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
Myanmar Baptist Convention
(106 words)
[German Version] was founded in 1865 by American missionaries and native leaders as Burma Baptist Missionary Convention to strengthen and unite the Baptist churches of Burma, and to extend the work of evangelization. The present name was adopted in 1954. The convention is affiliated with the Asian Baptist Federation, American Baptist Churches in the USA, and the World Council of ¶ Churches. It is comprised of 18 language and regional groups, 107 associations, 4,626 churches and 912,594 members (2009). Si Khia Bibliography S.G. Taw,
A Renewal Strategy of the Karen Baptist Church…
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Religion Past and Present
Mycenean Religions
(7 words)
[German Version] Aegean/Minoan/Mycenean Religions
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Religion Past and Present
Myconius, Friedrich
(298 words)
[German Version] (Dec 26, 1490, Lichtenfels am Main – Apr 7, 1546, Gotha). He was educated in Lichtenfels and from 1504 in Annaberg, where in 1510 he entered the Franciscan monastery. He was transferred to Leipzig and in 1512 to Weimar, where in 1516 he was ordained priest, and soon after appointed a preaching ministry. In 1522, he was imprisoned as a follower of Luther and brought to Annaberg via Eisenach and Leipzig. In March 1524, he escaped. Myconius became a preacher at the leprosy hospital i…
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Religion Past and Present
Myconius, Oswald
(183 words)
[German Version] (also Molitor, actually Geißhüsler; 1488, Lucerne – Oct 14, 1552, Basel), important Reformer in Switzerland. He was the son of a miller (Lat.
molitor), attended school in Rottweil, and studied from 1510 in Basel. From 1514 he was a teacher, first in Basel, then from 1516 in Zürich, and from 1519 in Lucerne, until he was dismissed as a “Lutheran” in 1522. From 1523 to 1531, he worked in Zürich for the Reformation, alongside Zwingli, as a teacher at the
Frauenmünster. ¶ Finally back in Basel, as successor of J. Oecolampadius he became the head (Antistes) of the R…
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Religion Past and Present
Mynster, Jakob Peter
(298 words)
[German Version] (Nov 8, 1775, Copenhagen – Jan 30, 1854, Copenhagen). After theological studies at Copenhagen, which he began in 1790, Mynster worked as a private tutor; in 1802 he became pastor of Spjellerup in South Zealand. In 1811 he was appointed assistant pastor of the Church of Our Lady, the cathedral of Copenhagen. In 1812 he was also appointed lecturer and joint director of the pastoral seminary. In 1817 he became a member of the ministry of higher education. Finally, following a chaplai…
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Religion Past and Present
Myron
(230 words)
[German Version] Confirmation (Catholic) takes place in all Eastern churches as a direct continuation of baptism ¶ (IV, 2). The priest anoints (Anointing; Gk
chrisma) the newly baptized with aromatic olive oil (myron or chrism) in the form of the cross on forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, chest, hands, and feet, with the accompanying formula: “Seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Baptism is already understood to mediate the Spirit; confirmation is its consummation and seal. For that reason, it is also bestowed …
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Religion Past and Present
Myslenta, Cölestin
(211 words)
[German Version] (Mar 27, 1588, Kutten near Angerburg, East Prussia – Apr 30, 1653, Königsberg). Born into the Polish nobility, Myslenta learned German only in adult life. He studied theology in Königsberg, Wittenberg and Giessen (1619 Dr.theol. in Gießen). Then he studied oriental languages under T. Erpenius in Leiden and J. Buxtorf senior in Basel. For six months he pursued rabbinic and talmudic studies in the ghetto in Frankfurt am Main. From 1619 he was professor of Hebrew language and profess…
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Religion Past and Present
Mystagogy
(1,551 words)
[German Version] I. Greco-Roman Antiquity – II. The Orthodox Church – III. Practical Theology
I. Greco-Roman Antiquity Mystagogical theology is a useful term for the doctrine of the so-called “Platonic underworld,” the main features of which are: a dualistic view of the cosmos (Dualism); a clear distinction between an absolutely good supreme being and an often feminine demiurgical principle; a negative view of material existence; a fundamental change from philosophical to mythical discourse, and belief in a s…
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Religion Past and Present
Mysteries
