Theological Roots Research Articles

Dynamics of the Development of the Salafiyah Movement in Kerinci, Jambi: A Study of Theological Roots and Social Impact

The Salafiyah movement is part of the reformist movement in Islam which operates in the field of purifying Islamic teachings based on the Koran and the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad. In accordance with what was done by the previous generation (Salafus saleh). In Kerinci the Salafi movement exists in a social context that has its own characteristics. The aim of this research was to look at the development and theological roots of Salafiyah as well as the social impact in Kerinci. formulation of the problem in this research: 1). What are the dynamics of the development of the Salafiyah movement in Kerinci. 2). How Salafi theological thought is explained in detail. 3) What is the social impact. This research method uses a qualitative method with a field study and literature approach. The results of the research explain that the Salafiyah movement entered Kerinci in the 18th century, brought by traders and ulama from Minang Kabau and ulama from Kerinci. The development of the Salafi movement was more rapid after the reformation. While the theological roots of Salafiah are focused on purifying Islamic teachings, inviting people to return to the sources of Islamic teachings, the Koran and Hadith, elements of superstition, heresy and Khurafat in worship are not permitted. [Gerakan salafiyah merupakan bagian dari gerakan reformis dalam Islam yang bergerak dibidang pemurnian ajaran Islam yang bersumber Al-Qur’an dan Hadist Nabi Muhammad Saw. Sesuai dengan yang dilakukan oleh senerasi terdahulu (Salafus saleh). Di Kerinci gerakan Salafiah hadir dalam konteks sosial kemasyarakatan yang mempunyai krakteristik tersendiri. Tujuan dilakukan penelitian ini untuk melihat perkembangan dan akar teolologis salafiyah serta dampak sosial di Kerinci. rumusan masalah dalam penelitian ini: 1). Bagaimana dinamika perkembangan gerakan Salafiyah di Kerinci. 2). Bagaimana pemikiran teologis Salafiah di kerinci. 3) Bagaimana dampak sosial. Metode penelitian ini menggunakan, metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi lapangan dan kepustakaan. Hasil dari penelitian menjelaskan aliran Salafiyah masuk di Kerinci pada abad ke 18 yang dibawa oleh pedagang dan para ulama dari Minang Kabau serta ulama dari Kerinci. Perkembangan gerakan Salafiah lebih pesatnya pasca repormasi. Sedangkan akar teologis Salafiah terfokus pada pemurnian ajaran Islam mengajak masyarakat kembali kepada sumber ajaran Islam al-Qur’an dan hadis, tidak dibenarkan adanya unsur takhayul, bid’ah dan Khurafat dalam ibadah].

Why Abandon the Big Bang Theory — Science and Theology in Astronomical Cosmology

The Big Bang said the universe was created from ONE atom explosion. An atom exploding out of the sun, the galaxy, the universe, etc., cannot be science. Its roots in theology. 97 years has passed since priest and physicist Lemaître started his Big Bang. Since then, many offsprings of it has come out, like dark energy, dark matter …… Huge amount of resource was invested into them, yet none is successful. And no hope of success within the context of the Big Bang theory. This makes me doubt about the Big Bang and the astronomy cosmology within recent 97 years. I came up with the idea of abandoning the Big Bang theory. In the April 2024 meeting of the American Physical Society, I proposed this idea of abandoning the Big Bang Theory for people’s comments, and the responses were positive. (Figure 1) Here we described why we need abandon the Big Bang theology, how to abandon it, pros and cons of abandon it, and the way to solve most important problem related to abandon it. We first try to understand the difference between theology and science.

