On this basis, the case of "Desak Made Darmawati" can provide a reflection of learning for religious people to become moderate people, especially from a humanist, religious and legal perspective in Indonesia.

Mikołaj Rej and his “Kupiec” and Religious Topics on the Polish Stage

The present paper focuses on the Polish religious polemic during the first phase of the Reformation period. Today we know only a few plays from this period. Fortunately, they do allow us, nevertheless, to analyse the main topic and to reconstruct their hypothetical staging.

A Religious Polemic in Galenic Garb? Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq's (d. 260/873) Kitāb al-Karma ( On Vines ) and his Encomium of Wine

Abstract: Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq (192–260/808–873) is mainly known as a translator of Greek works into Arabic, but he was also a prolific author. This article focuses on one of his least known treatises, On Vines ( Kitāb al-Karma ), which still remains unedited. On Vines is an eclectic and unclassifiable work that combines different genres. It has been traditionally considered a dietetic treatise on the properties of vine products inserted in the Galenic tradition. But On Vines is also a disputation on the excellence of trees written in the form of questions and answers and, ultimately, a polemical encomium of wine that relies for its effect on the opinions of ancient Greek authorities such as Homer, Diogenes, Aristotle, Socrates or Theophrastus. In this article I analyse the structure of the treatise, identifiying its generic affiliations and the rhetorical strategies deployed by Ḥunayn. I discuss specially the long sections on wine and Ḥunayn's defence of the virtues of this drink against its critics, arguing that the structure of the treatise is also determined by the religious implications of praising wine in an Islamic environment.

Liberated, But Not Free

Abstract Polemic has a deeply polemical history. It has, on occasion, been dismissed as a philosophical dead-end, but its sociological salience has more often been missed. In this article, I take up the one-sided religious polemics undertaken in the fourteenth century by the Mādhva Vedāntins against the Advaita Vedāntins. I argue that religious polemics, besides being integral to the consolidation of group identity and fostering solidarity, shed light on the issues that are of acute import to the group advancing them. In these engagements, silence can convey as much as sustained engagement, revealing the asymmetries of power that obtain between presumed rival institutions.

Contestation and Polemic of Islamic Thought in Indonesia

This study seeks to uncover the intricacies of Islamic thought and the issues that lead to religious polemics in Indonesia. Utilizing a narrative ethnographic approach, this study examines the polemic of religious thought among the “New Islam” groups, namely Jama'ah Tabligh, Wahdah Islamiyah, and former Hizbut Tahrir, as well as “old Islam” (PMII and Ansor) by taking the Gorontalo context. which was carried out in July-September 2021. within the context of Gorontalo. Data were collected from July to September 2021. The findings indicate that the polemics among Muslims primarily revolve around the topic of khilafiyah, such as practices like tahlilan and the issue of wishing Merry Christmas, and extend to ideological matters. This polemic occurs among Muslims affiliated with groups or organizations that possess an epistemological basis of the extreme right (fundamental) in contrast to those with a left (liberal) epistemological basis.

Nisula, Timo, Anni Maria Laato, and Pablo Irizar, eds. Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late Antiquity: Boundaries, Conversions, and Persuasion

Nisula, Timo, Anni Maria Laato, and Pablo Irizar, eds. Religious Polemics and Encounters in Late Antiquity: Boundaries, Conversions, and Persuasion

Defending the Faith: Global Histories of Apologetics and Politics in the Twentieth Century, ed. Todd H. Weir and Hugh McLeod

An international set of scholars has produced a collection of studies of twentieth-century religious (and anti-religious) polemic. Many of the papers were originally delivered at a conference in London in 2017, but others have been added to ensure a varied coverage. Although there are backward and forward glances, the contributions concentrate on the years between 1917 and 1990 when the state-sponsored secularism of the Soviet Union created the conditions for vigorous ideological debate. It was ‘an age of apologetics’ (p. 93). The context is broad, encompassing politics, domestic and international, and secularisation in many senses. The polemics are of different types, ranging from fierce combat to mild dialogue and from individual efforts to mass movements. Many papers deal with Christian campaigns. Devotion to Christ the King was employed by the Vatican to recruit support for the hierarchy in Catholic Action from 1925 to long after the Second World War (the author, John Pollard, recalls his own participation). A chapter by Benjamin Ziemann on Martin Niemöller suggests that the thread running through the German churchman’s diverse apologetics was Protestant nationalism, while Jennifer M. Miller and Udi Greenberg point out that earlier Protestant arguments against Roman Catholicism were echoed in anti-Communist literature. The American evangelist Billy Graham is shown by Uta Balbier to have deployed resounding Cold War rhetoric on his enormously popular visit to England in 1954. By contrast, Vlad Naumescu recounts how Paulos Mar Gregorios, a bishop of the Indian Orthodox Church, launched an initiative to co-ordinate Oriental Orthodox Christians as an alternative to Cold War global polarisation. In the last substantive chapter, Peter Itzen argues that the Church of England showed a significant degree of resilience in maintaining political influence between 1960 and 1990. Apologetics, originally a Christian term, was alive and well in ecclesiastical circles.

