Sphere Of Religion Research Articles

Property of Religious Organizations in the People’s Republic of China

This study reviews the changing conditions of religious organizations in Chinese society. Legislative action regarding religious property is an important indicator of the state’s disposition toward religious organizations. A study of the changes in the status of property owned by religious communities allows us to deepen our understanding of policy in the sphere of religion in China and to trace its transformation at various stages. Throughout the history of the People’s Republic of China, the religious policy of the Communist Party has undergone powerful transformations that reflect changes in the regime’s attitude toward religion. Tracing the status of religious property at various stages in the development of religious policy vividly demonstrates these changes. As a rule, transformations during these stages took place upon the adoption by party-state organizations of a landmark document. While the issue of religious property in China is quite delicate, the policy and methods applied in practice are very chaotic. The study sheds light on the poorly understood problems surrounding religious property in the history of modern China. 摘要 本文研究中国社会宗教组织产权的变迁。有关宗教财产的法律法规体现了国家对宗教组织的态度。对于宗教组织财产状况变化的研究能加深对宗教政策及其变迁的认识。建立新政权以来，共产党的宗教政策发生了巨大变化，这些变化反映政府对待宗教态度的转变。宗教财产的问题在宗教政策不同的阶段有不同特点。一般而言，当国家颁布一个重要的宗教政策文件时，这就意味着宗教政策的转变。宗教财产在中国是一个敏感且重要的议题，但相关的政策法规却是杂乱无章。本研究的梳理填补了现代中国宗教财产议题的空白。

DINING AND OBLIGATION IN VALERIUS MAXIMUS: THE CASE OF THE SACRA MENSAE

The phrase sacra mensae appears in only a select number of instances from the first century a.d. onwards. This paper seeks to demonstrate that references to sacra mensae are not coincidental, and that they were employed deliberately by authors such as Valerius Maximus and, after him, Quintilian, Tacitus and Seneca, based on an assumed shared understanding of their significance on the part of Roman audiences. Although it appears across a variety of literary works and in a range of contexts, the phrase does not seem to have been used in reference to a specific rite or rites performed at the table. Instead, sacra mensae appears to have been used primarily in a metaphorical sense, designed to epitomize the customs and respect attached to dining in Roman culture. Religion certainly played an important part in creating the aura surrounding the table, which was subject to various rituals and superstitions that were discussed by ancient authors. However, beyond the sphere of religion there was the equally important social emphasis on dining, which enforced notions of conviviality and personal obligation between hosts and guests. Disregard of such traditions came to be identified as a hallmark of tyranny, which provided the writers of the Principate with an opportunity to use the sacra mensae as a powerful literary device against those who failed to respect established customs of hospitality.

The Evolution of Soviet Power’s Religious Policy during the Great Patriotic War

The article is devoted to the study of one of the actual problems of the Soviet power’s internal policy: the evolution of the religious policy during the war. According to a wide range analysis of published materials and archival documents the article states that the religious policy of the Soviet power during the Great Patriotic War is characterized by some mitigation, a string of concessions, however there were no deep changes or, as some researchers believe that it lacks of “a liberal turn” in the religious policy of the Soviet power. A certain part of actions of the Soviet power in the sphere of religion had a declarative, nominal and propaganda character.

Finding revelation in anthropology: Alexander Winchell, William Robertson Smith and the heretical imperative.

Anthropological inquiry has often been considered an agent of intellectual secularization. Not least is this so in the sphere of religion, where anthropological accounts have often been taken to represent the triumph of naturalism. This metanarrative, however, fails to recognize that naturalistic explanations could sometimes be espoused for religious purposes and in defence of confessional creeds. This essay examines two late nineteenth-century figures--Alexander Winchell in the United States and William Robertson Smith in Britain--who found in anthropological analysis resources to bolster rather than undermine faith. In both cases these individuals found themselves on the receiving end of ecclesiastical censure and were dismissed from their positions at church-governed institutions. But their motivation was to vindicate divine revelation, in Winchell's case from the physical anthropology of human origins and in Smith's from the cultural anthropology of Semitic ritual.

