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Job’s final complaint and avowal of innocence in chapters 29–31 in the book of Job has been identified as the culmination of Old Testament ethics. Its significant role within the structural framework of the book has been recognized forevermore. On the one hand, the paper considers the social background of the authors of the book of Job (and chapters 29–31) and underlines their focus on the upper class social situation. On the other hand, based on many Old Testament polemic texts against ruler’s fundamental corruptness, similar tendency is also observed in particular texts in the book of Job. The more religiously, nationally, and even fundamentally minded members of society have often clearly challenged the elite’s worldview. This contradiction is, hence, regarded in the light of redaction critical thesis that Job’s final speech is a secondary addition. There are listed many reasons to claim the secondary nature of the speech. This paper comes to the conclusion that Job’s final complaint and avowal is a polemical addition which can be seen as a reaction, especially of people who do not belong to the extremist groups, to the tendency of challenging elite’s worldview.
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According to Paul the three concepts—the temple, the body, and the inmost self of the human being—are related to each other in many and quite complicated ways. For the Jews, the tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem were holy, since they represented the presence of God in Israel. Paul regarded human bodies as the temples of the Holy Spirit within them. Like the temples, human bodies belong to God. According to Paul the body is like a common denominator or a link between the concepts of the temple, the individual human body and the community. Paul used the word body to designate human physical existence and to refer to the collective, social body, and he made this double meaning understandable to his readers.
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Paul introduced his novel expression ὁ ἔξω ἄνθρωpος as a metaphor for the physical body, identified our “outer person” with a tent-like house and created the combination of the two phrases ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωpος and ὁ ἔξω ἄνθρωpος. “The man within” is inherently connected with the mind, the process of moral decision-making, and it represents this rational aspect of the “I” which is in harmony with the law of God but does not possess the power to overcome sin. The human “I” is split, simultaneously belonging to the old epoch of sin and death and to the new epoch of life and spirit, which places “I” in the midst of an eschatological tension. There is a remarkable similarity of patterns between 2Cor 4:1–5:16(17) and Rom 7:7–25 and 12:1–2.
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This article is an attempt to present some of the theological ideas of Paul using various methods of post-colonial analysis. The writings of Paul are not an easy subject to study, and it should be insisted that the post-colonial lens offers only one way of doing it. The essence of the writings of Paul is defined by salvation by the gospel of Jesus Christ. This proclamation is based on anticipation of the king’s return that the prophetic writings of the Old Testament declare, and therefore it touches not only on the religious sphere but also on the political area of society as well. In putting Paul’s writings into the post-colonial research perspective, it is imperative not to regard them as a simplified opposition or revolution against Roman society. There is much more than a dualism in them, and it is wise to take into consideration Paul’s broad and complex discursive program.
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Die Frage nach dem religionsgeschichtlichen Ursprung des römischen Mithras-Kultes ist von Anfang an ein zentrales Forschungsproblem gewesen und spielt eine wichtige Rolle bis heute. Ein Sonderproblem stellen dabei die Beziehungen des römischen Mithras-Kultes zu Iran bzw. die Kontinuität der Gestalt des Mithras in der iranischen und römischen Religion dar. Die Frage lautet: Ist Mithras im Römerreich dieselbe Gottheit gewesen, die unter dem Namen Mithra schon früher im Iran und danach in Kleinasien gehuldigt worden ist, oder muss man den iranischen und kleinasiatischen Mithra und den römischen Mithras als zwei unterschiedliche Gottheiten verstehen? Der Autor des Aufsatzes kommt zum Ergebnis, dass die Verschiedenheiten zwischen dem iranischen Mithras-Kult, dem kleinasiatischen Mithras-Kult und dem römischen Mithras-Kult so prinzipiell sind, dass man hier von drei unterschiedlichen Kulten für drei unterschiedliche Gottheiten sprechen muss. Dennoch haben diese Gottheiten einige gemeinsame Züge (solarer Charakter, Beziehung zum Vertrag) und es gibt eine theoretische Möglichkeit, dass wenigstens zwischen Mithras im hellenistischen Kleinasien und Mithras in Rom auch unmittelbare Beziehungen bestanden. Solche Kontakte darf man aber nicht als “Export” einer kleinasiatischen Gottheit nach Italien verstehen – der römische Mithras-Kult ist gegenüber dem kleinasiatischen eine religiöse Neuschöpfung.
