Academic literature on the topic 'Religious doctrines (General)'

The religious doctrine of the two epics is that the religions in the twin epics do not show any distinction. Doctrine is the code of ethics followed by all religions. The protocol is that when the script is great, it becomes a theory when it outlines the steps to follow. Thus, the doctrines of Buddhism in Manimekalai are present throughout the epic. In the Silapathikaram, the religion of Jainism can be seen in the manner in which it is presented with minor principles. Silappathikaram and Manimegalai which are found under the common name of Kapiyam in terms of structure, are to show the general characteristics of this concept. The look of the coffee is common to both. It can be seen that both religion and general doctrines have something in common. The subject of this article is to explore the method used by Buddhism to spread its religious doctrine, the narrative internal design of the dual epics. It has been established on the basis of evidence that the internal structure of the story mantra and the copy cell supports it.

Diversity and the fragmented nature of Protestantism are the reason of various interpretations of its boundaries and the number of denominations it comprises. The key criterion of affiliation with Protestantism is the acceptance of basic doctrines set forward in the Niceno- Constantinopolitan Creed. The analysis of the beliefs of the religious organizations traditionally connected with Protestantism suggests that Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Pentecostals-Unitarians are out of the doctrinal field of Christianity in general and out of the range of Protestantism in particular. The other distinct characteristic of Protestantism is the acceptance of the Five Solas – sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, Solus Christus и Soli Deo gloria, which are aimed at the validation of Christian doctrines set forth in the Bible. This thesis was demonstrated via the analysis of the doctrinal sources of Lutheranism, Reformed Church and Anglican Church. The article also reports on the five solas present in the creeds of Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Mennonites, Religious Society of Friends, and Seventh-Day Adventists. Cultural and historical proximity of protestants and religious organizations that do not meet the criteria above calls for a new category – “post reformation religions” – that can embrace them all.

The article examines the religious views of the founder of the Watchtower Society, Charles Taze Russell, and their influence on the development of the doctrinal system of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The role of a religious leader in the eyes of his followers is described. The doctrines concerning the nature of the Divine, the name of God, human nature, the state of the dead, hell, the second coming of Christ, immortality and eternal life are illuminated. It has been established which views of Russell remained unchanged in the doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and which underwent a certain correction.

Šio tyrimo tikslas – apčiuopti XX a. pabaigos–XXI a. pradžios popkultūroje, konkrečiai, kinematografijoje reiškinius, kuriuos galima interpretuoti kaip vykstantį normatyvinių, įsitvirtinusių religijų palaikomų religinių doktrinų, praktikų ir moralės normų perkonstravimą XIX a.–XX a. pradžios okultinių judėjimų mokymų, praktikų ir simbolikos pagrindu. Buvo parodyta, kad šie reiškiniai yra platesnių kultūrinių ir religinių procesų dalis, o būtent – kaip difuzija viešojoje, sekuliariojoje erdvėje to, kas šiame tyrime buvo formuluojama kaip „kairysis kelias religijose“. Viešojoje erdvėje vyksta procesai, atliekantys tam tikrą „vertybių perkainojimą“, t. y. viešpataujančios, įsitvirtinusios konkrečioje visuomenėje religijos, moralinės normos, tabu ir religinės tapatybės „perkainojamos“ kaip tam tikra prasme „destruktyvios“, sužlugdžiusios, esą, kažkada egzistavusias „tikrąsias“. Minėtiems procesams analizuoti šiame tyrime buvo sukonstruotas teorinis įrankis, čia vadinamas „kairiuoju keliu religijose“, kurį galima formuluoti taip: kairysis kelias religijose – tai elitistiniai religinio pobūdžio tekstai ir praktikos, kurie virš įsigalėjusios, daugumos palaikomos religinės praktikos, doktrinų ir diegiamų moralinių normų iškelia kitas doktrinas ir praktikas, kurios laikomos tinkamomis turintiesiems ypatingą iniciaciją. Būna, kad šios doktrinos ir praktikos nevengia normatyvinės moralės ir ritualinių tabu pažeidimų, nors ir neturi tikslo išstumti visuomenėje įsigalėjusios religijos suformuotas (ar bent patyrusias jos įtaką) moralės normas ir ritualinius tabu, kaip visuomenės daugumai priimtinus socialinei tvarkai užtikrinti. Buvo tyrinėti „kairiojo kelio“ termino vartojimo ypatumai moderniuose Vakarų okultiniuose judėjimuose, aptariami „kairiojo kelio“ tapimo „dešiniuoju keliu“ (kitaip tariant, difuzijos) niuansai šiuolaikinėje populiariojoje kultūroje (konkrečiai, XX a. pabaigos–XXI a. pradžios kinematografijoje), pateikiant jos klasifikaciją, išskiriant būtent šio tyrimo tikslus atitinkantį pogrupį.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: kairysis kelias religijose, okultiniai judėjimai, tapatybių perkūrimas, popkultūra.THE DIFFUSION AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF LEFT-HAND PATH RELIGIONS IN THE CONTEMPORARY POPULAR CULTUREAušra Kristina Pažėraitė SummaryIn this article some features of the present-day (late 20th–early 21st c.) pop-culture, concretely cinematography, are analyzed for phenomena which can be interpreted as an ongoing transformation of normative morality, religious doctrines and ritual taboos of established religions on the ground of doctrines, practices and symbolism of modern (late 19th–20th c.) occult movements. The author argues that these phenomena are part of wider cultural and religious processes, i.e. of diffusion in public, secular, and also new religious and spiritual movements of what in this study was formulated as the “left-hand paths in religions”, the processes that perform a “reevaluation of values” of given society, grounded in particular established religion and religious identity, reevaluation of established moral norms and ritual taboos as at certain extent “destructives”. To achieve this goal the author has formulated a theoretical tool for analysis of general phenomena in religions as “left-hand path in religions” on the basis of Andree Padoux’s descriptions of “lefthand path” in Hindu religions, and which can be formulated as follows: left-hand path in religions – are elitist religious texts and practices that are destined not to eliminate norms of morality and ritual taboos of established religion, as far as they are acceptable for society in general as the basis for social order, but to achieve some goals that this established religion is supposed incapable to help to achieve in established manner, and only knower and practitioner of doctrines, rituals and other practices (that sometimes transgress established ones) is able to achieve those goals. In this study the author has explored the usage and conceptions of the term “left-hand path” in some modern Western occult movements; also the author has classified present-day fantasy cinematography in five groups, each according to the relationship to various kinds of “paranormal” realities. One of the groups is composed of movies in which symbols, practices, doctrines of modern “Western” occult movements (i.e. of Thelema, Aleister Crowley, LaVey) are exploited. That results in the subversion of values and ritual taboos of established religions (most often Christianity, and especially Catholicism). The diffusion of the “left-hand path” in popular and secular area of society becomes in a certain degree the “right-hand path”. Keywords: left-hand path in religions, occult movements, creation of new identity, popular culture.

