Religions

23 pages, 366 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Introduction, with Highlights in the History of Australian Patristic Studies

by Garry Trompf

Religions 2025, 16(5), 626; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050626 (registering DOI) - 16 May 2025

The core focus of the study of Patristics (generally also called Patrology) has been the teachings and practices of the so-called Fathers and Mothers of the early Christian Church (or the leading exponents of the Christian Faith, primarily from after the times of [...] Read more.

The core focus of the study of Patristics (generally also called Patrology) has been the teachings and practices of the so-called Fathers and Mothers of the early Christian Church (or the leading exponents of the Christian Faith, primarily from after the times of Jesus of Nazareth and the writings of the New Testament to the so-called Early Middle Ages (or the emergence of Islam) (e [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Patristics: Essays from Australia)

24 pages, 387 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hearing the Calls: The Need for an Ecumenical Theology of Monasticism and Consecrated Life for the 21st Century

by Evan Bradford Howard

Religions 2025, 16(5), 625; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050625 - 15 May 2025

Abstract

In the past sixty years the institutions of religious life (perhaps now more broadly and accurately named “consecrated life”) within the Roman Catholic world have experienced something of a crisis. In the midst of this crisis, many have called for a rethinking of [...] Read more.

In the past sixty years the institutions of religious life (perhaps now more broadly and accurately named “consecrated life”) within the Roman Catholic world have experienced something of a crisis. In the midst of this crisis, many have called for a rethinking of the meaning and practice of consecrated life. During this same period, Protestants have grown ever more interested in forms of committed Christian living appropriate to their own traditions. Furthermore, there is indication that changes in the socio-economic conditions surrounding “Non-Western” monastic traditions are giving rise to a degree of rethinking within their circles. In this article I trace what I identify as a “call”—an accumulating expression of the need for an ecumenical theology of consecrated life for the 21st century—through writings published largely within the past sixty years. I review developments in thought and practice from each tradition in turn. Ultimately, I conclude that there is, in fact, a need for some kind of formal ecumenical and interdisciplinary reflection on the meaning of consecrated life, reflection that has remained incomplete at best for five hundred years. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christian Monasticism Today: A Search for Identity)

18 pages, 291 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Cult of St. Anthony in Lisbon and Viana do Castelo

by Pedro Pereira, Marina Pignatelli and José Carlos Loureiro

Religions 2025, 16(5), 624; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050624 - 15 May 2025

Abstract

His baptismal name, Fernando de Bulhões (1195–1231), may say little to many people, but his religious name, St. Anthony, certainly says a lot, especially to the Portuguese. In fact, the cult of St. Anthony is indelibly inscribed in the religious landscape of Portugal, [...] Read more.

His baptismal name, Fernando de Bulhões (1195–1231), may say little to many people, but his religious name, St. Anthony, certainly says a lot, especially to the Portuguese. In fact, the cult of St. Anthony is indelibly inscribed in the religious landscape of Portugal, with particular intensity in Lisbon. This study, of an ethnographic and historical nature, is an innovative approach to this emblematic medieval figure, capable of so many miracles, veneration, revelry festivals, and processions among the people of Lisbon and the Portuguese in general, right up to the present day. The history of this Saint and his cult, as an expression of popular religiosity, will be discussed, favouring the dimensions of marriage and commerce in a comparative approach between two ethnographic contexts: Lisbon and Viana do Castelo. The notions of popular religion, syncretism, cult of the saints, and pilgrimage–procession will, therefore, be instrumental. The data collected and analysed are based on a mixed methodological triangulation of qualitative data complemented by quantitative data, using direct participant observations (ethnographic) and indirect observations (collected through semi-structured interviews and informal conversations), as well as documentary sources. Full article

14 pages, 275 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Youth Pastoral Care in Croatia Through the Lens of the Synod on Youth

by Blaženka Valentina Mandarić

Religions 2025, 16(5), 623; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050623 - 15 May 2025

Abstract

Youth pastoral care is a part of the Church’s pastoral mission directed towards men and women who can be categorised as young people. Young people were the central theme of the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held in Rome [...] Read more.

Youth pastoral care is a part of the Church’s pastoral mission directed towards men and women who can be categorised as young people. Young people were the central theme of the 15th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held in Rome from 3 to 28 October 2018, under the motto Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment. Based on an analysis of the preparatory and final documents of the Synod—particularly the Preparatory Document, Instrumentum Laboris, Final Document, Christus Vivit—as well as relevant scientific analyses and interpretations, we have identified the most significant societal challenges facing the youth, along with the key guidelines and recommendations of the Synod for working with them. The motivation for writing this article arises from the fact that the Synod on Youth, which took place in Rome from 3 to 28 October 2018, under the theme “Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment,” did not generate significant interest within the Church in Croatia. This is evidenced by several indicators: the responses of young people to the questionnaire sent to all bishops’ conferences were never published; there has been a lack of relevant commentary, articles, or academic studies on the Synod; and among the many pre- and post-synodal documents, only “Christus vivit” has been translated into Croatian. Given that youth ministry plays an important role in the pastoral activities of the Church in Croatia, we sought to explore whether, and to what extent, the core recommendations of the Synod on Youth continue to be reflected in current pastoral work with young people in the country. Our approach involved analysing the pre- and post-synodal documents from the Synod on Youth to identify key recommendations for youth ministry. We then examined the current youth pastoral programs in seven (arch)dioceses, as well as the pastoral plans of the Youth Office of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference, through the lens of the Synod’s main recommendations. Analytical, descriptive, and critical methods were used in the research. The analysis of the aforementioned youth pastoral programs confirmed that the most important guidelines and recommendations of the Synod, although some only partially, are integrated into youth pastoral care in Croatia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Practices and Issues in Religious Education)

14 pages, 245 KiB

Open AccessArticle

From Divine to Popular Sovereignty: The Civil Shift in Contemporary Islamic Political Thought

by Abdessamad Belhaj

Religions 2025, 16(5), 622; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050622 - 15 May 2025

Abstract

For various religious and political reasons, the idea of divine sovereignty (ḥākimiyya) has found support in many Islamic movements and discourses between the 1940s and the 1980s throughout the Muslim world. Nonetheless, in the 1990s, the consolidation of contemporary nation-states, the [...] Read more.

