Religion Past and Present
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Subject: Religious Studies
Edited by: Hans Dieter Betz, Don S. Browning†, Bernd Janowski and Eberhard Jüngel
Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is the online version of the updated English translation of the 4th edition of the definitive encyclopedia of religion worldwide: the peerless Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). This great resource, now at last available in English and Online, Religion Past and Present Online continues the tradition of deep knowledge and authority relied upon by generations of scholars in religious, theological, and biblical studies. Including the latest developments in research, Religion Past and Present Online encompasses a vast range of subjects connected with religion.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
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Religion Past and Present (RPP) Online is the online version of the updated English translation of the 4th edition of the definitive encyclopedia of religion worldwide: the peerless Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (RGG). This great resource, now at last available in English and Online, Religion Past and Present Online continues the tradition of deep knowledge and authority relied upon by generations of scholars in religious, theological, and biblical studies. Including the latest developments in research, Religion Past and Present Online encompasses a vast range of subjects connected with religion.
Subscriptions: see brill.com
Scaliger, Joseph Justus
(174 words)
[German Version] (Aug 4/5, 1540 Agen, Département Lot-et-Garonne – Jan 21, 1609, Leiden). After initial instruction at home by his father, Scaliger studied in Paris, where he joined the Huguenots in 1562. From 1572 to 1574 he taught at the academy in Geneva (II), afterwards working as an independent scholar. In 1593 he was appointed to the chair of ancient languages at Leiden, succeeding J. Lipsius. Editor of many ancient works, he proved to be an outstanding textual critic. As the father of the m…
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Religion Past and Present
Scandinavia, Theology in
(5,232 words)
[German Version]
I. Denmark With the coming of the Reformation in 1536, the University of Copenhagen, founded in 1478, gained new academic status. P. Palladius was among the first of many Danish theologians to receive a doctorate at Wittenberg. In his dual role as bishop of Zealand and professor of theology (a provision in place until 1830), he was well aware of his office as both ecclesiastical superintendent and royal official. Palladius energetically set about implementing the Reformation. Althou…
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Religion Past and Present
Scapegoat
(456 words)
[German Version] As part of the ritual for the great Day of Atonement, (Lev 16, cf. 23:26ff.; Num 29:7 ff.), the high priest Aaron lays his hands (Laying-on of hands) on a he-goat, the so-called scapegoat (Vulgate
caper emissarius, Fr.
bouc émissaire, Ger.
Sündenbock), putting the sins of the Israelites on its head and then employing someone designated to take it to “an isolated place” or “the wilderness” (Lev 16:8, 10, 21f.), where rabbinic tradition says that it meets its death (
m. Yoma). Various interpretations have been proposed for the name
Azazel (עֲזָאזֵל; Lev 16:8, 10, 26) that…
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Religion Past and Present
Scapular
(196 words)
[German Version] (from Lat.
scapulae, “shoulders”), a religious garment consisting of a piece of cloth worn over the shoulders and hanging down in front and behind. A ¶ scapular, usually reaching to the knees or lower, is part of the habit of many orders (e.g. the Benedictines). Since the Middle Ages, however, a scapular has also been a token of membership in lay communities, some affiliated with orders (Tertiaries), expressing participation in spiritual goods. Finally such scapulars were reduced to two rectangles connecte…
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Religion Past and Present
Schade, Johann Caspar
(163 words)
[German Version] (Jan 13, 1666, Kühndorf, near Meiningen – Jul 25, 1698, Berlin). While studying in Leipzig, Schade became a follower of A.H. Francke; he joined the Leipzig Collegium Philobiblicum and soon became a spokesman for the Pietist movement in Leipzig. Forced to leave Leipzig, in 1691 he became a deacon at Sankt Nikolai in Berlin, alongside P.J. Spener. There he preached revivalist sermons and led
collegia pietatis. His polemic against perfunctory absolution as part of traditional penitential practice (“Beichtstuhl, Satansstuhl, Feuerpfuhl,” linking th…