Leadership and the ethics of hope: Václav Havel and the Charter 77 human rights movement in Czechoslovakia

Hope as a feature in both authentic and spiritual leadership theory has become a diminished moral concept, departing from its philosophical and theological roots, and distorted by excessive positivity, success, instrumentalization, cultural bias, and ideology. Following Ciulla’s (2014) assertion that biography can do much to inform leadership theory, this paper contributes a richer understanding of hope through the though case of Václav Havel and the Charter 77 human rights movement in Czechoslovakia using French existentialist Gabriel Marcel’s ethics of hope. Five elements of Marcel’s philosophy demonstrate hope’s transforming vulnerability amidst technological control, relationship with despair, active presence, creative fidelity, and transcending power in love. Examining Czechoslovakia’s human rights movement through the lens of Marcellian ethics provides insight into the role of absurdity and truth-telling as a precursor to hope, taking responsibility for failure, overcoming fear through the “solidarity of the shaken,” creative fidelity through living in truth and using humor, and love manifesting as sacrifice and openness to seeing one’s contribution to the moral contamination of society under totalitarianism.

Replicating the Nordic welfare model: policy prescriptions that recognize the cultural antecedents of solidarity

PurposeIn this article, we examine the historical and cultural foundations of Nordic states’ strong contemporary social indicators to understand whether their successes can be replicated in other contexts.Design/methodology/approachWe draw on a range of academic literature to frame a comparison of two regions’ cultural and theological roots, identifying contrasts to make arguments about prescriptions for contemporary welfare policy.FindingsWe find Nordic history contributes to a duty-based culture with strong cohesion and social trust. These cultural norms make palatable welfare policies with strong activation measures, while the US model prefers to avoid the latter because of its strong cultural orientation to rights and autonomy.Social implicationsTo mitigate differences between the Nordic states and other cultural contexts, policymakers seeking to replicate Nordic welfare successes should consider welfare programming that combines stronger activation policies with oversight and relational components that mitigate gaps in social cohesion.Originality/valueWe uniquely bring together the literature on comparative welfare policy and on religion and culture to understand the precursors of contemporary attitudes and their implications for welfare policy prescriptions.

Anthropomorphising Machines and Computerising Minds: The Crosswiring of Languages between Artificial Intelligence and Brain & Cognitive Sciences

The article discusses the process of “conceptual borrowing”, according to which, when a new discipline emerges, it develops its technical vocabulary also by appropriating terms from other neighbouring disciplines. The phenomenon is likened to Carl Schmitt’s observation that modern political concepts have theological roots. The authors argue that, through extensive conceptual borrowing, AI has ended up describing computers anthropomorphically, as computational brains with psychological properties, while brain and cognitive sciences have ended up describing brains and minds computationally and informationally, as biological computers. The crosswiring between the technical languages of these disciplines is not merely metaphorical but can lead to confusion, and damaging assumptions and consequences. The article ends on an optimistic note about the self-adjusting nature of technical meanings in language and the ability to leave misleading conceptual baggage behind when confronted with advancement in understanding and factual knowledge.

Who is My Neighbour?: Law and Religion

The relationship between law and religion has a complex history. This article explores their convergence, divergence, and interdependence, focusing on the law of torts and religious principles. Specifically, the study examines negligence, which involves breaching a duty of care and causing harm. A key question arises: Who should be taken care of? This intersection between law and religion revolves around the concept of a "neighbour." The research employs a purely doctrinal methodology. Findings reveal that religious texts emphasize love, compassion and proximity in defining a neighbour, while the legal perspective emphasizes proximity, foreseeability, and reasonableness, disregarding love and compassion. Ultimately, the article concludes that law and religion demonstrate both convergence and divergence. Even in secular states, contemporary legal traditions still maintain theological roots and practices. Thus, theology continues to influence legal frameworks, highlighting the enduring interdependence between law and religion.