Metodologi Tafsir Ulama Nusantara di Tanah Pasundan (Telaah Atas Kitab Tafsir Rawdhat Al-‘Irfân dan Malja’ At-Thâlibîn Karya KH. Ahmad Sanusi)

This paper discusses the methodology used by K.H. Ahmad Sanusi (1888-1950) in his interpretation of Rawdhat al-'Irfân and Malja' at-Thâlibîn and his answer to the Islamic religious polemic in Priangan in the 1930s. The book of interpretations of Rawdhat al-'Irfân and Malja' at-Thâlibîn is an interpretation of the Qur'an in Sundanese with pegon script. Ahmad Sanusi gives a characteristic Sundanese style in his interpretation as well as his critical response to the ideological competition between modernist and traditional Islam. His position has never been separated from the ranks of the Sunni Islamic tradition which tends to be more flexible in understanding the local traditions of the archipelago. This paper uses the method of analytical description of two books of interpretation by scholars of the archipelago so that it is hoped that this writing can give fresh air and introduce interpretations in Sundanese Tatar with Pegon script. It is concluded that the methodology of the two books of commentary Rawdhat al-'Irfân and Malja' at-Thâlibîn has differences, including (1) Tafsir Rawdhat al-'Irfân uses bi ra'yi interpretation which is based on the ijtihad mufassirnya and makes reason as the main way in interpreting the Qur'an while Tafsir Malja' at-Thâlibîn uses the interpretation of bi matsur (tafsir History) although in some places it does not prevent Sanusi from connecting his interpretation with the socio-religious background of his time; (2) in terms of method, the book of Tafsir Rawdhat al-'Irfân uses the ijmali method which tends to be presented globally, while the interpretation of Malja' at-Thâlibîn uses the tahlili method; (3) in terms of style, the interpretation of Rawdhat al-'Irfân places more emphasis on fiqh, while the interpretation of Malja' at-Thâlibîn tends to be more inclined to the teachings of the Sunnah Wal Jama'ah scholars, both in terms of Fiqh, theology and Sufism.

Социальная политика и патернализм в традиционалистской политической философии Франции XVII века

Introduction. Discussions on social policy in French traditionalism of the XVII century served as a source for philosophic considerations in the XVIII century, and defined the features of the French conservatism in the XIX century and specif- ics of the French welfare state in the XX century. The purpose of the article is to review the attitude of the French traditionalists of the XVII century on the social policy. Methods. The article relies on historic and com- parative approach and analysis of institutions and shows the features of the political philosophy in France of the XVII century within the context of the social and political problems and religious polemics. Scientific novelty of the study. The article offers analysis of the social policy conceptions of the French traditionalistic philosophy of the XVII century and highlights in paternalistic feudal- ism the background for the development of the conservative philosophy and social policy. Results. Two main approaches coexisted within the French traditionalism of the XVII century: support of the traditional role of the aristocracy and advocacy of the strong monarchy. Both approaches held paternalistic views and believed that it was neces- sary for the strong to display responsibility for the well-being of the weak, they supported aid for the needy to preserve the social order and to for their education. Conclusions. Reflections of the French traditional- ists of the XVII influenced the development of the unique structure of the welfare state in France, defined by the principle of solidarity, and coexist- ence of many different actors, with strong role of the state.