Shaikh Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf Al-Habashi Al-Harari of Ethiopia is a controversial Islamic scholar and founder of Al-Ahbash in Lebanon. He was involved in the struggle mainly with the Islamic fundamentalist Wahhabis there and was expelled from Ethiopia in 1947. After living in different cities, he settled down at Beirut, Lebanon in 1950. He was declared leader of the Jam’iyyat al-mashari’ al-khayriyya al-islamiyya (Association of Islamic Charitable Projects) in 1983 after the death of its founder Shiakh Muhiyy al-Din al-Ajuz. Since then, it has been known as ‘Al-Ahbash’ (the Ethiopians) after his title Al-Habashi. Al-Ahbash became one of the most controversial Muslim associations in the contemporary spectrum of Islamic groups because of its religious philosophy and doctrines. Al-Ahbash philosophy blended Sunni and Shi’a theology with Sufi spiritualism into a doctrinal eclecticism. Its ideological discourses mainly follow Shafi’i, Ash’ari and Maturidi doctrines. Al-Ahbash’s doctrine has also been influenced by some Sufi orders (tariqas) like Rifa’iyya and Qadiriyya. It emphasized Islam’s innate pluralism and determines the religious and political program, which do not fit with the conventional Islamists idea. It advocated for opposition to Islamic political activism and the use of violence against the ruling order. These attributes opposed to the political thoughts of many Islamic thinkers like Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Abd Al-Wahhab, Sayyid Qutb. The most controversial issue in Al-Ahbash doctrine is the question of the relation among religion, politics, and the state in Islam. Al-Ahbash advocated the separation of religion and state and thereby rejected the idea of an Islamic state. Its views on education, women and science also contradict many of the above named writers opinions. Thus, Al-Ahbash represents a new but controversial view in Islam. This paper is aimed at understanding the philosophy and political doctrines of al-Ahbash.

The article examines in detail the problems associated with the development of Buddhism, which introduced a personal aspect to religion and embodied the idea of the need for compassion for all living beings. A special place is occupied by the analysis of the moral and social component of this religion. Buddhism is seen as a protest movement that originated in India and is directed against the frozen hierarchy, mechanical ritualism and greed of the Brahmins. This religion challenged the Brahmin hierarchy, appealing primarily to warriors, kings, and the mass of the free population. The Buddhist community was a brotherhood of mendicant monks who did not perform any rituals, but only showed people the way to salvation by the example of their lives. Buddhism is also one of the radical reformist teachings, not only intellectually, but also socially. He called people, first of all, to inner perfection, the last stage of which can be achieved only through kindness and benevolence to all living beings. The central point of this article is devoted to the debate about the reality of the Buddha’s existence, his teaching and the transformations of this teaching. A significant place is given to the description of the way of life of Buddhist monks, the relationship within the Buddhist community and with the laity. The reasons for the attractiveness of Buddhism and its easy adaptability to other religious doctrines are substantiated. The possibilities of transformation of Buddhism, including within the framework of syncretic creeds, as well as in the activities of totalitarian and pseudo-religious sects, are shown. Examples of the politicization of this religion and its inclusion in the activities of fundamentalist organizations are given.

An abstract of this essay would reveal two interests, one civil and one religious. The first has to do with a public debate over values in American elementary and secondary education and what this debate symbolizes about national life in general. Specifically, I want to suggest that the stated intentions of citizens who demand religious instruction in the public schools could only be fulfilled, logically, if this instruction included doctrines of eternal punishment—in short, the possibility of hell. This is especially true if they wish to restore moral instruction “as it used to be.” My second argument urges that such a teaching would impose on schools a doctrine that has disappeared or been drastically diminished in the preachments of most American religious groups. It is a doctrine that is hence not culturally available.