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Lange Zeit herrschte unter den Theologen eine recht einmütige Meinung, dass das Johannesevangelium am Ende des ersten Jahrhunderts geschrieben worden ist. Diese Einschätzung beruhte auf den dramatischen Ereignissen, die im Judentum stattfanden. Im Judentum des ersten Jahrhunderts, aus dem auch das Christentum entsprang, gab es verschiedene Bewegungen. Solange man sich um den Tempel sammelte, konnte das Judentum durchaus unterschiedliche Ideologien erdulden. Als der Tempel aber zerstört wurde, verlor das Judentum einen zentralen, zusammenbindenden Stützpunkt. Jetzt wurde eine innere Reinigung des Judentums notwendig. Gemeinsam mit anderen Abweichlern wurden auch die Judenchristen mit dem Bann belegt. Im Johannesevangelium kommen neben anderen Themen auch leigene Probleme der Johannes-Schule zum Ausdruck, darunter die traumatischen Erlebnisse, die sich aus dem Ausschluss vom Judentum ergaben. Ebenso ist zu sehen, dass man versucht hat, mithilfe des Evangeliums den Spalt zwischen der Johannes-Schule und den Anhängern Johannes des Täufers zu überwinden. Während für die Judenchristen die dramatischen Ereignisse gleichsam mit dem „Großputz“ des Judentums einhergingen, begannen diese für die Johannes-Schule oder zumindest für ihren Kern bereits wesentlich früher. Die hellenistischen Judenchristen mussten nämlich wegen ihrer Verfolgung die Gemeinschaft der Juden und auch die Synagoge verlassen; zuerst in Jerusalem und dann auch in Damaskus. Das traf die jüdische Identität ins Mark, und stellte die Legitimität ihrer Tätigkeit in Frage. Diese bitteren Erfahrungen mussten bearbeitet und in Worte gefasst werden. Man musste intensiv nach Antworten auf die christologischen Fragen, vor allem im Bezug auf den Tod Christi, suchen. Die Probleme zwischen dem Judentum und Christentum, die Frage nach Prioritäten: wer ist wichtiger, der Täufer oder Jesus, und eine Menge weiterer Fragen brauchten eine sofortige Antwort. Hätte sich die Beantwortung dieser Fragen hingezogen, hätte dies auf das Glaubensleben dieser Christen zerstörerische Auswirkungen haben können. So bestand ein dringender Bedarf, aber auch eine Gelegenheit, das Evangelium bereits in den 40ern oder 50ern Jahren zu schreiben. Diese Jahre könnten somit die Verfassungszeit des Johannesevangeliums sein.
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The article addresses to the elevation motive of Christ from the viewpoint of cultural semiotics. The elevation motive is one of the most prominent constructions in the New Testament writings. It is part of the "kerygma "(proclamation) and on this notion are based all other schemes and dogmas of Christian thought. The elevation motive is presented in the royal Psalm 110:1 that is a quite often cited inauguration-oracle in the New Testament (“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”). This sort of the Messianic hope of Davidic kingship in the Second Temple Hebrew tradition had formed the core of the newborn Christology and constituted the basis to the "evangelium" as a historical narrative. The main hypothesis of the article states that the ideology of ruler cult had an influence on the Christian language and argumentation. This hypothesis will be affirmed from the perspective of cognitive metaphor theory, which the root concept is the presumption that a human being always constructs his picture of the world from body to mind. The somatic concept in the elevation motive is based on the universal phenomenon of space perception that is expressed by directional metaphors. From this point of view the Christ elevation motive is also observable as a metaphor of power.
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This article is concerned with presenting a thorough overview of the research in the ecological and cognitive sciences of religion. Several different theories and research programs are analysed, among them the standard model of the cognitive science of religion, the costly signalling theory and the newer biocultural perspective. The supernatural punishment theory and modes of religiosity theory are also briefly analysed. The aim of the brief overviews is to assess the current state of research in the evolutionary approaches towards religiosity overall and see how they have tried to answer questions about religiosity as such. Special attention is given to the demonstration how these new approaches relate to the historical and more general discussions and questions of the study of religion. Overall it has been concluded that although a great amount of interesting research has been carried out and various different theoretical explanations of religion have been put forward, there remains still a lot of work to be done as none of the currently existing theories can be considered conclusively proven through empirical research or without theoretical or/and methodological problems.