“That They May Vomit Out Their Folly”: The Gut-Mind Axis and Hellebore in Early Modern England

AbstractThis article explores the early modern understanding of the gut-mind relationship through a study of the beliefs and practices surrounding the hellebore plant in seventeenth-century England. Hellebore has been strongly associated with mental illness for most of recorded European history, and it is only during the past two centuries that it has lost this association. Taking a phenomenological approach, I demonstrate that the study of this specific plant, its representations, and its practices is significant not just to plant folklorists and medical historians but also to wider histories of culture, religion, emotion, and the body. The use of hellebore as a treatment for disorders of the mind reveals a fully embodied view of emotion in which the gut played a key role in shaping subjective experience. It also reflects a potently negative understanding of emotion as excremental matter, as something inherently impure, dangerous, and evil, warranting a violent remedy that was as punitive as it was therapeutic. By analyzing medical sources—herbals, pharmacopoeias, practitioners’ casebooks, and domestic receipt books—alongside devotional literature and religious polemic, I show that hellebore's symbolic importance was inseparable from its practical use as a treatment for mental illness, which depended upon an understanding of emotion and religious identity that accorded vital significance to the relationship between belly and brain.

Jejak Moderasi Beragama di Kesultanan Aceh di bawah Pemerintahan Sultanah Safiatuddin

This paper discusses the traces of religious moderation, inclusivicity and tolerant policies during the reign of the sultan Sri Tajul Alam Safiatuddin. Starting from the conflict and religious polemics in Aceh during the Iskandar Thani administration, who supported ar-Raniri's resistance to religious beliefs which he considered deviant, Safiatuddin fought them by issuing policies that led to the formation of a more tolerant, inclusive, and non-violent attitude. Safiatuddin did this by fully supporting moderate scholars such as Sheikh Abdur Rauf Singkel. This paper uses a theory about the effect of education on a person's level of tolerance and acceptences, which can trace the reasons behind Safiatuddin's policies in favor of tolerance and inclusivism. Using historical methods and literature studies, this study finds that after Iskandar Thani and ar-Raniri's return to his home country in India, Aceh's religious life is relatively harmonious and inclusive. Abdur Rauf Singkel wrote many books and essays that mediate polemic religious discourses. Abdur Rauf's efforts are fully supported by Safiatuddin, who also believes that a moderate attitude can maintain political stability and harmony in religious life in society despite various differences in religious interpretation.

Froben Prints and Polemics on Religion in Early Modern Eastern Europe

The article explores the Froben prints stored at the Rare Books Department of the Library of the Russian Academy of Science (Biblioteka Akademii Nauk) in Saint Petersburg. For three generations in the 16th century, Basel printers the Frobens influenced European intellectual life like no other publishing establishment, contributing to the spread of early Latin and Greek Christian literature, which determined both the development of theology and the humanities. Some copies of Froben prints are conspicuous for the history of their use which is intrinsically connected with various kinds of religious polemics in 16th and 17th century Eastern Europe. The focus of the article is the copies of Froben’s Opera omnia of St Augustine which underwent censorship in monastic libraries of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th century. The article traces the history of a number of Froben copies which belonged to notable Polish Protestants of the 16th and 17th centuries (Andrzej Trzecieski, Nicholas Radziwill the Black (“Czarny”), Andrzej Dobrzanski). The examination of the connections of Eastern European Protestants, which enabled vigorous exchange of books with Western Europe, bringing, for instance, a book from the library of the great Dutch cartographer Gerhard Mercator to the hands of a provincial Polish pastor, is carried out. Finally, the article addresses the marginalia left by Simeon of Polotsk on one of his books. These marginalia throw some new light on the question of Simeon’s genuine theological views. By examining the history of the copies from the Library of the Russian Academy of Science through the marginalia left in the 16th and 17th centuries by people of various religions, the article assesses Froben copies as a source on confessional and intellectual history of the period.

