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.
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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
Apology of Kindī
(251 words)
[German Version] Christian document with apologetic and polemic content composed in the 1st half of the 9th century in the Arabic language. The author, called al-Kindī in the text, was, in all likelihood, a Nestorian (Syria). In the original version, the text is accompanied by a letter that supposedly stemmed from a Muslim by the name of al-Hāšimī that recommended Islam, rejected Christian faith, and cited the
Apology of Kindī. An introduction described the theater of this exchange of ideas as the court of Caliph al-Maʾmūn …
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Religion Past and Present
Apophatic Theology
(770 words)
[German Version] In the “Mystical Theology” of Dionysius the Areopagite
apophasis or negation (Gk ἀπό + φάναι [
apó +
phánai]: lit. “speaking away”) is coordinated with
kataphasis or affirmation in setting out the twin methods of theology. Since God is the cause of all beings, we may ascribe to God “all the affirmations we make in regard to beings.” But “more appropriately, we should negate all these affirmation…
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Religion Past and Present
Apophthegmata Patrum
(292 words)
[German Version] , lit. “sayings” or “aphorisms of the Fathers,” derived from the verb ἀπό + φθέγγω (
apó +
phthéngō) “making a sound.” The collections of these sayings belong to a literary genre that grew out of the experiences of eremitic existence in the desert. They flourished first in the Greek and Latin-speaking areas of the 4th century and then in all languages of the Christian Orient as far as Sog…
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Religion Past and Present
Apophthegm/Chreia
(245 words)
[German Version] The chreia is a well-known
Gattung in Greek literature, rarer in Jewish literature, and is similar to many of the individual stories about Jesus (“pericopes”), which occur in the NT Gospels, especially the synoptic Gospels (e.g. Mark 2:15–17; 2:18–22; 10:13–16; 12:13–17). It is then a basic category for form-critical analysis (Biblical criticism; F…
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Religion Past and Present
Aporia
(361 words)
[German Version] (Gk ἀπορία), originally hopelessness, or in philosophy the embarrassing situation into which one can fall when the solution of a problem seems to be currently or ultimately impossible. The oldest aporias of philosophy go back to Zenon of Elea. From the assumption of the reality of movement, Zenon developed contradictory consequences. A flying arrow rests at every point along its path; in competition Achilles can never catch u…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostasy
(765 words)
[German Version] I. Concept – II. New Testament – III. Practical Theology
I. Concept The term “apostasy” – like faith a specific of the Judeo-Christian tradition – is rarely used today, although it has greater significance in Catholic sacramental practice and communion (Excommunication). Apostasy indicates the departure from the teaching and life of the faith community; heresy refers to the rejection of binding doctrine without renouncing the faith entirely. Idolatry, historically the veneration of other gods, can also refer to secular forms of
de facto adherence. While these t…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostate
(108 words)
[German Version] According to Catholic canon law, an apostate is one who totally renounces the Christian faith (
CIC c. 751), thereby committing the most serious ecclesiastical offense, punishable by automatic excommunication (c. 1364 §1); if the offense is notorious, the offender may be forbidden church burial (c. 1184 §1, n. 1). Even after returning to the faith, an apostate is considered irregular and is therefore impeded from blessings (c. 1041, n. 2). Apostasy from the Christian faith invariably means apostasy from the Catholic faith as well (cc. 194 §1, n. 2; 694 §1, n. 1). Georg May B…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostles
(1,420 words)
[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Representations of the Apostles
I. New Testament
1. The term. The verbal adjective ἀπόστολος/
apóstolos (from
apostéllein), as a term for being sent was also used in Greek substantivally, but was not a
terminus technicus. Outside political contexts, it occurs rarely in philosophical texts. The roots of the NT concept lie in the OT and Judaism, where the verb שׁלח/
šalaḥ plays an important role; the participle is rare, the noun is late and may not yet be presumed as a precursor to NT usage. The substantival use corresponds to Greek linguistic tradition.
