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
Basedow, Johannes Bernhard
(338 words)
[German Version] (Sep 11, 1724, Hamburg – Jul 25, 1790, Magdeburg) studied theology in Leipzig and Kiel after an unhappy childhood in humble conditions. From 1749 a private tutor, he was professor of morals and eloquence from 1753 to 1761, later theology professor at the Danish Academy for the Sons of Noblemen in Sorø. In 1761, he was relegated to the grammar …
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Religion Past and Present
Basel
(1,185 words)
[German Version] I. City and Diocese – II. University
I. City and Diocese The beginnings of the city and diocese are unclear. The name “Basilia” for the settlement at the bend of the Rhine is first mentioned around 374. The earliest evidence of Christian presence comes from the fort of Kaiseraugst, which lies not far from Basel. Only in the Carolingian period, from 740, is Basel attested as the per…
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Religion Past and Present
Basel Confession
(105 words)
[German Version] . The Basel Confession was presumably composed under the supervision of O. Myconius on the basis of preliminary work by J. Oecolampadius. In a concise, clear form and a moderate tone, it elaborates the positions of Reformational faith and draws distinctions between itself and Roman, Lutheran and Baptist views. After its approval by the councils, it was submitted to the guilds and citizens for their consent (1534). Martin Sallmann Bibliography R. Stauffer, “Das Basler Bekenntnis von 1534,” in: H.R. Guggisberg & P. Rotach, eds.,
Ecclesia semper …
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Religion Past and Present
Basel, Council of
(320 words)
[German Version] The Council of Basel was a reform council that convened from 1431 to 1437/1449 (it moved to Lausanne in 1448). It concerned itself with church reform, the Hussite controversy, but also with peace in Christendom and negotiations with the Eastern Church. The council summoned in 1431 under Martin V in conformity with the Decree of Constance (“Fre…
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Religion Past and Present
Basel Mission
(987 words)
[German Version] I. Overseas Work – II. Organization and Work up to 1914 – III. Twentieth Century – IV. Ecumenical Relations and their Significance The Basel Mission (Evangelical Missionary Society in Basel) was founded in 1815, initially to train missionaries, though it soon began its own missionary work.
I. Overseas Work After a brief attempt to conduct missionary work in the Caucasus in 1820, the Basel Mission mainly operated in the following areas: southeastern Ghana from 1828 (language…
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Religion Past and Present
Basho, Matsuo Munefusa
(133 words)
[German Version] (1644, Ueno, Iga Province, Japan – 1694, Osaka), master of the seventeen-syllable
haikai/haiku and of the related
renku/renga forms of poetry. On the death of his overlord in 1666, he gave up his warrior status and settled down as a successful poet and teacher in Edo. The last ten years of his life were marked by the study of Zen and a series of journeys (“The Narrow Road to the Deep North”,
Oku no hosomichi). In the tradition of wandering priest-poets such as the 12th-century Saigyo, Basho attained a symbiosis …
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Religion Past and Present
Basic Trust
(408 words)
[German Version] According to E.H. Erikson, basic trust is the result of the first, oral phase of the problems concerning identity. It develops in a favorable environment and in a stable constellation of persons surrounding the child, especially in the presence of a caring mother, and represents the “cornerstone of a healthy personality” (
Life Cycle). At the same time, the ritualization in the feeding and hygiene of the child plays an important role in the fostering of a sense of reliability. …
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Religion Past and Present
Basileios von Ochrid
(121 words)
[German Version] (1145 – c. 1169). When Basileios, archbishop of Thessalonica, was asked to support the union proposal of Pope Hadrian to the emperor Manuel I Comnenus, he demanded concessions from the Latins on the
Filioque clause, the use of unleavened bread, and on the issue of papal primacy, which he rejected. In 1154, as on other occasions, he debated with the papal legate Anselm of Havelberg in Constantinople. Hans-Dieter Döpmann Bibliography PG 119, 928–933 J. Schmidt, ed.,
Des Basilius aus Achrida, Erzbischof von Thessalonich, bisher unedierte Dialoge, 1901 SC 118, 1966
DHGE VI…
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Religion Past and Present
Basilian Orders,
(324 words)
[German Version] the designation applied by the Latin Middle Ages to Eastern monasticism. It was based on the erroneous assumption that the latter generally followed the “rule” of St. Basil the Great (4th cent.), nothwithstanding the fact that the Orthodox Church knows no such thing as a monastic order and that each Orthodox monastery has its own rule. The nam…
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Religion Past and Present
Basilica
(1,624 words)
[German Version] I. Art History – II. Church Law
I. Art History The Latin name “basilica” (Greek βασιλικός,
basilikós, “royal”) acquired the meaning “great hall” and was used in reference to a number of public and private buildings that seemed royal because of their unusual architectural form in dimension and purpose. From the 4th century onward, all Christian churches were known as basilicas; in Christian usage, therefore, the word is both an architectural and an ecclesial term, a name from which a specific stylistic form was later derived. The oldest known basilica was built in 184 ce …
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Religion Past and Present
Basilides/Basilidians
(287 words)
[German Version] With his son and disciple Isidore, Basilides was active as a teacher of theology in the time of the emperors Hadrian (117-138) and Antoninus Pius (138-161). His
Exegetica was a commentary on what was probably his own recension of Luke; two fragments have been preserved: Clement of Alexandria,
Strom. IV, 81.1-83.1, and
Acta Archelai 67.4-12. Fragments of the following works of Isidore have been preserved:
Ethica (Clem. Alex.