The article presents a study of the formation and development of bioethical discourse based on the analysis of leading philosophical concepts, doctrines, and religious beliefs about the value of life in various manifestations of its being. The authors note that the beginning of axiological reflection on the problem of the living can be found in the works of ancient philosophers and the early Christian discourse as attempts to sacralise life. Moreover, the authors attribute a significant role in the development of bioethical discourse to the ethical doctrine of Kant and his opponents, representatives of the phenomenological direction of philosophical anthropology. Finally, the article notes that in modern conditions, bioethical discourse is concentrated around the axiological paradigm in the doctrine of the living. The various viewpoints are proposed to be grouped into two main approaches: the ethics of sacredness (sanctity) of life and the ethics of quality of life. These approaches have significant scientific potential, which allows for the development of bioethical doctrine, employing forming moral norms and imperatives of human behaviour, as well as establishing restrictions on human influence on the means and forms of existence of the living.

Under federal law, an individual religious exemption from vaccines is valid when it is based on subjective, sincere beliefs rooted in religion but not dependent on the existence, veracity, or accurate understanding or application of denominational tenets or doctrines. Despite the subjective nature of the individual religious exemption, Catholic institutions may recognize or deny (under certain circumstances) individual religious exemptions on the basis of the institution’s own religious exemptions. For example, under the doctrine of the common good, the significant risk to the community presented by non-vaccinated individuals could be grounds for an institution to deny an individual’s otherwise valid religious exemption. This paper attempts to clarify the decision-making framework used by law to balance individual religious exemptions and compelling state interests, then proposes a similar decision-making framework, consistent with Catholic moral principles, for religious institutions to use when balancing individual conscience objections and compelling duties to society.

One of the key Christian doctrines is atonement. The subject of atonement is very important in Christian theology because it is the basis for God’s reconciliation of the world onto himself. The concept of atonement is found in many other religions apart from Christianity. From an Akan socio-religious perspective, atonement is required to maintain the relationship between humans and the supernatural realm. This paper explored the nexus between the Akan primal concept of atonement and the Christian doctrine of atonement using a literature-based research methodology. The paper demonstrated how an Akan primal understanding of atonement might enhance the Akan Christian understanding of the atonement of Christ. The discussions serve to facilitate the contextualization of the Christian doctrine of atonement for the Akan Christian community so as to make God’s salvific work relevant and meaningful to the Akan people. The main thesis of the paper is that an adequate understanding of the Akan traditional concept sin, priesthood and atonement prepares one to appreciate Jesus’ role as the ultimate high priest whose once-for-all sacrifice brought to an end the repetitious and imperfect sacrifices offered in Akan traditional religious context.

This project challenged pastors and leadership staff members within the Northeastern Section of the Southern New England Ministry Network of the Assemblies of God to engage in an ongoing ministry of teaching with strong emphasis on the doctrine and history of divine healing. The objective was to equip church leaders and, in turn, their parishioners, to withstand the winds of erroneous teachings on healing as propagated by the Word of Faith evangelists.

The biblical analysis (chapter 2) centered on four theological themes: sin, the atonement, faith, and grace. The section on the atonement included an exegetical (linguistic) review of Isaiah 53:4-5; 1 Peter 2:24; and Matthew 8:17. The historical-foundational aspect of divine healing in the Word of Faith Movement (chapter 3) included a review of the philosophical-metaphysical-theological teachings of Emmanuel Swedenborg, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, and Mary Baker Eddy. A review of the doctrine of Essex W. Kenyon provided an understanding of how metaphysics influenced the doctrine of divine healing in twentieth-century Pentecostalism. This project is a teaching tool for Pentecostal leaders in the local church; it assists them in refuting Kenyon and his followers' theology of healing.

The project seminar executed for this study evaluated questionnaire responses of thirty-one attendees regarding their attitudes concerning and understanding of divine healing. On the whole, the project seminar was effective. It affirmed and validated the belief and feelings of the presenter that a need exists in Pentecostal churches to clarify the doctrine of divine healing.

Tawfiq al-Hakim is known across the Arab world as a pioneer dramatist. He is one of many misunderstood writers and philosophers. My aim is to introduce him to the English-speaking public in order to shed some light on a specific period known to be one of the best in Egypt intellectually and culturally. Former President Nasser’s ideologies, and those of former President Sadat such as his “open-door” policy to the West, have contributed positively to the forming of an intellectual renaissance in Egypt. This rich period in Egyptian history is one that can directly shed light on the literary and philosophical contributions of al-Hakim, and on the social and cultural issues that should be revisited in order to gain an understanding of the problems that face Egyptians today. With this said, it is my hope that by reviving al-Hakim’s philosophical doctrines and by examining the major issues he addresses in his texts, I will be able to explain and clarify some misconceptions about this author, his philosophy and his work. I would also like to show ways in which his distinctive doctrine of equilibrium can be of use to us both in the East and the West. The objectives, accordingly, are twofold: (1) To introduce and critically examine al-Hakim’s equilibrium doctrine; and, (2) To identify the philosophical traits and Western influences that had an impact on his character and philosophy. The core problem that this work will indirectly address is the problem of how philosophy in the Arab world, according to Sari Nusseibeh’s article “The Arab World: What role for philosophy?” has been blatantly used as a tool in order to defend one version or another of the religious beliefs of those who pursued it. I ask what specific role a philosopher or intellectual can play in his or her society and how his philosophy can be put to use. This question is one that has been long forgotten in the Arab world. Freeing the Arab world from the colonizer, back in the 1930s, was clearly a goal for many intellectuals. Today, freeing the Arab mind by introducing a philosophy or an ideology that can be of use to the Muslim world as well as to the West would be a great task to accomplish.

