ReligionsPub Date : 2024-01-02DOI: 10.3390/rel15010061
Scott Harrower
{"title":"Thomas of Cantimpré’s Hagiographies: Working with a Scientific-Historical Comparative Methodology in the Classroom","authors":"Scott Harrower","doi":"10.3390/rel15010061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010061","url":null,"abstract":"This paper firstly describes how my teaching context and student body shapes the methodological and motivational resources that I use in the first three weeks of a section in comparative hagiographical studies. This practical example demonstrates the importance of being conversant with both our local learning context and the international scholarly comparative community. The second part of this essay outlines my methodological thinking as I propose a historical-scientific example of hagiographical comparison to my students, by employing taxonomies from psychological science for the sake of making helpful comparative observations between thirteenth-century hagiographies. The third part of the essay describes how I ensure that employing a particular psychological paradigm—such as “religious and spiritual struggles”—is appropriate to a given historical context.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"138 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139453126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-01-02DOI: 10.3390/rel15010060
Yo-han Yoo
{"title":"A Study of the Aekmagi Ritual in Jeju Shamanic Religion: Focusing on the Sacred Status of Shamans and the Significance of Sacrifice","authors":"Yo-han Yoo","doi":"10.3390/rel15010060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010060","url":null,"abstract":"In the Jeju shamanic religion, chickens have been sacrificed for aekmagi, a ritual to prevent aek, a looming misfortune that may cause death. Whereas ordinary participants are thought to be at risk of harm when possessing or eating chickens or other offerings made to prevent aek, the simbang, Jeju shamans, are thought to be immune to it. Simbang are believed to be permanently on the threshold between the human and the divine realms. They help remove aek but are not harmed by it, because it only harms humans in the human realm, not the person on the boundary. While the other participants are temporarily placed in the liminal state during aekmagi and come back to the ordinary living human realm after the ritual, simbang remain in the perpetual liminal state. Chicken sacrifice has been omitted from aekmagi since around 2010 in most places in Jeju-do. Though ritual killing is no longer practiced, adherents still think that aek is prevented by aekmagi. The Jeju people believe that gods are the main agents of preventing aek and that they can persuade the gods to do the work without receiving chickens’ lives. In addition, due to the change in people’s view on killing animals, aekmagi without chicken sacrifice has become a more efficient ritual system for nourishing social sustenance by following the new social prescription.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"65 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139452844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3390/rel15010058
M. L. Paglione, Marco Luppi
{"title":"Charismatic Embeddedness: A Cultural Starting Mechanism Generating Relational Goods in an Interreligious Field: Analysis from Algeria","authors":"M. L. Paglione, Marco Luppi","doi":"10.3390/rel15010058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010058","url":null,"abstract":"This article, entering into the debate on the influence of cultural factors on social action, highlights how a charismatic inspiration, as part of religious culture, could represent a relevant element in social phenomena. In particular, this article proposes an analysis of the role of a specific charismatic inspiration, in relation to the spirituality of the Focolare Movement (FM), in the interreligious field thanks to the “embeddedness” of the social action of its members of different religions in a specific charismatic culture. The analysis aims to understand whether and how this mechanism works by observing a specific Catholic–Muslim phenomenon developed in Algeria since 1966, using an interdisciplinary perspective between sociology and history and the case-study strategy, discovering that what we define as “charismatic embeddedness” could work as a “starting mechanism” generating “interreligious relational goods”.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"15 25","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139126375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3390/rel15010059
Jeffrey E. Cohen
{"title":"Ideology and Attitudes toward Jews in U.S. Public Opinion: A Reconsideration","authors":"Jeffrey E. Cohen","doi":"10.3390/rel15010059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010059","url":null,"abstract":"Antisemitism has been found on both the extreme left and right among political elites. However, at the mass public level, limited research suggests right-wing antisemitism, but not much left-wing antisemitism. This paper challenges that research, at least for the U.S., offering an alternative theory. The theory argues that the lowest levels of antisemitism will be found among mainstream liberals and conservatives. Ideological moderates will exhibit higher rates of antisemitism, while those lacking an ideological orientation will show still higher antisemitic rates. Extremists of the right and left may be more antisemitic than mainstream conservatives and liberals, but the inability of standard ideological self-placement questions to distinguish extreme ideologues from the very conservative/liberal makes it difficult to test the extremism hypothesis. Numerous items measuring attitudes towards Jews in the U.S. across five major surveys finds overwhelming support for the mainstream philosemitism theory. The conclusion puts the findings into perspective and offers suggestions regarding future research.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"86 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139125130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2023-12-31DOI: 10.3390/rel15010057
Manuel Parada López de Corselas
{"title":"Decheng, Beitang and Tushanwan Cloisonné Workshops: A New Contribution on Chinese Christian Art","authors":"Manuel Parada López de Corselas","doi":"10.3390/rel15010057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010057","url":null,"abstract":"Recent research has played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of cloisonné enamel production in China during the 19th and 20th centuries. However, Christian workshops, whether operating under missionary subcontracting or owned by the Catholic Church, have yet to be accurately identified and contextualized. This article delves into three significant contexts. Firstly, it identifies and contextualizes the Christian connections and interactions of the Decheng private cloisonné workshop, involving the French Lazarist Bishop Alphonse Favier, in Beijing. Secondly, it identifies the cloisonné workshop stablished by the Lazarists in the Beitang complex in Beijing and elucidates the role it played. Finally, this paper presents new evidence concerning cloisonné Christian objects crafted by the Tushanwan Jesuit workshop in Shanghai. Some of the primary works of these three workshops are identified for the first time. Additionally, this paper shows that certain cloisonné crosses, some of them thought to be originally Japanese, including those referred to as Namban, were, in fact, crafted in Beijing during the 1920s. These preliminary results will contribute to placing Chinese Christian cloisonné within the history of Chinese Art and its interactions at a global level in the context of evangelization in China, the production of the so-called export art, and the processes of indigenization carried out by the Lazarists and the Jesuits.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":" 559","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139136859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2023-12-31DOI: 10.3390/rel15010055