Imitation Curtain Depictions from Byzantine Cappadocia

By scrutinising examples of imitation curtain patterns on Cappadocian wall paintings, this article aims to comparatively evaluate other curtain imitation compositions seen in Byzantine art. In addition to this, the use of curtains in civil and religious architecture (especially at the entrances of large structures) in the Byzantine Period and the theological importance of imitation curtain patterns in the Byzantine Period are also discussed. Curtains were found in all areas of the Empire, although few have survived. In addition to the positive influences of Old and New Testament texts, religious commentaries called tractates written by Gregorius of Nyssa, one of the Cappadocian Church Fathers, may have encouraged the use of curtain patterns in Christian religious structures. Based on this, the theological explanations of aniconic curtain patterns are also included in our article. The article also aims to prove that this pattern we encounter in Byzantine art is a continuation of Roman art traditions. It is possible to find curtain patterns in a lot of handiwork from the early Byzantine Period. Among the churches of the Byzantine Period in the Cappadocia region, which is our main subject, imitation curtain patterns are primarily seen in wall paintings dating to the 9th - 11th centuries. In this study, we have identified that the only exception to this situation is the example in the apse of Ihlara Bezirana Church (end of 13th century, beginning of 14th century). The pattern was implemented especially in the aniconic ornament of the naos or apse wall paintings of the churches in the region, and it is noteworthy that they were painted as the main motif in a row, forming the border of the figural scenes on the lower parts of the walls (in the areas below the human waist). This study explains the properties of the imitation curtain patterns found in the wall paintings of Cappadocia and compares them in terms of ornamental properties, pattern composition, size, colour scale, and theological roots and development in Byzantine art. In addition, the importance of the curtain pattern, its usage areas and its features in the Byzantine Empire have been explained with examples.

Dynamic Divinity in Flux: Tracing Nikos Kazantzakis's Convergence of Greek Theology and Evolutionary Philosophy

This study embarks on an analytical journey through the theological perspectives of Nikos Kazantzakis, underpinned by the concept of God's mutability and its roots in ancient and Byzantine Greek theology. Focusing on Kazantzakis's pivotal works such as "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "Report to Greco," the research employs a literary and historical approach to unravel the synthesis of Christian Orthodoxy, neo-Platonic philosophy, and modern evolutionary thought. The influence of Alfred North Whitehead's process theology and Henri Bergson's evolutionary vitalism on Kazantzakis's conception of a dynamic, evolving God is explored, challenging traditional doctrines of divine immutability. The study also delves into Platonic thought's impact on Kazantzakis, examining the dialectic of being and becoming, and the reinterpretation of classical concepts like stasis and kinesis in a Christian theological context. Additionally, it scrutinizes the compatibility of Kazantzakis’s views with Orthodox Christian theology, particularly in the light of contributions from figures such as Origen and the Cappadocian Fathers. The findings reveal a complex interplay between Greek philosophical heritage and Christian theology in Kazantzakis's work, offering a unique perspective on the nature of God and the compatibility of faith with evolving scientific understanding. This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue between religion and philosophy, highlighting the relevance of ancient wisdom in contemporary theological discourse and underscoring the transformative potential of theological thought in the modern era.

Systematic Review Of The Spiritual Intelligence And Job Demand And Resouces In Workplace

The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review of spiritual intelligence in the JD-R model in the workplace. This review allows us to track the evolution of this model in management practice over the past five years and identify research gaps that need to be addressed in the near future. The reviewed articles were retrieved from two major databases (e.g., Scopus and Elsvier) using a two-step screening process.To achieve the objectives of this study, 880 conceptual and empirical papers were reviewed in more than 50 publications from 2019 to 2023. Selected articles were evaluated based on classification criteria and grouped to identify topics. Despite extensive research over the past decade, the constructs of SI and JD-R lack clear definitions and have overlapping characteristics. This review shows how the JD-R model of SI is interdisciplinary and has its roots in organizational behavior, psychology, and theology. This report also provides a clear picture of the current state of the literature and enumerates possible directions for future research so that researchers can further develop the field of SI and JD-R in the workplace.