Organized in the nineteenth century, the General Conference of German Baptists was primarily a North American denominational body that adopted the polity of the American Baptists to build religious communities of converts of German ethnic background. From 1851 to 1920, the General Conference of German Baptists resisted institutional unity with the larger English-speaking bodies. Instead, it developed an ethnic mission with the financial aid of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. With time the German church membership became more Americanized in language and habits. The external pressure to assimilate increased. Yet, the German Baptist leadership moved away from complete Americanization of the churches and sought to preserve the distinct Pietist theological basis and ethnic mission of the Conference. The General Conference of German Baptists embraced institutional independence beginning in 1920 with the dissolution of the Cooperative Agreement that bound the mission of the German Baptists, the ABHMS, and the Baptist Union of Western Canada.

El objetivo del presente estudio es la contextualización histórica del Carmen de prouidentia Dei, composición poética cristiana escrita en época de las primeras grandes oleadas de pueblos germánicos sobre territorio galorromano y comúnmente atribuida al cálamo del historiador y teólogo Próspero de Aquitania. Hemos reexaminado el valor de esta obra como testimonio del impacto de las invasiones bárbaras sobre lo que hemos dado en llamar la "conciencia colectiva" de la época y, en esta misma línea, analizado la contribución de su autor a la reflexión coetánea sobre la vigencia de los principios de la teología política diseñada por Eusebio de Cesarea un siglo antes, fundamento ideológico del Imperio Romano Cristiano. Nuestro estudio pone de relieve que el autor de este carmen, posible lector de primera hora del De ciuitate Dei agustiniano, sintió la necesidad de separar los destinos de la Iglesia y del declinante Imperio Romano de Occidente. A partir de un genuino universalismo cristiano de raíz estoica, el poeta defiende el alcance universal del designio salvífico divino, el cual se extiende por igual a romanos y bárbaros. De este modo, trata de preparar a la comunidad eclesiástica para continuar su camino una vez desaparecida la estructura política del Imperio, bajo cuyo amparo había experimentado un crecimiento sin precedentes.
Por otra parte, analizamos la aportación del poema al conocimiento de las controversias teológicas que convulsionaron las iglesias galas durante este período, debates centrados en los grandes temas de la libertad humana y de la cristología. Creemos haber demostrado que el Carmen de prouidentia Dei debe considerarse vehículo de expresión de las críticas que algunos sectores monásticos y eclesiásticos de Provenza vertieron contra la teología predestinacionista forjada por Agustín de Hipona. En cuanto a su cristología, subyace en el poema la voluntad de desmarcarse en este punto de las polémicas teorías formuladas por el monje marsellés Leporio. Dedicamos también un capítulo de nuestra obra a analizar la diatriba antiastrológica del carmen: en efecto, las prácticas astrológicas vivieron en la Galia de la época un momento de particular apogeo, hecho que atestigua la incertidumbre y la angustia existencial en que la crisis derivada de las invasiones germánicas sumió a muchos cristianos galorromanos.
Finalmente sometemos a análisis crítico las principales hipótesis formuladas hasta el momento respecto a la autoría del poema, el ámbito geográfico de su composición y su cronología. A partir de nuestro examen de la tradición manuscrita del poema y de los paralelismos textuales que lo relacionan con algunas obras de Próspero de Aquitania creemos haber ofrecido argumentos suficientes para descartar definitivamente su atribución a este autor. Cabe pensar más bien, y así lo hemos defendido, que su autor fue un monje del monasterio de San Víctor de Marsella y presbítero de la iglesia local, el cual, hacia finales de 426, sintió la necesidad de escribir una obra que diera respuesta a la crisis ideológica y religiosa que, en muchos de sus contemporáneos, estaba generando el hundimiento de un Imperio que habían creído eterno.
This work aims to set in the proper historical context.the composition of the Carmen de Prouidentia Dei, a Christian-inspired poem published short after the first great Barbarian invasions of Galorroman territory (beginnings of the Fifth-Century) and usually attributed to the historian and theologian Prosper of Aquitaine (as does its last editor, M. Marcovich). As I show in the first part of my dissertation, the carmen witnesses the impact of the Germanic invasions over what I call the "collective consciousness" of the age. The poet, who was an "engaged Christian", felt that in those critical years for the Roman Empire it was necessary to re-examine the political theology of Eusebius of Caesarea and to make out a clear distinction between Catholic Church and Roman State.
Parts II-IV of this work deal with the theological controversies in the Gallic Church of the Fifth-Century as reflected in the carmen. By means of this poem, its author set forth his opposition to Augustine's views on Grace and Predestination and to Leporius' Christological tenets. Many verses of the poem are also devoted to a diatribe against astrology, which flourished in the hard years of German invasions of Gaul.
Finally, in part V I re-examine several hypothesis on the authorship of the Carmen the prouidentia Dei, its place of composition and its chronology. As I argue, several arguments support the hypothesis that it was written around 426 by a monk of Saint Victor of Marseilles who was also a priest of the local church.