Strom. III, 1-3),
On the Attached Soul (
Strom. II, 112.1-114.2), and
An Explanation of the Prophet Parchor (
Strom. VI, 53.2-5). Additional dox…
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Religion Past and Present
Basilius von Ancyra.
(231 words)
[German Version] Originally a physician, Basil became the successor of Marcellus as bishop of Ancyra and metropolitan of Galatia in 336; he was an adherent of the subordinationist three-hypostases theology that was critical of Nicaea (“Eusebians”; Christology). Condemned by the “Western” Council of Sardica in 342, he played a leading role in the deposition of …
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Religion Past and Present
Basil, Liturgy of Saint
(187 words)
[German Version] In the Orthodox Church, steeped in Byzantine tradition, the liturgy of St. Basil is used only ten times each year. Until the 11th/12th century, however, it was the principal liturgy of Constantinople, to which the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (Chrysostom, Liturgy of St. John), which later became the principal liturgy, was adapted. Coptic…
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Religion Past and Present
Basil of Seleucia
(168 words)
[German Version] (died after 468) was bishop of Seleucia in Cilicia and an adherent of the Cyrillian Christology on which the formula of the Council of Chalcedon (451) rests. This Christology is based on an interpretation of the Formula of Union (433) inspired from the
Laetentur letter of Cyril of Alexandria (CPG 3, 5339), which incorporates the second letter of Cyril to Nestorius (CPG 3, 5304) as accepted by the Council of E…
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Religion Past and Present
Basil the Great (Saint)
(290 words)
[German Version] (329/330, Caesarea – Jan 1, 370, Caesarea) was the brother of Gregory of Nyssa and a friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. Born into an aristocratic family in which the spirituality of Origen and the spirit of the martyrs were very much alive, Basil was educated at eminent schools (esp. Athens), as befitted his social standing. He chose to be …
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Religion Past and Present
Basken, religionsgeschichtlich
(1,015 words)
[German Version] I. Pagan Period – II. Christianization – III. Basque Christianity The language of the Basques in southwestern France and north-central Spain is unrelated to any other known language. As a result, some scholars consider the Basques to be Europe's oldest culture. They are perhaps the direct descendants of the continent's Cro-Magnon population, and it seems highly probable that they had already settled in their current Pyrenean homeland prior to the arrival, in the second millennium bce, of the Indo-European population groups tha…
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Religion Past and Present
Basnage,
(250 words)
[German Version] a Huguenot family from Rouen (Normandy). Prominent members include: 1.
Benjamin (1580, London – Jul 23, 1653, Sainte-Mère-Eglise). Pastor at Sainte-Mère from 1601 onward, he vigorously supported the political and financial interests of the Huguenots, played an important role in the
Assemblée Politique in La Rochelle, and was active as a mediator in the dispute concerning M. Amyraut and the solidarity within the National Synod of the Huguenot Church. – 2.
Jacques (Aug 8, 1653, Rouen – Dec 22, 1723, Rotterdam), the grandson …
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Religion Past and Present
Bastgen, Hubert
(141 words)
[German Version] (Aug 21, 1876, Cochem – May 4, 1946, Schäftlarn Abbey, Isar valley) was a prominent and unusually productive church historian. Ordained priest in 1900, he earned doctorates in theology (Breslau [Wrocław], 1906), philosophy (Berlin, 1907), and canon law (Rome, 1908; Athenaeum S. Apollinare, now the Lateran University). He completed his habilita…
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Religion Past and Present
Bastholm, Christian
(278 words)
[German Version] (Nov 2, 1740, Copenhagen – Jan 25, 1819, Copenhagen). After studying theology, philosophy, and natural science at Copenhagen, the writer and theologian Christian Bastholm served as pastor of the German congregation in Smyrna from 1768 to 1771. In 1772, he became pastor of Copenhagen Castle, and went as pastor to Helsingør in 1777. He served as court preacher from 1778 to 1800. – Bastholm was the most influential representative of Enlightenment theology in Denmark. Dissatisfied with the prevailing mode of preaching, he wrote a handbook of spiritual rhetoric in 1775 (
Den…
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Religion Past and Present