For various religious and political reasons, the idea of divine sovereignty (ḥākimiyya) has found support in many Islamic movements and discourses between the 1940s and the 1980s throughout the Muslim world. Nonetheless, in the 1990s, the consolidation of contemporary nation-states, the appeal of liberal democracy, and human rights in the Muslim world, along with the failure of Islamism, paved the way for a turn towards popular sovereignty in Islamic political thought. The emergence of a post-Islamist age in the Arab world and Iran, especially in the aftermath of the Arab Spring (2011), has changed the perspectives of many Islamic intellectuals and jurists, who now place a higher emphasis on popular sovereignty, depoliticizing divine sovereignty. This article offers an intellectual history of the shift from divine to popular sovereignty in modern Islamic political ethics, as well as a discussion of the factors that led to this change. Few critical voices on sovereignty highlight the ethical aspects of sharia’s governance and challenge the popular sovereignty narrative as authoritarian. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Divine and Secular Sovereignty: Interpretations)

23 pages, 466 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on the Philosophy of Perfect Harmony in the Huayan School: Focusing on the Four Dharmadhātus

by Guo-Qing Wang

Religions 2025, 16(5), 621; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050621 - 14 May 2025

Abstract

The philosophy of the Huayan school is founded on the dharmadhātu (法界) as its fundamental ontology, embodying the boundless truth of the cosmos and human existence. It seamlessly integrates the philosophical doctrine of the “perfect interpenetration and non-obstruction of Buddhist teachings”, while expounding [...] Read more.

The philosophy of the Huayan school is founded on the dharmadhātu (法界) as its fundamental ontology, embodying the boundless truth of the cosmos and human existence. It seamlessly integrates the philosophical doctrine of the “perfect interpenetration and non-obstruction of Buddhist teachings”, while expounding the vast tenets of “principle (理), phenomena (事), wisdom (智), and practice (行),” all of which are encompassed within the comprehensive framework of the “four stages of faith–understanding–practice–realization (信解行证)”. The idea of “four dharmadhātus” (四法界), which was first systematically formulated by Master Chengguan, is considered one of the core doctrines of Huayan thought. However, contemporary scholarship has yet to provide a thorough elucidation of the relationship between the one true dharmadhātu (一真法界) and the four dharmadhātus, nor has it sufficiently addressed the notion that the four dharmadhātus are not merely a theoretical construct but also a genuine realization—a stage in the practice of spiritual cultivation. This study first explicates the conceptual significance of the four dharmadhātus, then analyzes the Huayan patriarchs’ interpretations of the one true dharmadhātu and the four dharmadhātus. It further explores the path to awakening through the interpenetration and non-obstruction of the four dharmadhātus and highlights the integration between the empirical world and the ideal world of Buddhist teachings. Ultimately, it argues that every realm and every stage within the dharmadhātu is perfectly complete and seamlessly interconnected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Religious Cultures: Historical Traditions and Modern Interpretations)

12 pages, 212 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Under-Connected: Building Relational Power, Solidarity, and Developing Leaders in Broad-Based Community Organizing

by Aaron Stauffer

Religions 2025, 16(5), 620; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050620 - 14 May 2025

Abstract

Many pastors, faith leaders, and community organizers are isolated and under-connected to communities of praxis that can accompany them as they go about their social change work, helping them to ground their organizing in their faith lives. There is a crisis of leadership [...] Read more.

Many pastors, faith leaders, and community organizers are isolated and under-connected to communities of praxis that can accompany them as they go about their social change work, helping them to ground their organizing in their faith lives. There is a crisis of leadership development and training. This paper argues for a rethinking of leadership development as grounded in conceptions of relational power, value-based organizing, and deep solidarity. Leaders, it is often said, are those who have followers. This definition takes for granted models of leadership that were first developed in the 1940s in Alinsky-style networks and adapted in the 1980s and 1990s in the neo-Alinskyite movement. This article extends this approach to home in on what leadership development amounts to in broad-based community organizing so as to help congregations and faith leaders see how community organizing can be an enactment and expression of their faith lives. Organizing strategies of leadership development can sit at the heart of congregational development. Developing leaders is about transformative critical reflection on premises of meaning schema. Leadership development is connected to leaders developing in the sense of exploring new ways of seeing the world and acting on them. By refocusing the organizing strategy of leadership development around relational power and deep solidarity, pastors, faith leaders, and community organizers can build stronger institutions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Trends in Congregational Engagement and Leadership)

17 pages, 241 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Divine Idea of the Self and Contemporary Culture

by Jacob Phillips

Religions 2025, 16(5), 619; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050619 - 14 May 2025

Abstract

Taking as its point of departure Pope Benedict XVI’s comment that ‘[e]ach of us is the result of a thought of God’, this article explores how the divine idea of the self bears promise for enabling a Catholic theological response to certain features [...] Read more.