(486 words)
[German Version] The basic meaning of the Greek root μυ/
my is “to close”; the noun μύστης/
mýstēs, “initiate,” refers to the oath by which initiates swore not to give away the content of the rites. The basic form of the Greek mysteries is the cult of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis in Attica (from the 7th cent. bce). Its rites were directly imitated elsewhere in the Greek world, for example Pausanias II 14.1 (Keleiai); VIII 15.1–4 (Pheneus). However, the term “mysteries” itself is extremely imprecise in the classical period. It is best to speak not of “my…
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Religion Past and Present
Mysterium/Mystery
(2,452 words)
[German Version] I. Catholic Theology – II. Orthodox Theology – III. Protestant Theology
I. Catholic Theology The semantic field of
mysterium in Catholic theology exhibits two characteristic poles; though they cannot be separated, there is some tension in their relationship. One pole is the dialectic of God's revelation and hiddenness in his action of revelation and salvation. This semantic pole has its roots in the biblical use of the term (esp. in the Pauline, deutero-Pauline, and trito-Pauline ¶ material), but it is still dominant in formal scholastic usage in the 1…
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Religion Past and Present
Mysterium tremendum et fascinans
(325 words)
[German Version] The expression
mysterium tremendum was introduced by R. Otto as a basic concept in phenomenology of religion; the author translated it as
schauervolles Geheimnis, “terrible mystery.” The concept forms part of a description of how the numinous can be experienced by the religious feeling of the human subject. Otto presupposed that religion (with F.D.E. Schleiermacher essentially defined as feeling) can be described not only within human subjectivity, but also in relation to an “object outside myself,” fro…
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Religion Past and Present
Mystery Plays
(648 words)
[German Version] The term “mystery play” is derived either from the Greek/Latin
mysterium (“mystery,” “salvation truth”) or, especially in the variant “mistery plays,” from the Latin
ministerium, “worship service.” The expression “mystery plays” is attested, both in English and German (
Mysterienspiele), from the 18th century. It was formed by analogy to the French
mystère, used since the 14th century to denote religious plays in the vernacular. Catalán also knew the term from the Middle Ages to denote Corpus Christi plays. In German,
Mysterienspiele is sometimes used as a syn…
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Religion Past and Present
Mystery Religions
(3,778 words)
[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. The Christian Cult and the Mysteries – III. Art History
I. Religious Studies Modern discussion of the Greek mysteries goes back to the material collected by the Dutch scholar Jan de Meurs (1619), which served as the main source for I. Casaubon's argument that the Early Church borrowed but changed some terminology and institutions from the mysteries (
Exercitationes, 1655). The belief that there was a specific religious phenomenon, “the mystery cults of antiquity,” that could be compared directly with the practice…
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Religion Past and Present
Mysticism
(17,207 words)
[German Version] I. The Concept – II. Religious Studies – III. History – IV. Philosophy of Religion – V. Practical Theology – VI. Islamic Mysticism – VII. Hindu Mysticism – VIII. Taoist Mysticism
I. The Concept The concept of mysticism is closely linked to the development of the history of religion in Europe and the term must not be taken and applied uncritically as a general term for a phenomenologically determined group of phenomena in other religions (see also II, 3 below). Attempts at definition are either phenomenolog…
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Religion Past and Present
Myth and Mythology
(12,158 words)
[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. History – III. Philosophy of Religion – IV. Fundamental Theology. – V. Missiology
I. Religious Studies
1. The Concept and Its History Myth may be defined by either content or function. Defined by content, myth is a belief
about something significant, such as the world or society. Defined by function, myth
accomplishes something significant, such as explaining the world or supporting society. Most theories of myth are concerned with the
function of myth, but many are also concerned with either the
origin or the
subject matter of myth. Myt…
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Religion Past and Present