Religious diversity: philosophical and political dimensions

Should we merely celebrate diversity in the sphere of religion? What of the social cohesion of a country? There is a constant tug between belief in religious truth and the need for respect for other religions. Religious Diversity: Philosophical and Political Dimensions examines how far a firm faith can allow for toleration of difference and respect the need for religious freedom. It elucidates the philosophical credentials of different approaches to truth in religion, ranging from a dogmatic fundamentalism to a pluralism that shades into relativism. Must we resort to a secularism that treats all religion as a personal and private matter, with nothing to contribute to discussions about the common good? How should law approach the issue of religious freedom? Introducing the relevance of central discussions in modern philosophy of religion, the book goes on to examine the political implications of increasing religious diversity in a democracy.

The Changing Landscape in Religious Leadership

Religious leadership is a contested field of study in the process of finding a footing in the academic world. In Africa, a long history of hierarchical leadership is experienced - not only in the spheres of politics, economics and culture but also in the sphere of religion. Many factors influence the changing landscape in religious leadership. The purpose of this article is to present a descriptive-empirical investigation into some of the processes of leadership transformation by listening, amongst others, to the voices of rural African postgraduate students studying theology at the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. The empirical results are read through the lenses of Social Identity Theory (SIT). As part of the interpretation of the data, four clusters of theories are used as heuristic tools, while different perspectives on leadership in Africa inform the discussion. Codes are used to analyse the data. The codes mould into themes. The themes that emerge are: 1. Uniqueness of faith communities. 2. Tensions between leadership images that exist. 3. New leadership identities are forming; they are & leadership is chosen, relational, in service of the community, and pedagogical. This is also done with a keen interest to see whether the concepts of leadership that are in use are still adequate, and to search for new understandings of religious leadership identities that might emerge.

Distributions of The Sphere of Religion of Mt.Daiyu by worship organization's attribute and worship action

Distributions of The Sphere of Religion of Mt.Daiyu by worship organization's attribute and worship action

“He Who Employs Funny Rhymes in His Speech”: Parodied Poetics in the Works of Uri Zvi Greenberg and S. Y. Agnon

This essay argues that Greenberg and Agnon employ simplistic rhyming in their works for rhetorical effect. It shows that both writers use this rather sophisticated literary device to express their criticism of inauthenticity in the sphere of religion: artificial worship in Agnon's case, and hypocritical divinity in Greenberg's. For Agnon, parody is used as part of an endeavor to provide historical documentation of certain institutional religious practices. For Greenberg, it is a means of representing the devastation of humanity following World War I. Methodologi- cally, what follows is a formalist engagement with a particular literary idiosyn- crasy: the incorporation of bad poetry into otherwise serious and skillful literary work.

Rethinking church and state during the English Interregnum

This article offers a re-examination of the concept of Erastianism as an explanatory tool in discussions of church and state. It focuses in particular on three texts – by Pierre du Moulin, Thomas Cobbet and John Milton – that took up the question of the nature of civil power in the sphere of religion. Based on this, the article argues that the term ‘Erastianism’ obscures the complexity and nuance of arguments about religious politics in the civil war period. It concludes by suggesting that we should instead consider these debates as contributions to discourse on civil religion.

AFRICAN METAPHORS FOR GOD: MALE OR FEMALE?

This paper investigates the extent of sexism in the African concept of God with special reference to the Shona of Zimbabwe. Much of the discussion about African theology tends to present African concepts of God in the context of western Christian theology which emphasises the male image of God and therefore becomes sexist. This approach fails to enhance the authority of women in the sphere of religion and society. Through investigating Shona metaphors for God I argue that African concepts of God are sui generis. They are much less sexist than what African Christian theology presents. The concept of God among the Shona may be expressed as: “Thou art woman, Thou art man”. The paper begins by stating the problem and then analyse the following metaphors for God: Mwari/Mhandara, Mbuya/Sekuru, Muvumbi/Muvumbapasi/Muhari, Musiki/Musikavanhu, Dziva/ Dzivaguru/Chidziva Chopo, Runji, Sororezhou and Wokumusoro.