Roland Boer
{"title":"Abstract or Concrete Utopia? Concerning the Ideal Society in Chinese Philosophy and Culture","authors":"Roland Boer","doi":"10.3390/rel15010055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010055","url":null,"abstract":"In seeking an appropriate approach to the ideal society in Chinese thought, the present study comprises two main parts. The first part deals with a debate in Chinese philosophy concerning the possibility of an inner or immanent transcendence as a way of defining Chinese culture. As this debate unfolded, it became clear that Chinese philosophers—especially on the mainland—do not regard the transcendent–immanent distinction as applicable to Chinese culture and philosophy. In short, this culture and its philosophy simply has no need for transcendence. Instead, other terms are needed, especially those drawn from a tradition that “secularised” them many millennia ago: moral cultivation, regeneration, home, and intimacy. In this light, the second part of the study deals with two approaches to the ideal society: the Confucian “Great Harmony [大同 datong]” and the short story “Peach Blossom Spring [桃花源 taohuayuan]”. These terms are mediated by a treatment of the “Three Worlds Theory [三世说 sanshishuo]”, developed most fully by He Xiu (129–82 CE). The outcome of this investigation is that the ideal society is very much part of this world. It can be known only through direct observation, empirical investigation, and it is achievable only by detailed planning. It is nothing less than home.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"84 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139130607","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2023-12-31DOI: 10.3390/rel15010056
Luke Jones, Nick J. Watson
{"title":"‘Falling Upward’ into Sports Retirement: A Rohrsian Exploration of the Sports Retirement Experience","authors":"Luke Jones, Nick J. Watson","doi":"10.3390/rel15010056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010056","url":null,"abstract":"Retirement from sport is widely reported as a challenging time of transition in the lives of elite athletes and is one that has been explored from a range of different perspectives both by sport psychologists and socio-cultural scholars of sport. However, of late, a small number of scholars have considered athlete career transition within the context of religion and spirituality, identifying the religious identity and belief of athletes as central to their transition experiences. That said, this work does not go as far as developing a theological understanding of sports retirement. Here, we explore and frame the phenomenon of sports retirement through the theological lens put forward by the neo-Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr in his book Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life. In this paper, we suggest how Rohr’s ideas might help develop an alternative and more nuanced understanding of sports retirement, building on those currently promoted in sport psychology and the sociology of sport the literature.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":"101 46","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139133735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2023-12-30DOI: 10.3390/rel15010053
Ivone Moreira
{"title":"Thinking about the Law with Edmund Burke","authors":"Ivone Moreira","doi":"10.3390/rel15010053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010053","url":null,"abstract":"Burke intervened in a very significant way at various moments in the political history of the England of his time. Although being considered by some commentators to be a utilitarian, in fact, it is Burke’s fidelity to the principles of natural law that makes all his political interventions coherent. The aim of this paper is to analyze the subordination of positive law to natural law and original justice in Burke’s thought, and we will achieve that by perusing his works through different periods of his career. In order to better understand his position, we will call to the conversation John Locke, from whom he departs, and Francisco de Vitoria, with whom he shares the notion of a society-dependent human nature. From the prophetic views of Burke and Tocqueville about the future, and as a kind of conclusion, we will question if the reference to natural law makes sense in present times.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":" 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139140587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2023-12-30DOI: 10.3390/rel15010054
Francesco Zaccaria
{"title":"Synodality and Decision-Making Processes: Towards New Bodies of Participation in the Church","authors":"Francesco Zaccaria","doi":"10.3390/rel15010054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010054","url":null,"abstract":"The church’s synodal conversion requires a reform of its decision-making processes. Facing the challenge of keeping in balance the common dignity of all the baptized and the value of the hierarchical structure of the church, the participation of all the faithful in decision-making processes is grounded in biblical and theological arguments and defined as a co-responsibility in taking joint decisions. The analysis of two synodal bodies recently established within the Catholic Church in the Amazon and Germany delineates new directions for the renewal of decision-making structures in the church. These directions entail reforming the existing participatory structures and creating new deliberative bodies in the church. Looking at church reality and the practice of consultation and decision-making, synodal conversion ultimately requires the reform of training for church leaders with a view to changing church mindsets and culture.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":" 39","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139138292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ReligionsPub Date : 2023-12-29DOI: 10.3390/rel15010051
Michael Brandon McCormack
{"title":"My Soul Looks Beyond in Wonder: Curating Faith, Freedom, and Futurity at the National Museum of African American History and Culture","authors":"Michael Brandon McCormack","doi":"10.3390/rel15010051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010051","url":null,"abstract":"This article offers a description and critical reflection upon two recent exhibits on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC): Spirit in the Dark: Religion in Black Music, Activism, and Popular Culture and Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures. The article explores the interplay of mutually reinforcing themes of faith, freedom, and futurity that emerge when examining the exhibits together. This article also demonstrates the public significance of the curation of religion and culture in museums and other cultural spaces beyond the academy and religious institutions. It further shows how religion becomes a site of critical meditation upon and creative manifestation or materialization of Black futures. As such, this article contributes to more expansive discourses on the interplay between Black studies and the study of religion.","PeriodicalId":38169,"journal":{"name":"Religions","volume":" 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139143015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}