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Religion Past and Present
Schaeder
(776 words)
[German Version]
1. Erich (Dec 22, 1861, Clausthal – Feb 18, 1936, Berlin). After studying in Berlin and Greifswald from 1881 to 1886, Schaeder began lecturing in systematic theology at Greifswald in 1891. In 1894 he was appointed adjunct professor at Königsberg (today Kaliningrad) and in 1895 at Göttingen. In 1899 he was appointed ¶ to a full professorship at Kiel and in 1918 at Breslau (Wrocław). He was one of the theologians of the Greifswald school led by A.H. Cremer. In his most important work,
Theozentrische Theologie (vol. I 1909, 31925; vol. II 1914, 21928), Schaeder criticized th…
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Religion Past and Present
Schaeffer, Francis August
(201 words)
[German Version] (Jan 30, 1912, Germantown, PA – May 14, 1984, Rochester, MN), evangelical theologian and author. Graduating from Faith Seminary in 1938, Schaeffer served as a pastor before he and his wife Edith were appointed as missionaries to Europe in 1947. Eventually, the Schaeffers settled in Switzerland, where in 1955 they purchased a chalet – “L’Abri” – in Huemoz. L’Abri quickly became a center for touring students and spiritual seekers attracted by its informal theological and philosophical discussions. The 1968 publication of Schaeffer’s books
Escape from Reason and
The Go…
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Religion Past and Present
Schäfer, Theodor
(112 words)
[German Version] (Feb 17, 1846, Friedberg, Hesse – Feb 24, 1914, Rotenburg an der Wümme), pastor of the German Lutheran Church in Paris in 1869; in 1870 he was appointed supervisor of the Altersdorfer Anstalten in Hamburg. From 1872 to 1911 he served as director/superintendent of the Diakonissen-Anstalt in Altona (Hamburg). He received an honorary doctorate in theology from Rostock in 1897. Schäfer was a leading supporter of the Inland Mission in care for the physically disabled, women’s diakonia, and diaconal studies during the Empire. Volker Herrmann Bibliography H. Jenner,
Bibliog…
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Religion Past and Present
Schaff, Philip
(218 words)
[German Version] (Jan 1, 1819, Chur, Switzerland – Oct 20, 1893, NY). Educated at the universities of Tübingen, Halle, and Berlin, Schaff immigrated to the United States in 1844, taking a position as professor at the German Reformed Seminary at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Historian Schaff and his colleague theologian J.W. Nevin developed a system of thought called the Mercersburg theology. They emphasized tradition, Christian unity, and a high ecclesiology (High Church movement). From 1870 to 1893,…
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Religion Past and Present
Schafft, Hermann
(204 words)
[German Version] (Dec 2, 1883, Langenstein, near Halberstadt – Jun 2, 1959, Kassel). Beginning in 1903, Schafft studied theology in Halle, Berlin, and Tübingen; after 1907 he took on various church functions and pastoral ministries, with an emphasis on social service. He was P. Tillich’s closest friend and supported Tillich’s concept of a religious socialism (Religious socialists) based on the elements of autonomy, heteronomy, and theonomy. He was a leading advocate of the Neuwerk movement; the focus of his journalistic work was the periodical
Neuwerk, which he edited after 193…
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Religion Past and Present
Schaitberger, Joseph
(151 words)
[German Version] (Mar 19, 1658, Haus Niederplaik/Dürrnberg near Hallein, Saltzkammergut – Oct 2, 1733, Nuremberg), schoolmaster and miner. Schaitberger played a leading part in the resistance to the Counter-Reformation in the archbishopric of Salzburg. He was imprisoned for heresy in 1685 and expelled in the winter of 1685/1686, having to leave his children behind. Working in Nuremberg as a manual laborer, he was granted accommodations as a pensioner in the former Carthusian monastery by the city …
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Religion Past and Present
Schalling, Martin
(107 words)
[German Version] (Apr 21, 1532, Straßburg [Strasbourg] – Dec 29, 1608, Nuremberg), Protestant theologian. Schalling studied in Wittenberg with Melanchthon. He was appointed deacon in Regensburg in 1554 and pastor in Amberg and Vilseck; in 1576 he was appointed court chaplain in Amberg and general superintendent of the Upper Palatinate. Because of disputes over Reformation issues, he was expelled from his congregations, imprisoned, and suspended from office. From 1585 to 1605, he served as a pastor in Nuremberg, where he died after going blind. He is the author of
Evangelisches Gesan…