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The present article gives an overview of the developments in the theory and practice of pastoral counselling in Estonia of the early 21st century. The definition and meaning of the term “pastoral counselling” is discussed. Three development trends are analysed: changes in the meaning of pastoral counselling, convergence of pastoral counselling with psychology, and the emergence of new forms of pastoral counselling. Changes in the meaning of pastoral counselling are reflected in an accelerating shift from religious to profane in the vocabulary describing pastoral counselling. Increasingly common is a systemic pastoral counselling model, in which an individual is viewed as an integral part of the socio-ecological system. Pastoral counselling is converging with psychology when pastoral counselling events are explained using psychological theories, treatment plans are prepared taking into account psychological changes, and psychological language is used in pastoral counselling. Psychologically refined pastoral counselling methods, integrated (holistic) image-of-man-centred pastoral counselling and dealing with new domains, such as internet dependency or bioethical issues, may be mentioned as new forms. Pastoral counselling is an inherently cultural phenomenon. In Estonia the training of pastoral counsellors, the emergence of ecclesiastical pastoral counselling centres, and the chaplaincy services in various governmental structures are seeing considerable improvements.
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With the decline of traditional institutional religions in the Western secular societies, religiosity has emerged in a variety of individualized forms. Contemporary manifestations of individualistic spirituality challenge the researchers to find the accurate terms and concepts to name and describe the phenomena. The article focuses on the questions related to the Estonian term for “new spirituality”. The study is based on the qualitative and quantitative survey material collected in 2014 using the internet questionnaire with 470 respondents, out of whom more than 96% were involved in spiritual milieu (e.g. practiced something spiritual like Reiki or meditation, or read spiritual books). Although the number of respondents who approved the term “new spirituality” was surprisingly high (56%), the qualitative analysis of people’s opinions reveals the reluctance to the naming of spirituality and the tendency to prefer very wide and existential terms like “life itself ”, “self-creation” or “true wisdom”. The respondents expressed strongly the opposition for categorizing spirituality as a religion (less than 9% agree that new spirituality could be called like that). People saw spirituality as natural and intrinsic to human beings whereas religion brought out negative connotations, e.g. as being violent, forced, too narrow, and oppressive. Evidently, naming is a strategy both for proponents and opponents of spirituality. Therefore, the study demonstrates that the terminology about contemporary spirituality is not an instrumental issue but indicates the complexity of changing religiosity itself and the battles over the social meanings and the position of spirituality.
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The cult of Mithras was one of the so-called oriental cults that were spreading during the first four centuries AD in the Roman Empire. The cult spread from Spain and Britain to Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt, leaving behind a notable number of extant monuments – more than 1,000 epigraphs, 700 reliefs depicting the god Mithras and more than 500 other reliefs. While the cult first began to spread at the end of the 1st century AD, a deity named Mithras was already present in the epigraphs of the Achaemenids and in the Avesta and was also worshipped in Hellenic Asia Minor before t he area was absorbed by the Roman Empire. Up to the present day, one of the key questions in researching the Roman cult of Mithras has been the relationship of Mithras to the god Mithra worshipped in Iran and Hellenic Asia Minor. The autor of this article analyses the points of contact between the Roman Mithras and the cult of Mithra of Persia and Asia Minor to answer the question of how to interpret the relationship between these gods and cults. The author arrives at the conclusion that while the Iranian cult of Mithra, the Hellenic cult of Mithra of Asia Minor and the Roman cult of Mithras share some common elements – the name of the god, its relationship to the Sun and commonalities in the case of Asia Minor and Rome, including a similarity in the way the god was depicted (in Persian clothes, with a halo around his head), there are still significant substantive differences between the cults, out of which the most notable are the absence of the definition of mystery and mystic features in the Roman cult of Mithras, as well as the absence of a depiction of the most important events (the birth of Mithras from a rock; Mithra slaying the bull; meal shared by Mithra and the god of the sun; Mithra and the god of the sun riding a carriage to heaven) in Iran and Asia Minor in the pre-Christian era. Based on these observations it can be said that the cult of Mithra of Iran and Asia Minor and the cult of Mithras of Rome should be regarded as separaate cults and not the local versions of a single “Religion of Mithra”. The Roman cult of Mithras has not grown out of the cult of Mithra of Asia Minor, but it is possible that the cult of Mithras which emerged in Rome has borrowed some elements from it, out of which some parts can be traced back to the ancient Persian religion or even the ancient religion of Indo-European tribes.