Decoupling Religion and Ethnicity: Second-Generation Indian American Christians

Classic assimilation theory was based on the assumption of individualistic adaptation, with immigrants and their children expected to shed their ethnic identities to become Americans. In the sphere of religion, however, they could maintain their communitarian traditions through American denominations. In contemporary society, multiculturalism, spiritual seeking, and postdenominationalism have reversed this paradigm. First- and second-generation immigrants integrate by remaining ethnic and group-identified, but religion is viewed as a personal quest. This paper examines how this paradigm shift affects the ethnic and religious behavior of second-generation Americans. It is based on research among Malankara Syrian Christians belonging to an ancient South Indian community.

Italians in Tunisia: between regional organisation, cultural adaptation and political division, 1860s–1940

This article analyses the case of the Italian community in Tunisia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Italian presence in Tunisia dates back to the age of the so-called Repubbliche marinare (Maritime Republics), when Italy was still not a unitary entity, but rather a collection of states that had their own relationships with the Ottoman Empire. The Italian community in Tunisia is an example of a diaspora resulting from migrations in the Mediterranean region. The case study of the Italians in Tunisia is a sort of ‘diaspora from inside’. Indeed it is reductive to see Italians in Tunisia just as nationals, because they had different regional, religious, class and cultural backgrounds to native Tunisians. Local identities characterised their community. This perspective is also apparent in the multitude of mutual-aid associations and ethnic organisations. A heterogeneous group, including political refugees, emerged. Nonetheless, during the twentieth century the ‘defence of italianità’ reinforced the cohesion of the community itself. This paper places this group into the framework of Mediterranean Studies. It aims to understand the interaction between the Italian community in Tunisia and the native population. It follows philosopher Albert Memmi's perspective on the unrelated relationship between the coloniser and the colonised. This relationship represented an interesting example of unusual tolerance thanks to a steady relationship between Italians and the Tunisian population, characterised by openness and profitable coexistence, even in the sphere of religion, which was not the case in other areas of Mediterranean sea.

Pilgrims' progress: the changing nature of visitors to religious sites in Ireland

This paper examines the significance of the ‘experiential component’ of religious tourism, which is likely to be a crucial factor of the visitor experience at sacred sites. The visitor experience at two of Ireland’s most popular religious sites is investigated using on-site surveys and in-depth interviews with pilgrims, site managers and relevant stakeholders. The paper concludes that the future of religious sites is no longer likely to be confined to the traditional spheres of religion or culture but rather opened up to a widely diverse range of influences.

St. Joachim as a Model of Catholic Manhood in Times of AIDS: A Case Study on Masculinity in an African Christian Context

St. Joachim as a Model of Catholic Manhood in Times of AIDS: A Case Study on Masculinity in an African Christian Context Adriaan S. van Klinken Joachim is the model of every Catholic husband and father… He is still a model of catholic men. Joachim is a symbol of Christian life to all men who persevere to live happy marriages. This quotation from the constitution of the St. Joachim Catholic Men’s Organization in the Catholic Archdiocese of Lusaka (Zambia) presents St. Joachim as a model of Catholic manhood. According to apocryphal Christian traditions, Joachim is the father of Mary who is the mother of Jesus. Though Joachim, compared with his wife Ann, seems to be less popular in Catholic devotion, nowadays in Zambia a Catholic men’s fellowship is named after him and actively promotes him as a role model for Catholic men. This presents us with an interesting case of “embattled masculinities in the religious traditions.” As I will explore in this article, the case of the Zambian Catholic men’s organization of St. Joachim shows how religious traditions can be employed as a strategy to correct certain behavior and attitudes of men, to transform dominant concepts of masculinity, and to address social problems such as HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, drawing from my research in a parish in Lusaka, in this article I will look at the ways in which the devotion to St. Joachim and the participation in the men’s fellowship bearing his name helps individual Catholic men to find their place in the spheres of religion and society, (re)shapes men’s gendered identities, and enables men’s agency. With this article, I want to make a contribution to the emerging study of men, masculinities, and religion. While Krondorfer and Culbertson (2005, 5864) have noted that the scholarship in this field is “heavily located within the scholarly traditions of the West, specifically Christianity and Judaism,” I would add that as far as Christianity is concerned the focus has been on Western Christian contexts. It has hardly taken into account that Christianity has become a world religion, and that the rise of Christianity in non‐Western contexts “has effected dramatic changes in gender attitudes” and has given rise to “new concepts of masculinity” (Jenkins 2006, 165). This article offers some insights into masculinities in world Christianity by focusing on an African Christian context. Additionally, the choice for a Catholic case is meaningful to men’s studies in religion. Though it has been observed that the devotion to saints is characteristic of the Catholic men’s movement (Gelfer 2008, 51), little is known about the meaning of saints and devotional practice for the construction of Catholic masculinities. In these two ways, this article broadens the scope of the current study of men and masculinities in religion. The article also provides a more fundamental contribution to this sub‐discipline by raising the question how the case study is to be evaluated. Acknowledging the (pro)feminist roots and political edge of the study of men and masculinities in religion, Krondorfer has defined men’s studies in religion with the term “critical” (2009, xvii). In his opinion, there must be a critical sensitivity to “gender‐unjust systems,” such as patriarchy in order to not slip back into the long tradition of male dominance in the sphere of religion. Though sympathizing with this stance, in this article I also problematize it. When to speak of a “gender‐unjust system”? Is this always so evident? Are notions and performances of masculinity, especially in the sphere of religion, not more ambiguous? Could it be that they, even though they are “patriarchal,” yet contribute to gender justice? As appears from the final section of the article, these are critical questions in light of current discussions on masculinities and religion in contemporary African contexts. The article is based on a case study in Regiment parish in Lusaka conducted in 2008–2009 as part of a research on African Christian masculinities in the context of the HIV epidemic. I found several lay movements being actively involved in the parish, among which a women’s organization named St. Ann and a men’s organization named St. Joachim...