Taking as its point of departure Pope Benedict XVI’s comment that ‘[e]ach of us is the result of a thought of God’, this article explores how the divine idea of the self bears promise for enabling a Catholic theological response to certain features of contemporary Western culture. This cultural setting is discussed first, using the interpretations of Philip Rieff and Carl R. Trueman, and their conceptualities of ‘psychological man’ and ‘expressive individualism’. The dominant contemporary view of human identity thus presented is markedly individualistic, being focused on an inward sense of self. The dominant approach to human meaning is similarly individualistic, being the satisfaction or expression of that sense of self. While both Rieff and Trueman point to a widespread loss of religious faith as pivotally important to for the emergence of these cultural paradigms, they mostly leave aside questions regarding the truth claims of specific religions in responding to them. Secondly, the scholastic doctrine of the divine ideas is discussed, with a view to presenting an alternative approach to human identity and meaning based on the contention that each human person ‘is the result of a thought of God’. Thirdly, the article concludes by drawing out the notions of identity and meaning implied by this doctrine, along with its inextricable relation to a specifically Catholic understanding of God. This understanding includes within it a distinct approach to human sociality in Christ, which answers directly to the individualism of contemporary culture, as outlined by Rieff and Trueman. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Theologies of Culture)

15 pages, 216 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Christian Pastoral Care as Spiritual Formation: A Holistic Model for Congregational Ministry

by Neil Pembroke

Religions 2025, 16(5), 618; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050618 (registering DOI) - 13 May 2025

Abstract

In the twentieth century and into the present one, scholars working in the field of Christian pastoral care have concentrated their efforts in both well-established and emerging areas. Traditionally, thinking about pastoral care has been oriented to the person suffering from an existential, [...] Read more.

In the twentieth century and into the present one, scholars working in the field of Christian pastoral care have concentrated their efforts in both well-established and emerging areas. Traditionally, thinking about pastoral care has been oriented to the person suffering from an existential, developmental, spiritual, or moral crisis (or a combination of these). With the emergence of the psychotherapeutic psychology of Freud, Jung, Erikson, Kohut, Berne, Perls, and others, a new focus on pastoral psychotherapy emerged. Taking things in a very different direction, a host of pastoral theologians issued a call to not only care for the individual, but also for the socio-political world that is oppressive and exclusionary for many. Still others promoted pastoral care and counseling as a ministry of the Christian Church. Finally, those animated by the ancient tradition of cura animarum accented pastoral care as spiritual formation. It is to these latter two themes that this article is addressed. What is proposed is a practical prompt card approach to spiritual formation in the congregation that is holistic and runs in the first instance over six to eight weeks. The four areas covered are spiritual practices, spiritual character (fruits of the Spirit), moral character, and positive psychology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pastoral Care in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities)

15 pages, 205 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Congregation as Retreat Center and Intentional Community: Pastoral Sensemaking in an Age of Individualization

by Scott J. Hagley

Religions 2025, 16(5), 617; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050617 - 13 May 2025

Viewed by 100

Abstract

Drawing from narrative interviews with eight Protestant pastors in the U.S. and Canada, this paper explores community-building under the conditions of late modernity through the lenses of individualization and sensemaking. Exploring pastoral approaches to what Ulrich Beck calls “institutionalized individualism”, this paper argues [...] Read more.

Drawing from narrative interviews with eight Protestant pastors in the U.S. and Canada, this paper explores community-building under the conditions of late modernity through the lenses of individualization and sensemaking. Exploring pastoral approaches to what Ulrich Beck calls “institutionalized individualism”, this paper argues that pastoral sensemaking manages polarities between the societal demand for self-construction and the human need to belong, between an individual’s freedom to make a life (or god) of their own and the fact that such work requires a community. Pastoral leaders manage this polarity through sensemaking strategies that strengthen and clarify the central values and practices of the congregation while also managing the boundaries of the congregation, envisioning the congregation as a retreat center in some cases and as an intentional community in others. In an age of individualization, pastoral leadership requires the dexterity to move between dynamic collective and individual identities, making processes of belonging a collaborative sensemaking effort in which boundaries are drawn, enacted, erased, and redrawn in new ways. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Trends in Congregational Engagement and Leadership)

19 pages, 251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“A Place Not Made by Hands”: Unsteady Formations of Nationalist Religiosities in Malawi

by R. Drew Smith

Religions 2025, 16(5), 616; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050616 - 13 May 2025

Viewed by 73

Abstract

This article focuses on the Christian ecclesiastical footing and moorings of nationalist thought and pursuits within colonial Nyasaland and its postindependence iteration as the nation of Malawi. Attention is paid to foundational influences and the impact of European mission churches, beginning in the [...] Read more.

This article focuses on the Christian ecclesiastical footing and moorings of nationalist thought and pursuits within colonial Nyasaland and its postindependence iteration as the nation of Malawi. Attention is paid to foundational influences and the impact of European mission churches, beginning in the late 1800s, and three streams of American Christianity that influenced social development in Malawi: (1) historic African American Methodist and Baptist traditions; (2) Watchtower millenarianism; and (3) emerging mid-1900s expressions of predominantly white Pentecostal, charismatic, and evangelical Christianity. The article examines ways these European and American religious streams served as crucial catalysts for one or another form of African independency within the Malawi context, paying particular attention to the ways and degrees to which African innovations on Global North Christian expressions and paradigms proved disruptive to established authorities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Roots, Religion and Resistance: Unpacking the Spectrum of Black Nationalist Movements)

18 pages, 255 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metabolizing Moral Shocks for Social Change: School Shooting, Religion, and Activism

by C. Melissa Snarr

Religions 2025, 16(5), 615; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050615 - 13 May 2025

Viewed by 122

Abstract

“Moral shocks” are unexpected events or pieces of information that so deeply challenge one’s basic values and sense of the world that they profoundly reorient a person’s understanding of life and even self. Yet those who experience significant moral shocks rarely participate in [...] Read more.

