Religious Trends Research Articles

Speaking the Truth: God's Law and Prophecy in Seinte Katerine

The early thirteenth-century Seinte Katerine, of the "Katherine Group" of anchoritic works, readily lends itself to comparison with two groups of texts. The companion saints' lives of Juliana and Margaret provide an obvious starting point: the three legends are associated in several manuscripts, they share a common genre, and they even have a number of themes and plot elements in common. Secondly, this version of the legend of Saint Katherine of Alexandria is one of many extant accounts of that saint's martyrdom, each of which varies from the others in details, but also in major elements. Jacqueline Jenkins has recently observed that "the ability to adapt, and in so doing represent or reflect contemporary social, political or religious trends, is an important feature of the St Katherine legends, and must account for a large part of the saint's enduring popularity." A number of scholars have noted that Katherine stands apart from Juliana and Margaret as much as she shares common features with them. However, the distinctive features of Scinte Kriterine, relative both to Seinte Juliene and Seinte Margarete and to other versions of the Katherine legend, warrant further attention. Foremost among these features is the thirteenth-century author's emphasis upon Katherine's learnedness in, and fidelity to, God's law. While this feature is present in the stories of Juliana and Margaret, and in various portrayals of Katherine, it achieves prominence uniquely in the Seinte Katerine legend. Two related themes in that legend appear to be inextricable from its focus on God's law: the author's emphasis on his heroine's "true belief," and her association with the great prophets of Holy Scripture. This multi-faceted focus results in a text which fashions Katherine (an alleged fourth-century Alexandrian saint who probably never existed) into an embodiment, in a single life, of the principles which were central to the lives of its anchoritic readers—even though Katherine's actions would not have served as literal models for their own.

The Life and Work of Adelaide Procter: Poetry, Feminism, and Fathers (review)

Poet, child of a poet, and dead at the age of just thirty-eight, Adelaide Procter was fabulously popular in the mid-nineteenth century. She was a canny self-marketer, building up a dedicated readership through regular contributions to Household Words and All the Year Round, beginning in 1853, and then collecting her poems into two volumes entitled Legends and Lyrics, which were published in 1858 and 1861. By 1881, the first volume was into its nineteenth edition and the second was in its fourteenth edition. (A further volume, A Chaplet of Verses, appeared in 1862.) Victorian audiences thrilled to Sir Arthur Sullivan's musical setting of Procter's "A Lost Chord," still her most recognizable and frequently anthologized poem, and Procter's death in 1864 was described in the press as "a national calamity" (qtd. in Listener 73 [1965] 636). However, her sentimentality, her ornamental and often trite versification, and what Hoxie Neale Fairchild has described as her poems' overdependence on "small angels with ringlets" pose serious problems for twentieth-century critics seeking to recover nineteenth-century women writers (Religious Trends in English Poetry [1957] 265). The few critical treatments of Procter's work published this century have tended to isolate for discussion those lyrics in which she addresses woman's role in society, as well as her longer narrative poems, such as "A Legend of Provence." The range and formal inventiveness of this illuminatingly representative Victorian poet have remained largely unexplored.

The Copts—equal, protected or persecuted? The impact of Islamization on Muslim‐Christian relations in modern Egypt

The Muslim‐Coptic relationship in Egypt is a multifaceted complex, the result of a long historical process. It is impacted by historical memories and perceptions, as well as by modem political and religious trends. Many causes are offered for the recent deterioration in relations by the various players and observers. Whilst most of the causes presented are relevant, the main cause would seem to be the lack of a clear definition of the Egyptian national identity and political community, and the lack of a national consensus on such an identity. Traditionally Islam was the ideology of the state within which the Coptic Christian minority formed a subordinatedhimmi community. For a brief moment from the end of the nineteenth century until the end of the 1920s there seemed to be a process of consensus forming around a secular and liberal Egyptian national identity, as best expressed by the enormously popular nationalist‐liberalWafd party that had pioneered the struggle for Egyptian independence from Britain in the early part of the twentieth century. The rise of Islamic movements since the 1930s, and especially of the fundamentalist resurgence since the 1970s, broke that consensus and pushed Islam again to the fore as the common denominator of the majority, thus leaving the Copts out in the cold. This paper examines the changes in inter‐communal relations and looks at the causes offered for their deterioration, as well as at the views presented by Muslims and Copts on the relevant issues. Historical and contemporary views of self and identity are studied, as well as the views of each community on the religiously ‘other’. The changes in these views over the last decades with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism are seen as a major cause of the worsening relationship.

Satanic sect

Satanism is a religious trend that involves the worship of a demonic being. This may be Satan, the Devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Asmodia, Seth, and others. And often the first three demons are considered to be one person in three hypostases. There are many classifications of satanism. Here we offer you ours, because we believe that it exactly reveals the essence of Satan's directions. Therefore, Satanists are divided into orthodox devil-worshipers, Luciferian (Promethean), reformed devil-worshipers (Lavean type).