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Religious polemics in the Steppe Region (late XIX – early XX centuries)

The article is aimed at studying the role of the Tatar clergy in opposing the processes of Russification and Christianization of the Kazakh people in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The work was written on the basis of archival documents deposited in the State Archives of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Central State Archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan and published ethnographic works of the period under study. The main research method is the problem-chronological approach, which made it possible to consider the studied processes in the dynamics of socio-cultural processes that took place in the Steppe region. The work also applied a systematic approach, which made it possible to consider the research problem in an interdisciplinary perspective. The following scientific and theoretical approaches were used: the theory of delineating boundaries in ethnocultural meaning (F. Barth's theory), the theory of social construction of reality and social interaction during the development of ethno-religious identity (P. Berger, T. Luckmann's theory), theory the influence of political forces using the competitive phenomena of culture and based on cultural institutions (B. Anderson, A. Appadurai, E. Gelner, etc.). The study made it possible to identify a number of works on speculative theology, both Orthodox and Muslim, and to consider the ideological opposition of the apologists of the religions in question. Key words: acculturation, speculative theology, Islam, Orthodoxy, polemics

Philosophical cosmology and religious polemic: The “worship of creation” in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and the Wisdom of Solomon

This article treats Hellenistic Jewish literature that ridicules the alleged worship of the elements, the heavens, the heavenly bodies, or other “parts” of the cosmos, especially as developed in the writings of Philo of Alexandria and Ps-Solomon. It is argued that such claims constitute a distinctive sub-type of religious polemic that draws on and adapts from Platonic and Stoic traditions of cosmology. Such polemics are most clearly developed in Philo’s treatises and in chapter 13 of the Wisdom of Solomon, but they also appear in more abbreviated form in the fragments of Philo of Byblos and Aristobulus. I suggest that these traditions of invective may bear on the interpretation of Rom 1:19–23, but only in an indirect way.

Medical issues in the writings of old Polish religious polemists

Discussions and polemics between representatives of different religious orientations are not a new phenomenon. Even in antiquity there was already a struggle between Christian theologians and representatives of newly emerging heresies. In Poland religious polemics were a common phenomenon in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were attended by both Catholic theologians and representatives of various Protestant communities, as well as antitrinitarians called the Polish Brethren. Very important theological issues were discussed, but in addition to the substantive arguments, there were also mentions relating to history, politics, and even medicine. In this article I present how references to various branches of medicine were used in theological texts, and show how the terms relating to various dis-eases and their symptoms could be used to construct an image of a religious opponent.

ʿĪsā b. Hišām’s Shiism and Religious Polemic in the Maqāmāt of Badīʿ al-Zamān al-Hamaḏānī (d. 398/1008)

Abstract This study reads the Maqāmāt of Badīʿ al-Zamān al-Hamaḏānī (d. 398/1008) against the background of the sectarian milieu of the fourth/tenth century. It begins with a thorough review of the preceding scholarship on al-Hamaḏānī’s sectarian allegiances, and it confirms the contention that Hamaḏānī was a Sunni by conviction. It then proposes that the names and attributes of the narrator of al-Hamaḏānī’s Maqāmāt, ʿ Īsā b. Hišām, reflect an attempt by al-Hamaḏānī to satirize Shii values and practices. It then considers references to Shiism in six of al-Hamaḏānī’s maqāmāt: the Ḥulwāniyya, Māristāniyya, Iṣfahāniyya, Maḍiriyya, Aḏarbayjāniyya, and Kūfiyya, along with several other references to Shiism in the collection. The study further proposes a possible connection between the portrayal of ʿĪsā b. Hišām and the famed Twelver scholar Ibn Bābawayh al-Qummī (d. 381/991).

Interpolating Polemic: Islam, muslims, and Muhammad in Bernhard von Breidenbach’s late-Medieval pilgrimage account Peregrinatio in terram sanctam

Whereas interpolation has been comprehensively examined in relation to itinerary passages in late medieval pilgrimage writing, this article examines it as a tool for anti-Islamic polemic in Bernhard von Breidenbach’s Peregrinatio in terram sanctam. The article centers on the (dis)continuities of polemical discourse on Islam, Muslims and the prophet Muhammad between the German version of the pilgrimage account first published in Mainz in 1486, and the Latin religious polemics it interpolates extensively, namely two texts by converso authors: Petrus Alfonsi’s Dialogus contra iudaeos and Paulus de Santa Maria’s Additiones ad Postillam Nicolai de Lyra. These comparative case studies reveal two complementary interpolative approaches. The first is to edit borrowed text passages to fit the argumentative structure of the target text. The second is to juxtapose borrowed text with original contrasting argumentation in the target text. Both contribute towards an argumentatively scathing and rhetorically emotive anti-Islamic polemic, which expands on the Latin canon of established tropes and arguments on which this vernacular pilgrimage account draws.