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Religion Past and Present
Schall von Bell, Johann Adam
(424 words)
[German Version] (Chinese Tāng Ruòwàng; May 1, 1592, Cologne – Aug 15, 1666, Beijing), Jesuit (since 1608), the most important German Catholic missionary to China (German missions: II, 2; China: V, 3; Catholicism: IV, 4), astronomer, first director of the imperial astronomical and mathematical tribunals in Beijing, made a Mandarin of the first class in 1658. After studying in Rome, Schall was sent to China as a missionary in 1618 on account of his enormous scientific knowledge, to promote the ¶ Christian mission with the help of modern European science (the method of accommo…
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Religion Past and Present
Schaper, Edzard
(94 words)
[German Version] (Sep 20, 1908, Ostrowo, Posen [Ostrów Wielkopolski] – Jan 29, 1984, Bern), German author. His novels, for example
Die sterbende Kirche(1936) and
Die Freiheit des Gefangenen (1950), informed by his Christian faith, deal with the testing of individuals in a morally indifferent world, in which borderline situations are understood as opportunities for inner transformation and spiritual renewal. His works, popular in the postwar period, are today largely forgotten. Matthias Hurst Bibliography I. Sonderegger-Kummer,
Transparenz und Wirklichkeit. Edzard Schap…
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Religion Past and Present
Schappeler, Christoph
(306 words)
[German Version] (or Schepler, Latinized: Sertorious; 1472 St. Gall – Aug 25, 1551, St. Gall), Reformer of the imperial city of Memmingen, who played a role in the Peasants’ War. He studied and taught from 1498 to 1503 and from 1505 to 1510 in Leipzig (not Vienna), receiving his M.A. in 1501 and his licentiate from the theological faculty in 1510 (no doctorate in theology or law). From 1503 to 1505 and from 1510 to 1513 he worked in St. Gall as a teacher and then as a preacher in Memmingen, where …
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Religion Past and Present
Scharfenberg, Joachim
(135 words)
[German Version] (May 10, 1927, Kiel – Mar 11, 1996, Neu-Königsförde), theologian and psychoanalyst, professor of practical theology at Kiel from 1971 to 1992. Scharfenberg was one of the pioneers of pastoral psychology in German-speaking Europe. A student of O. Haendler, he received his doctorate in 1958 with a thesis on Blumhardt and pastoral care today; he received his
Habilitation from Tübingen in 1968 with a study of S. Freud and his critique of religion as a challenge to Christian faith. Scharfenberg ¶ interpreted psychoanalysis as hermeneutics. Freud’s discovery of lang…
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Religion Past and Present
Scharf, Johann
(170 words)
[German Version] (Jun 13, 1595, Kroppenstedt – Jan 7, 1660, Wittenberg), Lutheran philosopher and theologian at the University of Wittenberg. He began his studies there in 1617, receiving his M.A. in 1620, and began teaching there as an adjunct in 1623. In 1627 ¶ he was appointed professor of logic and metaphysics, in 1638 professor of ethics, and 1640 associate professor of theology. In 1649 he was appointed professor of theology and provost of the castle church. His influence was largely a result of his textbooks (e.g.
Manuale logicum, 1632). As a philosopher, he continued to dev…
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Religion Past and Present
Scharf, Kurt
(208 words)
[German Version] (Oct 21, 1902, Landsberg an der Warthe [Gorzów Wielkopolski] – Mar 28, 1990, Berlin), was appointed pastor in Friesack in 1928. From 1933 to 1946 he served as pastor in Oranienburg and was a leading member of the Confessing Church. He then served as provost and spiritual leader for Brandenburg in the Berlin-Brandenburg consistory. He served as council president of the Evangelische Kirche der Union from 1957 to 1960 and of the Evangelical Church in Germany from 1961 to 1967. In 196…
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Religion Past and Present
Scharnagl, Anton
(175 words)
[German Version] (Nov 15, 1877, Munich – Jan 19, 1955, Munich), Catholic theologian. After studies in Munich and Bonn, he was appointed professor of canon law at the Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Freising in 1911. He was a deputy in the Bavarian Landtag from 1919 to 1933. He played a part in the signing of the Bavarian concordat, the founding of the Bavarian associations of diocesan priests, and their centralization in the Bayerischer Klerusverband. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Munich and Freising in 1943. Wilhelm Rees Bibliography Works include…
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Religion Past and Present