Muslim History: Reflections on Periodisation and Categorisation

This article seeks to review the common assumption of a clear, largely endogenous, continuous and singular medieval period in Muslim history. The assumption implicates a romantic vision of history as one of continuity, and the possibility of writing the history of large-scale masses as one of singularity, and that the historical masses can quite satisfactorily be identified by transhistorical nominatives such as Islam, Hellenism, or the West. Correlatively, the histories of such masses are encoded according to the literary topos of rise and decline, à la Herder, Hegel, Renan, Becker, Toynbee and others. The author proposes that the conceptualisation of historical objects as Muslim or otherwise, and the consequent periodisation is possible only when shorn of romantic historism, and if the titles under which historical material is organised were to be subverted to preserve a definite distance between self-representation and subsequent construal on the one hand, and the actual workings of History on the other. It thus suggests that 'Late Antiquity' be taken to encompass the conditions that gave rise to Islam, which would present the Arab empires as points of arrival and the crystallisation of cultural, economic, demographic, religious, statist and other universalist trends that constitute Late Antiquity.

DEREGULATING RELIGION: THE ECONOMICS OF CHURCH AND STATE

Traditional religious research fails to recognize religion as a market phenomenon. It especially overlooks supply‐side factors that shape the incentives and opportunities of religious firms, emphasizing instead demand‐side shifts in the perceptions, tastes, and needs of consumers. This paper reviews the effects of government actions that alter religious supply. Our examples demonstrate that simple deregulation lies at the root of major religious trends and that the vitality of a religious market depends critically upon its competitiveness.

Religious Reforms and Secular Trends in German-Jewish Life: An Agenda for Research

Religious Reforms and Secular Trends in German-Jewish Life: An Agenda for Research

Providence and exile in early seventeenth-century Ireland

The depth of change which the country experienced in the reign of James I has become an axiom of early modern Irish historiography. The extension of crown government throughout the island, the flight of the northern earls, the subsequent plantation in Ulster and the putative religious reformation of the indigenous inhabitants contributed to a climate of flux and tension. The burgeoning scholarly interest in this phase of Irish history has resulted in a more detailed understanding of administrative, political, regional and religious trends in the period. Progress has also been made in the study of contemporary mentalities. An interesting development has been the use of sources in the Irish language for the reconstruction of previously obscure intellectual currents amongst the Gaelic élite. The recent appearance of Michelle O Riordan’s monograph on the Gaelic reaction to the collapse of traditional society represents the fullest exposition yet of an interpretation which has characterised the early modern Gaelic ideological response to conquest and social change as fundamentally passive and backward-looking. O Riordan has, in effect, elaborated upon the conclusions of preceding commentators, notably Tom Dunne and Bernadette Cunningham, in portraying the Gaelic understanding of socio-political transformation as lacking in critical perception. This essay is intended as a further contribution to the elucidation of the mental climate of the time. More particularly, it will focus on two themes which figured prominently in the separate, but in this instance similar, communal reactions of the Gaelic Irish and the New English settlers to their respective political and social environments.

Empirical Trends in Religious and Moral Beliefs in Western Europe

Empirical Trends in Religious and Moral Beliefs in Western Europe

Toward the Year 2000: Reconstructions of Religious Space

As we approach the year 2000, there will be much reflection about the nation's religious and spiritual condition. In this article, three domains of American life are singled out as examples of how religious space is being reconstructed by the large portion of the population known as baby boomers. The first is the new religious pluralism of the nation's inner cities, reflecting a global order. Hispanics, Asian immigrants, and people of color are creating new solidarities and forging new religious voices. The second is a shift in institutional alignments between family and religion. These changes have provoked new spiritual concerns arising out of changing family patterns. The third is the new spirituality, generally of the postwar generation, with its emphasis on personal choice, faith exploration, and more holistic ways of thinking. What happens in these spaces will greatly influence the religious trends of the 1990s and of the early years of the next century.

Religious Trends in Early Islamic Iran

Religious Trends in Early Islamic Iran

Shifting Boundaries: Trends in Religious and Educational Homogamy

I assess whether intermarriage between Protestants and Catholics has increased over the course of the twentieth century and, if it has, whether the declining salience of religious boundaries has been accompanied by a rising importance of educational boundaries in spouse selection. By analyzing a set of national surveys that were conducted between 1955 and 1989 and using a research design that separates the effects of period and duration of marriage, I examine changes over a longer period of time than any previous study has done. Multivariate loglinear analyses show that intermarriage between Protestants and Catholics has increased dramatically since the 1920s, while intermarriage between different educational groups has decreased. Currently, the social boundaries that separate educational groups seem to be stronger than the boundaries that separate Protestants and Catholics. In addition, there is some evidence that interfaith marriages have become increasingly homogamous with respect to education, suggesting that education has replaced religion as afactor in spouse selection.

The Effect of Religiosity on Suicide in Sweden: A Time Series Analysis

Previous research on the impact of religiosity on suicide has been largely restricted to American samples. The present study explored the relationship in a fundamentally different socio-economic context: Sweden. With Sweden's welfare capitalism, the effect of religion might be minimal or nonexistent. A time series analysis finds that religious trends were unrelated to the general male and female rate of suicide, but were related to youth suicide rates. However, changes in religion were too closely related to changes in divorce to ascertain whether religious change or a more general trend toward social individualism was responsible for increases in youth suicide. Additionally, unemployment was unrelated to suicide. The models explained up to 80% of the variance in suicide.