“Moral shocks” are unexpected events or pieces of information that so deeply challenge one’s basic values and sense of the world that they profoundly reorient a person’s understanding of life and even self. Yet those who experience significant moral shocks rarely participate in related activism and instead experience grief as highly privatized and apolitical, a reality that serves the status quo and most powerful. This article considers how religious resources can help metabolize private grief into public lament and catalyze political grievance. Analyzing the rise of gun control activism after an elementary school mass shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, I argue religious resources help metabolize moral shocks into social change in five significant ways: (1) cultivating practiced, purposeful pathos, (2) offering collective lament, (3) building networked resiliency materially and theologically, (4) risking new alliances of accompaniment, and (5) storying hope. This case analysis contributes to a broader claim for political theology: Christianity can be understood as a movement based on a moral shock. This framing then animates practices of care to accompany those in moral distress and help disciple grief into a movement of faith that resists death-dealing political and social policy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Perspectives on Ecological, Political, and Cultural Grief)

18 pages, 1597 KiB

Open AccessArticle

‘Spirits of the Dead’ or ‘Necromancers’? The eṭemmū in an Old Assyrian Letter Reinterpreted in Light of Hebrew ’ōbôt, yidd^e‘ōnîm, and ’iṭṭîm

by Alinda Damsma

Religions 2025, 16(5), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050614 - 13 May 2025

Viewed by 141

Abstract

The Old Assyrian archive from Kanesh, dated to ca. 1950–1850 BCE, has yielded a letter that refers to the consultation of the spirits of the dead (eṭemmū), thus making it the world’s oldest actual attestation of necromancy. However, whereas the immediate [...] Read more.

The Old Assyrian archive from Kanesh, dated to ca. 1950–1850 BCE, has yielded a letter that refers to the consultation of the spirits of the dead (eṭemmū), thus making it the world’s oldest actual attestation of necromancy. However, whereas the immediate context mentions the šā’ilātum, ‘the women dream interpreters’, and the bāriātum, ‘the women omen interpreters’, a necromantic professional is lacking in relation to the questioning of the eṭemmū. Earlier studies have explained this discrepancy by suggesting that necromancy was part of the skill set of the aforementioned female professionals, or that the communication with the spirits happened directly, without the immediate involvement of a skilled specialist. The present article rather argues that the term eṭemmu, ‘spirit of the dead’, had a wider semantic range than hitherto held. In rare cases, it could also designate a necromancer. This proposal is supported by an identical semantic phenomenon in another ancient Semitic language. The biblical Hebrew terms ʼōbôt and yidd^e‘ōnîm not only refer to the spirits of the dead but also to necromancers. The same might be argued for the apparent Hebrew cognate of Akkadian eṭemmū, the hapax legomenon ’iṭṭîm in Isaiah 19:3. On the strength of the findings presented in this study, it is concluded that the fleeting blending of the spirit with the necromancer lies at the heart of this semantic merger. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Bible and Ancient Mesopotamia)

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17 pages, 268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Falling in Love with Scripture: Intellectuality and Emotionality in Lithuanian Haredi Torah Study

by Yair Berlin

Religions 2025, 16(5), 613; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050613 - 12 May 2025

Viewed by 140

Abstract

This article examines the emotional and intellectual dimensions of Torah study in contemporary Lithuanian Haredi Judaism in Israel by analyzing the cultural construction of ahavat ha-Torah (love of Torah). While scholarly discussions of religious love have traditionally focused on interpersonal love or love [...] Read more.

This article examines the emotional and intellectual dimensions of Torah study in contemporary Lithuanian Haredi Judaism in Israel by analyzing the cultural construction of ahavat ha-Torah (love of Torah). While scholarly discussions of religious love have traditionally focused on interpersonal love or love of God, this study highlights a unique form of love directed toward a textual object—the Torah. Drawing on discourse-analytic approaches and engaging both high and popular cultural sources within the Lithuanian Haredi world, the article explores how the ethos of this tradition constructs the Torah as an object of emotional attachment. To understand the nature of this distinctive form of love, the article develops three interrelated conceptual lenses: (1) love of Torah as love of wisdom, (2) the perception of Torah as an entity capable of emotional relationship, and (3) the ethos of toil (amal ha-Torah) as a practice of devotional attachment. These categories serve to unpack how Lithuanian Haredi discourse constructs a model of love that fuses intellectual rigor with emotional intensity. The article concludes by suggesting that within Lithuanian Haredi Judaism, while God is often depicted as transcendent and distant, the Torah takes on an emotionally immanent role—serving as a locus of sacred attachment, identity, and even revelation. Full article

22 pages, 3173 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Moveable Israel: Covenant Theology and Reformed Memory in the 1531 Zurich Bible

by Colin Hoch

Religions 2025, 16(5), 612; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050612 - 12 May 2025

Viewed by 137

Abstract

The very latest scholarship on the Swiss Reformation has urged us to resituate the conceptual origins and first articulations of a Reformed Covenant theology in the Zurich of Zwingli, Jud, Pellikan, and Bullinger, rather than in the Geneva of Calvin and Beza. Using [...] Read more.