St. Joachim as a Model of Catholic Manhood in Times of AIDS: A Case Study on Masculinity in an African Christian Context

“Joachim is the model of every Catholic husband and father… He is still a model of catholic men. Joachim is a symbol of Christian life to all men who persevere to live happy marriages.” This quotation from the constitution of the St. Joachim Catholic Men’s Organization in the Catholic Archdiocese of Lusaka (Zambia) presents St. Joachim as a model of Catholic manhood. According to apocryphal Christian traditions, Joachim is the father of Mary who is the mother of Jesus. Though Joachim, compared to his wife Ann, seems to be less popular in Catholic devotion, nowadays in Zambia a Catholic men’s fellowship is named after him and actively promotes him as a role model for Catholic men. This presents us with an interesting case of “embattled masculinities in the religious traditions.” As I will explore in this article, the case of the Zambian Catholic men’s organization of St. Joachim shows how religious traditions can be employed as a strategy to correct certain behavior and attitudes of men, to transform dominant concepts of masculinity and to address social problems such as HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, drawing from my research in a parish in Lusaka, in this article I will look at the ways in which the devotion to St. Joachim and the participation in the men’s fellowship bearing his name helps individual Catholic men to find their place in the spheres of religion and society, (re)shapes men’s gendered identities and enables men’s agency. With this article I want to make a contribution to the emerging study of men, masculinities and religion. While Krondorfer and Culbertson (2005, 5864) have noted that the scholarship in this field is “heavily located within the scholarly traditions of the West, specifically Christianity and Judaism,” I would add that as far as Christianity is concerned the focus has been on Western Christian contexts. It has hardly taken into account that Christianity has become a world religion, and that the rise of Christianity in non-western contexts “has effected dramatic changes in gender attitudes” and has given rise to “new concepts of masculinity” (Jenkins 2006, 165). This article offers some insights in masculinities in world Christianity by focusing on an African Christian context. Additionally, the choice for a Catholic case is meaningful to men’s studies in religion. Though it has been observed that the devotion to saints is characteristic of the Catholic men’s movement (Gelfer 2008, 51), little is known about the meaning of saints and devotional practice for the

Between the "Already" and the "Not Yet": A Peace Perspective and a Catholic Theological Viewpoint on Religion and Politics

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this article questions the mainstream idea about the relationship between religion and politics that associates the church and state separation with a strict private—public division. Agreeing with the former distinction, we criticize the latter from the perspectives of both Catholic theology and peace and conflict studies. Both fields offer adequate reasons to challenge this narrow dualism, envisioning the spheres of religion and politics as complementary and mutually enriching. In response to increased violence involving religions across the globe, "religious peacebuilding" is currently developing approaches to explain such conflicts and inform peacebuilding methods and strategies. Additionally, the theological-emphasis on the eschatological presence of the "already" appeals to Catholic faith to pertinently reflect upon and frame public life. Consequently, we plead for the critical and beneficial engagement of religions in the public sphere as "not yet" sufficiently acknowledged.