This thesis undertakes an interdisciplinary analysis of new Church of England liturgies (Common Worship) from an ecotheological point of view: making use of reader response theory, literary analysis, a social scientific survey, liberation theology, environmental and political ethics and liturgical theology. Chapter 1 considers the theological, political and sociological influences on liturgical reform, which include, inculturation, the expression of ethics in the prayer of the Church, liberation theologies, technology, and agrarianism. Chapter 2 considers methods of liturgical change and the scope for making creation visible in liturgy. Chapter 3 finds justification in reader response theory for determining ecotheological priorities for critiquing liturgy. Analysis of Common Worship texts occurs: in Chapter 4, using literary analysis; in Chapter 5 via social scientific survey of clergy using Common Worship; Chapter 6 looks in details at Collects and Post Communions and undertakes an ecotheological rewriting of 9 sample texts. Chapter 7 identifies lessons for liturgical revision in general and for eco-liturgical reform in particular, paying particular attention to the dissonant creation theologies unearthed in Common Worship, the necessity for future revisions, and the importance and implication of technological change for liturgical writers and commentators.

The thesis focuses on the Ndau people of Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. Contact with Westerners brought significant changes to their marriage practices. South Africa General Mission (SAGM) missionaries required Ndau people to conduct church (“white”) weddings for their marriages to be recognised by the church. This has caused a problem whereby Ndau Christians marry traditionally/customarily and yet still have to conduct church weddings. The church has not rethought its position on the necessity for having this duplication of marriages. The thesis sought to develop an in-depth understanding of Ndau people’s perceptions and experiences on the connection between and the necessity for both marriages in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. Data regarding Ndau people’s understanding of marriage practices was collected using in-depth semi-structured and focus group interviews. Following a qualitative research design, the study used the phenomenological approach to collect data and postcolonialism as the research paradigm. Using these, twenty individual and five focus group interviews were conducted. Seven themes emerged from the data. These covered marriage practices of the Ndau, the most preferred way of marriage, various reasons for having church weddings, perceived relationship between the two marriages, different views on the sufficiency of traditional marriages, thoughts on the expenses of church weddings, and how participants married and reasons thereof. The findings showed that Ndau Christians conduct church weddings for several reasons. These are because they:  want to celebrate their marriages  desire God’s blessings when they convert to Christianity. It is regarded as God’s biblical requirement  understand it as a church requirement/rule  get church teaching that encourage church weddings  need recognition and acceptance in the church as well as general social recognition  associate Christianity with Westernisation vi  regard it as a deterrent to unfaithfulness and polygyny  regard church weddings as having wider official recognition than traditional marriages and  want associated material advantages. The conclusion states that there is neither a theological nor a biblical basis for requiring Ndau Christians to have church weddings. Using a postcolonial hybrid approach, the thesis suggests a merging of the two marriages into one ceremony. More recommendations were given and the church was challenged to be more responsive to its people’s struggles.
Religious Studies and Arabic
D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 231-239)
Chapter one begins by introducing and orientating the reader to the study and the purpose of the study, namely the revelation of God. It also opens up what is central to the study by a way of a problem statement concerning this revelation of God, the black church and the human condition. The aims of the study and the research methodology are set out. The chapter ends with a hypothesis concerning the future doctrine of revelation and the prospects of this revelation in the lives of black people. Chapter two entails discussion on God and the church, as it pertains to revelation, starting with a historical account of Christian theology on the subject of revelation. The subject of revelation is engaged on an existential level, particularly the main areas of Christian theology, namely; special and general revelation. This is a section that puts both concepts within black experience, to see the viability for a black ecclesiology and black theology. Chapter two moves on to contend that for black church, there is a serious theological insurgent that is necessary and it is part and parcel of God’s revelation to blacks and the oppressed. This outlook places a section of critical reasoning in South African context and society concerning God’s revelation. Chapter three engages a philosophical meditation, ascribing meditation as a state of self-reflection for the black church and black theology. This meditation is cognisant of black experience and is self-diagnosis concern God and humanity, particularly the dehumanising, (how it must affirm essence and substance). The meditation of the black church engages the concept of absurdity as Camus (1995) (also see Melancon 1983) has posited the absurd as a malaise in the world and silence of the word to that malaise. The absurd is also linked to theodicy, however, the black experience and the encounter with God transcends absurdity and theodicy. As part of the transcending aspect of the black experience, the research considers Western atheism, Christianity and death of God, whose burial is in the mind, souls and bodies of blacks. The chapter then moves on to discuss the black church as a receptor of God’s revelation, the new image of the crucified and the new metaphysics guaranteeing the upliftment of blacks. Chapter four focuses on the black invisibility and the hiddenness of God, it is seeing invisibility and hiddenness as linked together. The chapter also focuses on the need for black visibility rooted in the ontological and physiological expression and experience of being human; Imago Dei. The chapter links black visibility with the concept of whiteness, being a dehumanising political identity imposed on the people of colour. The chapter then translates into the context of visibility, invisibility and God’s revelation within the economic South African context. The final analysis of the chapter is a confession of God’s revelation rooted in God’s visibility and running parallel to that of black visibility. Chapter five proposes that the black experience and the use of the Bible Sola Sriptura, as it reveals the black church as part of church history. As such, it takes the early church’s reading of the New Testament and understanding of Christology through kenosis; the emptying of God to be human and using that paradigm to link Christ’s human experience and the experience of the dehumanising and humanising that of blacks. The chapter concludes with a Christology and black Messiah, who links the secular and divine, general and special revelation. Chapter six concerns the findings of the study, recommendations and conclusion.
Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology
D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