The very latest scholarship on the Swiss Reformation has urged us to resituate the conceptual origins and first articulations of a Reformed Covenant theology in the Zurich of Zwingli, Jud, Pellikan, and Bullinger, rather than in the Geneva of Calvin and Beza. Using insights from the recent literature of early modern memory, book history, and art history, this article provides a critical new reading of the preface, text, and paratext of the 1531 folio edition of the Zurich Bible. In doing so, it elucidates how, working with a humanist conception of historical memory, an early Reformed Covenant theology was articulated through its rhetorical juxtaposition of an imagined Israel and Rabbinic Judaism. In line with recent work on the role of historical models in early Reformed Bible culture, I contend that the language of historical memory holds the key to understanding this Reformed rearticulation of Covenant theology and its intended effect on readers of the Zurich Bible. Insights from this reading shed light on the Zurich origins of Reformed Christianity’s ambivalent history of defining itself vis-a-vis an imagined Israel and Rabbinic Judaism, with implications for understanding Protestant discourses on Israel, Judaism, idolatry, antijudaism, and antisemitism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Swiss Reformation 1525–2025: New Directions)

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21 pages, 272 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Way of “Thinking” Consciousness: Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and Neo-Materialism

by Aloisia Moser

Religions 2025, 16(5), 611; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050611 - 12 May 2025

Viewed by 124

Abstract

This paper re-examines consciousness through Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and contemporary neo-materialism, arguing that traditional views overstate its importance and that retreating to the subconscious is inadequate. Using a moth infestation metaphor, it highlights the interconnectedness of sentient and non-sentient beings and advocates for recognizing [...] Read more.

This paper re-examines consciousness through Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, and contemporary neo-materialism, arguing that traditional views overstate its importance and that retreating to the subconscious is inadequate. Using a moth infestation metaphor, it highlights the interconnectedness of sentient and non-sentient beings and advocates for recognizing our shared existence. Nietzsche’s perspectivism shows that human will arises from interdependent life forces, while Wittgenstein’s “form of life” illustrates that meaning comes from shared practices. In one reading of the form of life, religion can be seen as different forms of life. This paper concludes that theology must rethink its focus on human consciousness post the “anthropological turn”, avoiding dualistic body–soul separations. By embracing a holistic view of interconnectedness, we can enrich our understanding of human existence and foster compassionate engagement with diverse life forms, promoting a more integrated and empathetic approach to living. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consciousness between Science and Religion)

18 pages, 3874 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rome’s Religious Diversity: Cultural Memory, Mnemosyne, and Urban Heritage

by Angelica Federici

Religions 2025, 16(5), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050610 - 12 May 2025

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Abstract

Rome, historically regarded as a monumental center of Catholic Christendom, now stands as a multi-layered environment shaped by diverse religious communities whose overlapping architectures, rites, and narratives expand the city’s cultural memory. This article employs Warburg’s Mnemosyne methodology to investigate how symbolic motifs, [...] Read more.

Rome, historically regarded as a monumental center of Catholic Christendom, now stands as a multi-layered environment shaped by diverse religious communities whose overlapping architectures, rites, and narratives expand the city’s cultural memory. This article employs Warburg’s Mnemosyne methodology to investigate how symbolic motifs, architectural forms, and intangible practices—from Eastern Orthodox iconography to the Great Mosque of Rome’s transnational design—migrate, adapt, and reconfigure within Rome’s urban fabric. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from cultural memory studies, religious studies, and urban geography, it reveals how minority communities—Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox Christian, Protestant, Methodist, and Scientology—act as “memory agents”, negotiating visibility and introducing new heritage layers that challenge monolithic perceptions of Rome’s identity. The analysis underscores that intangible heritage, such as chanting, prayer, and interfaith festivals, is equally central to understanding how collective memory is produced and transmitted. Tensions arise when key stakeholders do not validate these emerging cultural forms or question their “authenticity”, reflecting the contested nature of heritage-making. Ultimately, Rome’s religious plurality, shaped by migration and historical transformations, emerges as a dynamic memoryscape. By recognizing the vital role of minority faiths in heritage-making, this study contributes to broader debates on cultural pluralism, super-diversity, and the evolving definitions of religious and cultural heritage in contemporary global cities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religions, Cultural Memory and Heritage in the City: Reassembling a Plural Scenario)

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18 pages, 251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Decolonising Evaluation Practice in International Development Cooperation Through an African Religion Lens

by Nina van der Puije

Religions 2025, 16(5), 609; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050609 - 12 May 2025

Viewed by 145

Abstract

This paper critically addresses the pervasive neglect of indigenous approaches to social transformation within the field of international development cooperation. It shows how commonly used evaluation frameworks—shaped by Western assumptions about evidence, measurement, and progress—tend to exclude non-Western knowledge systems. Focusing on African [...] Read more.

This paper critically addresses the pervasive neglect of indigenous approaches to social transformation within the field of international development cooperation. It shows how commonly used evaluation frameworks—shaped by Western assumptions about evidence, measurement, and progress—tend to exclude non-Western knowledge systems. Focusing on African Initiated Churches (AICs) as exemplars of development actors with transformational approaches that incorporate the spiritual, this study explores the possible reforms required in mainstream evaluation practices to recognise and include development alternatives. An analysis of AIC evaluation practices reveals the potential for decolonised frameworks rooted in African and Indigenous epistemologies, including relational, communal, and spiritual ways of generating evidence. This paper argues that fostering mutual learning and dialogue in the field of development evaluation is fundamental to driving more inclusive and sustainable social change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Postcolonial Religion and Theology in/as Practice)

11 pages, 183 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interdisciplinary Mutuality: Migration, the Bible, and Scholarly Reciprocity

by Eric M. Trinka

Religions 2025, 16(5), 608; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050608 - 12 May 2025

Viewed by 166

Abstract

For almost forty years, scholars of the Bible have drawn on the conglomerate field of migration studies to illuminate historical contexts and to exegete biblical texts. This paper recognizes the rich contributions supplied across the decades by such interdisciplinary scholarship. It offers a [...] Read more.