Conceptions of God, Freedom, and Ethics in African American and Jewish Theology (review)

Conceptions of God, Freedom, and Ethics in African American and Jewish Theology, by Kurt Buhring. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 262 pp. $79.95 (c); $40.00 (p). Conceptions of God, Freedom, and Ethics in African American and Jewish Theology is a scholarly text, geared toward, but not written exclusively for, teachers and students of theology, religion, and ethics. Anyone who has ever struggled with reconciling belief in a benevolent and omnipotent with the enormity of evil or random suffering, or asked the Why do bad things happen to good people? question, is wrestling, as Buhring does in this work, with the issue of theodicy, the branch of theology and philosophy that deals with the problem of the existence of evil. The existential insecurity that can result is derived from cognitive dissonance between our understanding of who or what is, who we are in relationship to God, and our responsibility as human beings for what happens to us. Readers from other disciplines, with an interest in the foundation, form, and content of ideas that have contributed to social policy, can derive some benefit from Buhring's in-depth analyses of the work of the theologians that he has chosen to interrogate for this study. His primary thinkers, James Cone and Emil Fackenheim and the supporting cast of eight theologians included in the text, in discussing theodicy have raised issues and concerns of broad applicability, well beyond the sphere of religion. Within this deceptively compact text, Buhring uses an efficient compare and contrast strategy to explain some rather complex liberative theologies, alongside his distinctive perspective on the nature of God, suffering, and evil that he describes as humanocentric theism. He borrows the term from theologian William R. Jones, without necessarily rejecting out of hand, as Jones does, an underlying methodological and theological assumption of an all good and all powerful God. Chapters Two and Four provide the essence of the theologies that he has selected from his primary pillars, James Cone and Emil Fackenheim respectively, while Chapters Three and Five speak to critiques and affirmations of Cone and Fackenheim from the eight theologians (described here as secondary thinkers) that are as broad and balanced as Buhring promises in Chapter One. From the very beginning Buhring makes it clear that in proposing humanocentric theism as his to thetheodicy question he isaffirm[ing] the reality of evil, the goodness of God, and reinterpret [ing] the nature of God's power (p. 7). Like Fackenheim, who has written extensively on postHolocaust Jewish theology, and James Cone, the foremost apologist for Black Theology in the United States, Buhring maintains that social, cultural, and historical forces are inseparable from the form and content of one's theology. To that end, with no shortage of events with which to illustrate the challenge that theodicy presents to belief in a benevolent and all powerful God, Buhring chooses two of the more extreme examples that, as he says, so profoundly rupture[s] our conceptions of God (p. 5). It is certainly likely that the notion of for people of faith affected directly and indirectly by the horrific events of the Shoah or genocide of approximately six million Jews, and the enslavement and oppression of African Americans caused in part by continuing individual and systemic racism, would, at the very least, have undergone a metamorphosis. Chapter Two is a careful analysis of James Cone's theology, which Buhring describes as a response to the problem of suffering and moral evil more than . …

The Place of Religion in European Union Law and Policy: Competing Approaches and Actors Inside the European Commission

While the EU has no explicit legal competence in the sphere of religion and the management of relations with faith communities, religious concerns have taken on increasing importance within the legal and institutional framework and policy discourses of the European Union in the last years. This paper provides an overview of how religion and issues of religious diversity are being framed and addressed in EU law and policy by undertaking a critical analysis of the ways in which EU law and policy deal with, engage and understand religion at the policy level of the European Commission. Through an examination of EU legislation and both formal and informal policy initiatives in the fields of citizenship and fundamental rights, non-discrimination, immigration and integration, social inclusion and education and culture, this paper demonstrates that there is a complex and highly heterogeneous patchwork of EU normative approaches delineating the relationship between religion and the EU. These competing framings, very much rooted in the institutional structures of the Commission services, have important implications for discretionary power and sovereignty of the EU member states and for the coherence of European Union policies.