Wilfred Madelung: Religious trends in early Islamic Iran. (Bibliotheca Persica. Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 4.) x, 128 pp. Albany N.Y.: Persian Heritage Foundation, State University of New York Press, 1988. $32.50 (paper $9.95).

Wilfred Madelung: Religious trends in early Islamic Iran. (Bibliotheca Persica. Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 4.) x, 128 pp. Albany N.Y.: Persian Heritage Foundation, State University of New York Press, 1988. 9.95). - Volume 53 Issue 1

A Preliminary Time Series Analysis of Church Activity in Colonial Woodbury, Connecticut

In this research, we examined a small part of the substantial detailed data on church activity for colonial Woodbury, Connecticut. Time series regression analysis suggested that religious activity in Woodbury, as reflected in church members and baptisms, was influenced by wars and economic activity but not influenced by particular ministers. Regional population trends influenced church activity as long as the church was established. Deviations from trend occurred because of periodic revivals. The Great Awakening, however, was a continuation of an underlying trend. THEORETICAL CONTEXT W hen analyzing religious trends in colonial America, historians have followed several lines of inquiry. The first, represented by Perry Miller (1953) and Edwin Gaustad (1962), is rooted in the New Light critique of the colonial church and emphasizes the role of charismatic leaders in guiding and shaping the colonial religious experience. Thus, it is said that George Whitefield, the renowned evangelist of the Great Awakening, saved colonial religion from utter extinction. It is the presence and preaching of such individuals that determines the success or failure of a given church or denomination. The second approach focuses on revivals as dramatic events, the result of a crisis in society or in the religious community. Since the advent of the new social history in the 1960s, historians have tended to view revivals as manifestations of social crisis. Thus, William McLoughlin (1978) linked the Great Awakening to a shift from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft, resulting in blocked psycho-social mazeways which the great revival cleared. Richard Bushman (1967) portrayed the Awakening as an event ushering in a social order. A third line of inquiry compiles and provides some analysis of actual church activity over time. This approach views revivals as events that are not extraordinary and external to the community but rather are part and parcel of the regular life and growth of the parish. Writers like Donald Mathews (1978) have argued that revivals cannot take place without some meaningful ideational and institutional context. These writers analyze *The authors gratefully acknowledge comments by Rodney Stark, Bryn Roberts, and anonymous referees, as well as the research assistance ofJudith Schantz, and will remain responsible for errors and omissions. Reprint requests should be sent to Brooks B. Hull, Department ofSocial Sciences, UM-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI48128-1491. tGerald F. Moran is Professor ofHistory andBrooks B. HuU is AssistantProfessorofEconomicsat the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan.

Religious trends in early Islamic Iran

Religious trends in early Islamic Iran

Les Églises chrétiennes et la politique du ventre : le partage du gâteau ecclésia.

The Christian Churches and the «let's not starve policy». The Christian Churches could not escape from the attractive power of what the Cameroonese call «the let’s not starve policy», as neither the parties — whether nationalist or revolutionary — not the administrations could. Just as the colonial originated state has been, they are subject to a process of reappropriation by the african societies. They shelter social rise strategies, founded on an ethic of munificence, just as political behaviors most of times do. In that way, the Church institutions are part of the system elaborated by the authoritarian post-colonial regimes, and their economic activities participate in the money making, predatory logics those ones devolop. Consequently, they are stricken by the same weakening disease suffered by the political institution : exacerbate divisions between religious contractors. Different religious trends have criticized these affinities with this «let’s not starve» way of governing, without however succeeding in breaking off with it.

The Background of the Present Abortion Controversy

The present conflicting attitudes, values, and belief systems regarding public policies on abortion have long roots in the past. A greater understanding of these roots, especially of their variety and complexity in the nineteenth century in this country, can promote a clearer view of current issues. It is particularly illuminating to examine changing abortion policies in the context of religious, economic, medical, social, and political trends in various historical periods and from a feminist perspective. This article presents a brief analytic survey of these topics.

Religion and Regional Culture: Patterns of Concentration and Change among American Religious Denominations, 1952-1980

Religious denominations are viewed as indicators of regional cultural distinctiveness in the United States. Census-type adherence data for 1952, 1971, and 1980 are used to examine changes in spatial concentration within religious groups, and in relation to general population trends. Contrary to expectations, for both the 1952-1971 and 1971-1980 periods these broadly representative denominational data exhibit remarkable stability rather than change. The implications of these patterns for future research on religious trends and their impact on regional culture are discussed.

Clerical Recruitment in the Diocese of York, 1340–1530: Data and Commentary

Ordination registers have been unduly neglected by historians, and the bibliography ofworks dealing with them is scant. Nevertheless, they are our most valuable source for documenting the recruitment of clergy, both secular and regular, while they also provide indirect evidence for demographic, religious and educational trends. The data assembled in the graphs and tables below, extracted from the archiepiscopal archives of York, detail the total surviving ordination records from England's largest diocese during the period from just before the first outbreak of bubonic plague to the beginning of the Reformation.