As professor at the Charles University, Bolzano lectured on religion for many years, developing a theoretical framework for understanding religions in general, which was then applied to Catholicism. The starting point is the notion of a religious proposition, defined as a proposition that if believed, would have an impact on someone’s virtue and happiness, and which one may be inclined to accept or reject based not on reasons but rather on one’s wishes. A person’s religion is then defined as the collection of his religious beliefs. Given this very general conception, it is clear that Bolzano counts as religious far more propositions than most would, to the point where even atheists can properly be said to have a religion. Other inquiries deal with the figurative content of many religious doctrines and with divine revelation, the latter the subject of one of the most subtle of Bolzano’s conceptual analyses. (148 words)

Scrupulosity is a form of OCD involving hyperconscientiousness about moral and religious obligations. Scrupulous individuals accord their thoughts great moral and causal significance. They agonize about their inability to control problematic, intrusive, obsessive thoughts, especially about hazards. Thoughts about hazards are not dysfunctional. They arise in the general population at reproductively significant stages in life. The inability to control such thoughts, however, is dysfunctional. The scrupulous compulsively perform rituals and pursue reassurance, which are always undone by their intolerance of uncertainty and the impossibility of definitively establishing the absence of dangers empirically. The “Protestant order of salvation” is but one example of how religions can domesticate scrupulosity. Some religions’ doctrines about moral thought-action fusion and all religious rituals constitute representations and forms of behavior that temporarily evoke strikingly similar obsessions and compulsions in normal religious participants that deplete their cognitive resources, rendering them susceptible to the imposition of conventional interpretations.

This chapter studies how Spinoza’s theory of doctrines comes together in an integrated theological-political model of church–state relations. Chapter XIX of the Tractatus Theologico-politicus proposes a theory of ius circa sacra along broadly Erastian lines. In the Tractatus politicus, Spinoza prolongs this theory with an argument in favor of establishing a national religion. These texts raise questions regarding the coherence of Spinoza’s overall model, especially about how to reconcile his defense of religious freedom with the establishment of a state-controlled national religion. Comparing Spinoza’s position with those of Hobbes and Antistius Constans, the chapter attempts to resolve these tensions by showing how the national religion is conceived as a general framework for safeguarding the definition of true religion, while still allowing for a plurality of forms of worship to exist within that framework. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the religious uniformity imposed by Moses in the Hebrew Republic.

This chapter focuses on the Enlightenment’s criticism of religion in the field of philosophy. A discussion is given of Lessing’s attempt to defend the views of Reimarus. Lessing argues that the ‘Wolfenbüttel Fragments’ have provoked the critics to accept implicitly a naïve conception of history and then to attempt to try to defend the Bible based on this criterion. But since the historical standard for truth that the ‘Fragments’ presupposes is so high, all attempts to reach it are doomed to failure. The doctrines of Christianity are true in themselves and are not dependent on some historical fact. A close reading is given of David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which criticizes the traditional arguments for the belief in God. An account is also given of Kant’s attempt to save religious faith by shifting its foundation from metaphysics to ethics. While the key dogmas cannot be proven metaphysically, they must be assumed as postulates of practical reason. The chapter ends with an account of Hegel’s criticism of Kant and of the Enlightenment in general. Hegel holds Kant responsible for the conclusion that many of the Enlightenment critics of religion reached, namely, that there can be no knowledge of God.

This chapter studies Article IX of the Colorado Constitution, on public schools. Sections 1 and 15 establish the basic structure for administration of the state’s schools. Section 1 provides for an elected State Board of Education. Section 15 authorizes the general assembly to create school districts “of convenient size” and provides for an elected board of education for each, which “have control of instruction in the public schools of their respective districts.” Section 16 forbids the legislature and the State Board of Education from prescribing public school textbooks. Section 2 requires free public schools open to all residents between ages six and twenty-one. Sections 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10 concern the state public school fund and trust lands. Section 17 sets minimum levels of financial support for schools. Section 8 bans the teaching of sectarian tenets or doctrines in public schools and the use of religious criteria in hiring teachers or admitting students. Section 11 empowers the general assembly to require school attendance or education by other means.

Abstract This chapter examines institutional authoritarian practices surrounding child sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy. It starts with a focus on the handling of allegations against five priests at two sites within the Catholic Church: the Irish diocese of Cloyne and the Salesian order’s Australia-Pacific province. From there, it widens out to consider broader patterns associated with covering up clergy abuse in other Irish dioceses and elsewhere in the Salesian order, contextualizing them within to national-level Church initiatives to handle child sexual abuse complaints and the Vatican’s responses. By applying an authoritarian practices perspective, the chapter shows how the Catholic Church’s main organizational and cultural features—shared to a varying extent by other religious institutions—may foster silencing, secrecy, and lies. A culture of obedience impeded internal critiques and whistle-blowing. Church doctrines encompassed various forms of secrecy. Reputation was naturally believed to be best protected by secrecy, not by reform. The Church’s governance structure facilitated keeping sensitive information restricted. Sex in general, and ordained priests having sexual urges in particular, was a taboo subject. And a sense of clerical superiority facilitated devaluing and disbelieving the voices of victims. While Pope Francis I has made important changes in the Church’s handling of clerical abuse, the Catholic Church’s main organizational and cultural features persist.