Salus in the Roman Missal: What It Means and Why

Salus in the Roman Missal: What It Means and Why Thomas Buffer Pre-Christian History of the Word Salus The origins of the word salus go back to the very beginnings of the Latin language. At first a religious word, it later became a political one as well. In the vocabulary of Roman religion and politics, salus was synonymous with safety, protection, physical health, and deliverance. In the sphere of religion, the word could also be the name of a divinity – which one is not always clear. Individuals invoked the goddess Salus for personal protection and health. Sometimes they used the name Salus to invoke Hygeia-Valetudo, the goddess of health. Individuals or groups called on the goddess Salus publica to beg for the welfare of the Roman republic. When Romans made sacrificial offerings, or vota, to beg for both public and personal salus, what exactly were they asking for? Not the otherworldly “salvation” offered by the mystery cults of the time, nor the eternal life for which we Christians beg. They were asking This is a modified version of a paper delivered at the annual conference of the Society for Catholic Liturgy, held at St Cecilia’s Cathedral, Omaha, 29 January to 1 February 2009. I am grateful for the suggestions, comments, and especially the questions of the auditors. See René Braun, Deus Christianorum. Recherches sur le vocabulaire doctrinal de Tertullien (Paris: Etudes augustiniennes, 1962) 478. Consider, for example, how the poet Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis ) addressed Caesar: “seu placet Aeneae nutrix seu filia Solis / sive salutiferis candidus Anxur aquis, / mittimus, o rerum felix tutela salusque, / sospite quo gratum credimus esse Iovem” [whether Aeneas’ nurse delights thee, or the daughter of the Sun, or gleaming Anxur with its healthful waters, this book I send, O thou blessed guardian and saviour of the state, whose safety assures us that Jove is grateful]. Epigrams 5.1, trans. Walter C. A. Ker, Martial : Epigrams, vol. 1 (Spectacles; Books 1-7), Loeb Classical Library (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1919) 294-95. See Lorenz Winkler, Salus. Vom Staatskult zur politischen Idee (Heidelberg : Verlag Archäologie und Geschichte, 1995) 16-30. Antiphon 14.1 (2010): 30-44 31 Salus in the Roman Missal: What It Means and Why for something needed in the here and now, not something to be fully obtained only after death. Moving from religion to politics, we will briefly consider prayers on behalf of the public welfare, then look at prayers for personal salus. One of the foremost political concerns of republican Rome was the general well-being of the whole Roman people, the salus publica. Cicero affirmed that the salus of every individual of every rank in society depended on the salus of the republic. In republican Rome, an augurium salutis was offered each year to beg for the salus publica; because the sacrifice could be offered only in times of peace, the practice fell into desuetude but was later revived by Augustus. By this time, republican Rome had given way to imperial Rome, and the meaning of salus publica likewise evolved. Earlier, Cicero had promoted the idea that the general welfare of the republic depended on the leadership of statesmen who looked out for the salus publica. Now that the emperor was the leading statesman, the salus publica was thought to depend, not only on his actions, but on his safety. To beg for the emperor’s salus was to beg for the salus publica, on which the well-being of individual Romans depended. Thus, the emperor’s personal safety became the common concern of all. By A.D. 38, vota (public sacrifices) for the salus of state and emperor were fixed on certain dates of the official calendar of the Roman state. Willingness to offer vota for the salus of the Emperor was a test of political loyalty; to fail the test could lead to the loss of one’s own salus through death. With the geographical expansion of the Roman Empire came a corresponding broadening of the salus-concept.10 In the well-being of See Hans U. Instinsky, Die alte Kirche und das Heil des Staates (Munich : Kösel, 1963) 22; Jason Moralee...

New Models of Development and The Problem of Values

AbstractThis paper presents a series of analysis of social transformations, from the standpoints of civilizations and formations. The idea of multiple models of development of civilization is exposed. The fundamental values underscoring the traditional and technogenic models are presented. The contemporary crises are studied in its link to globalization. It is argued that, in order to overcome these crises, a substantial transformation of the values of the techngenic civilisation is needed. The upraising values in the spheres of religion, politics, law and scientific rationality are seen as a first step towards a new model of development of our civilization.