2…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostles' Creed
(608 words)
[German Version] The received text (T, first attested by Pirmin,
Scarapsus §§10/12/28) of the creed known in the modern period as the
Symbolum apostolicum or
Symbolum Apostolorum goes back to the so-called Old Roman creed (R). The great majority of scholars accept the hypothesis of J. Ussher, archbishop of Armagh (1647), that R is first attested in Greek in Marcellus of Ancyra (Epiphanius,
Haer. 72.3.1 = BSGR §17) or in the Psalter of Aethelstan (§18); the Latin text can be reconstructed from Rufinus's
Explanatio symboli (§19). From 1910–1916 onward,…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostles, Feasts of the
(214 words)
[German Version] Initially liturgical commemoration of the apostles, like that of the martyrs, was only local. The earliest commemorations at Rome were on Jun 29 (Peter and Paul) and Feb 22 (death of Peter?). Because these feasts were biblical, the Lutheran churches continued to observe most of them; when one fell on a workday, it was often observed as a “semi-holiday.” The new Roman
Calendar of 1969 lists the following feasts of the apostles, which – with the exception of the Chair of Peter on Feb 22 –…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolate, Theology of
(10 words)
[German Version] Hoekendijk, Johannes Christiaan
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolic Canons
(132 words)
[German Version] The
Apostolic Constitutions include a collection of canons (AC VIII, 47) comprising in part earlier synodical canons, especially those of the synods of Antioch (c. 340) and Laodicea (c. 360). The division into 85 canons came to be generally accepted. The Apostolic Canons contain instructions for the selection of church officials and duties within the community, as well as a list of the biblical books (with
1 and
2 Clement and the Apostolic Constitutions). Separated from the Apostolic Constitutions, …
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolic Church of the East
(442 words)
[German Version] The Apostolic Church of the East came into being as an autocephalous church (Autocephaly) of the East Syrians in the Persian Empire during the first half of the 5th century; at the end of the same century it embraced Antiochene Christology (Antioch). Since that time it has been known as the Nestorian Church or, in the modern period, the Assyrian …
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolic Church Order
(136 words)
[German Version] . A fictive assembly of apostles (including a list of the apostles) opens this short church order. An adaptation of the teaching concerning the two ways (cf.
Did. 1–4) constitutes the first section (4–14). The second section (15–29) contains legal norms governing the selection and duties of bishops, priests, lectors, deacons, and widows together with instructions for the laity and the ministry of women. The regulations are dictated by the individual apostles. The document appears to have originated in Egypt (or Syria?) at the beginning of the 4th century. Marcel Metzg…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolic Constitutions
(130 words)
[German Version] of Clement I, a collection in 8 books, are a reworking of three major sources: the
Didascalia (I–VI), the
Didache (VII, 1–22), and the so-called
Apostolic Tradition (VIII;
Traditio Apostolica ). They contain pastoral instructions on Christian ethics, congregational leadership, worship, ecclesiastical offices, the reconciliation of sinners, the gifts of the Spirit, alms, etc. Their theology bears the…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolic Council (Council of Jerusalem)
(171 words)
[German Version] The term “Apostolic Council” refers to the meeting between representatives of primarily Gentile Christian communities (Paul, Barnabas) with the leaders of the original Palestinian community (the so-called “pillars” – James, the brother of Jesus, Peter, and John, the son of Zebedee) in Jerusalem c. 48, as described in Gal 2 and Acts 15. They di…
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolic Decree
(151 words)
[German Version] The Apostolic Decree is mentioned three times in Acts (Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25) with variation in the wording and order of the four prohibitions. Ostensibly it was a decision reached between the churches in Jerusalem and Antioch, including Paul (despite his silence about it in his letters) (Apostolic Council), but it is possibly a separate, later agreement for churches in …
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolic Fathers
(334 words)
[German Version] The term “Apostolic Fathers” goes back to J.-B. Cotelier, who in 1672 published the works of “the holy fathers who flourished in the apostolic age.” His edition contained the
Epistle of Barnabas (Barnabas, Epistle of) and the two letters of Clement (Clement, Letters of), the letters of Ignatius (Ignatian epistles) and the letters of Polycarp of Smyrna along with the account of his martyrdom, and also the
Shepherd of Hermas . The term “Apostolic Fathers” – now including the
Didache, Diognetus , and the fragments of Papias and …
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolicity
(550 words)
[German Version] The term “apostolicity,” which derives from the title “apostle” via the adjective “apostolic,” denotes accord with the apostles or origination with the apostles. These differing interpretations are related to confessional differences. The debate is focused on the church's apostolicity, which since the end of the 4th century (along with its unity, sanctity, and catholicity)– through the influence of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (
BSLK 27,
DH 150) – came to be a standard element of Christian creeds (
DH 42, 44, 46, 48, 60), to which the …
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Religion Past and Present
Apostolics
(169 words)
[German Version] The Apostolics of the Early Church criticized the church hierarchy and rejected property and marriage. In the Middle Ages, the name “Apostolics” (also
Minimi, Pauperes Christi, or
Pseudo-apostoli) was given to lay people who gathered around Gerard Segarelli after 1260, preaching without ecclesiastical permission and supporting themselves by begging. Disbanded by the Council of Lyon, the Apostolics…
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Religion Past and Present