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As we can see, ideology and religion (theology) played a significant role in warfare and especially in the justification of wars in Mesopotamia already since ca. 2400 BCE (or even earlier). We have hundreds of pieces of evidence from Ancient Mesopotamia where the ruler used theological justification for his military campaign or the invasion of another country. The theology of warfare in Ancient Mesopotamia developed with the new period and became better formulated and more complex during the course of history. If the inscription of Ur-Nanše (Early Dynastic ruler of Lagash) does not document the use theology (or much use of it) to support his wars against Umma (we have no evidence) then his grandson E-anatum certainly did use it and lot of relevant ideas were already quite well developed. Many ideas from the Early Dynastic period (E-anatum, En-metena, Lugal-zage-si, etc.) were adapted by Sargonic kings such as Sargon of Akkad or Naram-Sîn, or Neo-Sumerian kings (Ur-Namma, Šulgi) who tried to implement theology more effectively than their predecessors. We can see that the theology of war was used by Sargonic and Neo-Sumerian kings in their aggressive politics as a tool for justifying war; theology even helped them to create a centralized state (Akkadian ‘empire’, Neo-Sumerian kingdom). In the Ur III period we find many texts (especially Šulgi’s hymns, royal inscriptions, etc.) in which theology was often used very masterfully and to propagandistic ends, and it seems that the theology of war at that time was already quite well-developed. In Assyria as far back as the late second millennium (Middle Assyrian period) and the first millennium BCE the theology of war became a very important part of state ideology, one of the fundamental pillars of state propaganda, and was used for justifying wars, deportations, mass killing, etc. So the theology of war is a very old and traditional phenomenon, continually changing, developing, transforming with each new epoch or new term of rule, yet still retaining many similarities with its earlier manifestations. If we compare the theological justification of the Neo-Assyrian kings with that of the period of E-anatum, En-metena, Lugal-zage-si or the Sargonic periood or the Ur III period, we find a lot of similarities and certain differences. Of course, on the one hand it was the same Mesopotamian cultural area where people greatly honoured ancient tradition, while on the other hand it was also a dynamic culture, not isolated from outside influences. This is the reason why in the inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian kings we find several elements originating from earlier times – from their predecessors in Assyria, but also from even the Early Dynastic, Sargonic, Neo-Sumerian and Old Babylonian periods.
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In spite of recent tendencies of secularization and religious pluralism, most Belgian schools are Catholic schools, where Roman Catholic RE is a compulsory subject. Given the large number of non-Catholic students in theseschools, this can lead to a de facto undermining of the freedom of religion andeducation. Accordingly, a shift in the system is required. In the long term,the number of Catholic schools should be in proportion with the number ofstudents/parents choosing for these schools. In the short term, however, thisstrategy is not recommended and for pragmatic reasons, I propose a systemin which confessional RE in substantially subsidized faith-based schools isno longer compulsory. I will argue that such a system does not lead to aninfringement of the (internal) freedom of religion of faith-based institutionsand that it will guarantee more educational and religious freedom than theactual system does. Finally, I will argue that RE should not be excluded fromthe curriculum, but that a shift to non-confessional RE is, within a contextof secularization, religious pluralism and growing religious extremism, anabsolute requirement.
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Post-modern pedagogy framework advocated by Giroux suggests that education needs to attend to multiple voices of difference by opening for students’ alternative meanings, perspectives and truth claims. This opens a space for deconstructing ‘grand narratives’, revisiting their ontological and epistemological foundations, as well as opening a more inclusive frame for other faith traditions, thus allowing the possibilities of solidarity among the peoples and religions. This means developing sensitivity and even solidarity with other faith traditions, non-religious views, by including gender perspective as well. A genuine openness to other perspectives might enhance a more sustainable RE. This inclusive perspective fosters a more truthful way of relating with the others, leading to the enlargement frames of solidarity with oneself, others and the nature. The aim of the paper is to re-evaluate confessional modes of RE marked with a transmission of cultural and religious norms strictly within the frame of one confession and to offer more critical,expanded, inclusive, empowering and transformative framework. RE in this paper is viewed in a wider worldview framework that encourages students to embrace their freedom of belief and the freedom of belief of others resulting by enriching plurality of meanings and understandings of others, and a deeper sense of solidarity. This article also elaborates on various understanding of solidarity and suggests guidelines for the religious educators for teaching solidarity in turbulent times.