For almost forty years, scholars of the Bible have drawn on the conglomerate field of migration studies to illuminate historical contexts and to exegete biblical texts. This paper recognizes the rich contributions supplied across the decades by such interdisciplinary scholarship. It offers a rejoinder to this work by exploring how biblical scholars might balance the interdisciplinary scales through reciprocal contributions to migration studies. The response is structured in three movements. First, I present the biblical corpus as a migration-informed and migration-informing artifact that has influenced perceptions of and engagements with migration for more than two millennia. The second part of the paper presents three avenues biblical scholars might pursue in their approaches to migration scholars as interlocutors. Finally, my conclusion offers closing reflections on ways biblical scholars might more appropriately prepare themselves for further interdisciplinary mutuality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transgressing Boundaries: Biblical and Social Scientific Studies of Migration)

13 pages, 238 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Virtue of Understanding God as Almighty

by Bruce R. Reichenbach

Religions 2025, 16(5), 607; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050607 - 11 May 2025

Viewed by 150

Abstract

God’s power is usually discussed in terms of omnipotence. However, the problems associated with omnipotence are complex, and even if some think that the problems are resolvable, many find the purported resolutions unsatisfactory. I turn away from the notion of God as omnipotent, [...] Read more.

God’s power is usually discussed in terms of omnipotence. However, the problems associated with omnipotence are complex, and even if some think that the problems are resolvable, many find the purported resolutions unsatisfactory. I turn away from the notion of God as omnipotent, with its emphasis on omnicausality (roughly, the ability to cause anything logically possible), to that of God as almighty (the ability to do what one wills and as being the source of and controlling power over all things). I contend that in speaking about God’s power from a Christian perspective, all that is necessary is that God be almighty. Further, I argue that understanding God’s power in terms of being almighty more readily resolves the persistent paradoxes of omnipotence, of God’s impeccability, and of God self-limiting his power. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)

22 pages, 339 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Christology of Bonaventure

by Lance H. Gracy

Religions 2025, 16(5), 606; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050606 - 10 May 2025

Viewed by 196

Abstract

Scholarly discussion on Bonaventure’s Christology has tended to favor its Trinitarian, historical, and epistemological dimensions. Of note is Bonaventure’s notion of Christ as medium metaphysicum: the very depth and center of history according to knowing, learning, and mystical desire. What is perhaps less [...] Read more.

Scholarly discussion on Bonaventure’s Christology has tended to favor its Trinitarian, historical, and epistemological dimensions. Of note is Bonaventure’s notion of Christ as medium metaphysicum: the very depth and center of history according to knowing, learning, and mystical desire. What is perhaps less considered with respect to these topics, but nevertheless evident in contemporary scholarship, is the extent to which Bonaventure’s Christological structure informs an essential relation between creation and glorification. This essay explores these topics with attention to contemporary Bonaventure scholarship to offer insights on the ongoing importance of Bonaventure’s Christology for posterity, especially as it relates to a Bonaventurian theology of creation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Christology: Christian Writings and the Reflections of Theologians)

22 pages, 363 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Thomas de Cantilupe (d. 1282) and the Last Jews of Medieval England

by Irven Michael Resnick

Religions 2025, 16(5), 605; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050605 - 9 May 2025

Viewed by 204

Abstract

Thomas de Cantilupe (d. 1282) is one of the last medieval English Catholics to have been canonized as a saint, following a remarkable career in which he twice served as the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, as the Chancellor of England, and [...] Read more.

Thomas de Cantilupe (d. 1282) is one of the last medieval English Catholics to have been canonized as a saint, following a remarkable career in which he twice served as the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, as the Chancellor of England, and as Bishop of Hereford. This paper examines reports of his anti-Judaism and its potential influence in England in the period before the English crown expelled the entire Jewish community in 1290. Full article

20 pages, 419 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Alternative Lineages: The Shisong lü 十誦律 in Japanese Ancient Manuscript Buddhist Canons

by Limei Chi

Religions 2025, 16(5), 604; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050604 - 9 May 2025

Viewed by 151

Abstract

Traditional studies on Chinese Buddhism have largely relied on printed canons from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Goryeo dynasties. However, recent discoveries of Dunhuang and Turfan manuscripts, along with growing recognition of Nihon kosha issaikyō (Japanese Ancient Manuscript Canons), have expanded the scope [...] Read more.