IMPLEMENTASI HADIS ZIARAH MAKAM SYUHADA TERHADAP TRADISI HAUL ABAH GURU SEKUMPUL DI MARTAPURA, KALIMANTAN SELATAN

This article aims to analyse the implementation of the Prophet Muhammad's hadith about the pilgrimage to the martyr's grave in the tradition of Haul Abah Guru Sekumpul in Martapura. The research involves literature data and interviews with tradition actors. Then the data was analysed using Max Weber's social action theory. The findings of this research are that the tradition of Haul Abah Guru Sekumpul in Martapura is a category of traditional community action that is claimed to have theological roots from the Prophet Muhammad's hadith when visiting the graves of the martyrs. On the other hand, the tradition is believed to have affective meaning, which for the community is considered as a means of providing blessings for those who attend, or those who participate in the implementation of the event. From the social meaning, the tradition of Haul Abah Guru Sekumpul also has elements of mutual cooperation, togetherness, mutual respect and emulating the struggle.

Economics as Religion and Christianity as oikonomia: Giorgio Agamben and the Homo Sacer

Among the contemporary thinkers who try to think of economics not just as having a non-empty intersection with religion but as being intrinsically religious, Giorgio Agamben occupies a singular place. Indeed, one of the main theses of his major work, Homo Sacer, is that the modern rupture between “sovereignty” and “government”—which lies at the heart of his political diagnosis of our contemporary situation—can be traced back to classical Trinitarian theology. Since this rupture is allegedly responsible for today’s Western understanding of economics, this implies that, according to the Italian philosopher, our current crisis has Christian theological roots. In this paper, I first discuss the argument put forward by Agamben to assert that, at least since the Trinitarian controversies of the second century, Christianity has become intrinsically oikonomia, that is, it understands history as the unfolding of a providential dynamic which, he claims, anticipates today’s celebrated “invisible hand” of decentralized markets. Next, I offer critical reflections upon this argument by questioning whether contemporary mainstream economics can be reduced to the “market fundamentalism” with which it is often confused. The article concludes by questioning, in turn, whether all Christian traditions boil down to the historical trend that Agamben characterizes as leading to today’s problematic mainstream economics.

Theological Implications of the Symbols and Signs in the Sacrament of Matrimony of the Syro-Malabar Church

This article discusses the significance of the signs and symbols used in the sacrament of the marriage of the Syro-Malabar Church and the adaptations from different cultures, particularly the Hindu culture of India. It concentrates on the specific elements found in the marriage celebration of the St. Thomas Christians. The rituals that are unique to the Sacrament of Matrimony of the Syro-Malabar Church, mainly expressed through symbols and signs, remain a significant contribution to the liturgy, spirituality, and theology of the Sacrament of Matrimony, and to the theology of inculturation. In the Syro-Malabar liturgy, marriage rituals, and signs and symbols have their roots both in Hindu culture and Christian theology. From the beginning, it has been the practice of the St. Thomas Christians of the Malabar region, to preserve Indian social customs and ways of life. However, St. Thomas Christians did not simply copy Hindu culture and customs but rather Christianized them through Catholic symbols and signs.

A Brief History of Jewish Victimhood Identity

Abstract: One key obstacle in the quest for Israel-Palestine reconciliation is each nation’s firm belief that it is the victim of the other’s cruel and immoral behavior. This competitive victimhood suppresses empathy and fosters a sense of powerlessness. This study examines the historical and theological roots of Jewish victimhood identity and offers historical explanations as to why it persists even in the face of the twentieth century “Jewish emergence from powerlessness” (the establishment of Israel). Based on this analysis, practical suggestions are offered for escaping victimhood identity in order to make reconciliation possible.