Abstract Chapter 3 provides a detailed analysis of the religious beliefs held by Catholics in Britain, using the new ‘Catholics in Britain’ survey. It begins with consideration of a standard six-option belief in God measure. Beliefs in various generic Christian, Catholic-specific, and non-traditional (spiritual energies, reincarnation) doctrines follow. It then turns to views on a number of debated points of Catholic moral and sacramental doctrine/law (married priests, communion for divorced-and-remarried, women priests). The chapter looks at overall levels of belief (both traditional and non-traditional), examines how levels of religious belief vary based on demographic group (sex and age), and explores how believing is associated with different types of religious practice.

This chapter traces the history of Pickens’s Presbyterian and Huguenot ancestors as they migrated from Scotland to France, back to Scotland, to Ireland, Pennsylvania, the Shenandoah Valley, the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas, and finally to Long Cane, near Ninety Six, South Carolina. The Pickens’ migrations were driven by the search for religious freedom and economic opportunity, and everywhere they went they participated in the establishment of churches, legal institutions, and militia companies. This chapter also describes the Calvinist religious doctrine and world view of these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians and their frontier communities.

There have been three competing approaches to the interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause. One is that the Free Exercise Clause should protect religious belief but not religious conduct. Another is that any law that directly or indirectly burdens religious liberty should be subjected to “strict scrutiny” by judges and rarely upheld. A final approach says that the Constitution should prohibit laws that are motivated by animus toward religion or that interfere with core questions of religious doctrine, worship, or membership, but that otherwise religious individuals must follow neutral laws of general applicability. The chapter outlines arguments in favor of this latter approach and then applies this approach to cases involving religious business owners who wish to be exempted from laws requiring the provision of health benefits to employees and laws prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in public accommodations.

This chapter takes off from the discovery that Western Christianism does not fit into the paradigm of one ‘religion’ among many and should, instead, be considered as offering a meta-paradigm governing the modern understanding of politics in all its elements, religious as well as anti-religious. As a discovery, this is generally traced back to Carl Schmitt's re-appraisal of political theology. Indeed, Schmitt — as well as some contemporaries such as, in our narrative, Eugene Rosenstock-Huessy — dared to heed the fact that the main axis of the transmission of Western Christianism had not been ‘religious’ in the sense of the particulars of the Christian Faith. Rather, its key stake was a success-program of trans-disciplinary nature that had as its centre of gravity the administration of power and the institutions and doctrine of government. Comparing Schmitt's attempts of capturing the claims of his medieval theological sources with recent relevant scholarship, we try to show that Schmitt lacked the depth of focus required to deal with such decisive issues as, inter alia, specific doctrinal evolutions between Eastern and Occidental versions of Trinitarianism between the first and second millennia CE or, the 13th and 14th century Franciscan debates concerning subjection and rule.

The cognitive capabilities of the teleological paradigm of purpose are discussed. An inquiring mind everywhere sees that inanimate matter serves for living, and that, in turn, serves for a man. However, such a concept as “purpose” turned out from the contemporary science, although for a long time it went along the path of becoming the doctrine of purpose determination, or nomogenesis. The history of the substitution of the main paradigm of science from purpose to chance is traced. The overcoming of the catastrophic representations of Cuvier by the provisions of actualism and evolutionism is considered. From the middle of the 19th century, public opinion began to strengthen that every new scientific achievement casts doubt on religious beliefs. Criticism of biblical history began with the events of the Great Flood, as the key one in the Bible. The negative attitude to catastrophism in the Soviet scientific literature and the importance of ideology in the methodology of science are considered. The anthropic principle predetermines a radical restructuring of the general scientific methodology. It finally comes closer to religious knowledge. The anthropic principle is teleological and contains that goal (“eidos-entelechia”) in the structure of matter that impels it. In this light, the power of science is again seen not in confrontation with religion, but in harmonization with it.

Fără a se focaliza în mod necesar pe abordarea problematicii originii religiei, acest articol propune de fapt șapte corelații între violența interpersonală și progresul religiei organizate, sugerând că violența interpersonală a jucat un rol semnificativ în procesul de instituționalizare a credințelor religioase. Deși violența interpersonală nu provoacă neapărat structurarea credinței religioase, aceasta de fapt întărește și oferă soluții modelelor existente de amenințare cu care se confruntă o comunitate, iar împreună conduc la organizarea religiei. Prima parte a acestui articol (etapele 1–4) analizează psihologia violenței, concentrându-se pe teoriile frustrare – agresiune, rivalitate mimetică, triangulare, geneza țapului ispășitor și vinovăție. A doua parte (etapele 5–6) marchează trecerea de la psihologia personală la psihologia socială și studiază violența în religia primitivă, așa cum se manifestă în procesul ritualizării țapului ispășitor și în geneza sacrificiului. A treia parte (etapa 7) evidențiază complexitatea ritualului, a eticii și a doctrinei în evoluția religiei de la starea primitivă la instituirea religiei organizate.