Traditional studies on Chinese Buddhism have largely relied on printed canons from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Goryeo dynasties. However, recent discoveries of Dunhuang and Turfan manuscripts, along with growing recognition of Nihon kosha issaikyō (Japanese Ancient Manuscript Canons), have expanded the scope of Buddhist textual research. Despite their significance, Japanese manuscript Buddhist canons remain underexplored, particularly in relation to their textual lineages and connections to Tang-dynasty texts. This study examines Nihon kosha issaikyō through a philological analysis of the Shisong lü (Ten Recitation Vinaya), assessing textual variants, structural patterns, and transmission histories. By situating Nihon kosha issaikyō within the broader East Asian Buddhist tradition, this research clarifies their role in preserving alternative textual lineages beyond standardized printed canons. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of Buddhist textual transmission, canon formation, and the interplay between manuscript and printed traditions in China, Korea, and Japan. This study highlights the historical processes that shaped East Asian Buddhist canons and offers new insights into their adaptation and preservation across different cultural contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Shaping Sacred Knowledge: The Transmission and Legacy of the Chinese Buddhist Canon)

14 pages, 221 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Islamic Fundamentalism and the Political Systems of North African States Before the Arab Spring

by Radoslaw Bania

Religions 2025, 16(5), 603; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050603 - 9 May 2025

Viewed by 247

Abstract

Before the Arab Spring erupted at the turn of 2010 and 2011, Islamic fundamentalism had long played a significant role in the political and social landscapes of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Often associated with groups advocating for a return [...] Read more.

Before the Arab Spring erupted at the turn of 2010 and 2011, Islamic fundamentalism had long played a significant role in the political and social landscapes of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Often associated with groups advocating for a return to a strict and literal interpretation of Islamic principles, Islamic fundamentalism manifested in various movements, ideologies and violent insurgencies. These movements aimed to shape governance, challenge existing regimes and resist Western influence. The decades leading up to the Arab Spring saw a rise in both peaceful political Islamist movements and militant groups with more radical objectives. Islamic fundamentalist organisations have played varied and significant roles in the political systems of North African states. From the peaceful reformist agendas of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Ennahda in Tunisia to the radical insurgencies of the LIFG in Libya and the GIA in Algeria, these organisations have shaped political discourse, challenged authoritarian regimes and represented the discontent of marginalised populations. In some cases, such as in Morocco, Islamist groups have found ways to work within the political system, while in others, they have been pushed into violent opposition. The impact of Islamic fundamentalist organisations before and after the Arab Spring reveals their enduring influence on North Africa’s political landscape. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing the Study of Religion and International Relations: Thirty Years After Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" (1993, 1996)—A Critical Evaluation and Appraisal of the Current State of Art)

16 pages, 253 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integral Ecology as a Call to Responsibility: Approximations Between Hans Jonas and Pope Francis

by Jelson R. de Oliveira and Grégori de Souza

Religions 2025, 16(5), 602; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050602 - 8 May 2025

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Abstract

This article aims to examine the concept of responsibility through the lens of the “integral ecology” proposed by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’. The objective is to demonstrate how the ethics of responsibility developed by Hans Jonas in his seminal 1979 work [...] Read more.

This article aims to examine the concept of responsibility through the lens of the “integral ecology” proposed by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’. The objective is to demonstrate how the ethics of responsibility developed by Hans Jonas in his seminal 1979 work aligns with Pope Francis’s concerns and simultaneously offers a complementary theoretical–philosophical framework. To this end, we begin by showing how responsibility occupies a central place in the papal encyclical, assuming a multidimensional perspective. From there, we analyze how the understanding of responsibility transitions from ontology (Jonas) and anthropology (Francis) to ethics, taking the biosphere as a new object of responsibility in light of the threats posed by the unchecked advance of technological powers against nature. This investigation is based on a comparative and conceptual analysis of primary texts by Hans Jonas and Pope Francis. This shift also entails the recognition of nature’s intrinsic rights and an understanding of species extinction as both an impoverishment (Jonas) and a mutilation (Francis) of creation. We conclude by demonstrating how the call for integral ecology becomes an urgent task for the present generations in the context of catastrophe prevention. In this way, integral ecology attains its radical meaning when understood as demanding two fundamental transformations: a change in consciousness and a change in lifestyle—from consumerism to frugality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue From Dogmatism to a Public Theology: An Archeology of Theological Knowledge and Religious Studies)

17 pages, 325 KiB

Open AccessArticle

On the Transcendence of Master Hsing Yun’s Humanistic Buddhism

by Xunqi Zhang

Religions 2025, 16(5), 601; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050601 - 8 May 2025

Viewed by 183

Abstract

The issue of transcendence is a pivotal philosophical proposition in the contemporary development of Humanistic Buddhism, continuously provoking academic debates within the fields of religious studies and Buddhist scholarship. In response to the controversy over whether Humanistic Buddhism possesses transcendence, Master Hsing Yun [...] Read more.

The issue of transcendence is a pivotal philosophical proposition in the contemporary development of Humanistic Buddhism, continuously provoking academic debates within the fields of religious studies and Buddhist scholarship. In response to the controversy over whether Humanistic Buddhism possesses transcendence, Master Hsing Yun (星雲大師) addresses this question through three theoretical dimensions: constructing spiritual transcendence at the level of faith, achieving inner transcendence at the level of consciousness, and realizing a creative transcendence that integrates tradition and modernity within a historical context. Through the tripartite interaction of the Buddhist practice system, worldly engagement, and the philosophy of the Middle Way (中道), individuals can transcend their own lives and attain the perfection of their inherent Buddha-nature, ultimately achieving a unity of humanity and transcendence. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Religious Cultures: Historical Traditions and Modern Interpretations)

27 pages, 351 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Freemasonry as the Nucleus of the Human League—Karl Christian Friedrich Krause’s Interpretation of Regular Freemasonry as a Precursor of a Cosmopolitan Civil Society

by Benedikt Paul Göcke

Religions 2025, 16(5), 600; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050600 - 8 May 2025

Viewed by 308

Abstract

In the spirit of global governance, Karl Christian Friedrich Krause saw the Masonic Brotherhood as the first historical seed for the realization of a global, participatory, Human League; to establish and maintain a state of true humanity. And he saw the most excellent [...] Read more.