“Invectivity” and Theology: Martin Luther’s Ad librum Ambrosii Catharini (1521) in Context

Abstract Luther’s treatise is presented as an answer to attacks from the Italian Dominican Ambrosius Catharinus. The language is highly invective, and Luther’s argument culminates in a comprehensive biblical verification of a terrifying truth: that the pope is the Antichrist foreseen in several biblical texts. The papal Curia is part of the Antichrist’s realm. Relating to Heiko Oberman’s thoughts on the theological roots of Luther’s “invectivity,” the article offers a closer look into Luther’s radically offensive language in his early years, arguing that it was closely linked to his central theological convictions at least since 1520/21.

Modernism, Nominalism, and the Hidden God in Samuel Beckett, Wallace Stevens, and David Jones

Abstract The idea that human language is an inherently inadequate instrument for grasping reality is widespread in modernist literature. While the ‘radical nominalism’ of this position has been recognised, this article argues that a genealogical understanding of its theological roots in medieval nominalism can highlight how modernist writers like Samuel Beckett and Wallace Stevens still wrestle with a voluntarist God of absolute and arbitrary power. By contrast, for a writer like David Jones, the historical choice of nominalism amounts to a theological mistake, and the modern artist needs to rediscover a God who consecrates and redeems the human capacity for sign-making.

Eric Nelson’s Theology of Liberalism: A Comment from the Periphery

We liberals, Eric Nelson tells us, live in a political world that has two possible theological or philosophical foundations. One holds that our fellow humans are moral agents (and social, economic, and intellectual agents); they are the owners of their works, responsible for the good and bad consequences of their works, and so meriting praise and blame, reward and punishment. According to the other, our fellow humans are vessels merely, through which external forces work: God, history, economic conditions, nature/nurture—so that they are not responsible agents. Their natural endowments, their capacities and talents, even their strength (or weakness) of character are “arbitrary from a moral point of view” and cannot give us any reason for praise or blame—certainly not for reward (an exception is sometimes made for punishment). The first view, which Nelson describes as Pelagian, underlies what we might call classical liberalism, the second, Calvinist or anti-Pelagian, underlies Rawlsian and post-Rawlsian liberalism. Both these versions of liberalism have theological roots, which Nelson urges us not to forget. But he is most engaged with the second version and with its anti-Pelagian sources. Its contemporary protagonists, he thinks, have not been well served by secularization. His argument is dense, and I am not sure that I fully understand every part of it. But I am also not sure about its necessity, since there seem to me good reasons to worry not only about post-Rawlsian liberalism but also about the theology that preceded it. (I like to think, but won't argue here, that my own liberal social-democratic commitments work well in both their Pelagian-religious and secular forms.)

The Logic of the Body: Retrieving Theological Psychology

The Logic of the Body: Retrieving Theological Psychology

"Den andra världen är den här världen"

"Philip Sherrard is truly a prophet for our present age, a messenger whose winged words are addressed not so much to the twentieth century in which he lived as to the twenty-first century that is now unfolding." With this depiction metropolitan Kallistos Ware described the English poet and theologian Philip Sherrard, whose legacy and writings has a prophetic urgency in light of our current crises. For Sherrard, whose encounter with modern Greek poets in the 1950s led him to a study of the theological roots of Orthodoxy, the basic ecological challenge is not technological or economic but spiritual. Without a contemplative frame of mind, "the eye of the heart", we cannot see the world in God. And only if we see the world in God can we overcome the present crisis. The leitmotif in Sherrards work is what he terms a "theantropocosmic vision" – a vision of man and nature which makes it possible for us to perceive and experience both ourselves and the world we live in as sacred realities. Our human vocation, as priests of the creation, is to reveal anew the holiness of nature, raising up the world from its fallen state and rendering it once more transparent to the divine glory.