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Using the World Values Survey (WVS) as a background the paper discusses a tension between the general evaluative outlook of Swedish teacher students and the educational values established by The Swedish National Agency for Education (SNAE). According to the results from WVS, which maps evaluative differences between approximately 80 countries in the world, Sweden stands out as a country that rejects traditional values and embraces so called secular self-expression values. However, the values established by SNAE include both traditional values, such as “sharing a common cultural heritage”, and secular self-expression values, such as “individual freedom and integrity”. Against this background we conducted a survey of 179 Swedish teacher students in order to investigate the relation between their evaluative outlook and the values they are supposed to convey to their pupils as established by SNAE. The result of the survey indicates that these students do not differ in any significant respect from the Swedish population in general as regards secular vs traditional evaluations. The fact that the traditional values emphasized by SNAE seem to be scarcely represented among the teacher students, makes questionable whether they will be present in their future teaching. On the assumptions that there are important educational values among the traditional as well as the secular self-expression ones, and that values are reproduced within an educational system, we argue that there is reason to take the imbalance in the evaluative outlook of the students seriously.
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RE didactics is a relatively new field of research in Sweden. In this article, the current status of the academic discipline is examined by drawing on empirical material: literature used in teacher education and interviews with active RE teachers. The study finds a lack of reflection concerning the fundamentals of the subject, both on what RE ought to be, as well as on its overarching goals. This absence of a ‘ big picture’ also seems to result in active teachers lacking a professional vocabulary to discuss their practice. The article asks whether RE didactics in Sweden is being defined by the national curriculum, instead of being a critical voice contributing to a debate and offering alternative approaches to teachers.
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This article presents the design and results of a research and development project that was conducted in Espoo, Finland. The objective was to develop material to enhance inter-worldview dialogue in a school context in the spirit of the teacher-as-researcher movement. Ten teachers and five schools were involved. The focus is on pupils’ experience and on one school. It is mapped both by the pupils’ written reflections and teachers’ observations, and supplemented by feedback and observations from other schools. For the pupils the project provided important experiences that diminished their prejudices and provided them with confidence concerning the possibility of a peaceful dialogue between worldviews. When designing dialogue education it is worthwhile to take non-religious worldviews into account, to treat pupils’ personal worldviews sensitively and to provide pupils with encounters with real young people from diverse worldviews.
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With growing cultural and religious diversity in Iceland over the last two decades it is of interest to study young people’s views and attitudes in this regard and how they talk about religion and religiosity in a multicultural society. This paper presents findings from a four year (2011–2014) mixed method research project on life views and life values of young adults (age 1824) in a multicultural society in Iceland. The theoretical framework includes theories on secularization, desecularization and detraditionalization together with discussions on religious diversity. A survey was conducted in 2011 and 2012 among students in seven upper secondary schools in the Reykjavík area and other areas of Iceland. The findings from the survey indicate that although the majority of the participants are of the opinion that human beings always need something to believe in and that it is important to be convinced about one’s life view or belief, many of them are not of the opinion that religions are important in the society, religions have little influence on their views, and religious activity seems not to be an important part of their lives. This also applies to Athose that claim to be religious or belong to a religious organisation. At the same time the participants generally have positive attitudes towards ethnic and religious diversity. The findings from the survey provided a basis for focus group interviews with mixed groups of students in the same schools in 2013 and 2014. In this article, some main results from the survey are introduced, while the focus is primarily on the findings from the focus group interviews regarding the young people´s views on religion, religious diversity and religious activity in a multicultural society in Iceland. The findings indicate among other things that although the daily life of the young people is secularised, many of them are of the opinion that it helps to believe or pray, for example in times of difficulties. This indicates that the secularization process has not gone as far as expected or that some kind of de-secularisation has developed in the wake of the growing religious diversity in Icelandic society.
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New developments in religious and values education are determined considerably by epistemological factors. The turn toward subjectivity both in educational practice and research marks the big paradigm shift in late (or post-) modern culture from scientific ideals of natural sciences to that of humanities. Rehabilitation of metaphysics, awareness of intentionality and wider understanding of rationality are parts of the process stimulating a more creative approach to religious studies and teaching. Opened first in phenomenology, this humanitarian approach was later described as developmental or learning-from-religion approach considering religion neither as a stance of belonging, nor as an external fact, but rather as a personal gift. The paper offers a framework for conceptualization of the paradigm shift and for the analysis of humanitarian methodology as distinct from the methodology of natural sciences. Eight premises specific for the former and useful to draw a borderline between the two are presented. They are existential, phenomenological, hermeneutic, constructivist, holistic, teleological, idiographic, and dialogical premises. Two strategies for dealing with new epistemological situation in educational research are described. Examples are given on how they work in the field of religious and values education research.
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