If killing a single person is considered as a major crime that forbidden by Sharia and law at the international level and at the level of all religions and divine legislation, so what about the concept of genocide!! Here, not just an individual with a weak influence on society is killed, but thousands of individuals, that means an entire nation, a future, energy and human and intellectual capabilities that can tip the scales, and on the other hand, broken and half-dead hearts are left behind from the horrific scenes of killing they witnessed before their eyes, moreover, the massacres of genocide continues to excrete its remnants and consequences for long years and for successive generations, and it may generate grudges of revenge among generations that did not receive the adequate awareness and psychological support which are necessary to rehabilitate these generations to benefit from the tragedies and bitter experiences of life to turn them into lessons and incentives to achieve progress and advancement. Genocide is a deadly poison whose toxic effect extends from generations to others unless it is wisely controlled. Here the role of the international community and its legal, legislative and humanitarian stance from these crimes is so important and supportive. Genocide can be occurred on two levels: external and internal. As for genocide on the external level: this is what happened at the hands of foreign powers against a certain people for colonial and expansionist goals in favor of the occupier or usurper. There are many examples throughout history, such as the Ottoman and British occupations...etc Whereas genocide at the internal level, can be defined as the repressive actions that governments practice against their own people for goals that could be extremist, racist or dictatorial, such as t ""Al-Anfal"" massacre in 1988 carried out by the previous regime against the Kurds in the Kurdistan region. The number of victims amounted at one hundred thousand martyrs, most of them were innocent and unarmed people from children, women and the elderly, and also the genocide which was practiced against of the organizers of Al-Shaibania Revolution in 1991 was another example of genocide in the internal level. It is possible to deduce a third level between the external and internal levels, which is the genocide that is done at the hands of internal elements from the people of the country, but in implementation of external agendas, for example, the scenes of organized and systematic sectarian killing that we witnessed daily during (2007) and (2008), followed by dozens of bloody explosions in various regions throughout the capital, which unfortunately was practiced by the people of the country who were misguided elements in order to destabilize the security of the country and we did not know until this moment in favor of which external party!! In the three aforementioned cases, nothing can justify the act of killing or genocide, but in my personal opinion, I see that genocide at the hands of foreign forces is less drastic effects than the genocides that done at the hands of internal forces that kill their own people to impose their control and to defense their survival, from the perspective of ""the survival for the strongest, the most criminal and the most dictatorial. The matter which actually dragged the country into the abyss and the ages of darkness and ignorance. As for the foreign occupier, he remains an occupier, and it is so natural for him to be resentful and spiteful and to keep moving with the bragging theory of that (the end justifies the means) and usurping lands illegally, but perhaps recently the occupier has begun to exploit loopholes in international laws and try to gain the support of the international community and international organizations to prove the legitimacy of what has no legitimacy, in the end to achieve goals which pour into the interest of the occupiers' country and from the principle of building the happiness and well-being of the occupiers' people at the expense of the misery and injustice of other peoples!! This remains absolutely dehumanizing societal crime, but at least it has a positive side, which is maximizing economic resources and thus achieving the welfare of a people at the expense of seizing the wealth of the occupied country. This remains the goal of the occupier since the beginning of creation to this day, but today the occupation associated with the horrific and systematic killing has begun to take a new template by framing the ugliness of the crime with humanitarian goals and the worst, to exploit religion to cover their criminal acts. A good example of this is the genocide that took place at the hands of the terrorist organization ISIS, that contradictory organization who adopted the religion which forbids killing and considers it as one of the greatest sins as a means to practice the most heinous types of killing that contemporary history has witnessed!! The ""Spiker"" and ""Sinjar"" massacres in 2014 are the best evidence of this duality in the ideology of this terrorist organization. We may note that the more we advance in time, the more justification for the crimes of murder and genocide increases. For example, we all know the first crimes of genocide represented by the fall of Baghdad at the hands of the Mongol leader ""Hulagu"" in 1258. At that time, the crimes of genocide did not need justification, as they were practiced openly and insolently for subversive, barbaric and criminal goals!! The question here imposes itself: why were the crimes of genocide in the past practiced openly and publicly without need to justify the ugliness of the act? And over time, the crimes of genocide began to be framed by pretexts to legitimize what is prohibited, and to permit what is forbidden!! Or to clothe brutality and barbarism in the patchwork quilt of humanity?? And with this question, crossed my mind the following ""Aya"" from the Glorious Quran (and do not kill the soul that God has forbidden except in the right) , this an explicit ""Aya"" that prohibits killing and permits it only in the right, through the use of the exception tool (except) that permits what coming after it . But the"" right"" that God describes in the glorious Quran has been translated by the human tongues into many forms and faces of falsehood!! Anyway, expect the answer of this controversial question within the results of this study. This study will discuss the axis of (ideologies of various types and genocide), as we will analyze excerpts from the speeches of the former regime that were announced on the local media after each act of genocide or purification, as the former regime described at that time, but the difference in this study is that the analysis will be according to a scientific and thoughtful approach which is far from the personal ideology of the researcher. The analysis will be based on a model proposed by the contemporary Dutch scientist ""Teun A. Van Dijk"". Born in 1943, ""Van Dijk"" is a distinguished scholar and teaching in major international universities. He has authored many approved books as curricula for teaching in the field of linguistics and political discourse analysis. In this study, Van Dijk's Model will be adopted to analyze political discourse ideologies according to forty-one criteria. The analysis process will be conducted in full transparency and credibility in accordance with these criteria without imposing the researcher's personal views. This study aims to shed light on the way of thinking that the dictatorial regimes adopt to impose their existence by force against the will of the people, which can be used to develop peoples' awareness to understand and analyze political statements in a scientific way away from the inherited ideologies imposed by customs, clan traditions, religion, doctrine and nationalism. With accurate scientific diagnosis, we put our hand on the wounds. So we can cure them and also remove the scars of these wounds. This is what we seek in this study, diagnosis and therefore suggesting the suitable treatment "