Judah Magnes: The Prophetic Politics of a Religious Binationalist by David Barak-Gorodetsky (review)

Reviewed by: Judah Magnes: The Prophetic Politics of a Religious Binationalist by David Barak-Gorodetsky Chad Alan Goldberg (bio) Judah Magnes: The Prophetic Politics of a Religious Binationalist. By David Barak-Gorodetsky. Translated by Merav Datan. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2021. xxx + 328 pp. This superb biography of the American rabbi, Zionist, and first president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Judah Leon Magnes (1877–1948) makes two broad contributions. First, by emphasizing the religious roots of Magnes's political thought, David Barak-Gorodetsky contributes to a wider scholarly effort to reintroduce "the question of religion's place in the Zionist story" (xv). Second, the author provides a "comprehensive conceptual study on the American aspects of the Jewish perspective on binationalism, of which Magnes was the main representative" (xxv). The first of the book's three parts, "'Mending the World,'" traces the formation of Magnes's religious and political views in the United States. Born in California, Magnes was ordained as a rabbi at Hebrew Union College in 1900 and received his doctoral degree from the University of Heidelberg in 1902. From 1906 to 1910, he served as a rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in New York City. In these years, under the influence of the rabbi and scholar Solomon Schechter, Magnes underwent a "religious evolution … beyond Reform Judaism to what would in time be known as the Conservative movement" (12). He subsequently worked to establish and then led the Jewish Kehillah of New York, an experimental attempt from 1909 to 1922 to provide the city's burgeoning Jewish population with a unified and democratic community structure. Surprisingly, Barak-Gorodetsky devotes scant space to Magnes's leadership of the Kehillah, noting only that his role as a mediator between the city's affluent, assimilated, "uptown" Jews and its poor, eastern European, Yiddish-speaking "downtown" Jews prefigured his later commitment to binationalism in Palestine (20). Barak-Gorodetsky has more to say about Magnes's Zionism, cultural pluralism, socialism, and pacifism. Magnes welcomed Zionism during his studies in Germany "because of its contribution to promoting Jewish self-respect among young Jews in Europe," and he subsequently embraced Zionism as a means of "reviving the spirit of Judaism in the United States" (26, 22). He also espoused a form of cultural pluralism similar to that propounded by the philosopher Horace Kallen. Because Magnes distinguished between religiosity and its manifestation in "formal [End Page 411] religious institutions," he was able to see "elements of the sacred" in the secular Jewish socialist and Zionist movements (48, 50). Furthermore, he understood Jewish socialism, like Zionism, as a means to "the renewal of Jewish life" (41). His pacifism likewise had religious roots in Christian pacifism and Reform Judaism's Mission Theology. Magnes's distinction between religiosity and religious institutions allowed him to criticize the latter's support for the First World War as a religious betrayal. Part Two, "'For the Sake of Zion,'" describes Magnes's political thought and practice from 1922, when he emigrated to Palestine, to 1939. As the chancellor of the Hebrew University when it opened in 1925 and its first president from 1935 until his death in 1948, Magnes envisioned the university playing a cultural and even spiritual role for the Jewish people. These years were characterized inwardly by an unfulfilled desire to achieve the closeness to God that he associated with authentic Judaism and outwardly by his involvement in the binationalist group Brit Shalom. Magnes shared with the religious philosopher and Brit Shalom member Martin Buber a "prophetic orientation for the Jewish politics of Palestine," but they "articulated [it] differently" (179). These differences stemmed in part from the influence on Magnes of William James's pluralistic ideal of a federal republic and of American reliance on political institutions and constitutionalism to "bridge political divides" (131), which informed his commitment to binationalism. Magnes's identification with the prophet Jeremiah, who advocated a "peaceful path" and preached "against the supposedly imminent danger of Jewish nationalism" but "ultimately failed to convince the kingdom of Judah to mend its ways" comes to the fore in Part Two (174, 117, 186). Interestingly, though the German sociologist Max Weber also identified with Jeremiah, Magnes's striving to bridge...

Christian Social Activism and Rule of Law in Chinese Societies, edited by Fenggang Yang and Chris White.

<i>Christian Social Activism and Rule of Law in Chinese Societies</i>, edited by Fenggang Yang and Chris White.