In the spirit of global governance, Karl Christian Friedrich Krause saw the Masonic Brotherhood as the first historical seed for the realization of a global, participatory, Human League; to establish and maintain a state of true humanity. And he saw the most excellent sign of this connection between Freemasonry and cosmopolitan civil society in the allegory of the “Great General Lodge”. However, in order to be able to do justice to its historical task of establishing the Human League, according to Krause, Freemasonry needs to reform itself according to its original ideal, overcome its pupal stage caused by the caterpillar status of medieval construction huts, and grow into a butterfly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Humanities/Philosophies)

13 pages, 731 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Shaped by the Supper: The Eucharist as an Identity Marker and Sustainer—A Literary Analysis of 1 Corinthians 11:17–34

by JM (Jooman) Na

Religions 2025, 16(5), 599; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050599 - 7 May 2025

Viewed by 130

Abstract

This study demonstrates that Paul presents the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 as an identity-forming and identity-sustaining liturgical act. Through literary analysis, the research first highlights Paul’s deliberate fivefold use of the verb συνέρχομαι (“to come together”) to frame the passage, emphasizing the [...] Read more.

This study demonstrates that Paul presents the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 as an identity-forming and identity-sustaining liturgical act. Through literary analysis, the research first highlights Paul’s deliberate fivefold use of the verb συνέρχομαι (“to come together”) to frame the passage, emphasizing the communal nature of the Eucharist. The meal is intended to mark the identity of the church as one body—set apart from the status-based divisions typical of Roman banquet culture. The current study also observes that Paul strategically places the early Christian confession of the Lord’s Supper at the center of his argument. In doing so, he calls the Corinthians to recall this tradition and re-engage in a shared act of remembrance—one that enacts the memory of Christ’s death and thereby reconstitutes them as a unified body. This understanding is rooted in Jewish conceptions of ritual memory, in which liturgical acts not only recall the past but renew and reinforce communal identity. Through such embodied remembrance, the church does not merely recall who it is; it performs and sustains that identity. Thus, the Eucharist functions both to form the church as one body distinct from the world and to maintain that identity through repeated, participatory remembrance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Worship and Faith Formation)

36 pages, 468 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Anthropogenesis, the Original State of Human Nature, and the Classical Model of Original Sin: The Challenge from Natural Science

by Mariusz Tabaczek

Religions 2025, 16(5), 598; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050598 - 6 May 2025

Viewed by 266

Abstract

This article offers a contribution to the scientifically informed theological (Aristotelian–Thomistic) reflection on anthropogenesis, the original state of human nature and original sin. After introductory remarks on the historical-critical exegesis of Gen 1–11 and the Catholic view of the evolutionary and theological anthropogenesis, [...] Read more.

This article offers a contribution to the scientifically informed theological (Aristotelian–Thomistic) reflection on anthropogenesis, the original state of human nature and original sin. After introductory remarks on the historical-critical exegesis of Gen 1–11 and the Catholic view of the evolutionary and theological anthropogenesis, I develop a critical evaluation of the notion of praeternatural gifts given by God to the first human being(s) (i.e., physical immortality, high level of infused knowledge, impassibility, and freedom from concupiscence). In the next step, I present and discuss the difficulties of the received model of hereditary sin assuming the role of Adam as the “collective singular”, the “virtually multiple”, or the “fountainhead of mankind”. In continuation of this analysis, I refer to alternative models of hereditary sin that see Adam as “actually multiple” or a paradigm example of each human being (Adam as “everyman”). I also analyze the view of those who emphasize the communal aspect of hereditary sin and favor the notion of its transmission that brings together propagation and imitation (rather than seeing them as mutually exclusive). Finally, I offer some remarks on the return to the Irenaean notion of the original state of human nature and original sin in the circles of theologians attentive to the theory of evolution. Full article

16 pages, 4110 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Imitatio Dei, Imitatio Darii: Authority, Assimilation and Afterlife of the Epilogue of Bīsotūn (DB 4:36–92)

by Gad Barnea

Religions 2025, 16(5), 597; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16050597 - 6 May 2025

Viewed by 964

Abstract

The Bīsotūn inscription of Darius I (DB) is a masterpiece of ancient literature containing descriptions of historical events, imperial propaganda, cultic statements, ethical instructions, wisdom insights, blessings and curses, and engagements with posterity. It was disseminated far and wide within the empire and [...] Read more.

The Bīsotūn inscription of Darius I (DB) is a masterpiece of ancient literature containing descriptions of historical events, imperial propaganda, cultic statements, ethical instructions, wisdom insights, blessings and curses, and engagements with posterity. It was disseminated far and wide within the empire and left a lasting impression on the cultures with which it came into contact. However, a specific section of this royal inscription (DB 4:36–92), carefully crafted to address future audiences in the second person, stands out sharply from the rest of the text. This passage has made a striking, profound, and durable impression on future generations—which extended over the longue durée in both time and space. This article focuses on the decisive cultic theme undergirding DB in general and its fourth column in particular namely, the king’s profound sense of imitatio dei in the cosmic battle against “the Lie,” complemented by his appeal to an imitatio Darii by all future audiences of his words. The impact of this call can be traced in later literature: in a DB variant found at Elephantine and, most notably, a hitherto unknown exegetical legend found in Qumran, which seeks to explain this portion of DB through an Achaemenid court tale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Divine Encounters: Exploring Religious Themes in Literature)

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